Reflections of Travel to the United States

As a four-decade Certified Travel Agent, international airline employee, researcher, writer, teacher, and photographer, travel, whether for pleasure or business purposes, has always been a significant and an integral part of my life. Some 400 trips to every portion of the globe, by means of road, rail, sea, and air, entailed destinations both mundane and exotic. This article focuses on those in the United States.

New York:
Originally accessed by Floyd Bennett Field–New York’s first municipal airport–Manhattan, experienced from the water with island-circling boat cruises, was channeled through its museum, theater, and restaurant arteries, and from the heights of its Empire State Building and no-longer existence World Trade Center. It became the threshold to its Lower-, Mid-, and Upper-Hudson Valleys, which were characterized by Bear Mountain, West Point, the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, the vintage aircraft Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, dinners in the Culinary Institute of America, plays at the Rhinebeck Center for the Performing Arts, and visits to the Hudson River School of Painters venues. Continue reading

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotels in Houston, Texas

Key historical events date back to InterContinental hotels. The Willard D.C. has been at the centre of political life in Washington since 1818. The first example of the Grand Hotel, Amstel Amsterdam (pictured above) reflects palatial luxury on the Amstel River. Located in the 9th arrondissement, Paris Le Grand is a stunning example of Napoleon’s love of grandeur. Wherever you travel, there’s a story to tell. Continue reading