Travel Trails By Martin B. Deutsch for 1964

December 1: COAST TO COAST, ON SKIS
Skiing is well on its way to becoming one of the most popular cold-weather pastimes. Areas that cater to skiing have sprung up from coast to coast and excellent highways now lead to the most remote mountain ranges. Here's my capsule view of the major ski areas in a belt of snow-blessed states all over the U.S.

November 1: THE GRAB BAG
Our path this month will be somewhat scattered. We will make quick visits to pinpoint special items of interest in the Ozarks, along the Hiawatha Pioneer Trail in the Midwest, the Natchez Trace way down South, an unusual town in Illinois and Hampton, Virginia. We'll also tell you about a new map that will help you devise that auto-vacation itinerary, a new banking service to alleviate tipping headaches for travelers going abroad, and a few statistics on the mushrooming flow of Americans on the tourist scene overseas.

October 1: WISCONSIN: BEER, FISH AND CIRCUSES
Wisconsin is a happy state. Its cities are filled with people who drink some of the finest beer brewed in the United States; its countryside is populated with handsome dairy farms and healthy cows; the lakes are brimming with fish just waiting to be caught, and the woods are alive with game. They call Wisconsin the "land of the gathering waters," an appropriate description of a state with nearly 9,000 lakes and 20,000 miles of rivers and streams.

September 1: FARES TO EUROPE PLUMMET
There are some fare developments between the United States and Europe which you might find of interest. On April first, the scheduled airlines revised their rates substantially as follows: The basic economy fares have been cut about twenty per cent, from $499 to 399, round trip between New York and London, for most of the year. However, in the very busy summer periods, from May twenty-second to August third, they will drop only three per cent, to $484. First-class fares have been chopped twenty-one per cent the year round, from $902 down to $712. The so-called excursion fare now applies as long as you stay away a minimum of fourteen days and a maximum of twenty-one days. Round trip from New York to London is now $300, a fourteen-per-cent cut from the former $350.

August 1: A HOT TIME IN ICELAND
Iceland is 2,675 miles from New York and just a stone's throw away from adventure, excitement and marvelous vacation. With a round-trip flight from New York as low as $220.40, and with surprisingly low costs for hotels, meals and sightseeing tours, Iceland shapes up as a true bargain vacation spot.

July 1: NEW ISLAND IN THE SUN
If you're driving up or down the East Coast, the odds are that somewhere between New York City and Jacksonville, Florida, you'll find yourself on the Ocean Hiway. It comprises the New Jersey Turnpike and U.S. 13 in the North and U.S. 17 in the South. The quality of the road is uniformly excellent and more than half of it is dual-lane construction. The Ocean Hiway has a personality of its own, a consistent quality and character developed by the nonprofit Ocean Hiway Association founded nearly thirty years ago. This outfit, which has its headquarters on U.S. 13, five miles south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, issues illustrated, full-color maps and other literature to describe and identify points of interest, dining points and accommodations along its 1,000-mile bailiwick.

June 1: ALONG THE OCEAN HIWAY
There's this tiny island in the Caribbean sun that has caught tourist fire. Its name is Aruba. This speck on the vast seascape more than makes up for any deficiencies in size by the quality of its beaches, climate and accommodations. Its meteoric rise to tourist prominence began in 1959, with the opening of the Aruba Caribbean Hotel, which brought 140 deluxe rooms to the island.

May 1: BEAUTIES OF BAJA
Baja California is over the threshold into tourist travel's big-time. Witness a recent rash of deluxe hotel projects near the southern tip, the ambitious highway projects, the growth of tour sales, the almost daily air service from Los Angeles to La Paz via Aeronaves de Mexico, and the heart-warming incidence of bikini-clad beauties on the beaches.

April 1: NORTH TO ADVENTURE
Go north, young man! Not to seek your fortune or cement your future, but for a happy-go-lucky, pleasure filled and exciting vacation in Canada, North America's most versatile and accessible playground. We want to qualify that phrase about a "young man." We include anyone from eighteen to eighty who is endowed with the get-up-and-go to pack the family, the fishing gear, maybe a camping rig or even a boat, into or onto the wagon. The destination: several weeks of loosely planned, flexible, leisurely, carefree enjoyment in Canada.

March 1: BY PLANE
With supersonics just around the corner, we've barely gotten the jet age, with its pleasures and problems, off the ground. And despite air travel's giant strides since World War II, coupled with a superb safety record, only one out of four Americans has ever flown. Of those 50,000,000 or so fellow citizens who have earned their passenger wings, far too many walk off the plane with a scowl instead of a smile. And in most cases, it's their own fault.

February 1: ISLANDS IN THE SUN
There's no doubt that the British West Indies islands of Antigua, Barbados and Grenada are little slices of England in a tropical setting. Visualize the lovely, rolling countryside of England, the hospitality of the people and their low-keyed humor, and transplant the whole package, in small portions, to the Caribbean. Surround these islands with fine white-sand beaches and add a few palm trees to dress up the scenery. Do away with England's fogs and rainy weather, the damp and chill, and substitute year-round sunshine and blue skies.

January 1: PENNSYLVANIA: PROPENSITY FOR PLEASURE
The Keystone State is a versatile vacation ground. On the one hand, it is distinguished by a wealth of historical attractions centered around the early pioneer days, the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Philadelphia, often called in 1681 by colonists sent out by William Penn. To this day, this "city of brotherly love" has played an important role in the growth of the United States. Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell are just two of the famous colonial landmarks we'll return to later. You and the family will also find American history come to life in the Gettysburg and Valley Forge, as well as in York and the gracious capital city of Harrisburg.

Copyright © 1962-2010 by Martin B. Deutsch. All rights reserved.