Now here is an interesting list. Originating from ShermansTravel, the following is a list of a few of the top 10 places to go before this year is over! Granted, you probably will not be able to make it to these places, but nevertheless, here they are. Perhaps you could visit these places next year because I’m sure that they will be just as good then.

Tunisia: Located in Africa, this beautiful place is somewhere that you have got to see with ruins of the ancient Phoenician city of Carthage and historic sites like the coliseum at El Jem. When you’re not looking at the gorgeous architectural features, you can relax on any of several beach resorts. Other things to do are venturing through the Sahara on camel-back or 4X4, or camping in the desert.

Tobago: Tobago is one of the last remaining “undiscovered” Caribbean islands. Tobago has pink-sand beaches and serene waters, and it just started being flown to in 2007 because Delta Airlines set up direct flights between there and New York or Atlanta. Now people can skip going to Trinidad and get to this romantic area.

Slovenia: Located in Eastern Europe, this location is full of medieval towns and quaint villages. They were one of the first countries to adopt the Euro, but they haven’t exactly adapted to modern times–a bargain for your buck!

According to their site, the number one place to visit in 2008 is Bhutan.

Located in the majestic Himalayas in Southern Asia, this is a county where only 3% of the population was “feeling down” according to a nationwide poll. This country is made up of lush valleys and snow-capped mountains, ancient temples and monasteries, and more. It has so much culture and Buddhist heritage attached to it. Check it out!

The rest of their list, Quito, Okanagan Valley, New Orleans, Mozambique, Lisbon, and Greenland, is just as interesting as the ones listed above.

For those readers who regularly read the GLR, you know that we frequently take our kids to art museums (here is a past trip).  On a recent trip to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake area, I did a search and found a gem of a little art museum, The Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover, DE.  My parents live in Delaware, so for this trip two of my kids, my dad, and I made the trek to the museum.  Located in historic downtown Dover, the Biggs occupies the second and third floor of a building that is the home of the Delaware Cultural Department.
The museum has a wonderful collection of art from all over the Mid-Atlantic area.  Their permanent collection has furniture, silver, paintings, and sculptures from artists like Gilbert Stuart and Albert Bierstadt.While we were there they also had a lovely showing of paintings from a local artist, Edward Grant.
My son loved the tilt-top tables and my daughter loved all of the minature doll houses.  My dad was just happy to be with the grandkids!  My personal interst was highly peeked when I saw they had two Thomas Cole paintings.
We spent about an hour and half at The Biggs, and the free admission and delightful exhibits make it worth a stop by any art-loving family.

The mere mention of Argentina always conjures up pictures of passionate men and women, rich culture, and yes, even Eva Peron. The country’s reputation is certainly well-deserved, but it is important for a tourist to look beyond the obvious and see what Argentine really has to offer. This travel guide will let you explore the rich history of Argentina, its beautiful scenery, and its cosmopolitan cities. Below are the top places you should visit in Argentina:

Buenos Aires

Your travel to Argentina will never be completed without getting a glimpse of Buenos Aires. Dubbed as the “Paris of South America”, this city boasts beautiful architecture, wide boulevards, and a rich heritage. Experience the hub of the city in their food, fashion, and nightlife. You definitely will fall in love with the beautiful city and the beautiful people who give the city its distinctive identity.

El Calafate & the Perito Moreno Glacier

The El Calafate & the Perito Moreno Glacier offers visitors a once in a lifetime experience. Travel back to the Ice Age, and discover the majestic glaciers in this destination. Some of the best glaciers are located in Argentina.

Iguazu Falls

See the grandeur of nature in all its glory in Argentina. The country is full of great places to see, but the Iguazu Falls should be your priority. It is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. Don’t worry about your trip because there are many guided tours you can join in on. Located on the border with Brazil, it is a place you shouldn’t miss.

When people come to San Francisco, they think of the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf and a lot of other sights in the city. This list also includes one of America’s most famous federal prisons: Alcatraz. Alcatraz Island, sometimes called The Rock, is located in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Ferries depart from Pier 33 at Fisherman’s Wharf several times a day to bring locals and visitors to this controversial and historical place.

After getting out of the ferry, visitors of the island are greeted by a tour employee who tells everyone where to go and what to do. You have a choice of waiting for the walking tour or to do it yourself. I suggest doing it yourself. Although, for night tours, you have no choice except for the walking tour, as it isn’t recommended to go off on your own there.

You can go to the theater and watch a short documentary by Discovery about the history of the island from its discovery to the construction of the lighthouse on the island, from military prison to federal prison. If you don’t feel like sitting through the movie, though, you can go ahead up to the cellhouse and begin the audio tour.

Walking through the cellhouse, through the very same floor the prisoners walked and cells that they stayed in, I kept picturing how the people lived in the island, not just for the prisoners, but also for the people who guarded the prisoners. I can imagine it wasn’t very fun staying there day in, day out.

The tour comes with an audiotape that you can listen to while walking around the cellhouse. With former prison guards and former inmates as narrators, they will tell you everything they know about Alcatraz, including their routines and experiences. It’s enough to make you not want to commit any kind of crime just so you’re spared from experiencing anything like it.

Coming out of the cellhouse and looking at the view of the bay and the city, it’s hard to imagine that a prison is housed on Alcatraz Island. With the spectacular views of the bay, the waters, the city and even the Golden Gate Bridge, one would think that the island was just another island that’s part of the San Francisco tours.

Visiting Alcatraz Island is a different kind of experience. It can be intriguing, disturbing, or, in some extreme cases, inspiring. It’s all up to you, the visitor, how you’re going to handle it.

My family loves going to art museums.  That may not make us a “normal” American family, but it does mean that we like to experience different things and I see that as an amazingly healthy way to raise children.

So on a free weekday afternoon in Baltimore, two of my four kids and I went to the American Visionary Art Museum. AVAM is a unique art museum in two ways:

1. It is the only museum in the United States dedicated to artwork from artists that never went to art school.
2. It is the only museum I have ever been to that has a wedding chapel.

These two little tidbits were lost on my kids, but it did not stop them from enjoying the exhibits immensely.  Because AVAM focuses on non-conventional artwork, their collection is made up of artists who make sculptures out of toothpicks or doing amazing carvings on the tip of pencils (NOTE: this was my personal favorite and just too amazing for words).  My son especially liked the life size chessboard made out of auto parts.

Although I do not consider myself a devotee of modern art (and AVAM’s work leans to that), I do think they had offerings that had me thinking and wondering all day.  If you are free in the Baltimore Inner Harbor, you should stop into AVAM for a few hours.  It is worth the moderate price of admission.

The Outer Banks, NC, is a series of island cities famous for many reasons.  People flock there to relax on the clean beaches, to visit beautiful lighthouses, to see where the Wright brothers first took flight and everything else imaginable.  You can even drive on the beach alongside wild horses!

My family decided to get away to a nice relaxing location that was not too far to drive.  A great compromise in distance from my home in Charleston, SC, and my siblings in Ohio was the OBX (the nickname given by famous bumper stickers seen nationwide).  Knowing a hotel room for a week would be expensive, especially when accommodating thirteen people, left us seeking other options.

Corolla, NC, had a hidden gem.  It was a very large beach house, which more than suited our needs for a very fair price.  We were a two minute walk from the beach and had a pool to wash away the salt water after catching waves in the Atlantic.  This was more than a place to rest our heads, it was the central headquarter for all our vacation needs.

A short drive took us to a gorgeous lighthouse.  We were invited to climb to the top and see all the people who were now ants.  The historic feel coupled with the amazing weather left everyone speechless as we soaked it all in for that brief moment.

The speechlessness didn’t last long as we were off to see the horses.  Route 12 actually merged right onto the beach.  This is no ordinary beach, though. This beach is home to the famous Spanish Mustangs, a herd of wild horses who spend their days roaming the beaches and all the sand dunes.  Even the horses know where to go for majestic views and an amazing time!

Ever heard of the town of Brantford? How about if I told you that it is the name of a fictional town in the 1995 movie, Jumanji? Well, starring Robin Williams, this movie actually takes place in Keene, NH. Never heard of Keene? Well, it’s one of my favorite little cities.

There’s not much to the town of Keene. With about 23,000 people living in the city, it’s not that big; however, the population does increase by about 6,000 during the academic year because of Keene State College. Another college in the area is Antioch University of New England. Keene has one high school, Keene High School, that educates many of the neighboring towns, such as Chesterfield, NH.

The biggest thing about Keene is its annual Pumpkin Festival. Hosted on October 25th this year, this lovely event is something you truly should attend. It is very family orientated, or it’s a ton of fun to go with a group of friends. During the festival, Keene’s Main Street gets shut down and is filled with pumpkins and food booths run by local organizations, such as Boy Scouts or Interact. Keene used to hold the record for the largest simultaneous number of jacko’lanterns on display at the same time in the Guinness World Book of Records. Unfortunately, that record number of jack o’lanterns, 28,952, was broken by the city of Boston, MA, in 2006 with 30,128 jack-o-lanterns. However, with a city as small as Keene competing with one as large as Boston, I feel as if Boston’s number is still no match to Keene’s.

If you ever venture to Keene, eat at Armadillo’s or Fritz. Armadillo’s is an amazing Mexican restaurant that gives you an amazingly large and delicious burrito for a cheap price. Fritz’s is known for their fries (which aren’t too good), but, they come with a variety of unique sauces.

Have you ever wanted to see the filming of your favorite show?  If it is taped in front of a live audience, you can and usually for free!

Not too long ago, my wife and I went to Los Angeles.  We wanted to take full advantage of the limited amount of time that we had there.  While researching things to do in this huge city, we stumbled across tickets for television shows.

There were a few sites dedicated to this that appeared to be reputable.  Then we found the studio closest to our hotel and a show that appeared to be good.  The very popular shows are almost impossible to get on short notice.  To get onto a popular talk show, which is also free, you will need to get tickets way in advance.

We were fortunate to get tickets for Back to You.  My wife and I both love Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond and figured this show had to be good, too.  It was an awesome experience.  We waited about thirty minutes for the shuttle to arrive while the tickets were collected.  Once at the studio the fun began.

The studio hires a comedian to work the crowd when they are not filming.  He was extremely entertaining and kept our laughter machines warm for when the action began.  Our guy was even poking fun at the actors to keep their spirits up while the writers were making last minute changes.

The scenes of the show purposely were filmed in the same order as it is shown to the viewer at home.  They do this so the audience can follow along and understand the jokes as they unfold.  In some scenes they even polled to audience about how to make things even funnier.

As far as the down side, the only complaint I had was the length of the taping.  Ours was about three hours.  By no means was it boring, but it gave the same feel as watching a long movie.

All in all, I am going to jump on this opportunity again, and you should, too!