Posts under ‘Americas’

Seattle’s Space Needle

The Space Needle in Seattle is one of the world’s most recognisable towers and was built for the World Fair in 1962. Like the Eiffel Tower which was built for the Paris fair it was only meant to be a temporary structure but the people liked it so much it stayed. Standing at 184 feet the tower isn’t huge on today’s standards but is still a much loved icon of this Washington city.  The trip to the top takes about 43 seconds and when there you will see some spectacular views over Seattle and the bay, it’s a great place to start your trip to Seattle as you get your bearings. On a nice clear day you can see as far as Mt Rainer and the Cascade Mountains.  For a special evening in Seattle why not try revolving restaurant which offers not only tasty food but magnificent night views of Seattle.

Vancouver’s Olympic Cauldron

Last year the Canadian city of Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympic Games and had a pretty impressive Olympic  Cauldron which held the flame. Ten metre high flame was made of steel and glass resembled huge ice pillars. After the games the city decided to put the beautiful sculpture on display in the city for all to see as a legacy of a fine Winter Olympics.    The cauldron has been installed in downtown Vancouver at Jack Poole Plaza not far from the convention centre and international cruise liner terminal, so it is in very easy reach of tourists wanting a photo. Read the rest of this entry »

Raygun Gothic Rocketship

No aliens have not landed in San Francisco, but someone passing the bayfront along The Embarcadero might think otherwise. Standing at 40 foot the Raygun Gothic Rocketship is a pretty impressive piece of artwork on display in the bay city. 

Some say the Raygun Gothic Rocketship (RGR) is an 80 year old vessel that has a duty of scientific discovery and exploration. Reports say she has crash-landed on the frozen seas of Mars, gathered specimens from every last one of the 400 volcanoes of Io and charted the caves of Mongo. While others might try and diffuse the myth by saying shiny silver retro themed rocket ship is the work of dozens of bay area artists, but we like the earlier.  Hope they brought back some cheese from the moon! Read the rest of this entry »

Portland’s Saturday Market


Portland in Oregon USA has an amazing Saturday market for anyone visiting this great city. It holds the record of the longest continuous running outdoor market in the USA, starting in 1974/ It is jam packed with some great arts and crafts, there’s clothing, jewellery, sculptures painting you name it. The market features plenty of great music and performance art too. The market is located on SW Ankeny St + Naito Parkway and around the Ankeny Plaza. IT. The market runs from the 1st weekend in March til Christmas, on both Saturday and Sunday. Don’t forget to try the food too, there are some very tasty offerings at the food vendors, and look out for the beer tents where you can taste some of Portland’s delicious microbrew beer- it is amazing. We tried the IPA from the Rogue Brewhouse and couldn’t stop at one. Read the rest of this entry »

Reno’s National Auto Museum

Most people think Reno in Nevada USA is all one arm bandits and giant buffets, well you are pretty well right but there are some very good attractions in and around this “Biggest Little City in the World”. One fantastic attraction that any car lover should visit is the National Automobile Museum which is located right in the heart of the city.  The museum was originally founded to display the dozens of amazing cars owned by Bill Harrah of the Harrah’s hotel and casino chain.  The museum has some pretty cool stuff, there’s one of Elvis’s tanks, a gold plated DeLorean as seen in the photo, cars from John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and even Al Jolson. But it’s not the celebrity cars which are the most fascinating, it is the breath of the collection. There are over 100 years of history with plenty of cars you just won’t see anywhere else.  The museum also has a great collection of period costumes and artefacts and there is some great memorabilia and artwork. There are four main halls all themed and good gift shop which has a whole range of great products. Read the rest of this entry »

The Lisa Marie- The King’s Jetplane


The Lisa Marie is a Convair 880 jet which was once owned by the King of Rock n Roll Elvis Presley. The plane about the size of a 707 was used by the king and his entourage to travel between Graceland and Elvis’s performances all over the United States. Unfortunately Elvis only owned the jet for a few years before his untimely death in 1977.

There are lots of legendary stories about Elvis and his plane but one of the favorite which gets told time and time again. Elvis was a bit hungry and needed his favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwich to quench his hunger, the only problem was the best sandwiches were in Denver. So Ron Strauss his pilot flew the Lisa Marie from Memphis to Denver to pick up enough sandwiches for Elvis’s snacktime.

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A whale of a time

The magnificent Orca or Killer Whale are the highlight attraction at San Diego’s Seaworld park. These massive mammals live in over 7 million litres of water an have been the major drawcard to this popular park since the 1960s performing to millions of visitors. The park currently has seven of killer whales but they have a huge variety of other amazing animals to thrill young and old including the pacific walruses who are so cute.  Dolphins, penguins, sharks and otters are also hugely popular exhibits and many are part of several daily shows which are held in the park where people can see the animals up close and learn about their threat of survival from pollution, over hunting and climate change.  Seaworld is home to more than animals they have a huge amount of fun for the whole family, with dozens of rides and attractions including boat rides, simulator rides and the skytower which gives a panoramic view over the park.  The Sesemae Street team are on hand for the youngsters and there are plenty of dining and shopping options.  Seaworld is a great day out in Southern California.

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A grand old lady of the sea

Longbeach California just to the south of Los Angeles is the resting place of one of what was one of the world’s grandest ocean liners. The RMS Queen Mary sailed the seven seas for just over 40 years until she was retired in 1967. Today the 1019 ft long liner is docked at Longbeach and has taken on a new role as a museum, restaurant and hotel. Many of the original splendor of the Queen Mary is intact including magnificent art deco hallways, ballrooms and function rooms.  The ship also boasts some stunning artwork including a huge transatlantic map which stands in the first class dining room which had lit up and showed the position of the ship as it cruised from London to New York. The cabins are not as luxurious as you would expect in a modern liner, but they are charming, a bit small but have good comfortable amenities. The Queen Mary is a unique accommodation experience and a very fun place to stay for anyone planning to spend a few days in Longbeach, San Diego or Los Angeles.   Interestingly the Queen Mary was owned by Disney for a period in the late 1980’s there was talk of the ship being the centrepiece of what would have become a ocean themed park. There is a striking resemblance to the Queen Mary in Tokyo’s Disneysea.. Maybe the Tokyo Park might have come out of concepts for what might have been in Longbeach.

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An Underwater Museum

Mexico is planning the world’s largest underwater museum with the first four concrete sculptures of 400 to be submerged in November in the Mexican Caribbean near Cancun. The sculptures will help protect the areas reef as well as attract sea life, eventually turning the sculptures into living sculptures as algae etc starts growing on them. The main idea behind the project is to attract tourists to the artificial reef instead of the coral reefs where they have previously damaged them. The sculptures are to be placed just below clear shallow waters to give easy access to divers, snorkelers and those in glass-bottomed boats. The sculptures are the work of Jason deCaires Taylor who previously did a similar project in Grenada West Indies (see video above). check out his website below for some more fantastic images from the projects. Read the rest of this entry »

New York Week – The Brooklyn Bridge

brooklyn-bridge
Linking Manhattan Island with Brooklyn the 1825 metre long Brooklyn Bridge has spanned the East River for over 125 years. Opening in 1883 the bridge was designed by John Augustas Roebling and like the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty is one of the most iconic structures in New York City. Upon opening the bride was the longest suspension bridge in the world, infact it was nearly twice as big as anything previously built, but it soon lost its title in 1903 to the Williamsburg Bridge which also crosses the East River to Brooklyn. The bridge has a clearance of about 41 metres at mid span and the huge brick Gothic towers rise 273 feet. For visitors the Brooklyn Bridge has a wide walkway open to both pedestrians and cyclists and offers some spectacular vistas of the Manhattan Skyline from a different perspective.

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