Surfer's paradise: best spots to catch a wave

Surfer's paradise: best spots to catch a wave
NEW YORK -- With or without a surfboard, here are some great places to ride the waves.
Outside magazine lists the country's best surf towns as Cocoa Beach, Fla.; Montauk, at the east end of Long Island in New York; Santa Cruz, Calif.; Coos Bay, Ore., and Yakutat, Alaska.
In Hawaii, Islands magazine sought advice from an Oahu lifeguard, Mark Cunningham, a competitive bodysurfer, who says the best place to bodysurf there is Point Panic for experts, and the Bellows and Waimanalo beaches for beginners. His personal favorites are Banzai Pipeline at 'Ehukai Beach Park, Waimea Bay and Sandy Beach.
Oregon is brimming with outdoor activities
PORTLAND, Ore. -- If you're visiting Oregon with kids this summer, dig up some clams on the coast, hear a sea lion roar in the caves between Florence and Yachats, or raft the rapids on the Upper Clackamas River.
The "Travel Oregon Kids Guide" lists these and many other activities, including sandboarding down a hill near Florence; learning about pioneer history at Fort Clatsop; or just splashing around in the fountain at Salmon Street Springs in Portland.
You can also paddle up and down the Columbia River in a sternwheeler, learn to windsurf at the Columbia Gorge Sail Park in Hood River, or skateboard in any of nearly 100 skate parks. The best include those in Newberg, Burnside in Portland and Klamath Falls.
For details, go to www.TravelOregon.com or call (800) 547-7842.
Book brings old U.S. battlegrounds to life
NEW YORK -- From Valley Forge, Gettysburg and Manassas to Little Bighorn, Pearl Harbor and even the World Trade Center, battlegrounds and other places associated with attacks on American soil are popular destinations for many travelers.
"America's Battlegrounds" is a new guidebook to 40 sites, from parks and forts that commemorate the Revolutionary War, to the USS Constitution, used in the War of 1812 and now moored in Boston, to battlefields on the Western frontier and from the Civil War. Also included are the Washington memorials for the Korean and Vietnam wars, the USS Arizona memorial in Honolulu, and Ground Zero in New York.
The book, a $24.95 hardcover, includes visitor information along with historical background on every site.
Decorated Razorback finds home in Arkansas
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The USS Razorback, a submarine that is the only vessel with battle ribbons from both World War II and Vietnam, has opened for tours on the north shore of the Arkansas River.
The Razorback was launched in 1943 and was serving in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered to end World War II on Sept. 2, 1945.
The 311-foot-long submarine was decommissioned by the U.S. Navy and became part of the Turkish Navy in 1970. When veterans in the United States learned several years ago that it was likely to be scrapped, they began a campaign to bring the submarine home.
The vessel was originally named for a razorback whale, not razorback hogs, but although the sub had no connection to Arkansas, its name led supporters to find it a new home in North Little Rock.
The submarine will be part of the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum. A museum building is scheduled to open July 4 and the public will also be able to tour a World War II tugboat there at the end of the summer.
Tours of the Razorback run Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $5 ($3 for children 6 to 12).
Associated Press