Be Careful Where You Tie Up Your Giraffe
Whatever you do, don’t eat rattlesnake meat in public in Kansas. Or break more than three dishes a day in Florida. Or shoot open a can of food in Indiana.
At last look, all of those heinous activities were against the law in their respective states, according to “Loony Laws & Silly Statutes,” a book by Sherry Lindsell-Roberts. Here are more illegal - and shocking - practices:
Tying a giraffe to a telephone pole in Atlanta.
Fishing in your pajamas in Chicago.
Biting your landlord in Rumford, Maine.
Opening a restaurant in Connecticut without nose-blowing and non-nose-blowing sections.
Throwing a knife at anyone wearing a striped suit in Natoma, Kan.
Riding down the street on an ugly horse in Wilbur, Wash.
And, horror of horrors, entering a theater in Gary, Ind., within four hours of eating garlic.
Top vacation choices
Where would you like to go in the U.S. on your summer vacation? Here are the top choices of 1,500 travelers for 1997, as reported by the Travel Industry Association of America: 1) Florida, 34 percent; 2) California, 28 percent; 3) Hawaii, 17 percent; 4) (tie) Nevada and New York, 12 percent; 6) Colorado, 9 percent; 7) (tie) Arizona and Texas, 7 percent; 9) (tie) Washington, D.C., and Alaska, 6 percent.
Southwest rated No. 1
Southwest Airlines was rated No. 1 for the second consecutive year in a recent survey of domestic airlines. American Airlines finished second, followed by United Airlines.
The survey, conducted by Wichita State University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, rates airlines in 19 categories, including on-time arrival records, customer complaints, accident records and financial health.
It ranked the nine major United States airlines in the following order: Southwest, American, United, Delta, Continental, Northwest, US Airways, America West and Trans World Airlines.
These airlines, however, fared poorly in a Zagat survey of travelers’ perceptions of 61 carriers from around the world. American ranked 28th, while United was 31st, followed immediately by Delta. Northwest was 39th, followed by TWA at 48 and Continental at 49. US Airways ranked 52nd.
Singapore Airlines topped the list for the fourth consecutive year. Russia’s Aeroflot was rated the worst.
Weekend jaunts up
Weekend trips now account for more than half of all U.S. travel, according to the Travel Industry Association of America. The group said the number of weekend jaunts (defined as stays of one to five nights) grew 70 percent over the past decade, while America’s adult population grew only 10 percent.
Golf aboard!
In the competition for bigger and better, the Grand Princess, for now the world’s largest ship at 935 feet long, includes a virtual reality center, five pools, and a nine-hole putting green and computerized golf center.
Princess Cruises will take possession of the 3,300-passenger vessel next year.
Meanwhile, the president of Royal Caribbean Cruises told shareholders in Miami that the line’s newest ship, a 3,100-passenger vessel under construction, would be equipped with a golf course and the industry’s first ice-skating rink. That ship is scheduled to begin cruises in 1999.
Pyramid closed
The smallest of the three great pyramids at Giza, on the edge of Cairo, has been closed for restoration and installation of a ventilation system.
Work on the Mycerinus pyramid is expected to take about six months. The restoration will repair damage from humidity caused by the exhalations of thousands of visitors.
The other two pyramids, Cheops and Chephren, have undergone similar work in recent years.
Test-drive a Rover
So you’ve got a four-wheel-drive vehicle but are a little wary about what it would actually be like to drive in off-road conditions? Perhaps a day or two at the Equinox resort’s Land Rover Driving School in Manchester, Vt., would be in order.
Lessons start at $120 per person for a one-hour, personalized session. A 1-1/2-hour session for two people costs $210.
An overnight package for two, including a one-hour lesson, a two-hour trail ride, and one night at the resort goes for $664. Participants use the resort’s vehicles. Details: (800) 362-4747.