by Roy -

The United States is a big place with a lot of ground to cover. So what is buzzing for travellers in the coming year? Here are our top 10 picks for US destinations that should be on your radar in 2012.

US Virgin Islands
In a year when travellers are likely to still be watching their wallets, the US Virgin Islands are our number one choice for an American tropical getaway. The US territory is eternally warm,  rimmed with white-sand beaches on turquoise water, and each of the islands has their own identity. If you want a break from the resorts, St John is nearly two-thirds lush national park, with tent cabins amid trees and hikes to secluded beaches. This sadly may be the last year for the Maho Bay Camps, a long-standing eco-resort that is the place to stay if you are watching your budget; or try the St John Inn which offers great value rooms with kitchenettes. For more action, the previously inaccessible Hassel Island, now part of Virgin Islands National Park on St Thomas, can be explored by snorkel or kayak, and the Captain Morgan Rum Distillery on St Croix will open its new visitor centre in the spring.

Hudson River Valley, New York

Any visitor to New York City should spend a day or two in the Hudson River Valley, a slice of rural Americana just north of the city. Its leafy drives, wineries and farm-to-table food options draw even spoiled-for-choice Manhattanites. A favourite spot to stay is former B-52s singer Kate Pierson’s Lazy Meadow, a renovated 1950s cabin complex near Woodstock.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 191 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Rishi Sankar, an avid traveler and writer from Trinidad

In Trinidad, I never grew up with meatloaf. Why would we – this is a purely European derivative “dish”. In Trinidad – who ate ground beef growing up?? Definitely not anyone I knew – it was expensive and you couldn’t make it into a curry – the only place you would have any sort of ground beef, was in a meat pie or pastelle. For me, meatloaf is like the western version of fried rice – any sort of nonsense can be tossed into it – however it is rare to find quality.

The one thing I have confirmed – I love great meatloaf and frankly I haven’t found a better meatloaf than what they serve at Lou Mitchells.

Lou Mitchell’s is one of those great cultural icons and an amazing breakfast spot. It’s like the Chicago version of the Old Breakfast Shed in Port of Spain.

It’s all old school here

  • Long lines
  • No credit cards
  • The same waitress you had 30 years ago
  • All good signs

As for the food – I would recommend this to any Trinidadian/West Indian person for the following reasons

  • Meals are massive – this is a complete belly full place
  • Prices are extremely reasonable
  • A huge breakfast menu – Omelettes come in their own omelette pan/skillet with a HUGE side order of potatoes – their is no scrimping on anything on the menu
  • All their meals are fresh and the juice is absolutely “fresh squeezed” – no Tropicana dogshit!
  • The coffee is awesome and endless/bottomless – whatever you want to call never ending
  • All service comes with attitude and picong … example below
      • Rishi : <Look at map and 4square on phone> How do I get to Wrigley Field
      • Waitress : How would I know … I’m a Sox fan
      • Rishi : But you live in Chicago
      • Waitress : Ask someone else  … !!<runs off to get another waitress, who is a Cubs fan obviously>

As for the meatloaf …

The meatloaf at Lou Mitchell’s

There were three slices of meatloaf under the mushroom gravy and fries … I could barely finish half of the damn thing. Did I also mention that you should walk with your own Lipitor?

This was all I could eat before asking for the doggie bag

The decor is your classic American Diner …

Tips:

  • My advice would be to go for there for late Brunch – the lines early in the morning will be super long and you won’t enjoy that experience, especially in the depths of winter.
  • Get there at 1:30 or 2pm. They close at 3pm.
  • Get the Meatloaf or some form of omelette – if it is your first time. If you’re Canadian – stop complaining about the portion size … we will never see a portion like this in Canada … ok … maybe only in St John’s, Newfoundland.
  • The negative reviews on this place – are all wrong! Don’t read those – just get there a little later. Douchebag food reviewers complaining about “I ate there 30 years ago and it’s not the same now” … 30 years ago, there was no internet … do I complain about that?

Rishi Sankar

11 Nov 2011

Home

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 281 user reviews.

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by Roy -

Willis Tower / Sears Tower – Chicago – USA

Willis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story, 1451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1974, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world, as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to the roof.

Although Sears’ naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called Sears Tower for several years. In March 2009 London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., agreed to lease a portion of the building and obtained the building’s naming rights.On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed Willis Tower.

Amenities:

The Salseria Grill & Cantina, Willis/Sears Tower

Willis Tower offers a comprehensive suite of amenities which includes seven restaurants, such as Starbucks, Corner Bakery, Augustino’s Rock & Roll Deli, Market Creations, Dunkin Donuts, The Met Club Cafe, Venice Cafe and Salseria Grill & Cantina. The private members-only Metropolitan Club offers one of Chicago’s finest business dining and meeting facilities. It is located on the 66th and 67th floors with spectacular views of the city. The Metropolitan Club offers four dining alternatives as well as seventeen private dining rooms available for special functions accommodating up to 1, 000 people. Other convenient services include full-service banking and ATM facilities; 160-space executive parking garage with car detailing services, a fitness center, hair salon, newsstand, florist, bookstore, copy store, dentist and chiropractor. In addition, U.S. Post Office, FedEx, DHL, UPS drop boxes and building messenger services are also available.

Size:

Willis Tower is a 110-story trophy office tower containing a total enclosed area of approximately 4.56 million gross square feet (SF) and has a rentable area of 3.8 million SF. Willis Tower’s 4.56 million gross square feet would cover 105 acres if spread across one level. This is the equivalent of 16 city blocks in Chicago. Within the building, there are 25 miles of plumbing, 1, 500 miles of electric wiring, 80 miles of elevator cable, and 145, 000 light fixtures. The building weighs more than 222, 500 tons, and it cost more than $175 million to build.

The Property’s rentable space consists of 107 office levels (including eleven levels containing mechanical spaces and broadcast equipment), one above grade retail level, one lobby grade retail level and three below grade levels that contain a mix of office, retail, storage space, service area and a garage. The property contains 160 parking spaces located in five levels in an executive parking garage.

The Property is situated on a square-shaped site bounded by South Wacker Drive to the west, Adams Street to the north, Franklin Street to the east, and Jackson Boulevard to the south. The site size is approximately 2.96 acres of land. The Property consists of three lower levels and a 110-story high-rise tower.

Interior/Exterior:

The Sears Tower Curtain Wall

The architect and structural engineer designed the Tower’s curtain wall with a modernistic masterwork of glass and aluminum. The curtain wall system consists of bronze-tinted vision glass and black anodized aluminum spandrel panels captured in a striking black anodized aluminum framing. Granite panels, with aluminum-framed glass storefront windows, accent the ground level façade on the east, north and south building elevations. Building setbacks are provided on the building’s northwest and southeast corners at the 50th floor, the northeast and southwest corners at the 66th floor, and the north, south and east elevations on the 90th floor. The structural framing consists of steel columns and beams in a “mega-module” system consisting of nine modules. The foundation system consists of belled, reinforced concrete caissons with reinforced caisson caps. The Franklin Street entrance has a beautiful large glass, aluminum and steel canopy which was added to the Property in the mid 1990’s.

Universe: The wall art by Alexander Calder

The Property’s impressive three-story lobby welcomes visitors and tenants with sculptor Alexander Calder’s Universe, a mobile of varied shapes, colors and movements suggesting the infinite potential of human creativity. Willis Tower lobbies are exquisitely modernistic, with transparent walls and escalators piercing the vertical space. The nearly $70 million lobby refurbishment in 1992 by DeStefano & Partners incorporated elaborate finishes and emphasized the sheer size of Willis Tower. The lobby is further characterized by polished granite flooring and travertine walls with stainless steel column covers. Soffit, column and ceiling mounted fluorescent, incandescent and high intensity lighting fixtures create a glowing well-lit environment. The main lobby of Willis Tower contains one entrance on the east side of the building and one entrance on the west side of the building. The Wacker Drive lobby serves as the primary entrance to the Property providing access from the street. The east entrance is accessed directly from Franklin Street.

Technology Features:

Superior Telecommunications

•State-of-the-art broadcast facilities on the rooftop, which allows for 100% of digital TV requirements for the Chicago area broadcast market.
•Access for multiple competitive local exchange carriers (CLECS).
•Expansive telecommunications risers.

Modern Elevator Technology

•104-car elevator system divided into three zones for efficient transportation.
•High speed elevators with superior ride quality.

Floor Flexibility

•Four distinct floor plates divided into 75-foot column free squares.
•Floors contain under floor duct system for power and communication.

Electrical Capacity/Backup

•Four 150 MVA transformers which supply a 13.2 KV distribution system with redundant capability between two separate risers servicing the building.
•Two 2100KW diesel powered emergency generators.

Antenna Facts:

East Antenna 253? tall
West Antenna 283? tall
12? diameter at base.

On top of each antenna there is a TLD (Tuned Liquid Dampener). Its purpose is to counteract the sway of the antenna from the wind.

The airplane warning lamps blink 40 times per minute. The night intensity level drops to one quarter of the daytime level at dusk.

Antenna Lighting:

March St.Patrick’s Day Green
May Mother’s Day Pink
July 4th of July Red and Blue
October Halloween Orange
December Holidays Red & Green

Text Source: willistower.com

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 192 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by K.K.Mehra, an avid traveler and travel writer

I am an avid traveller and have been to the remotest part of the country as also to the USA and Canada. My wife and I went to meet our son in USA recently. We had the most memorable time of our life when we travelled to the west coast of America.

Las Vegas

We reached Las Vegas and from there went by road to Los Angeles and San Francisco. For our return journey, we chose to travel by the Amtrak train from San Francisco to Providence, Rhode Island, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, with stopovers at Chicago, Washington and New York.

Our tour started by boarding a flight from Providence, the capital of Rhode Island, to Las Vegas en route to Philadelphia.

We were overwhelmed by the breathtaking beauty of Las Vegas, one of the most exciting and entertaining cities in the world. We stayed at the famous MGM Grand Hotel.

On the Las Vegas strip, we got a glimpse of the world famous New York skyscrapers, the Sphinx and Pyramids of Egypt, the Eiffel Tower, the gondolas of Venice, the Dutch architecture and huge Greek sculptures.

It is the city where nobody sleeps. Even late in the night or at dawn people were revelling and enjoying the fun filled life. The next morning we left by bus to visit the Grand Canyon South Rim, en route to Hoover Dam, which is 275 miles from Las Vegas.

The next morning we headed for Los Angeles by road taking a Greyhound Bus and the journey between Las Vegas to LA was awesome with vast no man’s land on either side of the road making for a great view.

The famous Kodak Theater

Our first stop in the city was Kodak Theatre where the Oscar Awards ceremony is held and just standing there was dream come true. We also visited Third Promenade, Grove, China Town, Griffith Park area and China Town.

Our next destination was San Francisco and we boarded a Greyhound Bus to reach by the evening.

The next morning we started our city tour and reached the two-mile long Golden Gate Bridge. In the afternoon we started our tour of Alcatraz Island. The ride in the steamer was very entertaining and the view of the city from the bay was great.

The next morning we started our excursion to the Muir Woods, Sausalito and wine country.

We travelled across the Golden Gate Bridge and reached the quite, beautiful town of Sausalito, nestled in the jungles along the bay. A two-hour drive took us to Sonoma Valley, which houses hundreds of wineries. A tour of the wineries was also very knowledgeable. After that we came back to our destination.

K.K.Mehra

18 June 2010

http://travel.hindustantimes.com/travelogues/a-memorable-trip-to-las-vegas.php

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 163 user reviews.

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