Historical society to display photographs

Historical society to display photographs

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Historical Society plans to display photographs documenting local and national political campaigns in Minnesota.

The exhibit, called “The Campaign Trail,” will include photographs from former Vice President Walter Mondale’s run for the presidency and from the late Sen. Paul Wellstone’s last days on the campaign trail.

Photographs from the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul will also be part of the exhibit at the James J. Hill House on St. Paul’s Summit Avenue.

The exhibit opens Nov. 15 and runs through Feb. 22, 2009.

Outdoor ice skating rink

NEW YORK — A new ice age is coming to the American Museum of Natural History.

The museum is opening a 150-foot by 80-foot outdoor ice skating rink. The rink will have synthetic ice; skaters will share it with a 17-foot-tall sculpture of a polar bear.

Information about polar bears, the polar regions and suggestions for being environmentally conscious will be placed around the rink.

It will be open to the public from Nov. 22 through Feb. 28.

Book features places to see before they’re gone

HOBOKEN, N.J. — They include the last of their kind, unique landmarks, places threatened by rising or falling seas or development, and homes for species or phenomena that may not last forever.

These are some of the things you’ll find in “Frommer’s 500 Places to See Before They Disappear” ($19.99), published by New Jersey-based Wiley’s.

The book features natural and historic sites, from ancient places of worship, to disappearing landscapes, to one-of-a-kind cultural treasures like Boston’s Fenway Park, one of America’s last original ballparks.

Carlsbad Caverns opens new visitors center

CARLSBAD, N.M. — Carlsbad Caverns National Park dedicated its newly renovated visitors center on the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the park as a national monument.

The event, held Oct. 25, included the opening of a new exhibit called “Underground Visions: Carlsbad Caverns Through the Artist’s Eye,” featuring four original prints of the cave by famed photographer Ansel Adams.

Another 21 Adams prints in the park’s collection will be shown via high quality digital scans, and future plans include the rotation of the original prints every few months.

For more information about the park, visit www.nps.gov/cave.

Officials decide against additional hospital tours

SALEM, Ore. — Tourists interested in exploring the mental hospital made famous in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” will have to settle for a virtual visit.

Public interest in visiting the 125-year-old J Building at the Oregon State Hospital soared after the state Department of Human Services sponsored a series of guided tours on Sept. 13, the Statesman Journal reported.

Publicity from that day led another 1,100 to express interest in visiting the place where the Oscar-winning film starring Jack Nicholson was shot.

But state officials decided against additional tours because of the demands on the staff and looming asbestos and lead paint-removal work.

QE2 makes final visit

NEW YORK — After four decades of plying the world’s oceans, the cruise liner Queen Elizabeth 2 made its final visit to New York. The ship is scheduled to be converted into a five-star floating hotel in Dubai, the flashy resort center in the United Arab Emirates.

Its send-off on Oct. 16 featured a rendezvous with sister ship Queen Mary 2 at the Statue of Liberty and a fireworks shower before the two cruise ships headed home to Britain together.

Associated Press