Starling Travel

So many people say that exercise is something that they give themselves a break from during their vacation, but how about a different idea? How about a walking vacation? Wendy Bumgardner at About.com has the story:

• Top Walking Festivals for Spring Walking Vacations

She gives you all the basics: how to plan a walking vacation, how to pack for one and where to go. If you are sick of coming back from vacation with five pounds of extra weight, try something different instead. Plan a vacation where you lose five pounds instead!

Another great postcard from Brian D from his trip to Hawaii. The postcard reads:

02-21-07 Greetings!

Had a great trip!! Fun convertibles, wales breaching, monk seals sleeping, green sea turtle and even a boar among all the chickens! Off to San Fran for my birthday tomorrow.

Keep writing!
Brian D

Well, happy belated birthday, Brian, and thank you for the postcard!

When your town gets cold, show them what cold REALLY is: hold an Ice Sculpture Competition! Josh Leo reports on the Ice Sculpture Competition in Holland, Michigan.

• Wandering West Michigan » Blog Archive » Holland Ice Sculpture Competition

I love his questions:

“Have you ever thought about maybe going into a different type of sculpting instead of something where you are constantly freezing your butt off?”

“Well, actually, I prefer cake decorating.”

You can see more of Josh Leo’s videos featuring his home state here:

• Wandering West Michigan

If you thought traveling to Michigan in the middle of winter would be a bad idea, Josh has a whole bunch of ideas to keep you busy.

If you have ever wanted to own a piece of macabre history, now is the time to jump. For a mere $100,000,000, you can own Dracula’s Castle.

• ABC News: A House Tour of Dracula’s Castle

Well, it’s not really Dracula’s Castle, it turns out. It was never owned by Vlad the Impaler, although, he was imprisoned there for two weeks. I’ve stayed at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas for a total of several months. Does that make the Luxor Hotel the Moncur Mansion? I don’t think so.

More importantly, the castle was owned by the Romanian royal family until 1948 when it was seized by the Communists. Only recently, has it been returned to the rightful owners. They are now trying to sell it.

If you have ever considered traveling to Romania, putting this castle on your list of tours is a good idea, but you better make it quick before it is turned into a vampid tourist trap instead merely a vampire tourist attraction.

I never stayed at the Stardust hotel. I never even went inside it. I had a friend who used to swear by it, but now it is gone. You can see a film of the implosion here:

They have never blown up a hotel that I have stayed in. I live in fear for the day that they implode my beloved Luxor Hotel. I can’t bear to think about the beautiful black pyramid sinking into a heap of rubble and iron and broken glass. The way things are going, I can foresee it happening and I don’t want to think about it.

“Are you pinching pimples?”

“No..” I lied.

“Okay, it just got quiet in there…”

There is something about hotel room mirrors that creates a self loathing in me that devolves into pinching pimples on my face. They must use some sort of horrible lighting that makes every indication of a blemish look five times worse than the mirror in my bathroom at home.

Antelope Island is in the middle of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Every spring, Mike and I go up there to see if we can see baby seagulls. We’ve never seen them once, but bison, we’ve seen many times.

This photo from Ed Karjala on Flickr is more beautiful than I’ve ever seen Antelope Island. Click on the picture to see it full-sized on Flickr.

Take a five minute vacation from work and enjoy the view at Antelope Island.

Back in October, I received this postcard and promptly filed it away. I forgot to scan it in and post it here, but it’s here now!

The postcard reads:

“Walk on a glass bridge into the center of the world for a dazzling view of the Earth’s continents and oceans. A popular Boston attraction for over sixty years, the three-story Mapparium now includes light and sound presentations.”

The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity
200 Massachuesetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
617-450-700 * 888-222-3711 * www.marybakereddylibrary.org

This postcard was sent to me from my friend, Dylan, who moved to Boston several years ago. It was nice to hear from him!

For more information on the Mapparium in Boston, MA see their official website:

• The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity – Mapparium

Please send me a postcard from your travels or your hometown. If you do and it’s interesting, I will publish your postcard on Starling Travel.

Send your postcards to:

Starling Travel
Attention: Laura Moncur
P.O. Box 522032
Salt Lake City, Utah 84152

It’s like sending a postcard to the whole world when you go on vacation. It’s like bragging about your hometown to the everyone on the planet.

Ward went to Portland, Oregon and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. You can find out more about it here:

• The Ward-O-Matic: Portland

• Portland, Oregon slideshow from girlhula on Flickr

He is planning on moving there, but you get to see all the beautiful sights from a tourist AND soon-to-be-resident.

Real Live Preacher spent some time in Gordon, Georgia. He sampled the food and amused himself taking pictures of all the signs with his name plastered all over them. You can see his story here:

• Real Live Preacher – I’m Back

“You know how it is when you go out of town. Three days feels like 10 days, but the people back home have been living their normal lives. Three days feels like one day for them. ‘What, you were gone?’ Hell yes I was gone. Gone to Georgia. GORDON Georgia.”

Real Live Preacher long ago told us his name was Gordon, but it still feels funny to think of him with that name. Where is the city named after me?