Starling Travel

When Star Trek: The Experience closed at the Las Vegas Hilton last year, I grieved. Mike and I attended the last week they were open and took a ton of photos.

You can see the rest of them here:

• Star Trek: The Experience August 2008 - a set on Flickr

It looks like Star Trek: The Experience is coming back to Las Vegas.

• Has Neonopolis achieved liftoff? - Las Vegas Sun

Perhaps most impressive, the attraction called Star Trek: The Experience appears also to be coming to Neonopolis. Plans are to retrofit a large amount of space on the first floor to allow for rides, as well as a Trek-themed restaurant and museum.

• Confirmed: New contract to keep Star Trek The Experience alive in Vegas | SCI FI Wire

Journalist Mark Hansel, who writes for In Business Las Vegas, has seen the contracts signed by studio officials, Neonopolis owners and the city of Las Vegas. “I have seen the contract, and I know that the city redevelopment manager met with CBS officials in New York to seal the deal,” said Hansel, who has covered the downtown redevelopment for years for In Business and the Las Vegas Sun. “They are hoping that there will be some sort of premiere event at the time of the movie opening that will be out here. Obviously, the big premiere will be in Hollywood, but they hope to have something out here, too.”

I am so excited for the return of Star Trek: The Experience and I have been scrambling to find the closest hotel to Neonopolis. Suddenly, all those hotels that I wouldn’t think of staying at like The Four Queens, The Gold Spike, Binion’s and Lady Luck are looking like they might be my new favorite places to stay. These have always been the most reasonably priced hotels, but because they were downtown, we didn’t want to stay at them. Now that Star Trek: The Experience will be nearby, they are looking much more attractive.

Early this month, Nicole Lee visited Las Vegas and stayed at Palms Place Hotel. Here are some photos of her room.

The room had TWO televisions: one in front of the bed and one in front of the couch.

The living room area looks very spacious.

Oh, and there was a kitchen as well. It had a fridge, microwave and dishwasher.

The third television was in the bathroom. Remember folks, this is a HOTEL room!

I was hoping to get a glimpse of the Hotel Swag, but no such luck. Thanks for the photos, Nicole! Palms Place looks AWESOME!

While scanning my mom’s old photographs, I found a few snapshots from the debut of the It’s A Small World attraction that Disney showcased at the 1964 World’s Fair. You can see them here:

Seeing these photos reminded me that I have a photo of the It’s a Small World ride at Disneyland from 1984:

The ride changed a lot from 1964 on its way to Disneyland in 1984. Twenty years later, the story is still the same. It’s a small world, even between mother and daughter.

When I was scanning in my mother’s old photos, I found these from the 1964 New York World’s Fair:

You can see the rest of them here:

• 1964 New York World’s Fair on Flickr

The observation towers can still be seen today in Queens, New York. If you would like to take a miniature vacation back in time, you can watch these videos about the New York World’s Fair from the Prelinger Archive.

• To The Fair (Pt 1) (1965)
• To The Fair (Pt 2) (1965)
• Fridgidaire Presents Out of This World (1964)

Here are some home movies from the 1964 World’s Fair:

Here is a newsreel about the monorail:

It’s possible to still visit the site of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, but all of the Futurama is gone to be replaced by the real future.

Las Vegas has snow for the first time in years, and they got 6-8 INCHES! That’s probably the best Christmas present they could get this year.

Mike and I were caught in a snowstorm in Vegas once. It was that flurry of dandruff-like snow that we Utahans are very used to dealing with, so we drove right through it without a second thought. It melted before the end of the day.

To see my beloved Luxor Hotel covered with snow like this is so strange. It’s almost as if the black pyramid has been turned white.

More photos after the break: (Continue Reading…)

NakedJen moved to Salt Lake City less than a year ago and has been eagerly exploring the culinary delights that the city has to offer. Here is her review of Hatch Family Chocolates:

• nakedjen: It’s Better Here

I took a straw. I took a sip. It was so thick, so creamy, it got stuck washing over my tongue and coated my throat like a warm, chocolate flavored river. I couldn’t help but think of Augustus Gloop slurping from the river in Willy Wonka. I thought perhaps that’s why Calvin insisted on the straw?! So I don’t slurp like Augustus Gloop and end up drowning in my eagerness to drink it all.

If you would like to try Hatch Family Chocolates, here is their information:

Hatch Family Chocolates: Hand-Dipped Chocolates, Hot Chocolate
390 4th Ave
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
Google Map
Phone: (801) 532-4912

Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-10pm

Jere Keys moved to Cincinnati recently and can see the city with the fresh eyes of a tourist. He shared his photos with us here:

• Blind Prophecy » Exploring Camp Washington Picspam

After being left alone by his housemates, he decided to skip television for the night and take a walk:

I took a long walk down into the largely industrial neighborhood known as Camp Washington. Sure, there’s a lot of gritty, out-of-date reminders of a different time, abandoned buildings, even evidence of a homeless encampment, but I found it to be pretty (if you could ignore the smell of the giant aluminum casting factory).

Thanks for sharing your photos of your new home base, Jere!

Nicole Lee took a trip to Mixt Greens.

She called it a yuppie salad bar and then went on to specify that it was Yuppie with a capital Y!

Their sign says, “Lettuce rock your world.” Yep, that’s the same slogan I used when I ran for 7th Grade Vice President. Still a knee slapper.

Her verdict that the place didn’t live up to its price tag. If you’re looking for more atmosphere than salad, then maybe Mixt Greens is for you. Otherwise, opt for the salad bar at Whole Foods.

Where:

Mixt Greens
120 Sansome Street San Francisco, CA
475 Sansome Street (on Commercial) San Francisco, CA
560 Mission Street San Francisco, CA

Megan Wallent and her family visited Hawaii and while they were there, they encountered the Burger Nazi.

• The Burger Nazi (But We Liked It – And Went Back!) « M( )

They were hiking in Makena Park and happened upon a roadside food stand. Before they could even order, the Burger Nazi had a speech for them.

“Before you order, let me tell you about my food. I cook everything to order. We have burgers and fish sandwiches with mahi mahi. The burgers are the Kong Burger, which are this big (his hands up as if to hold a sandwich, fingers extended to their full length as if to make a giant ellipse), and they cost $14 each. It comes with cheese, lettuce, maui onion, roasted pineapple, tomato and mustard and catchup. I wrap it in the foil, and if you unwrap it, then it will fall apart. I only cook meat with meat, and fish with fish so if you want both, you’ll have to wait.”

Man, I want a Kong Burger! I’ll wait until you can cook the meat with the meat, I promise!

Click on over to Megan’s site for pictures and more descriptions.

Where: Makena Park, Maui, Hawaii Google Map

Ward Jenkins, of Ward-O-Matic fame, took his family to San Francisco. He and his wife took the most amazing photos. You can see them here:

• The Ward-O-Matic: One last look at San Francisco

He found a cool machine in an arcade:

Amongst the old arcades and puppet shows, I found this wonderful device. Listed as the oldest machine there, it’s a praxinoscope. The faceted nature of the mirrors gives off the same effect as a shutter for film — very important in order to give off the optical illusion of ‘persistence of vision’. The images projected from the drum onto the mirrors allowed you, the viewer to see the girl jumping rope, instead of becoming a big blur. It was so cool to watch one of these for reals.

Click on through to Ward-O-Matic to see the photos of the praxinoscope and the rest of the beauty of San Francisco.