As a big fan of baseball, I’ve been meaning to write about Yankee Stadium for some time. As a fan of both the sport and the history of the game, I can’t think of many with a more storied history than “The House That Ruth Built.” Opening on April 18th, 1923 in the Bronx, as the home of the New York Yankees, the team won that opening game at the new stadium, defeating the Boston Red Sox, 4-1. Oh yeah, the stadium was once the home of the New York Giants football team, was the site some impressive boxing bouts, and hosted a variety of other special events, but to millions of people, it’s all about baseball. Yankee Stadium was the first three-level sports facility in the United States, and it was the first to used the term “stadium” instead […]

Croatia was part of the political and cultural mish-mash of the former Yugoslavia, and for years toiled under a restrictive, and often punitive, dictatorship. It’s hard to believe in such a closed and suppressed society, that art could flourish — but it did, and recent years have brought both the art and artists to the attention of people around the world. The Croatian Naive Art Gallery & Museum collection opened in St. Petersburg (Florida) recently, exclusively featuring the intricate Croatian reverse glass paintings. I’ve seen these painting before, and always thought that they were Russian, but never really understood the art medium. Think of this as painting in reverse. The artist paints with oils on the reverse side of a piece of glass, doing everything backwards from a typical painting. The paintings is done in stages, and in the reverse […]

Across from the Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia (which I previously wrote about ), is Independence Hall. Although it was originally built between 1732-1756 as the State House of the Province of Pennsylvania, it became better known for other events that occurred there: George Washington was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the Assembly Room (1775) Declaration of Independence was adopted (July 4th, 1776) American flag design was approved (1777) Meeting place for the Second Continental Congress, except during the time Philadelphia was occupied by the British Army (winter of 1777-78) Articles of Confederation were adopted (1781) U.S. Constitution was drafted (1787) The tour begins in the East Wing, and offers a close up view of what is considered classic Georgian architecture. Great pains have been taken to restore the building, inside and out, to its original […]

The city of Portland has as sordid an underground history as my home city of Seattle does, and, like Seattle, it makes for a fun walking tour. There were plenty of nefarious deeds going on above ground, but the underground was where the really fun stuff was happening.  In the subterranean world of Chinatown, you can still see impressive architecture from years gone by, looking nothing like the modern city in the photo.  Below ground you’ll find the “Shanghai Tunnels.”  The tunnels originally connected the basements of most of the downtown hotels and bars to the Willamette waterfront, and were used to expeditiously move goods.  They later became the site of many kidnappings called “crimpings” and known to us today as shangaiing.  During the years of Prohibition, a different kind “goods” were moved through the tunnels, and many bars were set up […]

Today is Admission Day for Maine, our 23rd state, admitted to the Union on March 15, 1820. Maine is located in the northeastern part of the United States, in the New England area of the country, and joined the Union as part of the Missouri compromise.  It ranks 39th of the 50 states in geographical area, and 40th in population. Although the origin of the state’s name is debatable, the most probably theory is that it came from the English settlers who lived on islands off the coast.  They would talk about “going over to the mainland,” which soon became shortened to “going over to main.”  The name seems to have stuck. The state is probably best known for its scenery.  From rugged coastlines (charming fishing villages, lighthouses) to wooded interiors (nearly 90% of Maine is forested), from mountains to […]

Today is Admission Day for Florida, our 27th state, admitted to the Union on March 3rd, 1845. Florida is located in the southeastern part of the country, with the Atlantic Ocean flanking one side, and the Gulf of Mexico the other.  Ponce de Leon named it, and many believe that it was in Florida that he claimed to have found his fountain of youth. Before the formal declaration of Civil War, Florida seceded from the Union, and became a founding member of the Confederate States of America.  Full representation was restored in 1868. For much of its existence, Florida was the least populated southern state.  By the mid-20th century, however, many residents were leaving the frigid weather of the northeastern US, looking for the temperate climes found in Florida.  Today, Florida is the second most populated of the southern states […]

Grand Canyon National Park was designated a national park on February 26, 1919, and is one of the oldest national parks in the United States.  It is located within Arizona, near Flagstaff, and within the parks lies the Grand Canyon, considered to be one of the major natural wonders of the world. Although the Grand Canyon is not the largest canyon in the world, it is spectacular in its combination of size and colorful layers of rock.  The National Park covers a little over 1.2 million acres, and is governed by the National Park Service.  Flying over the canyon always elicits lots of oooooh and aaaaaaaahs from passengers. The South Rim of the park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and services are available year round. The North Rim offers visitor services and facilities from mid-May to mid-October.  […]

February 19th is Presidents Day, a federal holiday here in the United States. Originally, the holiday was designated as Washington’s Birthday, and was celebrated on George Washington’s actual date of birth, February 22nd.  In 1971, however, as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, the holiday was moved to the third Monday in February.  The holiday has also been expanded to honor Abraham Lincoln (birthday February 12th).  Various states choose to observe the holiday on different days, under different titles, and even different presidents, but as far as federal holidays go, today is Presidents Day. I have already written about the Washington Monument and Washington’s estate home in Mount Vernon, but I haven’t written about Lincoln. The Lincoln Memorial is at one end of Washington DC’s National Mall.  The building looks like a Greek Doric Temple, with huge columns, and […]

Details:  This past week has been NBA All-Star week in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it all comes to a head on Sunday, February 18th when the 2007 All-Star game is played in the Thomas & Mack Center.  (The game will be televised on TNT, for those not in Las Vegas.)  Thomas & Mack is also home to the UNLV Rebels. Photo credit:  flickr ___________________________________________________________

I think that Bugsy Siegel had the right concept about Las Vegas ““ it’s all about image ““ whether that image is about being a high roller, living the high life (even if for only a day), or the opportunity to be bigger than life.  Image seems to be what the commercials are selling as well, when they tout, “what happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas.”  Really ““ do that many people who visit Las Vegas have clandestine stories that need to be hidden away and never talked about?  Probably not.  It’s all about image. Vegas has tried to make itself over into a family friendly destination, and although I think it falls far short of that goal, the hotels and casinos are trying to provide lots to do and see for those non-gambling travelers.  Of course, that […]