Roadtripping

A bid to restore Ken Kesey's psychedelic bus

It was perhaps the most famous road trip since Jack Kerouac’s: An old bus with a psychedelic paint job, a jug of LSD-laced juice, the author of “Once Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in charge, and Kerouac’s driver at the wheel.

It’s been 49 years since Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters made the trip from California to New York. Kesey died in 2001; the bus has been rusting away in Oregon. But now his family wants to restore the bus in time for next summer's 50^th anniversary of the trip, which was featured in the Tom Wolfe book "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test."

 “The bus is essentially the best icon of the `60’s,” his son, Zane Kesey, told the Associated Press. Read the full story here. 

Photo of Ken Kesey and his bus, "Further," in 1997, by Jeff Barnard/Associated Press.

 

Gas prices expected to be cheaper in 2013

Here’s good news for roadtrippers: Gasoline prices are forecast to be lower this year than in 2012. Not that $3.44 a gallon — the price predicted by the U.S. Department of Energy — is low. In fact, it would be the third-highest price ever. But it would be the lowest in four years and would save the average family $205. (Full story here.) So pull out those maps and start planning a road trip!

Roadtrippers: Use Florida SunPass to pay tolls in North Carolina

Here's good news for roadtrippers in Florida and North Carolina: Starting in July, the transponder you use to automatically pay tolls in your home state will also work in the other state. That means that when I make my annual fall road trip to Asheville, N.C., I can pay North Carolina tolls with my SunPass. More information here.

Holiday road trips

Who’s hitting the road for the holidays? Just about everybody, apparently. AAA predicts that a record 84.4 million people will take a driving trip of at least 50 miles between Dec. 22 and Jan. 1. Read the full story here.

Statue of Liberty closed indefinitely due to storm damage

If you're planning a trip to New York that includes Ellis Island or the Statue of Liberty, you may want to hold off on the trip. The National Park Service took journalists on a tour of Liberty Island Friday and pointed out extensive damage done by Superstorm Sandy. Most of the island was under water, some parts as much as much as 8 feet deep. The statue itself wasn't damaged -- nor were artifacts on neighboring Ellis Island -- but clean-up of the grounds is going to require so much work that the National Park Service won't estimate when the sites will reopen. Read the full story here. 

Tourist attractions starting to reopen in storm's aftermath

Along the East Coast, all major airports have reopened, although flights are still being cancelled. Museums, theaters, tour buses and other tourist attractions that were closed by the superstorm are starting to reopen. Here’s a story about air travel. And following is a list, far from comprehensive, of what’s open and closed. Thanks to the Associated Press for much of the information.

In Manhattan, most Broadway shows were playing again. The Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum, Empire State Building, Top of the Rock and Rockefeller Plaza ice rink were open. Circle Line boats were operating again.

City parks, including Central Park, were expected to reopen Saturday. The 9/11 Memorial was closed but not damaged.

Ellis Island, site of the newly reopened Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island were closed after suffering severe water damage.

Elsewhere in New York City: Parts of the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx had reopened. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden was expected to reopen on Friday. The aquarium on the Coney Island Boardwalk was closed indefinitely. In Queens, much of the Rockaway Beach boardwalk was destroyed.

In Newport, Rhode Island, about half of the Cliff Walk was closed because of extensive damage but the historic mansions along the walk did not suffer serious damage.

In Seaside Heights, New Jersey, the waterfront rides on Casino Pier are gone and the boardwalk was destroyed.

In Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Institution's museums and National Zoo  reopened.

In Atlantic City, N.J., the casinos, although largely unharmed, remained closed.

After Sandy: dealing with flight cancellations

Hurricane Sandy has had such a huge impact on travel that it has been the focus of most travel stories the last few days. I've been posting updates on the Herald's website here. I just posted some tips on how to handle flight cancellations; check out the story here. 

Happy ending for rescued manatee

This morning, SeaWorld’s Animal Rescue Team returned Goodby, an adult male manatee, to Goodby Creek near Jacksonville. Goodby was rescued due to cold stress in March 2012 from Goodby Creek and had seven months of rehabilitation at SeaWorld. The return of the manatee, who weighs almost 1,000 pounds, was coordinated with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and Sea2Shore alliance, which tagged Goodby for future tracking.

Photo credit: SeaWorld Orlando

A $442 ride in a pedicab?

OK, maybe it is a little hokey, but why not take a tour of New York’s Central Park by pedicab? Here’s why not: because some drivers apparently use their own math rules to calculate the fare. That’s how a family of four — two kids sitting on their parents’ laps — got charged $442 for a 12-minute ride through Central Manhattan. It was the most outrageous example of what one councilman called the “predatory, deceptive practices” of some pedicab drivers — and it’s why the city is now looking at cracking down on the drivers. Read the full story here.

Photo credit: Mary Altaffer/Associated Press

27 places designated as U.S. historic landmarks

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday that it had designated 27 new sites as National Historic Landmarks, (including the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, above) bringing the total to about 2,500. The National Park Service, which administers the landmarks, defines them as “a historic building, site, structure, object or district that represents an outstanding aspect of American history and culture.”

I have to admit that I’m not clear on how significant it is to be granted landmark status. The vast majority of National Historic Landmarks are in private hands — less than 400 of the 2,500 are owned by the federal government. The main benefit is that it gives the owner access to grants, loans and tax incentives. The designation doesn't require that the landmark be open to the public, although some grants may. 

The states with the most landmark sites are New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts — New York alone has 266, more than 10 percent of the total. Florida, by contrast, has 43. The “landmark” designation also includes ships, shipwrecks and shipyards — about 135 of them.

There are also national monuments, historic parks, historic landmark districts, memorials, and several categories of battlefields — and then, of course, the National Register of Historic Places, which has more than 85,000 sites. The landmarks are included on the National Register, but the key difference is that the landmarks are of national significance, while most sites on the register are of state or local significance.

Here’s a story on the newly designated sites. If you’re interested in visiting historic sites, check out the National Park Service’s “Discover Our Shared Heritage: Online Travel Itineraries,” which suggest self-guided tours of historic places.

Photo credit: Deborah M. Baker/AP