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It may not be a federal holiday, but there will still be a lot of people celebrating Chinese New Year on January 23 as the Year of the Rabbit comes to an end and the Year of the Dragon begins. Known as Pinyin (the Spring Festival) in China, it’s the country’s most important traditional holiday. It’s also called the Lunar New Year, as the Chinese follow a lunar calendar. Everywhere where there’s a large Chinese population, there are celebrations, so if you want to see what it’s all about, check out your nearest Chinatown.

Chinese New Year Traditions

Traditions surrounding this celebration include cleaning the house to get rid of bad luck and make room for good luck which will come with the new year. There’s lots of red decoration and much talk of wealth, happiness and long life. There’s feasting and fireworks. On the day itself, children wish their parents a happy new year and get money in red paper envelopes. This is the time to forget past troubles and wish happiness and peace to everyone. Celebrations can last for a couple of weeks, traditionally ending with the Lantern Festival.

Interesting facts about the Chinese New Year

• Red is worn because the color was once thought to banish evil spirits.
• most people wear new clothes as a symbol of a new start and of prosperity
• the floral decorations used during the period have symbolize what people hope will happen during the year. For example the plum blossom means luck and the narcissus means prosperity.
• Sydney, Australia claims to have the largest Chinese New Year celebrations outside China. In North America, there are significant celebrations in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver.
• Some people believe that the Chinese calendar has been in use since the second millenium BC, but no one can agree on exactly when it started, so the coming year might be Chinese year 4709, but then again it might not.

Where to Celebrate the Chinese New Year in the US

I’m not going to attempt to list all the Chinese New Year celebrations nationwide, but here are some to consider when making travel plans:

• the Golden Dragon Parade in Los Angeles, now in its 113th year
• the Chinese New Year Festival and Parade in San Francisco
• the New York Chinese New Year celebrations

As for me, I’ll be looking forward to next year’s celebrations since I was born in the Year of the Snake.

Image: Chinese New Year parade, Vancouver, BC, 2007 The Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club

Want discount airport parking when visiting the Chinese New Year celebrations? Find out about our airport parking coupon here.

I’m sure I’m not alone in naming Central Park as one of my favorite places in New York. Every time I go there I’m struck anew by the foresight of those who decided that New Yorkers needed a place to escape  the hustle and bustle of the city. They couldn’t have foreseen what a visitor magnet the 843-acre park would also become.

I’ve been to Central Park many times, sometimes as a destination in its own right; at others en route to somewhere else. Each time I enjoy the sense of peace and of getting away from it all. But that’s not all there is to the park – there’s also plenty of entertainment. On my first ever trip there from England, one cold February, I watched as roller skaters made the park their own, seemingly unaffected by the near freezing temperatures. On another, I walked by the water and enjoyed the view. On yet another, I saw break dancers, jugglers and other entertainers giving impromptu performances And on one memorable trip, I saw art hanging from the lamp posts – it was quite spectacular.

On this last trip, I was introducing my daughter to Central Park. (She’d been before, but as a baby, so she didn’t remember it.)  Her dad is a Beatles fanatic, so we went to Strawberry Fields, stood on the Imagine circle and sat for a moment and contemplated. (This was after we’d seen the Dakota building on the way in.) Then we took a stroll through the park and checked out the birds and turtles, before taking up another bench and enjoying the sunshine. We walked past a summer camp enjoying outdoor activities and saw lots of runners, skaters and cyclists. It was a fun, if low-key morning in a beautiful urban oasis.

Have you been to Central Park? What are your favorite Central Park experiences?

By the way, that was the last in a series of posts from my recent New York, New Jersey and Florida trip. Here are the others, in case you missed them:

• US Travel Experiences 2011
• Flying JetBlue – First Impressions
• Cab Drivers and Travel Food – More Travel Rants
• Ovi Maps in Action
• Are You Good Tugo?
• Inside Newark Airport (EWR)
• US Travel – 3 Things That Rock for Visitors
• American Museum of Natural History – New York Attractions
• Taking a Drive on the Wild Side

Image: Turtles in Central Park/courtesy Sharon Hurley Hall

Waiting area - Babcock Wilderness Adventure, Florida

One of the best tours we did on my recent trip to Florida also proved to be one of the hardest to get to. Remember I told you about the one time we didn’t use Ovi Maps? It was on that trip. We were trying to get to Babcock Wilderness Adventures to do an eco-tour, but although the directions said we should turn off onto State Road 31, that road was nowhere to be seen from the Interstate. We eventually caved in and phoned again, going the long way round. We also missed our lunchtime slot, putting our subsequent planned trip in jeopardy. That’s travel for you!

So when we finally got there, we were feeling tired and frustrated after all the driving. However, the atmosphere soon put us at ease. There were trees everywhere, with little huts we could explore. As we had time to kill before the next tour, we had a look round the shop and checked out the exhibits. One of the most striking of these was Lulu the three horned cow, who had caused quite a sensation in her day, but now exists as a mounted head. Spooky!

Impressive Horns - Babcock Wilderness Eco-Tour, Florida

Exhibits seen, we sat in the shade and waited for our bus to arrive. Titled the tour buggy, it was an old school bus repainted in camouflage colors, and with very little in the way of suspension, if the bouncing around was anything to judge by. Our tour guide was a Floridian who originally hailed from the South and whose singsongy voice talked us through the 90 minute tour.

I really enjoyed riding through the cypress forests,  spotting birds and wildlife, seeing long horned cows that looked like something out of a Western and trying to spot the gators. There was even a panther (safely behind bars) and the chance to stretch our legs on a short walk through the forest.

Baby gator - Babcock Eco-Tour, FL

Since the gators were a little bit shy, our tour guide gave us the chance to stroke a baby alligator on our return. It was hard to tell whether the other members of the tour were enthralled or appalled, but some of us had a go. The gator’s skin was surprisingly smooth and cool to the touch.

Overall, I would say the Babcock Wilderness Eco-Tour is well worth doing. The guides know what they’re talking about (ours was a riot) and the location is beautiful. Highly recommended.

The American Museum of Natural History is somewhere I’ve been meaning to go to for a while, and with my daughter finally at the age  (8) where a visit to a museum could be interesting rather than torture, we decided to go for it on our recent trip to New York.

With 5 floors (there’s an exhibition space on the lower level where all the food outlets are), it’s a lot to cover and on reflection we probably needed more time than we had allocated.

Dinosaurs!

Some mighty big bones!

Once we’d decided on the temporary exhibits we wanted to see (more on those later), we headed straight for the fourth floor fossil halls to check out the dinosaur skeletons. Blown away doesn’t begin to cover our amazement as we saw fossils of all shapes and sizes, together with information panels and touch screens to help us get the most of the information. The evolutionary timelines were fascinating, though in my opinion it was hard to top the grandeur of the T Rex. My second favorite fossils? The majestic mammoths, of course, and not just because I’m a huge fan of Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series. To top off the dinosaur overload, we headed downstairs to check out the World’s Largest Dinosaurs exhibit and get hands-on with some huge sauropods. Great presentations and interactive stations made this a hit with the whole family. It’s open till January, so there’s still time to visit if you haven’t seen it.

Dioramas – Not My Cup of Tea

We also had a quick look at the dioramas, some of which were great, though the stuffed animals creeped me out a bit. It turned out that my daughter felt the same about the stuffed birds and other animals in the Hall of North American Birds, so we skated on by those to look at primates, reptiles and amphibians. I don’t know why, but I found I could handle the idea of stuffed crocodiles and gators much better. Next, we headed to the food court to choose among the wide range of options and managed to find a seat in a far corner. (Note to self: next time, don’t visit in August!)

Inside the Brain

Lunch over, it was time to head to our next pre-booked exhibit – Brain: The Inside Story. This was a fascinating exhibit with videos and interactive stations covering all aspects of brain function. It started with a bang as we walked through a hall simulating the firing of synapses in the brain, then we saw brain scans, checked out neurons, examined language and saw a presentation showing how the various parts of the brain worked together. It was excellent!

By the time that was over, we’d been at the museum for several hours and had started to run out of steam, so we opted to miss out on the Frogs: A Chorus of Colors exhibit and head home. As you can see, we barely covered a third of what was on offer, but you have to be selective to avoid brain overload. Next time, I’ll get there earlier so I can check out some of the permanent exhibits we missed as well as any new special exhibitions. Having been there, the American Museum of Natural History is firmly on my list of top New York attractions.

By Mike Hill

St. Augustine is the ideal destination for tourists who love to learn about early American history as well as enjoy beautiful beaches on this choice strip of northeast Florida coast. From its quaint restaurants to its historical sites, St. Augustine has something interesting for the entire family, and is an ideal vacation destination.

St. Augustine History and Points of Interest

Founded in 1565 by the Spaniard Pedro Menendez de Aviles, St. Augustine is the oldest European-established city and port in the continental United States. Through the centuries, it was also controlled by the French and English, who left a rich historical legacy. Modern-day St. Augustine still reflects its heritage in many well-preserved Spanish colonial buildings from the 19th century.

For history lovers, a visit to St. Augustine must begin with a trip to the Castillo de San Marcos. The original construction of this fort began in 1672 by the Spanish, and one refurbished section of the city wall remains. The fort also gives visitors the chance to see arms and armaments from the 16th century, such as cannons. The fort is available for tours every day of the year except Christmas, and has a minimal entrance fee.

Numerous other historical attractions are to be found in St. Augustine, from the Fountain of Youth to Fort Mose and the famous Lighthouse. There are many historical attractions for children as well, such as the Black Raven Pirate Ship and the Old Jail. This region of Florida is a history buff’s dream, and all of the sites are located in or around the city, so that the whole family can enjoy sightseeing, shopping, and fine dining during their trip.

Beaches and Accommodations

St. Augustine has many beaches renowned for their beauty and family-friendly convenience. Crescent Beach on Anastasia Island is in a wildlife refuge, utterly unspoiled and pristine. South Ponte Vedra is known for golf, while North (Usina) Beach is more remote. Vilano Beach is a wonderful destination for the whole family, boasting a fishing pier, watercraft rentals, and parks. And St. Augustine Beach on Anastasia Island offers a pavilion, a fishing pier, and more.

St. Augustine’s beaches attract many visitors year-round, and so it is easy to rent a vacation rentals home in St Augustine Beach. Beachfront, ocean view, and beach neighborhood locations are all available, with condos and houses of all sizes. Whatever your travel itinerary, budget, or sightseeing plans, you can find the ideal beach rental for your perfect St. Augustine vacation!

(Photo: AnneDalles)