USA Travel Guide

You suffered the lines, you tolerated the delays and you managed to escape the traffic. It’s finally turkey time!

At USA Travel Guide, we’re fully expecting our Thanksgiving coma to spill over into Friday. Please forgive our gluttony and await our lethargic return on Monday, the first of December.

Travelers, may your skies be clear, and happy holidays to all!

USA Travel Guide is launching a series dedicated to great American food destinations, be they states, cities, hotels, bed and breakfasts or even individual restaurants. Considering our holistic approach to the travel experience, it seems only natural that we bust open this one element of any trip that most travelers let mire in mediocrity.

(Besides, it’s almost Turkey Day, what better time to talk food?)

If you’ve heard someone complain about the food on whatever trip he or she took, he or she no doubt blamed the restaurant or the staff or the lack of standards or whichever excuse, but we’re willing to bet that 9 times out of 10 the traveler his or herself is really at fault. It’s no wonder, either. If you don’t know how to have a good experience, you’re likely to have a bad one.

How do you know? Well, there is a piece of advice I roll around in my brainpan while traveling that’s always served me well. I’ve mentioned it before, and will no doubt do so again: when in doubt, do as the locals do. This couldn’t me more true than when it comes to deciding what to eat in an unfamiliar place. In fact, it could even guarantee your safety.

Did you know that most cases of food-borne illness during international travel are actually contracted at tourist-driven eateries? It’s true! Why? Because tourist traps aren’t dependant on repeat customers. It doesn’t matter if you get sick, because you won’t be back the next week. Thus, the standards start to slouch.

Local joints, on the other hand, depend on the repeat business of local residents. If a bunch of people get sick, the restaurant proprietor could be out of a job. Like any other local business person, he or she has an incentive to protect the customers, and that means not feeding them rotten food.

This is why the stranger danger associated with street vendors is way overblown, and also why that “American”-themed restaurant next to all the hotels has done more than enough to keep the Pepto flying off the shelf.

Join us on Monday, won’t you, for a series in which we do food the right way. No tummy aches, guaranteed.

From the word “go” (heck, from before the word “go”), the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago’s famous Grant Park was a monstrously ambitious project. Contributing $3 million of his own money (roughly 35 million by today’s standards), capitalist and philanthropist John Shedd envisioned an aquatic ecological attraction like the world had never seen, and indeed, it hadn’t.

When the aquarium opened in 1930, it was the largest in the world, a title it held onto for decades. Amazingly, Shedd Aquarium has continued to grow and today is nearly double that original size.

A consistent favorite among aquarium-lovers of all ages, the Shedd Aquarium is now home to 32,500 animals from the world over. Be sure to stop by “Waters of the World” to see Granddad, the longest living fish of any aquarium in history. A rather charming, if lazy, Australian lungfish, Granddad is at least 80 years old and possibly much older, with no indication of going anywhere soon.

Adult passes run around $18. Find out more here.

For Chicago hotels, try the Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Downtown / Magnificent Mile Hotel (say that five times fast!). It’s located near the aquarium along with most anything else you’d want to do in Chicago.

Or, for a more traditional Windy City experience, consider the Silversmith Hotel & Suites. Located in a restored Jeweler’s Row landmark from the 1890s, this luxury Chicago hotel offers a historic taste of the city with a convenient location only a block off from the Magnificent Mile.

I have to admit, I’ve got a thing for ghosts. While the rest of the country is watching America’s Funniest Home Videos, I’m watching Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi.

I especially like ghost and haunted history tours. For one thing, they’re fun and usually family-friendly, but more importantly, they offer a one-of-a-kind perspective on the city or town they explore. Just think about it: the overblown tourist traps of most cities are so rote, so produced, so canned that you can hardly in good conscience call them attractions. More like work, if you ask me.

On the other hand, a spooky nighttime ghost tour is a sneak peak into the soul of a place. Sometimes it’s the haunting stories of past residents, sometimes it’s just the way the otherwise normal buildings seem to churn with menace in the nighttime glow. Either way, ghost tours are a great opportunity to experience a city, and high quality ghost tours are becoming more and more prominent, so I thought I’d take this moment to share a favorite: the New Orleans Haunted History Tours.

Declared the “#1 Tour in New Orleans” by the Travel Channel and featured on countless others, the Haunted History Tours Company is the leading authority on ghosts, vampires, voodoo and all the other creepy comings and goings of The Big Easy. Their daytime tours are full of academic goodness, but if you can only choose the one, wait for the official French Quarter Ghost Tour, departing twice nightly.

And don’t forget your camera!

Two exciting hotel options for you in the French Quarter:

A candidate for hauntings itself, the Chateau LeMoyne is a historic New Orleans hotel with architecture dating back to 1847.

Among French Quarter hotels, we also like the Holiday Inn New Orleans – French Quarter for its inexpensive accommodations and standard Holiday Inn perks.

Get hunting, travel fans!

When we began this little adventure of ours into holiday getaways that are more sand than snow, I explained that I got the idea from the trailer for the upcoming movie Four Christmases, where a couple tries to avoid their family over the holidays by going to Fiji. Now, I’ve mentioned some great beachfront locales, from Santa Monica to Hollywood to the oft overlooked Dana Point, but I don’t known if I’ve done the utter escape of something like Fiji justice.

At the moment I can’t help you with Fiji exactly, but if you are looking for that kind of experience, I believe coastal Mexico will more than satisfy.

May I therefore recommend the Hilton Los Cabos, easily a favorite among Mexico luxury resorts.

A magnificent resort by any measure, the Hilton Los Cabos’ claim to fame is exclusive walk-up access to the only swim-safe beach in the Los Cabos corridor, the 30 km stretch along the western Mexican Baja between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo.

This alone makes it a natural choice for beach-bound getaways at any time of year, but the real benefit to acting now is the off-season discounts. View their Mexico vacation specials here. Make no mistake, this is a high-end resort, and you will pay for it, but reserve this winter for an unforgettable holiday vacation and you’ll pay a lot less for the exact same trip.

Affordable luxury – now that’s something we can get behind!

We’ll get through this series on beachfront getaways for the holidays yet!

Approaching the northern border of where you’d reasonably want to spend mid-December, you know, outside, Cocoa Beach ranks up there among the top family getaway destinations in the nation, and during the winter holidays it doesn’t lose a single candela of its luster.

We like Cocoa Beach for its variety, among other things. Located on sunny Florida’s western coast near name attractions like Port Canaveral, the Kennedy Space Center and the magnanimous Walt Disney World, this is another options-open choice for couples, families and even extended families.

The beach itself is a principal attraction, and with highs in the low seventies during November and December, you can look forward to perfect lounge weather. Stout-hearted surfers will take to the cold-water waves like bacon to my double-cheeseburger, but regular folks will do better on the shore. Be sure to bring a book, laptop, working draft of that next bestseller – whatever works for you.

For Cocoa Beach hotels, check out the Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach Resort. It’s located on the ocean and offers incredibly low wintertime prices; as low as $69 dollars on select nights. Pet and kid-friendly, too.

More to come…

At USA Travel Guide we’re committed to the sustainability and prosperity of the American hospitality, travel and tourism industries. Critical to this goal is the support of hotels, resorts and attractions that have embraced green initiatives at any scale, and we hope to highlight example-setters on a regular basis.

That’s why we couldn’t be happier to see that Holiday Inn Orlando Hotel – International Drive is going green. Not only has the property officially become a “Green Certified Hotel” under the regulation of the Florida Green Lodging Program (more about that here), it has enacted extensive recycling, water conservation and energy conservation efforts. It’s even in the process of debuting all-organic catering menus. Awesome!

One important misconception to field about green lodging is that it’s purely some philanthropic, ethical endeavor (though it’s that, too). Truth is, green hotels make more money in the long run because their practices are not as adversely affected by world events. In addition, several green hotels working in tandem can boost the travel prestige of a given destination, resulting in increased traffic and revenue at that destination. Better for the planet, better for the hotels – this is the very definition of a win-win.

And this isn’t something that’s going away. This will only grow truer and truer as the months and years pass.

We salute the Holiday Inn Orlando Hotel – International Drive and can only hope the other hotels in Orlando, Florida follow suit.

This year we’re hitting the beach for the holidays; check here to find out why.

As a beachfront vacation destination, West Palm Beach, Florida has a lot to admire, the least of which is the veritable smorgasbord of outdoor delights, but for the true resort aficionado, the place to be is Singer Island. The ace up the Palm Beach’s sleeve, Singer Island is the kind shimmering perfection that becomes a resort virtually the moment it’s populated.

In fact, that’s exactly what Paris Eugene Singer, son of sewing machine industrialist Isaac Singer, had planned for the place when it was named for him in 1906.

The holidays are traditionally about spending time with family, and Singer Island is rich with family-friendly adventures that are guaranteed to bring everyone together in a spirit of fun and excitement. Outdoor enthusiasts in particular may want to eye Singer Island carefully when choosing their beach-bound holiday getaway. From snorkeling to horseback riding to sightseeing, it’s all here.

For West Palm Beach Hotels on Singer Island, we like the Hilton Singer Island Oceanfront Resort. Rife with upscale resort-style amenities, it’s a good choice for family getaways and even holiday party planning.

More to come…

I wouldn’t be a very good Dallasite if I didn’t jump on the opportunity to spread the word about the Fort Worth Zoo. Yeah, yeah, there’s a zoo in Dallas, too, but any local will tell you that it’s worth the extra time (and gas money) to make the trek out to the one in Fort Worth.

The recipient of considerable acclaim from magazines, newspapers, consumer guides and popularity polls, the Fort Worth Zoo is a DFW landmark. Founded in 1909 with a collection of less than ten animals, the zoo today houses thousands of critters across 300+ unique species. The Herpetarium, the building housing the reptile and amphibian collections, is of special note as one of the largest in the United States.

Because Texans enjoy celebrating nothing if not the sheer awesomeness of Texas, one of the most extensive exhibits at the Forth Worth Zoo is Texas Wild! As the zoo itself puts it, “Texas Wild! tells the tale of a state equal to its boasting!” Throughout this generous exhibit, the profound diversity of Texas flora and fauna is put on full display in a community of paddocks built around a Texas town designed with the look and feel of the turn of the century (the 20^th century, that is). From the General Store to the leaky wooden water tower, it’s just a fun place to be.

Read more about the Forth Worth Zoo here.

Now, you could stay in Forth Worth as well, but truth is I wouldn’t recommend it. Unless we’re talking one-day trip, you’d be better served by staying in Dallas proper where, forgive me, the action is. So, for Dallas, TX hotels we like the Holiday Inn Dallas Market Center Hotel. Convenient location, free airport shuttle, fancy on-site coffee bar – it’s got what you need.

Jump back to the beginning of our blasphemous “holidays on the beach” series here.

At this point, we’ve given the West Coast its fair share of the spotlight, and it seems only appropriate that the East Coast should have its day in the warm tropical sun. The eastern seaboard is certainly home to dozens of fantastic beaches, even as far up as Maine if you can believe it, but this being a wintertime feature, we’ll stick to the far southeast, i.e. Florida.

Even without the glitz and glamour of LA’s most famous neighborhood, the name “Hollywood” would still be a staple of American travel thanks to the waterfront paradise of Hollywood, Florida. This fanciful destination, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, is cut between the beachfront and a tranquil intracoastal waterway, creating some breathtaking views virtually anywhere you stay.

If beach lounging is your thing, you’ll find plenty to enjoy in Hollywood, but in truth this is such a dynamic destination it would be a shame not to get some more out of it. Local cuisine is a spicy, flavorful gestalt of Caribbean, Asian, South American and American influences, something that can be enjoyed in both the finest restaurant and the humblest beachside stand.

For the truly adventurous, rent a boat for Christmas day and open presents out in the ocean. Believe me, you won’t be the only one.

Our favorite Hollywood Beach, Florida hotel is the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach. Luxurious accommodations and a beach right across the street tend to win us over

More to come…