Free Republic

Rolling pastures dotted with grazing cows, fields of corn and classic buggies driven by Amish in hats and bonnets — these are the images that attract visitors to Lancaster County, home to more than 30,000 of the Pennsylvania Dutch.Visitors who also bring big money to the state — to the tune of nearly $1.8 billion a year. Which explains why the winning bumper sticker in a contest sponsored by Pennsylvania's Tourism Office didn't feature the Liberty Bell or the battlefield in Gettysburg — but rather, "I Break for Shoofly Pie," an ode to the traditional Amish dessert.But pictures can be...

Promoting travel to the U.S. as a job creator, President Barack Obama wants to make it easier for people from other countries to visit the 50 states and spend money at their hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions and other businesses. Obama planned to discuss the economic benefits of tourism to the U.S. and the latest steps he is taking to boost it at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, on Thursday. Obama acted two years ago to speed the processing of tourist visas for visitors from China and Brazil, steps that have dramatically reduced the length...

"San Francisco, open your Golden Gate. You'll let nobody wait outside your door." Those are the lyrics of the city's signature song, but now somebody should call "rewrite." On Tuesday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency voted to bar nonresidents' cars from the crooked part of Lombard Street on Saturday and Sunday afternoons between June 21 and July 13. Last year, the agency banned tour buses from driving by the iconic Painted Ladies on Alamo Square. Thanks to well-heeled city residents who can afford to live in these world-famous properties, San Francisco is hoisting a Golden Drawbridge. Kelly Edwards,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will make a pitch for U.S. tourism at a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday as part of his efforts to provide a boost for U.S. economic growth.

The actor denies being paid by Mexican government to pose in a selfie with its president “House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey is facing criticism after a selfie he tweeted last Wednesday with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was reported to have been paid off by the Mexican government. Spacey vehemently denied the report. “One of these Presidents is real. With President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico last night,” Spacey tweeted May 7, as he posed with Nieto. Mexican tourism board chief Rodolfo López Negrete Coppel told Forbes that the actor was paid, but declined to reveal how much. Earlier,...

The number of trips to St. Petersburg canceled by foreign tourists has increased by 15 to 20 percent this year when compared to the same time last year, tourism industry representatives said at a press conference Monday. According to Leonid Flit, chairman of the management board of the North-Western regional department of the Russian Tourism Industry Union, the increase in canceled trips and bookings is due to recent events in Ukraine.

Recent threads brought to light potential business interests Reid may have in and around Bunkerville. http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3146700/postshttp://freerepublic.com/focus/news/3145746/posts?page=160#160 Here is some additional information which may explain WHY these business interests exist. Excerpting a blog entry dated June 2nd, 2013, from Friends of Gold Butte: The Gold Butte National Conservation Area with Wilderness Act has been introduced by Senator Reid. Conservationists have worked for permanent protection of Gold Butte for over ten years. Please take action today and show your support the Gold Butte National Conservation Area with Wilderness! http://www.friendsofgoldbutte.org/2013/06/gold-butte-nca-proposal-introduced/ Excerpting a blog entry dated June 6th, 2013, from Friends of Gold Butte:...

Under the guise of experiental, educational sojourns in the Middle East, an ongoing, extensive tourism subterfuge of global proportions is at work today. This comprehensive and coordinated fraudulent operation includes travel agency fronts, terrorist groups, international NGOs, Islamists, and Leftists. They include such organizations as the Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies, Abraham Path, the Soros Foundation to Promote Open Society, and others. All of them, whether unwittingly or intentionally, are part of an effort to turn tourists, college students, and Christian pilgrims against the Jewish state of Israel. Using the rubric of “a connection between people from the Middle...

MINERAL WELLS — Every time Annette Bennett walks out the back door of the family business, the Baker Hotel still looms large, but it possesses little of its majestic past.

The US State Department issued a travel warning Monday on Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, strongly warning US citizens against travel to the Gaza Strip. The advisory was updated due to what the State Department said was the complex security environment in the region.

HAMILTON, Mo.—This tiny farm town used to be known as the home of James Cash Penney Jr., founder of the namesake department store chain. These days, it is better known in some circles as the home of Jenny Doan. Those would be quilting circles. Over the past few years, Mrs. Doan, 57 years old, has become a veritable superstar of the craft. Her YouTube tutorials on how to make quilts have drawn as many as a million viewers, some from as far away as South Africa. Her family's Missouri Star Quilt Co. gets as many as 30,000 orders a month...

In feudal times, serfs were tied to the land—unable to leave without their overlord’s permission. In the old Soviet Union, workers were tied to their jobs—unable to leave without the government’s permission. In many insurance plans, medical services rendered outside of the network are uncovered. This becomes a problem when the network is extremely narrow, as many of the plans offered under the Affordable Care Act are. It is bad enough when the “network” is bounded by the state’s borders. It is worse when the boundary is the county or city line—as is the case with many of the “affordable”...

Lured by U.S. citizenship for their children, thousands of Chinese women give birth annually in the States, supporting a thriving birth-tourism industry. Jiang Wenjun was getting ready to go to America. His wife, due to give birth to their son any day, was already there. Like any expectant parents, the Shanghai couple agonized over how best to prepare for the arrival — and upbringing — of their firstborn child. American citizenship, they decided, was one of the finest gifts they could bestow. “America is the strongest country in the world,” says Jiang, whose son was born just days after he...

UNION CITY, Tenn. — The gleaming white building with curved exteriors and a spaceship-like tower emerges from the flat landscape of West Tennessee like something out of science fiction, but it’s not a villain’s lair or superhero’s headquarters. It’s Discovery Park of America, a new museum, education center and tourist attraction that opened last Friday in Union City, Tenn...

Moscow, October 29, Interfax - The body of Vladimir Lenin, the mastermind of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which lies still in the Mausoleum on the Red Square, should sooner or later be buried, the Synodal Department for External Church Relations' head Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said. "Debates on this issue will certainly continue. Probably, some harsh movements may cause rejections in public opinion, but one may and should discuss this subject keeping in mind that a Christian burial does not suggest exhibiting a dead body for many years," the priest told a news conference at Interfax. Lenin's body has turned...

The high cost of medical care in the US plus the rationing of medical care in other nations has spurred the growth of medical tourism. As I mentioned in a previous post, outstanding doctors, nurses, and hospital facilities can be found in countries such as Costa Rica, Thailand, India, the Philippines, etc. offering care at costs significantly lower than in the US and without the rationing and waiting times of other countries. One problem with traveling from the US to another nation for medical care is the cost and inconvenience of travel. Additionally, each nation will have its own tort...

One could suppose it is just another example of American state sponsored capitalism. It will follow in the footsteps of such other great "government sponsored enterprises" or private sector/public sector partnerships like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Post Office, Amtrak or the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It too will become part of the Leviathan. Its name is ...

Napa and Sonoma have their wine tours, and travellers flock to Scotland to sample single malt whiskies. But in Jamaica, farmers are offering a different kind of trip for a different type of connoisseur. Call them ganja tours: smoky, mystical - and technically illegal - journeys to some of the island's hidden cannabis plantations, where pot tourists can sample such strains as "purple kush" and "pineapple skunk." The tours pass through places like Nine Mile, the tiny hometown of reggae legend, and famous pot-lover, Bob Marley. Here, in Jamaica's verdant central mountains, dreadlocked men escort curious visitors to a farm...

Gunmen have killed 10 people, including nine foreign tourists after storming a hotel in far northern Pakistan. Officials say five are from Ukraine, one from Russia and three from China. A Pakistani guide also died in the attack. It happened at the base camp of Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth highest mountain, in Gilgit-Baltistan. It is the first such attack on tourists in the region. The Pakistani Taliban has told the BBC it was responsible. A spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban said the attack was in retaliation for the killing of its second-in-command, Waliur Rehman, who died in a suspected US drone...

The woman, who is still in Manali, was yet to identify the accused. Manali - Three Nepali truck drivers were arrested Thursday for the gang-rape of a 30-year-old US national in this Himachal Pradesh tourist resort two days ago, police said in Manali. Arjun, Lucky and Som Bahadur Tamang, in the age group of 22-24, had been living in the state for a long time, Superintendent of Police Vinod Dhawan said. "Two of them were arrested from Patlikuhl (20 km before Manali) and one from Mandi town," Dhawan added. The victim, who reached this tourist resort, some 500 km from...