Jun 24th, 2009 at 3:32PM:
Only five miles from Tortola, the main commercial center of the British Virgin Islands, minuscule Jost (rhymes with "toast") Van Dyke is a little island with a big reputation. The scant 8-square-mile island -- dubbed the "New York of the Virgin Islands" because it offers so much nightlife -- probably packs more fun per square inch than any other island in the BVIs. Most of the action occurs on ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
detours posts
10 things to do on Jost Van Dyke, the "New York of the Virgin Islands"
Jun 24th, 2009 at 3:32PM:
Only five miles from Tortola, the main commercial center of the British Virgin Islands, minuscule Jost (rhymes with "toast") Van Dyke is a little island with a big reputation. The scant 8-square-mile island -- dubbed the "New York of the Virgin Islands" because it offers so much nightlife -- probably packs more fun per square inch than any other island in the BVIs. Most of the action occurs on ...Detour Worth Making: Predjama Castle
May 18th, 2007 at 6:23AM: Predjama Castle, known locally as Predjama Grad, sits an hour southwest of Slovenia's capital, (the impossible-to-pronounce) Ljubljana. Originally built in the 12th Century on top of a cave, the Castle was expanded and added onto during the 16th Century, and the efforts of those labors are largely what we see today.
Appearing to hang in the middle of a 403-foot-tall limestone cliff, Predjama ...Detour Worth Making: Houston's The Orange Show
May 3rd, 2007 at 4:47PM: Created by visionary mailman Jefferson Davis McKissack, Houston's The Orange Show is a folk-art environment; a monumental work of handmade architecture; and a sanctuary for the eccentric, all rolled into one.
The maze-like, 3000-square-foot behemoth includes an oasis, a wishing well, a pond, a stage, and a museum. Having taken several decades to construct, the sprawling art-opolis is made almost ...Detour Worth Making: The Underground Church of Saint-Jean at Aubeterre-sur-Dronne
Apr 27th, 2007 at 5:02PM: In south-central France, close to the Perigord -- one of Europe's wildest spots -- lies the village of Aubeterre. Though the village itself is beautiful -- featuring winding cobbled alleys and verdant landscapes, just how you'd imagine a rural French village would look -- the most impressive feature in the community lies semi-hidden underground. Hand-hewn from the surrounding rock, a subterranean ...Detour Worth Making: Get High in Meteora, Greece
Apr 21st, 2007 at 10:25AM: The Greek word meteora means "suspended in the air," and one look at the images of the monasteries here, and you'll know why the Greeks named it that. Pretty much in the middle of -- but high above! -- the country, the rock here has eroded into fantastic, weathered peaks struggling for the heavens. The monasteries of Meteora were originally settled by monks who lived in caves lower down the rocks ...Weekend In Miami: Jimbo's Place
Apr 18th, 2007 at 1:59PM: After leaving the lighthouse at Bill Bagg Park, we traveled north -- back through the Village of Key Biscayne, back through Crandon Park, and off the island. Before hitting mainland Miami, we approached a small key on our right. This is Virginia Key, a wonderfully underdeveloped barrier island that boasts several nice beaches. However, we weren't interested in seeing the beaches. We were ...Detour Worth Making: Thailand's Siriraj Museum
Mar 27th, 2007 at 7:08AM: The Siriraj Hospital is the oldest and largest hospital and medical school in Thailand. Founded in 1888, the hospital -- on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River across from Thammasart University -- also houses 10 museums, which attract a widely divergent audience -- from art students to Buddhist monks.
Among the many museums available for touring are:
The Songkran Niyomsane Forensic Medicine ...Detour Worth Making: "Agua Caliente," The World's Only Hot Waterfall
Mar 12th, 2007 at 3:40PM: Believe it or not, Guatemala is home to the world's only hot waterfall. Known as "Agua Caliente," the steaming waters from a thermal spring bubbling into the Rio Dulce pour over the falls into a cool pond below. Surrounded by foliage and ancient pocked rocks, Agua Caliente looks like a scene from a coming-of-age movie.
As if the anomaly of standing in cool waters as hot waters pour over you ...Detour Worth Making: The Crookedest Street in the World
Mar 5th, 2007 at 1:27PM: San Francisco's Lombard Street is widely thought to be the World's Crookedest Street. But did you know that Burlington, Iowa's "Snake Alley" was officially named by Ripley's Believe It or Not? as the "Crookedest Street in the World"?
Built in 1894, Snake Alley was conceived as a "more direct link" between Burlington's business and shopping districts. Working together, three public-spirited ...Detour Worth Making: Yekaterinburg Cemetery Tour of Russian Mafia Tombstones
Mar 2nd, 2007 at 3:01PM: Yekaterinburg is one of Russia's largest cities. Roughly 600 miles southwest of Moscow, this former home to Boris Yeltsin is mineral-rich -- making it an important industrial center in the country -- but also has a fair amount of culture and tourist-cachet. In addition to the area's cross country skiing, proximity to the Europe-Asia border, magnificent Opera and Ballet House, and huge water park, ...Detour Worth Making: Virgina City's Red Light Museum
Feb 28th, 2007 at 6:38AM: Gosh, nothing screams sexy like cowboy prostitutes from the 1860s. Named after the most famous prostitute of Virginia City, Nevada, the Julia C. Bulette Saloon now stands as a tribute to that city's "favored soiled dove." Open daily from 10am-9pm, a $1 admission gains you access to the so-called Red Light Museum, which displays a variety of vintage erotica -- like a lipstick tube condom case and ...Detour Worth Making: The Icelandic Phallological Museum
Feb 16th, 2007 at 12:06PM: In an otherwise unassuming building, in extreme northern Iceland, sits the only museum in the world to contain a collection of phallic specimens belonging to all the mammals found in a single country. That museum, The Icelandic Phallological Museum, dedicated to the science of phallology, contains more than 150 penises and penile parts of a variety of Icelandic creatures -- including those from an ...Detour Worth Making: Nieu Bethesda's Owl House
Feb 15th, 2007 at 5:28PM: Of all the side trips I've taken, the most interesting was a visit to Helen Martins' Owl House. Born in 1897, "Miss Helen" suffered through a failed marriage, the death of her parents, and then, in her 40s or 50s, found herself alone in the dry, dusty, desolate Klein Karoo of central South Africa. Surrounded entirely by brown, Miss Helen decided to transform her environment. She hired local ...Detour Worth Making: New York's Burp Castle
Feb 14th, 2007 at 5:27PM: Though I live in South Florida, I have friends in New York City. Next time I'm there, I'm going to insist we visit the inelegantly-named but beautifully-decorated Burp Castle. With its friendly vibe, cozy atmosphere, and soothing music, the self-ordained Temple of Beer Worship sports a fantastic beer selection (9 taps; 80 bottles). Despite its clunky moniker, the Burp Castle is is not a frat-boy ...Detour Worth Making: Florida's No Name Pub
Feb 13th, 2007 at 3:45PM: Last summer, my wife and I treated ourselves to a long weekend and hit the Underwater Music Festival off Big Pine Key, Florida. While the Festival, itself, was pretty cool, the highlight of the trip was dinner at the No Name Pub. Claiming to serve the "greatest pizza in the known universe," I was a bit skeptical, since it was so far out of the way. Nevertheless, we bellied up to the bar, and we ...
