New Orleans Tops Party-Town Survey
Are you ready to party? Then maybe you should head for New Orleans, which tops a survey by Weissman Travel Reports of the world’s best party towns. “No explanation needed,” says Arnie Weissman, editor of the trade publication. “There’s always a party going on.” Among other leading party places:
Amsterdam. There are bars and nightclubs galore. And marijuana is legal.
Rio de Janeiro. During Carnival, some participants wear intricate, spangled costumes. Others wear little indeed.
Las Vegas. If you hit it lucky when gambling, your partying will cost you nothing.
Newcastle, England. Says Weissman: “Countless pubs connect like shops in a mall.”
Vienna. During the ball season, almost everyone - be they cakemakers or chimney sweeps - throws a party. And most of those parties are open to the public.
Key West, Fla. Every beautiful sunset brings on a celebration. And the annual Fantasy Fest is the ultimate Halloween party.
In a name: There is a dining and drinking spot in Sarona, Wis., named the Three Little Pigs Restaurant and Swine & Dine Saloon. Among the items served are Chef’s Foolish Steer Steaks. The menu explains: “If the steer hadn’t been foolish, he wouldn’t be the chef’s steak!”
Heard it through the grapevine: The Motown sound is being amply represented both at the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
The Detroit museum is at the original home of Motown records, and is undergoing a $1.2 million renovation to re-create the look of the 1960s, when the joyful Motown sound exploded onto the music scene. Everything from shelves of reel-to-reel tapes to company founder Berry Gordy’s upstairs apartment is included.
In Dearborn, meanwhile, you’ll find “‘The Road to Motown,” a red-carpeted walkway lined with 1960s cars; “Inside Hitsville,” an activity area where visitors become producers, choreographers and disc jockeys; and “The Motown Heritage Walk,” presenting a timeline of images, artifacts and, of course, music.
For information on the Detroit site, call (313) 875-2264; for information on the Dearborn site, call (313) 271-1620.
Big spenders: Newlyweds fork over an average of $1,402 on honeymoons according to a recent Travel Industry Association of America survey.
That’s more than three times the average trip expenditure ($421) for all 1994 travelers.
Other findings: Younger honeymooners, age 18 to 24, spent more - $1,873 - than any other age group; and frugal New Englanders turned out to be the biggest spenders of all, at $2,151.
A new magazine, “Honeymoon,” offers three-times-yearly guidance on choosing a destination. Cost is $4.95 per issue or $11 for an annual subscription. Call (800) 513-7112.
Happy anniversary: He was a prince of a guy - Bonnie Prince Charlie, the romantic figure who still inspires devotion, especially in this 250th anniversary year of the Jacobite rebellion.
The prince is remembered in Scotland and England’s Border Country with exhibitions, historic re-enactments and more: at Culloden, Scotland, where he met defeat, in a show of arms and paintings at the visitor center (through Sept. 20, 1996); at the Glenfinnan Highland Games, and at the Bonnie Prince Charlie Festival in Derby, England, Nov. 27-Dec. 10.
A list of events appears in the British Tourist Authority’s free brochure, “Scotland: Where to Go & What to See.” Call (800) 462-2748.
In Jackie’s footsteps To follow the late First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s stylish footsteps in New York City, take “A Tribute to Jackie” walking tour.
A two-hour tour by Sidewalks of New York to her former Upper East Side haunts has been revamped a bit since her death - it now includes her funeral site - but you’ll still see the site of her former apartment; the residences of beau Maurice Tempelsman, sister Lee Radziwill and daughter Caroline; and her former bank, grocery and church.
The tour, which costs $10, meets daily in front of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum at 91st Street and Fifth Avenue, and reservations are not required. For a schedule of times, call (212) 517-0201.