Travelsmartplanet

Here’s the Hollywood Switchboard used in the movie, Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. It was created and used by Kenneth Strickfaden. Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft must have had fun using his Microsoft money to buy important film props.

Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft used a tiny bit of his earnings to collect film props. Not surprised that he wanted Darth Vadar’s Light Saber from the Empire Strikes Back and Darth Maul’s Light Saber from the Phantom Menace, Episode 1. Wouldn’t you want it too? You can see it at MoPop in Seattle, WA.

Here, from the Wizard of Oz is the Wicked Witch of the West’s hat. Margaret Hamilton, with her green face, scowl and cackle, was the actor who played her. Adrian Adolph Greenberg, Hollywood costume designer, created her signature outfit. As a little kid, watching that witch really scared me, sending me into tears. You can see the hat in person at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, WA. I didn’t cry when I saw it.

Look up when you walk through this corridor at the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum in Seattle, WA. You can pick the colored chandelier of your dreams.

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Chandeliers here are the ones (or inspired by them) that were hung all over the city of Venice in 1995-6. Here are 3 examples that are now permanently in Seattle in the museum devoted to Dale Chihuly.

Who would guess a shoe museum could be such fun, so informative and so creative? The history, the designers, the famous shoes and the oddities will please just about anyone who comes here.

Women who love shoes will love this museum. It traces the history of shoes from thousands of years ago to today.

Entrance to the Vatican Museums. Michelangelo’s ceilings in the Sistine Chapel is right near here.

Completed in 1887, the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse is a fascinating piece of Florida history. It towers over others as the tallest lighthouse in Florida, offering spectacular, 360-degree views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway.

If you are feeling adventurous you can climb the 203 steps to the top and be rewarded with some truly breathtaking scenery and one-of-a-kind photo opportunities.
There’s an on-site museum featuring a fascinating rare Fresnel Lens exhibit, artifacts on lighthouse life and shipwrecks.

On May 11th, from 10am – 2pm, over one hundred Corvettes of all ages will be on display at Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. Vettes at the Lighthouse XII, hosted by the Ponce Inlet Corvette Club,  the car show will feature music, door prizes, food, silent auction and trophies. This is a must-see for every car enthusiast. All proceeds are donated to local charities.

You get a great view of the majestic Renaissance Filippo Brunelleschi -designed domed Florence Cathedral, the Duomo if you ascend one of the hills around it. The Gothic-styled Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore was begun in 1296 along with it’s Baptistery and Giotti’s Bell tower (Campanile). Ghiberti’s original Baptistery doors are in the museum (the ones outside are copies).

Brunelleschi was commissioned in 1418. The dome is egg-shaped and was accomplished without scaffolding. A balcony by Baccio d’Agnolo was added in 1507. Notice that only 1 of the eight sides was finished by 1515, when someone asked Michelangelo (whose artistic opinion was by this time taken as cardinal law), his thoughts of it. The master reportedly scoffed, “It looks like a cricket cage.” Work was immediately stopped, and to this day the other 7 sides remain only rough brick.