The 102-year-old Mount Hood Railroad is offering scenic rail tours through Oregon’s Hood River Valley, with trips running two to four hours aboard the excursion train, dinner and brunch trains.
A new Friday night two-hour Wine Adventure Train features tastings of local wines and appetizers, with live music, comedy and magic.
Other special trains through the April to December season include the Murder Mystery Dinner trains, Western Train Robberies, Thomas the Tank Engine and The Polar Express.
The Mount Hood Railroad depot is one block from I-84 at exit 63 in Hood River, Ore. Fares vary, depending on the excursion, from $18 per person (Thomas the Tank Engine) to $80 per person on dinner trains. More information is at www.mthoodrr.com or 800-872-4661.
World War II Museum begins major expansion
The $300-million expansion of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans is under way.
The project, slated for completion by 2015, “will be a fitting monument to the sacrifices of a generation of Americans,” said Gordon Mueller, president and CEO of the museum.
The first two buildings in the expansion are scheduled to be open next year.
Plans call for an advanced format theater and a restaurant and entertainment venue dubbed the “Stage Door Canteen” to be constructed across the street from the popular museum. The expansion will eventually include seven buildings on six acres.
The 250-seat theater will present a signature film being developed in cooperation with Tom Hanks. It will feature what’s called a 4-D theater that will provide a “multi-sensory experience,” Mueller said.
The museum, called the D-Day Museum when it opened June 6, 2000, was designated by Congress as the official World War II Museum for the country in 2004 and subsequently changed its name.
Currently the museum is hosting a special exhibition called “Real to Reel: Hollywood and World War II,” through Aug. 31 with artifacts, images, movie posters and audiovisuals “from a time when Hollywood glamor merged with military grit,” as the museum’s promotional material for the exhibit put it. Details at www.nationalww2museum.org or 877-813-3329.
Top 10 city parks to visit in the West this spring
It’s the best of both worlds: outdoor green spaces and vibrant big cities. Sunset magazine has recommendations in its April issue for 10 places to enjoy springtime in the West without leaving civilization.
In Seattle, Carkeek Park has six miles of walking trails as well as views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
Forest Park is one of Portland’s outdoor gems, with 5,000 acres of woods, trails and scenic views of the mountains.
The jewel of Vancouver, B.C., is Stanley Park, where you’ll find woods, gardens, waterfront and cricket being played in the park’s Brockton Oval.
Golden Gate Park is a must-see in San Francisco, home to a bison herd, the Conservatory of Flowers and a Japanese tea house.
Other city with recommended parks are San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Calif., Phoenix, Denver, and Albuquerque, N.M.
W opens first European hotel in Istanbul
W is opening its first European hotel in Istanbul. The chain has 17 hotels in the U.S., including Seattle, and four others outside the U.S. — in Montreal, Mexico City, the Maldives and in Seoul, Korea. A number of Ws are under construction around the world, including in Minneapolis, Florida, China and Thailand.
The Istanbul hotel will open May 6 with 134 guest rooms, including 26 suites, a spa and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market restaurant.
The hotel is in a historic building near the Bosphorus Strait and the trendy Nisantasi neighborhood.
‘Good Morning America’ to name U.S. 7 wonders
ABC’s “Good Morning America” has assembled a panel of travel experts to name the seven wonders of the United States.
The destinations, which will include natural landmarks as well as manmade wonders, will be announced one at a time over the course of seven shows, with the first one airing May 5 and the final one airing May 13. Each show will include a segment about the wonder, reported live from the destination by one of the show’s anchors — Diane Sawyer, Robin Roberts, Chris Cuomo and Sam Champion — and three other ABC News anchors or correspondents.
Herald staff and Associated Press
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