Travel For the Arts and Dance Lovers

Thrifty car rentals are becoming popular as an option for people who hardly drive their car except on extended trips. Then there are those people who would prefer not to use their own car on trips over uncertain roads for fear of the wear and tear in will cause. People also rent cars to upgrade or downgrade on the size of the car that they own. For instance, an architect might own a large SUV which he uses for bringing his materials to his projects. For non-business trips, the car has much more room that he requires and more engine power than he ever needs to avail of. So he visits a thrifty car rental to get a smaller car for his daily use. Again people might want to rent a car because they are interested in buying that exact same model but just want to try it out first for a week before actually making that purchase.

If you are thinking of a renting a car, you should know that they usually cost less than the up-front price.  This is because thrifty car rental companies offer discount bonuses on most cars and at most times of the year. Discount bonuses can shave of from 10% to 50% of the amount you need to pay after renting it. Price shave-offs can be availed of if you rent on weekends or during off-peak season. You can also have price reduction on the average cost if you rent for a week or a month. The specifics for extended rental discounts may vary from company to company, but they are always there.

Right now, the going price for high-powered cars, has gone down with the recession. Due to the need to save, people are buying cars with less power and smaller build. The result is that cars like the SUV are rented out instead of sold. Now would be the right time to try out renting a SUV from a thrifty car rental. This car is ideal for outdoor adventures on virgin terrain, like camping in the wild or fishing out in a secluded lake. The SUV is also ideal for visiting friends who live in isolated areas.

Before renting for an extended period, you need to consider the amenities or accessories that are included or excluded for monthly or yearly rental plans. Before settling on a monthly rental plan, be sure to calculate whether renting daily for 28 days will cost more than an outright 30-day plan. There are some thrifty car rental companies whose price structure sets a higher basic rate for monthly plans. If such is the case, there may be amenities or add-ons for monthly rentals that you are not aware of.  Ask the personnel about it.

Other than the basic discounts on the rental fees of thrifty car rentals, some offer discount coupons for tourist spots, hotels and restaurants. These discount coupons are issued by the establishments to encourage more visitors to their place. Among these establishments, you have Disneyland, Sea World and even Universal Studios. Holiday Inn and Grand Hyatt are two hotels that offer discount coupons for travelers.

Initially gaining popularity with elite golfers in the 50s and 60s, golf carts are now making their way into all sorts of unlikely places. Employees in airports, warehouses, movie sets and resorts have all gotten mobile with golf carts over the past decade. Residents of careless communities and tropical islands have been using them on the sly as a cheap way of getting from a to b for years. But perhaps one of the most surprising places to find golf carts these days is on the streets of America.

Deeply contrary to the culture of speed, golf carts and the people who drive them are demanding a piece of the road for themselves – and they’re getting it. In many ways the timing is absolutely right.

Designed to travel at a leisurely pace and run on electricity, golf carts leave a significantly smaller ecological footprint than the average vehicle. The first electric vehicle available to consumers, golf carts are compact and cheap to run, quiet, easy to drive and non-polluting. They’re also painfully slow. Most golf carts top out at speeds of 15 mph with the pedal to the metal. But if you’ve got time to get to where you’re going, what’s the problem?

Many communities have simply connected the dots between their warm weather, a preponderance of golf courses and retirees, and the sheer efficiency of these vehicles by building roads and pathways dedicated just to them. Much like bike lanes in other cities, golf cart lanes are showing up in communities all over Florida, Arizona and California.

According to a new york times article, golf cart sales to individuals have doubled over the last 10 years, a phenomenon largely due to a change in US legislation. Ever since the National Highway Traffic Safety administration allowed “low speed vehicles” such as golf carts, to travel up to 25 mph on roads with speed limits up tp 35 mph in 1998, golf carts have been slowly moving off the golf course and into people’s garages.

Of course, you have to pimp your ride before you’re legal. Road worthy carts have to be outfitted with seat belts, windshields, turn signals and brake lights before they can legally tear up the asphalt.

In 1999, Rancho Mirage CA was one of the first American cities to make Golf Carts part of the municipal scene when the city adopted a program allowing drivers to travel the streets in their carts. The city has designated golf cart lanes and paths that traverse the downtown area and skirt the entrances to some of the most exclusive designer golf courses and country clubs in America. Carrying golf clubs, groceries and purse dogs, residents cruise roads named after the icons that invented this glamorous slow-moving golf life: Bob Hope, Gerald Ford, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra. With scarves streaming in the slow desert breeze, this is SoCal at it’s finest.

The city is no stranger to the ways of the golf cart. The Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage is said to be the first place to ever see a powered vehicle on the fairway. In the 1950s, the likes of Desi Arnez and Bing Crosby were wheeling around the Thunderbird greens in the first 3 wheeled electric golf carts Americans had ever seen. To have the modern cousins of these early vehicles taking over the streets of Rancho Mirage 60 years later is not really surprising. Some would wonder what took them so long.

With its plethora of famed sites, its busy streets peppered with top fashion stores, chic bistros, offices, and its unique atmosphere that has cities all over the world trying to reproduce, it is no wonder that New York City is regarded as one of the most beautiful and enchanting cities on this planet. The Big Apple takes you to places that no other city can offer.

Aside from the city’s mind boggling skyscrapers that do indeed live up to their title, the city that never sleeps offers much more. Without leaving the United States, New York City can whet your appetite with a taste of every country in the world in just a couple of hours with quick visits to Little Italy, Russia, Brazil, China Town, and the Barrio- not to mention the surrounding neighborhoods that can show you the best of all cultures ranging from Greek to Caribbean. Its bustling streets during the day and its breathtaking lights that glisten against the night sky are among the list of things that all people should encounter during their lifetime to keep in their memories forever.

The Empire State Building, a legendary colossus photographed more than any top supermodel, is seen by millions in photographs, movies, and postcards all over the world. Built during the Depression, it grew at an impressive rate of four and a half stories per week and its total of 102 stories were completed in a short 14 months. An outstanding symbol for the city of New York, it comes with no surprise that tourists from all over rush to visit the building when site-seeing. Each year, 3.5 million people, come to take an elevator (the real determined ones actually take the stairs) that climbs up more than a quarter of a mile into the atmosphere until they reach the 86th floor observatory. The glass observatory, which was opened in 1931, offers awe inspiring views of the city and elsewhere with its panoramic views from the sky. The observatory is open from 8 a.m. to midnight – allowing tourists to catch the breathtaking city at night with its twinkling lights.

Central Park, another of New York City’s major attractions, isn’t exactly something that seems like it would fit into such an urban place like New York City, but the park, which has been around since 1855 and receives 25 million people each year with open arms, has taken its stand and proven that nature still has a place in the city. Central Park was founded in 1855 by wealthy merchants and landowners who wanted New York to have a park that compared with the ritzy parks of Paris and London. The area that was chosen for the park -843 acres of swamp and muddy terrain- has come a long way since the 1800s. The zoo, which was founded in 1871, quickly became the public’s favorite. The zoo still remains a favorite today, however, the park has much more to offer, including: concerts, ice skating (during the winter), gardens and a pond, roller-skating, yoga, basketball and other sports, tours, horseback riding, fishing, and even cross-country skiing.

For any tourist visiting New York City, The World Trade Center site is definitely a must see. The site, once home to the beloved and missed Twin Towers, shows tourists the destruction that occurred on September 11, 2001, first hand. The sacred site cannot be walked in, but can be seen through fences and is accompanied by photographs of the former Twin Towers and of the present day site. As an event that will stand out forever in our nation’s history, it is a site that has to be seen and remembered for a lifetime.

It’s hard not to want to visit New York City, with its ever so enticing and provocative buildings, parks, museums, restaurants, and streets. With so much to see and so much to do, the sheer excitement of just being in such a thrilling city can be overwhelming, and a lot of tourists may make the mistake of not planning enough. Sure, money is something that is always necessary, and a camera is almost never forgotten with so many photo opportunities that await you in this wonderful city, but a lot of tourists make the crucial mistake of not planning transportation. This mistake can inevitably lead to a horrible chain reaction of headaches and what can be worse while traveling – a large loss of time. Yet, aside from economical values of taking the bus when visiting New York City, peace of mind is also very important. Parking isn’t easy in a city with a population of 8,085,742 people. Finding a place to park could take an hour or more depending on what neighborhood you are in, and what could be worse is having to park in a zone with meters. Having to worry about putting a quarter in the meter every couple of hours and be a pain the you-know-where, and even the worry of whether or not your car is still in one piece or stolen can ruin anyone’s day. In addition, driving in New York City isn’t a Sunday drive through the park and can be one of the most stressful hassles a person can encounter. With the never ending traffic jams that would lose a race to a slug on any given day and road rage from other drivers, driving in NYC can easily become a person’s worst nightmare. More importantly, a recent statistic has shown that riding a bus is 91 times safer than riding in a car (a train is 15 times safer) which can be an important factor if traveling with a family or even for an individual.