If you think that you can explore all or even one half, or one quarter, of the United States in a single trip, you’d be wrong. It’s an enormous country that is best experienced in modest sized slices. On the eastern side of the nation, you can get a taste of New England by dining on lobster in Maine, or pour Vermont maple syrup over your pancakes. Along that coast are dynamic cities like New York and we Irish love the Big Apple for its shopping bargains and Broadway shows. If you head south, you’ll be getting into real Southern culture – pecan pie, mint juleps, and stately plantation houses– before hitting Florida, the land of Mickey Mouse, hot Miami nightlife, departing cruises, and sprawling white sand beaches.
Some visitors think the west is best. Seattle is known as a rebellious city, creating trends and then throwing them aside. It helped grow North America’s coffee obsession and introduced grunge rock to the world. Farther south, there are the Rocky Mountains, the Nevada desert and its oasis, Las Vegas, then over to cowboy culture in Texas, before reaching California with the glitz of Hollywood and Los Angeles, plus the bohemian feel of San Francisco. In between, it’s flat plains, rolling badlands, lowlands, picturesque lakes, forests, and must-see cities like New Orleans and Chicago, where architectural gems fill the skyline.
<div class="subhead"><h2>Why you should go:</h2></div>
Everyone should own a pair of monogrammed Mickey Mouse ears from Disney World.
Shopping is a national pastime, with one of the world’s biggest shopping malls, The Mall of America (with 4.2 million square feet) in Minnesota.
The diversity of cultures, landscape, and natural beauty is so expansive that it’s impossible to see it all. You’ll have to visit more than once!
LAS VEGAS - "Viva Las Vegas"
Sunday 12th February 2006
Travel Counsellor: Aidan Murray
Las Vegas justifiably deserved its name as the ‘gambling capital’ of the world – it is 24 hour round-the-clock gambling from the ‘slots’ to the ‘tables’ to the ‘poker schools’ to the TV Sports Bar where you can bet on any ‘live’ sporting event happening anywhere around the world.
Things however have changed considerably over the last few years. It is now the fastest growing city in the USA and as a result there is a lot more to Las Vegas than just gambling. It has now established itself as one of the worlds top Convention Centres. But as a golf ‘buff’ I was delighted to have the opportunity to sample a few of their superb golf courses, of which there are over 80 within an hour and a half drive of the ‘strip’. The 54-hole Paiute Complex built on a former Indian reservation is the most impressive and difficult, although PGA Canyons is not too far behind.
Anyone who has been to Las Vegas or seen the movie will be familiar with the ‘neon-lighted’ offers of “eat as much as you like for... view full story
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