Charm of Holland

The 10,000 Islands Excursion, arguably, is the best way to experience the natural world around Marco Island. Conducted within the 10,000 Islands Wildlife Refuge, you will experience what many describe as the best of Florida. The tour is two-part: The first part is a slow, intimate boating tour among the remote islands of the refuge. While you search for dolphins, manatees and sea turtles, you may encounter ospreys, bald eagles, ibis, roseate spoonbill, egrets, herons and any number of shorebird species. All the while, your formally trained naturalist guide will talk to you about the area's ecosystems, its long history and rich culture. The second part of your excursion is an exploration of a remote barrier island beach ... an island that you only can reach by boat ... an island that few get to experience. Learn about beach dynamics; stroll through the tidal flats and wade the tidal pools of these remote islands. If you enjoy shelling, imaging shelling on islands that are NOT picked daily by 100's of people. With your naturalist guide, learn not about individual shell animals, but actually learn "how to" shell.

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.

This unique yellow submarine holds up to 44 passengers and with two people to a window you are guaranteed excellent views of what lies beneath Your guide will tell you the history of the submarine which has been diving in these waters since 2007 and has opened the world to the magical mysteries of the sea and of the the sea life you will get to see. Marvel at the topography and make sure that you have a camera at hand to capture these once in a lifetime photo opportunities. An unforgettable experience! Places are limited on this popular excursion so book in advance and confirm your place on this unique experience!

Madame Tussauds Nashville, the world’s most famous wax attraction celebrating American music, provides an interactive experience where groups can become a part of America’s musical past and present.  Located in Opry Mills, adjacent to the Grand Ole Opry, Madame Tussauds Nashville is Music City’s newest must-see destination. With over 45 wax figures of past and present musicians, experience a historical walk through immersive iconic scenes and musical performances where you’ll be able to touch, see, feel and photograph your favorite country, pop, rock and jazz artists. We encourage guests to get up close and personal with our life-like figures, so remember to bring your camera to capture these once in a lifetime memories!

Duffy Square - Statue of Lt. Colonel Father Francis Patrick Duffy TKTS Discount Theater ticket kiosk Statue of George M. Cohan Times Square Alliance Information Center Palace Theater Marriott Marquis Hotel Marquis Theatre Bertelsmann Building Planet Hollywood MTV Studios Minskoff Theater Toys R Us Hard Rock Cafe One Times Square NASDAQ Market Site Thomson Reuters Building New Amsterdam Theater ESPN Zone Conde Nast Building Knickerbocker Hotel Building Bank of America Building Bryant Park WR Grace Building Bryant Park Hotel Bryant Park Cafe Chrysler Building Library Lions - Patience & Fortitude New York Public Library Lord & Taylor Empire State Building Little Korea aka Korea Town Madison Square 51 Madison Avenue - New York Life Insurance Company Building 41 Madison Avenue - site of Jerome Mansion Herald Square Macy's Haier Building - former Greenwich Savings Bank Keen's Steakhouse Bryant Park Statue of Dr. Jose Bonifacio Andrada Statue of Benito Juarez Hippodrome Building International Center for Photography Clubhouse Row - Hotel Algonquin et al NHL Store William Jenkins Worth Cenotaph - obelisk Madison Square Park Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower Shake Shack William Seward Statue Flatiron Building Ladies Mile District Parsons School of Design of the New School University Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University Forbes Gallery Forbes Magazine Headquarters First Presbyterian Church Church of the Ascension (Episcopal) Washington Square Arch University Place Grace Episcopal Church Astor Place Bayard-Condict Building Cable Building The Wall by Forrest Meyers Prada Flagship store designed by Rem Kohlhaas Bloomingdales SoHo branch Top Shop/Top Man store Haughwout Building International Culinary Academy/French Culinary Institute with L'Ecole Restaurant Canal Street Chinatown Information Kiosk Manhattan Bridge Dumbo district

George Westinghouse Vocational High School 911 Headquarters WNYE Radio & Television - New York City Department of Education Radio & Television studios New York Technical College of the City University of New York Brooklyn General Post Office Fox Cable News Building Diamond District McGraw Hill Building 1251 Sixth Avenue - former Exxon Building Barclays Capital Building - formerly Lehman Brothers HQ Colony Records Brill Building Ambassador Theater Crowne Plaza Times Square Hotel Hershey Store M&M Store Morgan Stanley HQ W Times Square Hotel Museum of Sex Madison Square Marble Collegiate Church Church of the Transfiguration ("Little Church Around the Corner") Theodore Roosevelt United States Federal Courthouse for the Eastern District of New York Cadman Plaza Brooklyn War Memorial (World Wars I & II) Old Fulton Street Brooklyn Eagle Warehouse Grimaldi's Pizzeria Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory River Cafe Fulton Ferry Landing Continental Army Evacuation (August 29, 1776) Marker Fulton Ferry marker Crossing Brooklyn Ferry railing inscription Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Heights Promenade Brooklyn Queens Expressway Atlantic Avenue Sahadi Imports Damascus Bakery Former St. Vincent's Home for Boys Brooklyn House of Detention Society of Friends (Quaker) Meeting House Kings County Supreme Court Brooklyn Borough Hall Brooklyn Bridge Marriott Hotel New York Municipal Building Woolworth Building AIG (former Cities Service) Building 70 Pine Street Thurgood Marshall United States Federal Courthouse for the Southern District of New York  Hong Kong Bank Building 10 Downing Street Winston Churchill Square Father Demo Square Blue Note Jazz Club 3rd Street Basketball Courts Golden Swan Gardens St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church Jefferson Market Courthouse Library New York Foundling Hospital Siegel-Cooper Building - Bed, Bath & Beyond, TJ Maxx and Filene's Basement Grand Lodge of the Masons (71 West 23rd Street) Manhattan Mall - former Gimbels Department Store site Greeley Square Horace Greeley statue Herald Center City University Graduate Center and Oxford University Press (former B Altman Dept. Store)

 

Come and meet the fascinating lifelike wax figures in an interactive attraction, impressive sets and costumes. Nowhere else you will get so many selfies with your stars. A tour through the 2,500 square meeters of the exhibition shows you different themed areas like history, politics, sports, music and Hollywood Hills. Numerous interactive elements, actors and impressive sets makes this tour educative and entertaining. The lifelike wax figures made Madame Tussauds world famous. At Madame Tussauds, more than 120 national and international celebrities and the big elegends of contemporary history attract thousands of visitors everyday.  Please note, that children under 15 years must be accompanied by an adult.