Death Valley National Park Tour

Shearwater is a classic Newport-style schooner yacht, only recently recognized as a national landmark in 2009. The vessel was built by Rice Brother Corporation in East Boothbay, Maine, back in a time when yachting was a rare combination of elegance and adventure; Rice Bros. were well known for building luxury pleasure yachts and produced some 4,000 hulls over a period of 64 years. The keel was laid down on January 4, 1929 and a news clip from the Boothbay Register reflects alongside a photograph "Tyler Hodgon at the old Tide Mill is getting out timbers for the schooner to be built at Rice’s. Vessel to be built of native white oak." Traditionally built from hand-hewn native white oak, she was the last boat to be constructed at that yard - likely due to the ensuing Great Depression brought on by the Stock Market Crash that occurred later that autumn. East Boothbay was a small coastal town with shipbuilding being its only industry. About 40 workmen were employed for the construction of SHEARWATER. Her designer Theodore Donald Wells was born in Hudson Falls, N Y on October 22, 1875. He was a naval architect and marine engineer, a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and also the Institute of Naval Architects London. His education included post-graduate work at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He began his career as a member of the firm Herreshoff and Wells, N. Y. City in 1902. Working with Herreshoff no doubt had an influence on his designs, which bear similarities to many of the famous Herreshoff designed yachts of that time. From 1903 to 1907 he worked for Wintringham and Wells and then began practicing his profession under his own name. Mr. Wells joined the Navy Department in March 1917 and became Superintending Constructor of the Baltimore District U. S. N. Notable yachts designed and constructed under his supervision are "Viking" a 272 foot steel motor yacht built for George F. Baker in 1929 by Newport News and "Karina" a three masted schooner built for Robert E. Tod in 1932 by Staten Island Shipbuilding. Mr. Tod was a well-known offshore yachtsman as was his former yacht ‘Thistle", which competed in the Emperors Cup ocean race. SHEARWATER was launched on May 4, 1929 and photographs in the Boothbay Register reflect her graceful and elegant lines. Her first Captain, Leon Esterbrook of Edgarton, MA, arrived to take charge of the fitting out. Her owner Charles E Dunlap was a member of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, Oyster Bay, NY and this became SHEARWATER’s first homeport after her completion in late September 1929. It was there in Oyster Bay that she first started to thrill those who sailed in luxury aboard her and those who were privileged to crew her on race day. Since her launching and documentation in Lloyd’s Register of American Yachts in 1929, she has had a colorful history and has been carefully maintained and restored to standards that few contemporary vessels are able to match and is truly a piece of American Maritime History. On November 7, 1942 SHEARWATER was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration and became a member of The United States Coast Guard’s Coastal Picket Patrol during World War Two. She was painted gray and bore the numbers CG67004. Based at Little Creek, Virginia she patrolled the waters east of the Chesapeake Bay entrance and south towards Cape Hatteras. Her skipper during that period reflected on how they used their free time while out on submarine patrol to race against other yachts and in his own words "sailed in tandem with the schooner Lord Jim, racing in and out of port, up and down the east coast and winning." She was designed and built as a gaff rigged schooner but during this period was changed to a Marconi rig. She carries over 2,550 square feet while under full sail. A true veteran world cruiser, she first transited the Panama Canal in July 1946 and in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s completed a two and a half-year global circumnavigation. In December 1971 Mrs. John B. Thayer of Rosemont, wife of a former trustee and treasurer, donated SHEARWATER to the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute of Environmental Medicine. She was used by the university as a laboratory for research on physiological responses to the stresses of living and working underwater. Captained by James Shearson, she was fitted with compressors, generators, monitoring instruments and a small decompression chamber. She has participated in many Ancient Mariner and Classic yacht races in U S waters as well as racing in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand while on her circumnavigation in the early 1980’s. It is rumored she was once dismasted in the famous Newport to Bermuda race. She was last raced by the current owners in San Diego in May 1995 in the American Schooner Cup and finished second overall. She entered the yacht charter industry in 1966 whilst on the West Coast sailing to the Channel Islands and was again used to generate income to keep her shipshape while owned by the University of Pennsylvania. During the chartering industry’s infancy in the Caribbean, SHEARWATER was known as the " Queen of the Fleet". Today she continues this tradition offering the most unique sailing experience and has passed rigid Coast Guard inspections and can carry up to 49 passengers. We welcome you to join us for an excellent opportunity to experience the ambiance of a vintage sailing vessel while delighting in the splendors of The Manhattan sky-line, the Statue of Liberty or the beauty of the oceans beyond.

Charm of Holland - Departure from Amsterdam Highlights Visit the charming villages Volendam, Zaanse Schans, Marken, and Edam Cheese-tasting demonstration Traditional clogs-making demonstration   Ticket Includes 8.5 hour Live Guided Tour in English, Spanish and German Walking tours in Zaanse Schans, Edam and Volendam Deluxe Coach Admission to a working windmill Boat trip on the Ijsselmeer Demonstration by a clog maker Lunch at a traditional Holland fish restaurant Admission to the Cheese Factory Volendam incl. cheese tasting Admission to the Old Dutch Bakery    Ticket Excludes Hotel Pick Up Full Description The Charm of Holland Tour will give you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the best that Holland has to offer. The tour starts with a visit to the delightful villages of Volendam, Zaanse Schans, Marken, and Edam and enjoy a cheese-tasting and a a demonstration of traditional clog-making! From there you will continue to visit an authentic and typical Dutch wooden windmill, followed up by a cruise on the  waters of the lake IJsselmeer to the picturesque village of Volendam. You will have the chance to indulge the various delicacies the Netherlands have to offer, including local cheeses,lunch in a traditional Dutch fish restaurant and visit an authentic Dutch bakery.

 A day of fun in the sun on the Gulf Coast of Mexico at Clearwater Beach   Enjoy a relaxing day at the beach   Free time to enjoy the beach, walk along the pier, take a swim etc  

Despite being vast geographically, most people on vacation in Orlando tend to eat, play, shop and stay in four key areas. For your convenience, you will find most Eat and Play Card participating merchants in these same areas: - International Drive - Kissimmee - Disney/Lake Buena Vista - Universal Studios/CityWalk Orlando has scores of terrific restaurants to match every taste and budget. Eat and Play Card participating restaurants are located right where you are – so there’s no need to go looking and you’ll never have to drive very far. For instance: - For tasty and wildly popular American food, nothing compares to TGIFriday's - Meat lovers can savor the tender ribs at Tony Roma's or succulent chicken at Buffalo Wild Wings - Refuel fast at the world's largest entertainment McDonald's and playplace or grab the "world's greatest hamburger at Fuddruckers - If Italian food is your thing, try the culinary delights of Ciao Italia or Pacino's - Start your day right, with a hardy breakfast at Denny's or Shoney’s AND MANY MORE... While many visitors start their trip at Disney, Universal or SeaWorld, there’s so much more to see and do. For instance, you can: - Get up close and personal with a giant white alligator at Gatorland, the "alligator capital of the world" - See all of Orlando, spend a day on the beaches of Cocoa Beach or Miami or visit Kennedy Space Center on a bus tour with Gray Line Tours. If your timing is right, you may see even a Space Shuttle launch! - Play the biggest and wildest mini-golf courses you've ever seen at Hawaiian Rumble - but watch out for the exploding volcanoes! - Visit crazy and fun attractions like WonderWorks or Ripley's Believe it or Not! - Zip past wild gators in the Everglades on an airboat with Ultimate Airboat Tours - Parasail, wakeboard, go tubing and more at Sammy Duvall's Watersport Center AND MANY MORE... Don’t forget about shopping! Orlando was recently named America’s #4 shopping destination and with so many outlet malls, it’s no wonder. Eat and Play Card makes shopping more fun and affordable than ever with great discounts at major retailers like: - Macy's - Reebok Outlet Stores - Neiman Marcus Last Call Orlando is a golfer’s paradise with one of the country’s highest per capita number of golf courses. And for people looking to sneak in a round or two, Eat and Play Card has you covered. While many courses are a fair distance from most of Orlando’s hotels, we’ve chosen two of the best for quality and convenience. - Celebration Golf Course, ranked amongst the country’s top 25 public courses - Falcon's Fire Golf Course, awarded four stars by Golf Digest See all of our currently participating partners Download the new app. It includes information on the restaurants included and is very easy to use! Android Apple iOS

Duration: 80 Minutes Departures: every 15 minutes, 30 people tour group maximum Languages: English and Dutch tours, which will depart depending on the amount of waiting for English- or Dutch visitors. Minimum advised age:  10 years and older. Children younger than 12 years always need to be accompanied by someone who is older than 16 years. 

Take to the streets of New York with a local expert guide to explore neighborhoods once home to notorious criminals, learn how the city was ruled in waves by various immigrant crime rings and finding out what modern crime looks like in the city. On the Lower East Side, you’ll see tenement buildings where Irish immigrants lived in subhuman conditions. The most notorious area here was the ‘Five Points’ - a junction so infamous for its gang crime (rumor has it some even lived in burrows under the streets!) that Charles Dickens came to check it out himself on a trip to NYC, not believing it could live up to its reputation. It did, of course, as your guide will tell you. Irish gangs weren’t the only group to terrorise the Lower East Side however. Throughout the 1900s the Italian mafia kept Little Italy in a choke hold, while the 1970s and 1980s were dominated by Chinese turf wars that were so bloody you’ll hardly believe the stories. From the city’s earliest rag-tag gangs to the mafia empires of the 20th century, you’ll separate the truth from from  myths popularized by movies like Gangs of New York and TV shows like The Sopranos. You’ll also learn about the city’s most notorious criminals; from Captain Kidd and Boss Tweed, to John Gotti and Leona Helmsley. The neighborhoods you visit are much nicer today than they were in the past but has NYC really cleaned up its act? As part of your tour, you’ll visit lower Manhattan, in particular Wall Street and the Financial District, to learn about modern, white collar crime (and the going rate for a get-out-of-jail-free card). New York City crime tours don’t get any better than when they are developed with the help of NYPD police officers and detectives. Lifetimes of studying NYC’s criminals are synthesized into a truly unique experience that will teach you how crime is inseparable from the history of this great city.  Inclusions: Guided tour of the Lower East Side & Wall Street Expert tour guide Small groups of 15 people or fewer Exclusions: Gratuities Hotel pick-up/drop-off Sites Visited: Wall Street Lower East Side The old “Five Points” neighborhood Chinatown Little Italy Important Notes: Gratuities to guides are appreciated but never obligatory.  This tour may not be suitable for young children, as subject matter may be graphic and disturbing. Comfortable shoes are recommended. Please note, this tour is in English only.