The Bacara Resort and Spa is located on the coast just a little north of Santa Barbara. Relaxed appeal of a true classic California resort. Much of what makes Bacara such a magical place is its unique location between the Pacfic Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains. Activities include golf, tennis, hiking, and a full-service spa.

The resort offers 360 guest rooms and suites with Spanish tile floors, balconies, some with fireplaces. They included all the amenities that one would expect from a high-end luxury resort.

The spa offers a variety of treatments to help you relax and feel refreshed. Thai massage, Reiki, and reflexology, guests to Bacara will find it easy to reunite their bodies, minds and spirits. There  fitness center which offers personal trainers and fitness instructors, as well as classes in yoga, Pilates, group meditation and Tai Chi.

Bacara has 3 pools one is dedicated to the Spa, the other larger public pools are situated at the base of the resort near the ocean.

The Bistro Restaurant has ocean view patio dining serving everything from breakfast to a late night snack.

Grass is a lovely spot to sip a colorful, tropical bottle surrounded by dense flora in Miami. Grass is 2 in 1 – lounge and restaurant, relax and eat, accompanied with quality chill music. A variety of substantial flower buds and plant specimens float in lit jars behind the bar, and the open air setting’s breezes rustle palm fronds overhead.

A variety of substantial flower buds and plant specimens float in lit jars behind the bar, and the open air setting’s breezes rustle palm fronds overhead. As well as favouring break beat and Michael Jackson, DJs have been known to fill its dance floor. The late-night party continues at their adjoining club, The King is Dead.

Grass Restaurant & Lounge is located on 28NE 40 Street, Miami Florida!

The Smithsonian Museum in Washington is the largest museum in the world with a huge variety of exhibits. It hosts 19 museums and galleries such as the National Museum of American History, National museum of African art, National Zoological Park, Anacostia Community Museum and etc. The exhibits rang from insects and meteorites to locomotives and spacecraft. You can not see everything in one visit – the museum’ collections offer more than 137 million objects, works of art and 9 research centers with special programs. There truly is something for everyone.

The collections include 30 million insects carefully pinned into tiny boxes; 4½ million plants pressed onto sheets of paper in the Museum’s herbarium; 7 million fish in liquid-filled jars; and 2 million cultural artifacts, including 400,000 photographs housed in the National Anthropological Archives. The National Museum of Natural History is dedicated to inspiring curiosity, discovery, and learning about the natural world through its unparalleled research, collections, exhibitions, and education outreach programs.

Admission to all of the Smithsonian museums is free and they are open from 10:00am-5:30pm every day.

Showing remarkable advanced sensitivity to global warming, the inhabitants of Mackinac Island banned motorized vehicles in 1898 – a prohibition that exists to this day with limited exception for emergency and service vehicles. But there are still plenty of eco-friendly horse-drawn carriages to be seen. Photo by: strizich

The island covers 9.8 sq km and belongs to the US state of Michigan. It is located in Lake Huron’s Straits of Mackinac, commanding the passage between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Much of the original character remains gives such a good effect that the entire island is now a National Historic Landmark, with 80 per cent also conserved as the Mackinac Island State Park. Most of the tourists are people form Michigan. They are drawn by the island’s natural beauty and powerful old-fashioned charm, with little or no building in intrusive modern styles. Photo by: jfsl3

The island is a home of several galleries and many cultural events, featuring an annual show of 19th century American art from the Masco Collection. The Mackinac Arts Council organizes an outstanding programme each summer. Photo by: Tomcio77

When to go: June to August sees a huge visitor influx, so why not be completely different and make a winter visit across the frozen lake by snowmobile. Population: 523. How to get there: High-speed ferry from Mavkinaw City or St Ignace, private boat or light aircraft. You should know: No visit is complete without sampling the nationally famous Mackinac Island Fudge, so popular that visitors are nicknamed ‘fudgies’. Photo by: Juan Silva

The Walt Disney Family Museum opens very soon in the Presidio in San Francisco. Only here and there veering into uncharted terrain, and children will quickly pass by many sections that will fascinate their elders, there are more than enough thrills for everyone. Who needs Fantasyland, Caribbean pirates, when the story being told touches the experience of anyone who had contact with the 20th century.

The museum will leads you through 19,000 square feet of galleries in this new museum complex, a $110 million transformation of an Army barracks and two neighboring buildings, devoted to telling the story of Disney’s life and work.

“The motivation behind the museum did not seem to promise much more excitement. As the decades passed since Disney’s death in 1966, his daughter Diane Disney Miller discovered that fewer and fewer children had any idea that her father was more than a corporate logo.”

Jars of paint used in Disney cartoons. The museum also includes materials and a two-story-high “multiplane” animation camera that was used to create three-dimensional effects for “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia.” A 114-seat theater at the museum will host concerts and screen Disney films.

At first, the museum (Page & Turnbull are the architects) seems to be precisely what it promises to be: a family institution designed to undo anything negative and celebrate the man. But secondly the family attic on display is resisted, and as overseen by the founding executive director, Richard Benefield, the Disney Museum is far from being an air-brushed portrait.

Photos by: Noah Berger

Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta is located at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains in La Quinta, California. Trilogy has a beautiful clubhouse, fitness center and tennis facility and offers low cost golf.

Trilogy Golf Club, opened in 2002 in La Quinta and, is designed by Gary Panks. The awesome 18 hole Golf Course established with the state of art facilities. 6,883 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72 . The course rating is 72.7 and it has a slope rating of 127 on Bermuda grass. This medium-length layout features 5 sets of tee-boxes for the enjoyment of golfers of all skill levels.

The Club has a large pool, gym, restaurant and several other resort amenities members to enjoy.

Surrounded by natural desert vistas and complimented by crystal lakes and flowing greens, the Trilogy is championship design that was created for the fun and challenge.

Located in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, the hotel offers first class access to the finest local cultural and entertainment venues. The Keating Hotel is comprised of a group of real estate and business accommodations with full-service luxury boutique brand. Offers a chic retreat from the urban metropolis, it is poised to set the new standard for true highly stylized boutique lifestyle living throughout the world.

The Keating was designed by Paolo Pininfarina, renowned for his designs of Maserati and Ferrari sports cars. The hotel promotes Italian design while incorporating premium amenities, including Bang and Olufsen Vision electronics in guestrooms, hand-selected wine list in the lounge and custom-designed furniture from Bali in all areas of the hotel.

The 35 rooms seem very urban in their lofty aspect. Standard amenities include 37″ wall-mounted plasma televisions, CD and DVD players and high-speed Internet access. LavAzza espresso machines are featured in each room. The hotel provides wireless high-speed Internet access in public areas.

Rates: from 150€ to 860€ per night.

Green canyons, red cliffs, blue skies: Zion’s colors can stop in your tracks. Water enables greens rare amidst otherwise desert landscape. Visible or not, water forcefully shapes these stalwart walls. Trickling falls summon emerald growth in nooks and crannies. Sculpted evidence testifies to the carving of red slot canyons. Winter’s icy-blue snow-melt feeds anew the rushing, scouring river torrents of spring.  Almost 12,000 years ago Zion’s first peoples, who are now almost invisible, tracked mammoths, giant sloth, and camel across southern Utah. Due the climate change and overhunting these animals died out about 8,000 years ago. In 1860s, just after settlement by Mormon pioneers, John Wesley Powell visited Zion of the first scientific exploration of southern Utah.

Everything in Zion takes life from the Virgin River’s scarce desert waters. Water flows, and solid rock melts into cliffs and towers. The Vermilion, White, and pink cliffs are part of the Grand Staircase, the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau.  Landscape changes as canyon deepen to create forested highlands and lowland deserts. A ribbon of green marks the river’s course as diverse plants and animals take shelter and thrive in this canyon oasis. From the beginning people sought this place, this sanctuary in the desert’s dry reaches. The very name Zion, a Hebrew word for refuge, evokes its significance.

Zion’s nature multiplies with each slope, aspect, and soil type, with each minute change in precipitation or temperature. Add to these influences species from nearby ecosystems, Zion becomes an assemblage of plants, and thus of animals, found nowhere else exactly like this. This unlikely desert harbors a mosaic of environments, each fine-tuned to place. Zion is alive with movement, a river of life always here and always changing.

Park elevations range from 3,600 to 8,700 feet and provide vastly different environments. Fir pine and aspen prefer snowy high-country winters, while pinon, cliffrose, and mesquite flourish in the desert’s heat. This national park is beautiful but not pristine. Research shows that 150 years of farming, grazing, and recreation changed Zion’s environment. Exotic species like tamarisk and cheat grass replace native willow and native grasses. It is the mission of the National Park Service to provide sanctuary for and reinvigorate Zion’s remaining diversity. Although most park species are not unusual and much has changed, these unique assemblages create and sustain the relevance and sanctity of this wondrous place called Zion.

Be prepared and plan well
• Plan your trip. Choose trails that are without your ability.
• Falls cause most injuries and deaths at Zion.
• Carry and drink 2l of water per person per day.
• Wear a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen.
• Know the weather before you go. Distant storms can cause flash floods. When in doubt, stay out!
• Cell phones don’t work in most areas and don’t make you invincible.
• Your safety is your responsibility.

Atlantis Submarine offers an underwater experience unique to Hawaii – carrying guests to depths well beyond 100 feet – to place where schools of brightly colored fish frolic, where green sea turtles flourish, and beautiful coral grows. An Atlantis Submarine tour is an ideal way to gain first-hand insight into the value and importance of reefs and to observe how mankind can contribute to the development of reefs and associated ecosystems. In the comfort and security of one of the world’s most technologically advanced passenger submarines, you will view remarkable reefs of this unique underwater tour through areas pulsating with marine life. Each of the three Atlantis Hawaii tour locations (Waikiki, Kona, and Maui) feature distinct characteristics enabling to explore their unique underwater habitats. It’s a world unseen by anyone except scuba divers and fish.

Waikiki
Atlantis Submarines’ initiatives have helped reenergize the marine environment off the coast of Waikiki with the introduction of seven man-made reef developments that have increased the biomass of fish, coral and other marine life. During the past 100 years, the natural reefs off the coast of Waikiki have been disappearing. Atlantis has helped reserve this situation through its innovative reef initiatives. The Waikiki dive site is Atlantis’ largest artificial reef. The site consist of two sunken ships: the USA Navy vessel, the YO-257, and a 111 foot Korean fishing vessel, the St. Pedro, along with four reef structures designed in Japan, a series of concrete “pyramids” built in collaboration with The University Of Hawaii Sea Grant program, and remnants of two sunken airliners. The Atlantis artificial reefs provide a rare opportunity to study Hawaii’s undersea ecology.

Maui
The Lahaina, Maui tour highlights to guests the ongoing partnership between Mother Nature and Atlantis Submarines. As a means of improving the marine environment and enhancing its tour experience, Atlantis created an artificial reef in December 2005 by placing the Carthaginian, a 19th – century replica whaling brig, at the bottom of the ocean where it is attracting fish and other marine life. This intriguing ship was in poor condition and due to be scuttled. After thoroughly cleansing the ship in preparation for its new home on the ocean floor, the Carthaginian was carefully positioned for optimal artificial reef development and incredible viewing by submarine tour guests. Atlantis helps scientists understand the undersea during submarine excursions.

Kona
In 1988, Atlantis Submarines opened its first Hawaii location in Kona, and the tour has been delighting guests ever since. Tour participants explore a 25-acre natural coral reef formed 18,000 years ago on lava that had flowed into sea. The reef is also a popular spot for scuba divers because of hundreds of species of tropical fish and other sea life inhabiting the area. The Atlantis Kona site has been enhanced to include opportunities to observe two sunken ships located near the coral reef. After close to a decade underwater, nature has transformed the two vessels into artificial reef habitats that are now teeming with marine activity.

Color Absorption
As you submerged, the sea water filters each color of the sunlight. Red is the first color to break down. The color orange is the next to break down as you move into deeper water and beings to look yellow. At 60 feet, the color yellow begins to break down and appears green. The color red has disappeared. At 90 feet, the color green breaks down and begins to look blue. The color of blue is more vibrant.

The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii

Located within Mauna Lani Resort, the hotel offers really luxurious accommodations. Hotel Description: 540 rooms, 6 floors, 4 restaurants, 10 tennis courts, 5 bars, a fully equipped fitness center, swim pool, and spa center. The guest rooms at The Fairmont Orchid feature minibars, high-speed Internet access, cable TV, air-conditioning, safes, video games, hairdryers, irons and marble bathrooms with bath amenities. The resort is consistently lauded as one of the world’s top golf resorts by readers of “Conde Nast Traveler Magazine”.

The Fairmont Orchid’s most extravagant feature is the spa with no walls – a series of open-air massage houses nestled among natural beauty of Hawaii, surrounded by streams, waterfalls and lily ponds. The spa center offers fitness and relaxation classes such as daily seaside yoga, meditation, vision fitness, pool aerobics, and spa facility with 2 lava-rock spa tubs.

The resort also offers a variety of activities including: golf, tennis, biking, billiards and board games, hiking, fishing, kayaking, sailing, snorkeling, squash, horseback riding, and diving. Other amenities include: a business center, cell phone rentals, babysitting services, gift shops, laundry services, hairdresser and parking.

Take a trolley tour of Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA and treat yourself to tempting desserts at the Kit Kat Cafe or Courtyard Café. This factory has everything that children or even adult people will enjoy, especially those who are chocolate lover. Learn about the process of making chocolate and see a simulation of how the candy is made.

The company is the biggest chocolate company in North America. The tour includes animated characters and spectacular special effects. It all starts in the tropical rain forest where cocoa beans grow and are harvested. You’ll follow the beans as they journey through a simulated Hershey’s Chocolate Factory – and become delicious milk chocolate. Animatronics cows sing, lights flash and the story of chocolate making…

There’s a gift shop with every type of Hershey’s product emblazoned on shirts, hats, and mugs; an outlet store with various chocolate products. Also in the building is the Really Big 3D Show animated musical adventure in the 250-seat theater. After hearing a short history of the company, the show begins. For more information, visit – http://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/

The Golden Gate Bridge is acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and most photographed bridges in the world. With its tremendous towers, sweeping main cables, great span it is a beloved symbol of the San Francisco Bay Area. Many San Francisco tour operators include the Golden Gate Bridge in their tour and the Bridge can be a very busy place, particularly during the summer months.

The Golden Gate Bridge design echoes an Art Deco Theme it connects San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. About nine million people from around the world visit the Bridge each year. Technical Information: Overall bridge length: 2824 m, Bridge main span length: 1280 m, Depth of Golden Gate strait: 130 m.

Marina City, Chicago is a complex of two 61-story towers which are locally known as the “corn cobs”. This strange cylindrical shape was used to have less wind pressure. The complex was built in 1964 by renowned architect Bertrand GoldBerg and costs of $36 million. When finished it was the tallest and biggest ever built in concrete structure in the world.

Marina City consist 179 m tall residential complex with apartments, mixed with different commercial buildings – offices, banks and 18 stories of parking space. Also the complex offers a vast variety of recreation facilities including a swimming pool, gym, theater, ice rink, bowling alley, several stores, restaurants, and of course, a marina.

For more info – click here

This is a brand new 37,000-square-foot outdoor exhibition and performance space will open in Lower Manhattan. The performance takes place at the northwest corner of Canal and Sullivan Streets and it will be both a park and a showcase for established and newer artists, open from 7 a.m. till dusk daily, except in January, February and part of March.

The ground was covered in gravel, and benches and planters are holding flowering plants, desert grasses and trees donated by the Parks Department, which were built from waterproof plywood.The architects used the planters and benches to create zones for the park and paths that would steer people crossing it into contact with the artworks.

The eastern edge of the park is a pedestrian stretch of Sullivan Street and a small wedge of the park is bordered by a 215-foot fence made up of independently rotating, eight-foot-wide plywood panels. The panels’ exterior sides are covered with hundreds of small silver and blue aluminum disks, which make the wall glint in the sun like a mirage.

Every three months or so, a different design firm will be commissioned to come up with a project for the fence. Photos by: Micheal Falco

The City College of New York, School of Architecture, was remodeled the urban design and landscape architecture of the building. The project was taken by Rafael Vinoly Architects. They were chosen to design, construct and select the site for this new CCNY building.

The new structure has supplied a 135,000 sq ft facility housing administrative offices, classrooms of varying sizes, an exhibition space, an architectural library, design studios, faculty offices, a model shop, mechanical rooms, a rooftop open-air amphitheatre and a separate facility for the City College Architectural Centre – an outreach group that provides advocacy and planning and design assistance to community organizations.

The new college building includes an intersecting series of steel staircases and pedestrian bridges, facilitating circulation throughout the building and establishing connectivity and sightlines between floors. The corridors on the studio levels are wide, double-height areas that accommodate lounges for informal discussion, while narrower balconies overlook these lounges and provide circulation on the office levels.

The amphitheater provides additional teaching and program space, with wide, unobstructed views to the south over Central Park and the skyline of Midtown Manhattan.