Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site decwrl.DEC.COM Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!lll-crg!ucdavis!ucbvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-yogi!marks From: marks@yogi.DEC Newsgroups: net.travel Subject: Request for Unusual Sights Message-ID: <350@decwrl.DEC.COM> Date: Thu, 9-Jan-86 11:04:26 EST Article-I.D.: decwrl.350 Posted: Thu Jan 9 11:04:26 1986 Date-Received: Sat, 11-Jan-86 06:07:58 EST Sender: daemon@decwrl.DEC.COM Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Lines: 82 >Does anyone out there know of a really interesting and unusual >site where we can see unusual sights? Like strange museums or >weird houses or unusual train rides or whatever. Dear Dave: You have challenged my small knowledge of a vast number of things... This sounds fun. The only problem, however, is that you don't mention what time of year you want to take this vacation, although your mention of Disney World makes me think you are contemplating a winter vacation. You also don't mention duration of the vacation. But I will try to give you some suggestions in a general way anyway. o Have you been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras? (Or for that matter to Rio for Carneval? There are some great low cost packages around for this splendid event.) These provide some really weird sights and experiences I am told and are a bit unusual. o Some friends just went off on a cruise to Barbados and Venezuela, flying to Miami and boarding the ship there. What makes this cruise different is that they are taking a side trip into the jungles of Venezuela (guided I hope) and are hoping to see some pretty strange things. We gave them a huge sendoff in case they come upon cannibals or something in the jungle. o How about a paddle-wheeler trip down the Mississippi? o There's a boat that goes from Bar Harbor, Me (I think it also leaves from other ports along the Maine coast) to Nova Scotia. Don't know if this runs in the winter. In the summer it's great and in the fall breathtakingly beautiful. o Montreal, although not that far away from eastern and midwestern U.S. cities, is so different from any U.S. city I have ever seen as to make a vacation there truly special. It really has a foreign flavor to it, especially since most of the inhabitants speak French. Very quaint, great shopping, possibly less expensive rates than places in the U.S. o San Francisco is one of my favorite cities. There are enough "different" sights here to fill 6 vacations. Alcatraz is now a national park, and there are daily tours there which you get to by ferry. The tours are expertly run by the National Park Service. Fisherman's Wharf is a tourist's dream, with enough honky tonk to last a lifetime. Chinatown is unique and wonderful, a city within a city. And the sushi's terrific. o A couple hours south of S.F., Carmel and Monterrey peninsulas provide some relaxed and beautiful calmness for travelers. Carmel is a gem of a town, truly unduplicated anywhere else in the country. Monterrey is breathtakingly beautiful. The 17-mile drive around the peninsula provides gorgeous scenery and a glimpse at some native animals (like seals and otters) seen only at a zoo previously. The trip up and/or down the coastline on Rte. 1 through Big Sur is magnificently beautiful. o San Diego, if you want to do the southern route, has some unusual attributes. The San Diego Zoo is like no other. The beaches are great. And you are minutes from the Mexican border to Baja California, where you can go to Tia Juana (if you are so inclined) and have a ball bargaining with the shop merchants (they chase you up and down the street to make a sale), getting some nachos the way they're supposed to be, or going to a Jai Alai match. Well, hope some of this was of interest to you or inspired you to think of "THE" place you want to go this year. Hope after you find it and go you will post your experiences and recommendations to net.travel! Good luck, R.M.