Departures
Issue: May/June 2009
A Wonderful World
EMP brings Jim Henson’s legacy to Seattle
By creating a cast of characters adored equally by the young, old, hip and square, Jim Henson brightened lives around the world in ways that few artists ever have. Even 19 years after his untimely death, a mere glimpse at the visage of Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear or many of his other beloved characters on a poster or in a video clip inevitably brings a smile to the face of even the most jaded.
Beginning May 23, Seattle’s Experience Music Project lets you reconnect with your own warm fuzzies for the late Muppeteer’s works with Jim Henson’s Fantastic World. The traveling exhibit, organized by the Jim Henson Legacy and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, features drawings, cartoons, storyboards, photographs and other related items that reflect Henson’s talent as a storyteller—and a visionary. The exhibit is on display through Aug. 16. (877) 367-7361, www.empsfm.org.
Legends in Vegas
The Strip’s showrooms book a new round of stars
The Las Vegas Strip adds lavish stage productions faster than most of us can keep up.
Donny and Marie Osmond (below left) are back, headlining at the Flamingo, and Cher is back, too (out of retirement again), performing roughly 70 nights a year at Caesars Palace. The “Divine Miss M,” Bette Midler (above left), plays Caesars approximately 100 nights a year, filling the void left when Celine Dion departed the resort’s showroom in late 2007. Even the famous volcano attraction at The Mirage has undergone a $25 million makeover. The new 4½-minute volcanic eruption runs every hour after dark, with 120 fireball-throwing devices launching flames 12 to 15 feet into the air, fiery “lava” flowing down the mountain, and a state-of-the-art percussive soundtrack by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and Indian musician Zakir Hussain.
Keep the Change
Sweden’s Gotland Island offers Mediterranean treasures
A new exhibit on Sweden’s Gotland Island allows visitors to see the greatest of all Viking treasures. The Spillings Hoard, 187 pounds of silver, was found in a farm field on Gotland in 1999. Now the hoard’s 14,295 silver coins, 286 amulets and other treasures occupy their own display room at the recently renovated Gotland County History Museum in Visby, the island’s World Heritage medieval city.
The silver hoard, dated to around 870, illustrates the historical significance of Visby as a key Baltic trading center. Only four of the coins are Nordic, and most are Islamic, strong evidence of the vast trade networks that funneled goods through Europe more than a millennium ago.
Visby’s red-tile roofs, stucco buildings and ancient stone walls remind many visitors of Mediterranean cities, and these Middle Eastern coins from centuries ago only magnify the impression.
The Play’s the Thing
The Bard’s works shine outdoors in Boise
What do samba and bossa nova music, the colors and confusion of Carnival, and Shakespeare’s pun-punched verse have in common? They all share the stage in the Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s energetic new production of The Comedy of Errors.
This Boise-based theater company, acclaimed for its bold treatment of the classics, stages its under-the-stars performances in a state-of-the-art amphitheater set against the backdrop of a wild habitat reserve on the Boise River. The company kicks off its 2009 season June 5, with a new take on the bawdy Shakespeare comedy, setting it among the noise and chaos of present-day Carnival.
If Shakespeare’s not your thing, each summer-long season includes works by modern playwrights as well. Whichever play you attend, theatergoers will be digging into picnic baskets, uncorking wine and feasting as Act 1 opens. You can pack your own picnic or call ahead to pick up a catered dinner when you arrive. (208) 336-9221. www.idahoshakespeare.org.
Escorted tours offer key benefits {smart travel}
peat fire burned in the fireplace in the 220-year-old thatched-roof farmhouse in County Galway, Ireland. “I was born in a pub,” said Frances, the woman who greeted us at the front door. “Maybe that’s why I like meeting people.” After she served us Irish soda bread and a soup of leeks, potatoes and carrots, our group went to the barn to see—and feed—a baby lamb. Who would have thought that this kind of intimate experience could be part of an escorted tour?
Escorted, or group, tours aren’t what they used to be. Before taking our Ireland trip, we had always traveled independently, so taking an escorted tour was a new idea. We quickly learned that there are many advantages to escorted tours.
Escorted tours can save you money, an average of 20 to 30 percent and as much as 40 to 50 percent of the cost of paying for the individual components of a trip separately,
according to the United States Tour Operators Association.
You can leave all the details to someone else. Escorted vacations allow you to sit back, relax and enjoy the sites and attractions of your destination. A group tour can also ease the way when you are traveling in developing countries.
Many tours focus on a special interest, such as cooking, history or art, as you travel through a destination or series of destinations. Being with people who share similar interests can enhance your experiences.
Stimulating conversation with fellow travelers and others you meet along the way can lead to lasting friendships. When we return to Ireland, we plan to look up a gentle woman named Frances.
Hawaiian Essentials
The largest of the Hawaiian Islands offers big fun any time of year.
Here are seven things that belong on any to-do list.
1: Between the North and South courses at Mauna Lani Point (www.maunalanipoint.com) and the 18-hole course at Mauna Kea Beach Resort (right, www.maunakearesort.com), the quintessential Hawaiian golf experience awaits along the Kohala Coast.
2: A dreamy half-mile crescent of gleaming white sand, Hapuna Beach is the island’s best for swimming, body surfing, snorkeling or just lounging on the sand. Do it all and stay for sunset. www.hawaiistateparks.org.
3: Designed with plantation-era opulence, the Kalaekilohana bed and breakfast in Naalehu offers easy access to the island’s tide-swept southern beaches. Breakfasts showcase the bounty of local farms, and proprietors Kilohana Domingo and Kenny Joyce offer hands-on classes on the feather arts and other local cultural traditions.
4: Astronomers from 11 countries created the world’s largest astronomical observatory at the 14,000-foot summit of Mauna Kea. We recommend a guided tour for the treacherous road to the summit, but a decent rental car can get you to the visitors information station, at an elevation of 9,300 feet, for nightly stargazing. www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko.
5: Jim and Tracy Reddekopp offer tours of their farm at the Hawaiian Vanilla Company in Paauilo. Also, Tracy and her staff dish out repasts featuring the versatile bean in savory and sweet dishes. www.hawaiianvanilla.com.
6: Design icon Sig Zane depicts koa leaves, taro and Hawaii’s other culturally significant natural elements with contemporary flair on aloha shirts and native-style dresses. Step into his Hilo boutique for fashions that will have you looking like a stylish local. www.sigzane.com.
7: Crater Rim Drive in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park offers sweeping views of the summit plume from Kilauea’s ongoing eruption. You have to leave the park’s boundaries to see lava flow into the ocean. www.nps.gov/havo.
Fowl Play
Feathered friends grab the spotlight in Memphis
Though its grand lobby is exquisite and the rooms are plush, The Peabody Memphis hotel’s most popular attraction for more than 75 years has been a flock of ducks. Every morning at 11 a.m., the five Peabody Ducks ride the elevator of the Memphis hotel from their comfy quarters on the rooftop to the marble fountain in the lobby. After a leisurely day by the water, they march back to the elevator to retire for the evening—in style. The hotel recently built the 288-square-foot Royal Duck Palace featuring a swimming fountain, a sun deck, and even a replica of The Peabody in which they can sleep. The palace is open for public viewing from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily—but unless you’re one of the feathered five, don’t count on checking in to this exclusive suite.
Fall for it
Log on to the Internet before you head out to the Olympic National Park for a downloadable guide to the region’s scenic waterfalls. The Olympic Peninsula Visitors Bureau’s new Web site, www.olympicpeninsulawaterfalltrail.com, provides GPS coordinates, photos and descriptions of each waterfall, along with a map of the entire set. Printed versions of the guide are also available at visitor stops throughout the peninsula.
