Chosen Voyage launches all-kosher luxury cruises

Chosen Voyage launchesall-kosher luxury cruises
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) -- A new tour company called Chosen Voyage is launching all-kosher luxury cruises.
The Pittsburgh-based company is partnering with Windstar Cruises to offer the 308-passenger Wind Surf ship for five all-kosher seven-day trips in December and January. The ship has three restaurants and 24-hour room service.
The food will be checked by the Kosher Supervisors of America, and the Jewish Sabbath will be celebrated at sea Friday nights and Saturdays. For guests who observe gender segregation of certain activities, there will also be separate swimming pools for men and women.
Many regular cruise lines do accommodate kosher guests, but they are usually seated separately from other passengers and have limited meal choices with no kosher options outside the main dining room.
The kosher cruises are scheduled to depart on certain Sundays in December and January from San Juan, Puerto Rico, with prices beginning at $1,999 per person plus taxes, tips and airfare. For more information, contact www.chosenvoyage.com or call (866) IM-CHOSEN.
'Dummies' book focuseson Lewis & amp; Clark, trail
HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP ) -- Overwhelmed by all things Lewis and Clark? If you're trying to sort out what's worth doing and what's just hype, check out "Lewis & amp; Clark for Dummies."
Among the book's features is a list of the 10 best places to visit on the Lewis and Clark historical trail. The list includes Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia, Monticello, where he planned the exploration with Meriwether Lewis; the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Ind., where Lewis hooked up with William Clark; Fort Mandan, in North Dakota, where Lewis and Clark met Sacagawea; and the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in Oregon, which houses artifacts and exhibits related to the expedition.
The book's authors are Sammye J. Meadows, former head of the National Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, and Jana Sawyer Prewitt, a former U.S. Department of the Interior official who helped plan events for the bicentennial.
The book, published by Hoboken, N.J.-based John Wiley and Sons, is $19.95.
What has all of the info?'Not For Tourists' guides
NEW YORK (AP) -- They're called "Not For Tourists." But these unusual black-and-silver guidebooks enable tourists to experience cities like the natives. The latest editions in the series are the 2004 New York City and San Francisco guides ($14.95 each), following publication in the last few years of NFT guides to Los Angeles, Chicago and Brooklyn. The books are densely packed with detailed information -- from handy maps to where to eat, with short, highly selective lists of decent, popular dining spots compiled by editors who actually live in the neighborhood. Other listings include not just museums and well-known attractions but also the types of facilities you'd otherwise stop someone on the street to ask about.
Tune in to the right trackwith 'Drive-I-95' book
NEW YORK (AP) -- If you spend a lot of time on the road anywhere between Maine and Florida, "Drive-I-95" might make your trips a little easier.
This unusual book contains not just maps, but also exit-by-exit information with listings for restaurants, 24-hour gas stations, accommodations and local attractions.
But for motorists who search in vain for the right radio station to keep them company, perhaps the most valuable section of the book is the AM-FM chart on the inside front cover. Looking for a Spanish-language station in Fayetteville, N.C.? Try 91.9 FM. Soft rock in Providence, Rhode Island? Tune to 105.1 FM. And for urban contemporary music in Jacksonville, Fla., check out 101.5 FM.
"Drive I-95" (Travelsmart, $22.95) is written by Stan Posner and Sandra Phillips-Posner, who claim in their authors' bios to be happily married despite having driven more than 150,000 miles together.
Gracie Mansion joins listof must-see N.Y. sites
NEW YORK (AP) -- Tourists are adding Gracie Mansion, the official mayoral residence on Manhattan's Upper East Side, to their must-see list in New York City.
More than 10,000 people have visited the mansion this year, more than triple the number who visited in all of 2002. Officials credit the increase to renovations at the 200-year-old East Side estate, one of the oldest surviving wood structures in Manhattan. The mansion has a new paint job, refurbished bedrooms and art on loan from the Museum of Modern Art.
Built in 1799 by wealthy merchant Archibald Gracie, the historic property was appropriated by the city in 1896. Mayors have lived there since the 1940s, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg chose to reside in his townhouse instead.
But you must plan ahead to visit the mansion, located at East End Avenue and 88th Street. Tours are only by reservation on Wednesdays and fill up weeks in advance. For more information, call (212) 570-4751.