Toys ‘R’ Us Times Square, Apple Core Hotels team up
Toys ‘R’ Us Times Square,
Apple Core Hotels team up
With a dollhouse bigger than most actual homes and a New York skyline constructed entirely of LEGOs, Toys “R” Us Times Square might well be the highlight of a kid’s visit to the Big Apple.
Now the store has added a design studio where children can create their own “Filled-With-Love” furry friends, complete with official “birth certificate.”
New York’s Apple Core Hotels group is getting in on the act with a “Filled-With-Love in the Big Apple Package,” covering a night’s lodging at one of its five midtown Manhattan properties, plus continental breakfast and one “Filled-With-Love” toy created at the store, for $150 plus tax, valid Jan. 2-Feb. 14.
Kids under 13 share their parents’ room for free. Additional plush creations cost $15 each.
For more information, call (800) 567-7720 or visit www.applecorehotels.com.
Specialty antiques
Among northwest Connecticut’s many antique shops are those specializing in rugs, rifles and miniatures, according to the “Unwind” guide to Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills.
For more information, call (800) 663-1273 or visit www.litchfieldhills.com.
Hudson Valley history
The “Dutchess County Travel Guide” offers a roster of National Historic Sites in New York’s Hudson Valley region, foremost among them the Franklin D. Roosevelt Home in Hyde Park.
For more information, call (800) 445-3131 or visit www.dutchesstourism.com.
Cruise ships to stop
and tour St. Croix
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — St. Croix is readying its brightly painted colonial buildings and centuries-old sugar mills to welcome cruise ship passengers again.
Disney Cruise Line announced new eastern Caribbean itineraries for 2009, with one seven-night cruise featuring a day stop in St. Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Tourism provides much-needed income on the island, and locals greet passengers with a fair of crafts and music.
Most major cruise lines suspended visits to St. Croix five years ago, citing crime and a lack of consumer demand.
Daytona Beach lowdown
Accommodations around Florida’s Daytona Beach — from campgrounds to quaint bed-and-breakfast inns — are listed in the 2008 “Daytona Beach Area Visitors Guide.”
For more information, call (800) 854-1234 or visit www.daytonabeach.com.
Turkmenistan plans
major tourist resort
TURKMENBASHI, Turkmenistan — A multibillion-dollar project has been launched to create a major tourist resort in Turkmenistan on the Caspian Sea.
It’s the latest effort to open up the energy-rich Central Asian nation to the outside world.
President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov told an investment forum in the port city of Turkmenbashi that several foreign companies will be investing as much as $4 billion into the project.
Plans call for building 60 hotels, restaurants, a 3,000-seat stadium, sports facilities and shopping centers.
International oil and gas companies have been intensifying competition for access to the country’s vast energy resources.
Combined dispatches