Nickelodeon's New Indoor Theme Park Is the Biggest in the U.S.
Posted on 10/24/2019, 12:45 PM
The biggest indoor theme park in the United States opens in New Jersey this week. Nickelodeon Universe spreads across 8.5 acres and 35 rides and attractions, all related to the popular kids' TV network and all able to be enjoyed without such irritants as fresh air and sunshine.Features include the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles–inspired Shellraiser roller coaster along with live shows (and buckets of...
Royal Caribbean's Next Private Island Will Be in the South Pacific
Posted on 10/17/2019, 11:00 AM
Royal Caribbean announced plans this week for a new private island to be used exclusively by passengers of the company's cruise ships. Though such destinations are increasingly common among cruise lines in the Western Hemisphere—Royal Caribbean recently expanded its Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas—this upcoming island-sized attraction, scheduled for 2022, will be the first of its kind in the...
A Much-Needed New Hotel Opens on the Mississippi Blues Trail
Posted on 10/16/2019, 12:15 PM
This past summer, The Cotton House in Cleveland, Mississippi, opened as a major boutique-style hotel in the Mississippi Delta, a part of the country that hasn’t usually been strongly associated with full-service accommodation. Up to now, most road trippers on the Blues Trail, the world-famous music-and-history circuit around the birthplace of the blues, would usually need to make do with bland ...
Hanoi Removing Cafes from Narrow “Train Street” Due to Safety Concerns
Posted on 10/10/2019, 10:00 AM
What magical tourist attraction is Instagram ruining this week? The photogenic "train street" in Hanoi, where a single-track railway squeezes between makeshift cafes and other buildings in the Old Quarter of the Vietnamese capital. Local authorities have ordered those cafes lining the tracks to close by Saturday, according to VnExpress, following a close call last weekend. The train's operator h...
Howard Johnson Hotels Are Getting a Mid-Century Modern Makeover
Posted on 10/04/2019, 2:45 PM
Once-ubiquitous hotel chain Howard Johnson is getting its first major design makeover in 25 years. The refreshed look recalls HoJo's heyday in the 1950s and '60s, when the company was said to open a new motor lodge every two weeks and a new restaurant every nine days. The two halves of the business were eventually split, and hundreds of HoJo restaurants across the U.S. went kaput. The last holdout...
What to Expect at L.A.'s New, First-of-Its-Kind Cannabis Cafe
Posted on 10/01/2019, 7:30 PM
The USA's first restaurant where guests can openly consume cannabis debuts in Los Angeles this week. Operating under a new type of license issued by West Hollywood, Lowell Cafe lets you smoke marijuana inside the dining room—there's an air-filtration system, according to the Los Angeles Times—or out on the side patio. Aptly decorated with abundant greenery, the space employs pot sommeliers, dubbe...
No Men Allowed at This New Majorca Hotel
Posted on 10/01/2019, 7:00 PM
A hotel exclusively for women has opened on the Spanish island of Majorca. Located near Porto Cristo on the island's eastern coast, Som Dona Hotel has 39 rooms, a pool, a wellness spa, a rooftop terrace, and zero male guests (though you might see some men on staff, in keeping with Spain's laws against gender discrimination in employment). The modern property is reportedly the first of its kind in...
"Outsiders" Movie House Museum Opens in Tulsa
Posted on 09/30/2019, 3:45 PM
Fans of the 1983 movie adaption of The Outsiders can now visit the house in Tulsa that played the home where the Curtis Brothers lived. It’s the result of a project by film aficionado Danny Boy O’Connor, a founding member of the hip hop group House of Pain, who saw the film when he was a teenager and became a lifelong fan. In 2009, O’Connor traveled to Tulsa to perform a show at Cain’s Ba...
New Museums Explore Weimar Germany's Pivotal Role in 20th Century
Posted on 09/25/2019, 12:45 PM
Last month marked the 100th anniversary of when a national assembly was convened in Weimar in central Germany to write a new constitution for that country after its defeat in World War I. The shaky democracy that resulted, known as the Weimar Republic, lasted only 14 tumultuous years, leading to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933. A new history museum, the House of the Weimar Republic, tells th...
Budget XL Airways to Stop Operating Flights
Posted on 09/25/2019, 6:15 AM
XL Airways, a low-cost carrier based in France, has announced that it is ceasing operations. "Due to . . . financial difficulties," reads a message posted last week on the airline's website, "we are deeply sorry to have to announce that XL Airways is stopping selling tickets effective today, 19th September 2019." Launched in 1995 as Star Airlines, the company adopted the business model of chargin...
