Coney Island Changes

NPR : As Change Nears, Coney Islanders Keep Dreaming

From the top of the world-famous Cyclone roller coaster at Coney Island, riders can see white-sand beaches, the Astroland amusement park and New York City’s skyline before they take a heart-stopping plunge.

For 80 years, the view atop the wooden coaster has changed with the amusements and arcades below. But this weekend could be the final view of most of Astroland, the oldest amusement park at Coney Island. Development is encroaching upon — or rescuing — other parts of the district, too, depending upon your point of view.

I’ve always wanted to visit Coney Island. My brother lived in Brooklyn Heights for 11 years but I only went up to visit twice (I’m a terrible sister). At least the Cyclone is a historic landmark so it won’t be dismantled.

technorati tags:summer, amusement, money, condos, Coney-Island, NPR, vacation, ocean, fun, Cyclone, New-York

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Took a small vacation to Lancaster County

Intercourse, Pennsylvania – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We stayed in Intercourse, PA and drove all around the immediate area. We took a buggy ride hosted by an Old Order Amish farmer named Lloyd. He gave us the lowdown on who owned property, how good their property was and how many tragedies occurred there. Lloyd had a taste for the tragic – fire, accidents and death. Who knew!

The town is very lovely albeit it very touristy. I suspect you can overdose on cutesy very quickly. However, my weakness was the food – pretzels especially. We toured the Intercourse Pretzel Factory and I was trained to form a pretzel. I couldn’t leave without buying at least one bag – well, make that 4.

We stayed at a charming bed and breakfast – Carriage Corner Bed & Breakfast. The host was very amiable and the breakfast delicious!

The best part was just driving through the back roads. I haven’t seen so much farmland and corn in years. Fortunately, the Amish don’t sell their corn for fuel. They use it for food, seed and feed only.

technorati tags:vacation, tourism, Amish, Lancaster, Intercourse-PA, food, pretzel, rural, corn, summer

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My Ideal Vacation

Home for the Holiday

One Woman’s Idea Of a Well-Spent Vacation

Home for the Holiday – washingtonpost.com

Just before her vacation last year, Joye Marino hired a housecleaning service to wash all her windows, scrub and wax the floors, dust the baseboards and woodwork and polish the furniture. She had her car detailed inside and out, and paid a couple of neighborhood kids to pull weeds, mow the lawn and mulch the flower beds outside her Baltimore bungalow.

Then she settled in for a week at home.

This is my idea of the best vacation – not going anywhere. To be able to stay home and already have the chores completed and just enjoy my house would be heaven. It’s worth the money you spend for others to do the work. Unlike paying for airfares and hotels, you still get to enjoy the results after the vacation ends.

technorati tags:vacation, Washington-Post, summer, home

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Ocean City MD amusement park & arcade may close this year!

An Ocean City Icon Faces Turn in Economic Tide – washingtonpost.com

Although I haven’t been there in years, our family used to go to Ocean City every summer when we visited my grandmother in Laurel, Delaware. I wasn’t up for the rides but I loved the arcade, skee ball especially. I didn’t realize that Ocean City has the oldest continuously owned amusement park in the United States. I’d hate to see yet another park be turned over to developers for more condos and hotels. What’s next – legalized gambling like Atlantic City?

technorati tags:summer, amusement, money, condos, skeeball, arcade, vacation, ocean, Maryland, fun, tourism

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Great Britons – shameless plug

Great Britons: Treasures from the National Portrait Gallery, London: Exhibitions in Washington, DC on washingtonpost.com’s City Guide

This is the big exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery this summer. It’s a terrific exhibition of portraits loaned from the National Portrait Gallery, London. Paul Richard, the art critic for the Washington Post liked it, too.

Why am I advertising it and why is this a shameless plug? I work at the National Portrait Gallery – specifically I work in the Design & Production office and I prepare the graphics for all the exhibitions. We are one of the lesser known museums that are part of the Smithsonian Institution so we need as much publicity as possible. I’ll shamelessly plug our other summer shows in upcoming entries.

If you are in Washington DC or just visiting, please come by the gallery. It’s a wonderful museum in an interesting neighborhood. We aren’t nearly as crowded at the National Air & Space Museum so we’ll treat you better.

technorati tags:Smithsonian, NPG, portraits, museum, travel, education, Washington

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First true vacation in years

Finally had a great vacation. I visited family but had no conflict or stress. I didn’t visit a hospital or nursing home nor did I attend a memorial service. I had two long but generally lovely drives which included ferry crossings across the beautiful Lake Champlain. The weather was cooler than home and the air much cleaner. Why can’t all vacations be so wonderful?