As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, Virginia’s Colonial Williamsburg—a living history museum preserving part of the historic section of Williamsburg—turns 100, with special events scheduled all year.
COOLinary celebration featuring special discounted dining deals all month at some of the city’s finest restaurants.
The historic Ybor City section of Tampa, Florida, has been home for more than 120 years to Florida’s oldest restaurant. Founded in 1903 as a saloon, the Columbia Restaurant opened its doors in 1905 and hasn’t looked back. Today, it occupies 52,000 square feet—an entire city block—and can serve 1,700 diners in its fifteen dining rooms. The statistics combine to give it the title of world’s biggest Spanish restaurant.
Pensacola, Florida, is home to Lily Hall, a luxury boutique hotel housed in an historic Baptist church. Located at 415 N. Alcaniz Street in the Old East neighborhood, the building was once Mt. Olive Baptist Church. After Hurricane Ivan ravaged the area in 2004, the building sat vacant until it was purchased and painstakingly renovated by Nashville-based Stahlman Hospitality.
Bayou la Batre, Alabama, located on the waters of the Mississippi Sound, has a long history of reliance on the bounty of the water for its fishing and shrimping industry. Since 1949, the little fishing village has held a springtime Blessing of the Fleet on the dock at St. Margaret Parish to ask for a bountiful harvest and protection for those about to go out into the Gulf.
Bellingrath Gardens and Home, a slice of paradise near Mobile, Alabama, includes 900 acres along the Fowl River. Sixty-five cultivated acres bloom year round and in springtime are a riot of azaleas.
The nation’s second-oldest operating race track has a new look for its 154th racing season. Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, located in New Orleans, is Louisiana’s premiere racing venue.
Travelers looking for a convenient way to sample the best of Mardi Gras along the Gulf Coast now have the option of train travel, courtesy of Amtrak Mardi Gras Service which links Mobile, Alabama, with New Orleans. The four-hour ride also stops in Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Bay St. Louis. Twice-daily service caters to travelers with free Wi-Fi, power outlets and cafe service featuring Gulf Coast menu items. Pets up to 20 pounds are welcome.
Indianola, Mississippi, is the closest town to the rural Mississippi Delta area where the great blues musician B. B. King was born. It’s the home of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, honoring King’s life and musical legacy.
Just an hour north of Atlanta, Barnsley Resorts’ 3,000 acres offers a magical winter escape featuring more than a million twinkling lights. Holiday dining is available at Chef Shaun Doty’s newest restaurant, Jules. There’s plenty to do here. Holiday activities include a Merry Mahjong Retreat, surprise deliveries from Holly the Elf, and the Barnsley Resort Holiday Train.
Beginning November 15, The North Carolina Arboretum will host the United States premiere of Trolls: A Field Study, an internationally-acclaimed interactive outdoor art exhibition featuring twelve whimsical trolls sculpted from reclaimed materials
This October 23-27, the New Orleans Film Society presents the New Orleans Film Festival, showcasing more than 130 films in competition. A new three-year partnership with Presenting Sponsor Andscape, the Black-led media platform under The Walt Disney Company and ESPN, kicks off with an exclusive screening of Andscape’s newest original scripted feature STAY, a supernatural thriller.
Virginia’s Lynnhaven River was once famed for having the best-tasting oysters in the world.
The Buffalo National River, located in northwestern Arkansas, was designated as our first National River in 1972. Today the river runs free for 135 miles as the centerpiece of approximately 95,000 acres of Ozark wilderness designated as a national park. The river shares the park with Rocky Mountain elk, introduced in the 1980s, black bear and white tailed deer. This area has been inhabited for some 10,000 years; the Tyler Bend Visitors Center includes exhibits on Native American people as well as later pioneer homesteads and the Boxley Grist Mill.
Ocean Springs, Mississippi, is home to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art.
