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Bethlehem Steels the Show: A Day Trip to the SteelStacks, Wind Creek Casino, and the Historic Bethlehem District
Mark McNease
I had some awareness of Bethlehem, PA, mostly because of the casino, now called Wind Creek Bethlehem. But a friend recently told us about her visit to the SteelStacks, complete with a tour of the magnificent rusting behemoth of the Bethlehem Steel plant, and we decided to make a day trip of it. It’s only about a 50 minute drive from our home, so it was easy, and very well worth it. It was the perfect definition of a one-day getaway. We walked over 20,000 steps (each, not combined!), as we strolled along the walkway abutting the massive factory, headed to the casino, then back and over the river to the north side of Bethlehem. There is a south side and we’re saving that for next time!
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Hotel Review: Boston’s Verb Hotel Gets 4.5 Fresh Towels
Prefer to listen? Just click and enjoy.
Hotel reviews are based on a Fresh Towel rating. Five means a top destination, one means check in at your peril.
Welcome to the first hotel review. It’s being added to my restaurant reviews (1-5 Yums), and my general travel reviews and blog posts.
Like a lot of people, we’ve been traveling a lot since the removal of pandemic restrictions. We’ve been to Delaware, Atlantic City, and we’ll be heading to California and Las Vegas soon, as well as taking a cruise to Canada in October that arrives back in Bayonne, NJ, on my birthday!
I was especially prompted to kick these off because we’ve come to Boston to visit one of Frank’s oldest friends (who takes the ferry to Provincetown every year in August when we head their for our annual time share). Frank booked us into The Verb Hotel, and I was wowed!
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Restaurant Review: The Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm Rates 5+ Yums (Holicong, PA)
The Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm
5281 York Rd., Holicong, PA 18928
(215) 794-5104
Food: 5+ Yums (out of 5!)
Service: 5 Yums
Atmosphere: 5 Yums
Price: $$$$‘Astonishing’ is not a word you see much in restaurant reviews, but in this case it’s required. The meal we had at The Inn at Barley Sheaf was nothing short of amazing from start to finish. Hyperbole, you say? You won’t think so once you’ve eaten here.
We have a dear friend visiting from Delaware, so it was appropriate we take her to a terrific restaurant. Frank and I had been there once before and knew you get what you pay for, which is considerable and worth every penny.
Once owned by playwright George S. Kaufman and located in historic Bucks Country, PA, the Inn sits on over 100 acres of pasture and country gardens. It’s just an hour’s drive from Philadelphia, two hours from New York City, and it offers the very definition of destination dining. Along with the stellar restaurant, the Inn is a bed and breakfast, offering guest suites that feature, in some cases, whirlpool tubs, steam showers with body sprays, private balconies, individual fireplaces and more.
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Gay Travelers Magazine: Steven and Tom Visit The Wizard of Oz Museum
Reprinted with permission from Gay Travelers Magazine
By Steve Skelley and Thomas Routzong
The Wizard of Oz Museum in Cape Canaveral, Florida near Cocoa Beach is filled with an amazing collection of memorabilia and a 20000 square foot room where you can enjoy an immersive Van Gogh experience and the immersive Wizard of Oz experience.
In 1900, L. Frank Baum published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It was an instant hit with over three million book sales, a Broadway musical and an iconic 1939 movie. The Wizard of Oz Museum in Cape Canaveral, Florida has an impressive display of autographs, clothing, dolls, comics, toys, maps, original props and costumes, collectible figurines, posters and first editions including the earliest recorded copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!
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An App for That (and a Website, Too): Mister B & B Helps Locate Accommodations for the LGBTQ Traveler
An App for That is a regular feature at LGBTSr highlighting useful apps and technology tips for our readers. Have an app to recommend? Email me at: Editor @ LGBTSr.com
My husband Frank and I love to travel (we just did another two-night stay at Philadelphia’s Morris House Hotel, and had the best meal of the year at Talula’s Garden). I enjoy short getaways we can drive to, but we also like cruising and the occasional vacation that requires a dreaded trip to the airport.
I’m a hotel guy myself. I love waking up in a hotel, working on a laptop while I have coffee in the room or a public space. And while we’ve never stayed at an Air B&B, I know a lot of people use that kind of service. The market for renting out rooms and homes has exploded over the last decade, giving travelers more options that they could have imagined just a few years ago. Enter Mister B & B, a service that connects the LGBTQ traveler with friendly accommodations in the destinations of their choice.
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Gay Travelers Magazine: Pride Journey – Colorado Springs
This article first appeared at Gay Travelers Magazine and is reprinted with permission.
Pride Journey: Colorado Springs
By Joey AmatoDid you know that Colorado Springs is also known as Olympic City U.S.A.? Neither did I. Not only is the city home to the U.S. Olympic Training Center, but Colorado Springs recently celebrated the grand opening of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum, a stunning state-of-the-art building showcasing the history of the Olympic games as well as athletes that competed. The 60,000 square-foot facility focuses on the core values of the Olympic and Paralympic movements: friendship, respect and excellence, determination, equality, inspiration, and courage. The museum was voted “Best New Attraction” by USA Today and it’s easy to see why.
Visitors enter a grand lobby and take an elevator to the top level of the building where they can view a chronological history of the Olympic and Paralympic torches, medals, and other items. The museum is divided between the summer and winter games and the self-guided tour includes an emotional video highlighting the greatest U.S. Olympic triumphs as well as some struggles Team U.S.A. has faced along the way.
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On the Map: The Marvelous Morris House Hotel (Philadelphia)
By Mark McNease
On the Map is a travelogue of places, restaurants and landscapes for your travel considerations. Sometimes near, sometimes far, always interesting.
As the most restrictive aspects of this pandemic-burdened year begin to lessen, my husband Frank and I are hitting the road again. For now we’ll be taking local-ish trips we can enjoy with just a few hours’ drive in the car. We have a cruise booked for December that was postponed twice because of Covid and the inability of cruise ships to dock in U.S. ports (combined with our own significant concerns), and I’m looking forward to an extensive trip report when we finally board two weeks before Christmas. Cruising is my favorite form of extended vacation, so stay tuned for a late December travelogue.
This time we took a two night trip to Philadelphia. For a number of years now we’ve treated each other to surprise getaways. One of us takes the other on a trip, and the person being surprised does not know where we’re going. A few months ago I’d seen a recommendation for an outdoor classical concert “under the stars” in Philly, and thought it would be a perfect way to start getting out there again.
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Gay Travelers Magazine Visits The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
This article first appeared in Gay Travelers Magazine
By Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is a place that everyone should visit. Learn about the exciting “space race,” climb inside space capsules and a Space Shuttle, watch IMAX movies, dine on-site, eat with an astronaut or watch an actual thundering, ground shaking rocket launch.
Each year, more than 1.5 million guests from around the world experience their very own space adventure by exploring the exciting past, present and future of America’s space program at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Built in 1967, today the Visitor Complex is one of Central Florida’s most popular tourist destinations.
SUGGESTED ITINERARIES
ONE DAY VISITS
One Day Visit: Family with Children Under 10 Years of Age
- Heroes & Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame® presented by Boeing® – 1 hour
- Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour including Apollo/Saturn V Center – 2 hours
- Space Shuttle Atlantis® with Shuttle Launch Experience® – 2 hours
- Journey To Mars: Explorers Wanted – 30 minutes
- Children’s Playdome for Junior Astronauts – 30 minutes
- Dining and shopping – 1 hour
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Gay Travelers Magazine Visits The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
This article first appeared in Gay Travelers Magazine
By Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is a place that everyone should visit. Learn about the exciting “space race,” climb inside space capsules and a Space Shuttle, watch IMAX movies, dine on-site, eat with an astronaut or watch an actual thundering, ground shaking rocket launch.
Each year, more than 1.5 million guests from around the world experience their very own space adventure by exploring the exciting past, present and future of America’s space program at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Built in 1967, today the Visitor Complex is one of Central Florida’s most popular tourist destinations.
SUGGESTED ITINERARIES
ONE DAY VISITS
One Day Visit: Family with Children Under 10 Years of Age
- Heroes & Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame® presented by Boeing® – 1 hour
- Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour including Apollo/Saturn V Center – 2 hours
- Space Shuttle Atlantis® with Shuttle Launch Experience® – 2 hours
- Journey To Mars: Explorers Wanted – 30 minutes
- Children’s Playdome for Junior Astronauts – 30 minutes
- Dining and shopping – 1 hour
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Gay Travelers Magazine: Provincetown – Where LGBTQ+ Can Be Themselves
Reprinted with permission from Gay Travelers Magazine
By Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
Provincetown, Massachusetts stands out in history as not only the first place where the Pilgrims landed, it is constantly evolving to accept those who seek refuge, a place to be free and a place to be themselves. We asked locals to give us the inside scoop on the past, present and future of LGBTQ+ Provincetown.
How would you describe Provincetown in one sentence?
From Tony Fuccillo, Director of Tourism:
Provincetown is a place where you feel you can truly be proud of being gay; all LGBTQ+, yes everyone is welcome in Ptown and can be themselves when they are here without any judgment from anyone.
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Gay Travelers Magazine: Philadelphia Hotspots
Photo by Steven Skelley Reprinted with permission from Gay Travelers Magazine
Philadelphia LGBT Hotspots
By Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
Where could a traveler go to find unique, revolutionary, historical significance, one of the most influential, big cities of the New World, and some of the best LGBT hotspots in the USA? According to VISIT PHILADELPHIA, all this and more is available in the city of brotherly love.
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Gay Travelers Magazine: Vinales Valley, Cuba – Touring the UNESCO World Heritage Site
This article first appeared at Gay Travelers Magazine, reprinted with PermissionBy Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
On our second trip to explore Cuba, we decided to venture outside Havana to the amazing Vinales Valley. We booked an 11 hour tour called “The Vinales Valley – A UNESCO World Heritage Site” and we discovered a Cuban treasure.
The Vinales National Park is a Cuban National Monument. More than 90 percent of the property is in the hands of private owners. Thirty percent is owned by individual farmers and another 62 percent is owned by the National Association of Small Farmers. If you want to see the real Cuba, this is the place.