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| Traveling
with Humpy |
 is a wonderful electronic
newsletter about vacation and
holiday ideas in the U.S. and around
the world -- with special Elvis
History Items featured throughout
the year. |
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The newsletter is written by
renowned scribe Paul Plawin, whose
articles have appeared in Better
Homes & Gardens, Southern
Living, Reader's Digest
and the Sun Features
newspaper syndicate. And it’s
only $12.95 a year! |
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Get on board for an
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Traveling
with Humpy |
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Iowa, USA |
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| Iowa, the
nation's leading pork producer, also
is home to some of America's most
interesting annual events that
attract travelers from afar. |
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| At
the National Skillet Throw in
Macksburg in June, five-person teams
of participants hurl 3-pound cast
iron skillets at stuffed, life-sized
dummies with the objective of
decapitating them. Ouch! Between
rounds there are a parade, dance and
flea market. |
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| In
July at the sprawling Iowa 80 Truck
Stop in Walcott is the annual
Walcott Truckers Jamboree, which
attracts drivers of all types of
rigs (even SUVs and pickups) to
compete in the Trucker Olympic
Games. There also is a Super Truck
Beauty Contest for elaborately
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| decorated rigs. Check out
the website, www.iowa80truckstop.com. |
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In
August the Annual National Hobo
Convention convenes by
the railroad tracks at Britt. A
subculture of folks who illegally
hitch rides on freight trains across
America come to celebrate their
lifestyle amidst lots of events,
including the crowning of a hobo
king and queen. |
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They've been doing this for
more than 100 years. You can
watch the festivities and wonder
what makes you different than them.
You can find even more events at the
website www.traveliowa.com. |
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Disney's Ft. Wilderness |
| At Walt Disney
World in Orlando, standard room
rates range from $74 to $104 a night
at the lowest priced Disney resort
hotels to $274 to $530 a night at
the deluxe facilities such as the
Polynesian. The bargains in the park
are at Disney's Fort Wilderness
Campground
-- even if you don't want to
"camp out." |
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campsite or RV hook-up site here is
$35 to $74 per night or you can rent
a cabin for $179 to $275 a night.
The advantage of Fort Wilderness is
that you have so many recreational
facilities at your beck and call --
canoeing, horseback riding,
bicycling, hiking, motor boating,
wind sailing, water-skiing. |
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You can grill out your meals in a
tranquil setting, pick up a take-out
meal or snacks at the deli or go for
a sit-down dinner in the chow hall.
Why, you might decide not to even
venture into the "theme
park" areas, such as the Magic
Kingdom or Epcot, although they are
just a monorail or bus ride away. |
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Golf Pebble Beach -
for $11! |
| The Monterey
Peninsula California has been called
the "world capital of
golf." To play a round on the
world renown Pebble Beach Golf Links
will set you back $320 plus cart. |
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But in the same neighborhood you can
play a lot more golf for a lot less
money. Monterey has 17 other
courses, some of which boast
spectacular ocean vistas on a par
with Pebble Beach's, and all of them
are less expensive and more
accessible to the average hacker. |
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At the venerable Del Monte Golf
Course, the first one built on the
peninsula, 100 years ago, you can
play 18 holes for $80 plus cart. At
beautifully
maintained public courses in
Monterey and Pacific Grove greens
fees start at $11 and $14. Seaside's
Bayonet and Black Horse courses,
said to rank with Pebble Beach in
degree of difficulty and water
views, charge as low as $35
plus cart at certain times.
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At Laguna
Seca Golf Club's Robert Trent Jones
course, the tab is $65 plus cart.
Also in this range are two Rancho
Canada golf courses in the sunny,
sheltered Carmel Valley. For golf
travel planning info visit www.GoMonterey.org. |
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Travel to Help
Others |
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Join former President
Jimmy Carter and others who spend
vacation weeks helping Habitat for
Humanity build and refurbish homes
for disadvantaged people. |
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There are many opportunities to
donate your time to doing good
works. For example, you could help
the poor and ill at a Mother Teresa
center in Calcutta, India. Help care
for children in Russian orphanages.
Assist in restoration of historic
buildings in southern France. Help
staff a health clinic in
Africa. Work at building and
restoring trails in America's
National Parks. |
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You can hook up to projects like
these through organizations such as
Habitat for Humanity, Earthwatch,
the Sierra Club, Global Volunteers
and Service Civil International, and
government and religious agencies
and institutions. Find out how to
contact them in Volunteer Vacations,
by Bill McMillon (Chicago Review
Press, paperback, $16.95). This guide
includes information on more than
300 groups and 2,000 projects, which
are indexed by location, cost,
duration (anywhere from one
afternoon to several months) and
season, with participants' essays
about their experiences. |
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Naja's Place, |
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Redondo Beach,
California
I wouldn't it more than a
"strange" for ambience,
but for its sheer quantity bravado,
brand choice excess,
bet-you-can't-try-them-all daring,
this hole in the wall bar on the
Redondo Beach Pier in Los Angeles'
South Bay area was a top find for
me. It had 77 different domestic and
foreign beers on tap, plus hundreds
of other brands in bottles, 375 or
777 in all, depending on who's
counting, at $5 a beer. Naja's
motto, "Life's too short to
drink cheap beer." |
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