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US: Baltimore, MD – Urban Adventure Quest – Baltimore is your Game Board…Anytime!
Turn Baltimore’s Inner Harbor into a giant game board with this fun scavenger hunt adventure. What a fabulous, unique and entertaining way for the whole family to see the city. This amazing Scavenger Hunt Adventure combines the excitement of the Amazing Race with a three-hour city tour.
Guided from any smart phone, teams make their way among well known and overlooked gems of the city, solving clues and completing challenges while learning local history. The adventure begins in the Historic Inner Harbor and will take you on a journey along the water front, among museums and other historic buildings. You’ll explore interesting parts of Little Italy and see the location where the Star-Spangled Banner Flag was created.
This is an interactive tour, where your Smart Phone leads you on a fun and engaging walking tour of the city to complete challenges, solve clues all while working together to unravel secrets of the city. Optional hints make sure that all teams can find a location or solve a challenge to move forward and earn points for correct answers. See famous sights and hidden gems of the city while learning interesting facts and discovering unique history.
Mention promo code – Drivei95Blog to receive a 20% off discount.
Start: Outside the Maryland Science Center (Harbor side)
End: Star-Spangled Banner Flag House
Distance: 1.5 miles
Time: 2.5 – 3 hours
Challenges: 20
Bonuses: 4
Points of Interest: Inner Harbor, Maryland Science Center, USS Constellation , Baltimore WTC, Power Plant and Little Italy
Available 365 days a year, sunrise to sunset. Start when you want and play at your pace.
Start Location: Outside the Maryland Science Center (Harbor side), 601 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
Date and Time: Daily, 10am – 7pm
Tel: 805-603-5620
urbanadventurequest.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: baltimore.org
US: Savannah, GA – Celebrate the Fourth of July on a Fireworks Cruise
Celebrate our nation’s independence with Savannah Riverboat Cruises’ special Fireworks Cruise on Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of a city founded in 1733.
During the one-and-a-half hour cruise, guests can dance to the music of the riverboat DJ spinning their favorite tunes and see a spectacular waterfront fireworks display. Each riverboat has two climate-controlled decks for comfort and an outdoor deck for viewing. A cash bar and snack bar will be available during the cruise.
Boarding starts at 8:30pm, sailing begins at 9 pm and the riverboat returns at 10:30 p.m. For more information about the Fourth of July Fireworks Cruise, call the Savannah Riverboat Cruises at (912) 232-6404 or click here to visit their website.
Location: Savannah Riverboat Cruises, 9 East River Street, Savannah, GA 31412
Date: Tues, July 4, 2017
Hours: 9pm -10:30pm (Boarding at 8:30pm)
Tel: 912-232-6404
savannahriverboat.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: savannah.com
US: Beaufort, SC – Dragon Boat Race For a Worthy Cause
Don’t miss one of the Lowcountry’s signature events, the annual DragonBoat Beaufort Race Day. The exciting dragon boat races will take place Saturday, June 24, 2017 at at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park on the river from 8-4.
Witness the fierce competition and camaraderie as teams of paddlers race on the Beaufort river to win trophies and raise money for local cancer patients. Among the fun and festivities will be an opening ceremony, three heats of races, the moving Carnation Ceremony for cancer survivors and their families and the closing medal ceremony.
DragonBoat Race Day will include many local businesses, community groups and teams of friends and family racing against each other. The mixed Cancer Survivor Division will be the showcase for the heroes and heroines, honoring the spirit of DragonBoat Race Day.
Twenty paddlers sitting side-by-side in a dragon-headed 42 foot-long vessel, paddling furiously to the beat of an emphatic drummer. The goal: physical wellness and psychological well-being through this thrilling, team-oriented support program that even offers opportunities to travel to competitions worldwide.
There will be 35 teams each racing three times. There will be two divisions – Mixed Community and Cancer Survivor teams. All teams race together. Cancer Survivor teams must have at least 8 cancer survivors in the boat during each race. After the first and second heats, teams will be placed in racing categories based upon their time; the third heat will decide the medals. Cancer Survivor placings decided by accumulating the two best times from each team. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded for the top three finishers in each racing categories during the Awards Ceremony at the end of the day.
Location: Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, downtown on the Beaufort River, SC
Date: Sat, June 24, 2017
Time: 8am – 4pm
Tel: 843-473-4477
dragonboat-raceday.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: southcarolinalowcountry.com
US: Portland, ME – Take in the Beauty of Autumn With a Ride Aboard the Pumpkin Train
Autumn is a beautiful time of year on the coast of Maine. Enjoy the season with a visit to the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum and a ride aboard the Pumpkin Train.
Children can explore the museum , which offers a children’s play area with train tables, coloring activities, dress-up like a conductor, and child-size train station and train to climb in and the featured activity where you can paint a miniature pumpkin to bring home as a souvenir to commemorate the day.
All visitors are treated to complimentary hot cider and cookies as they travel along Portland’s waterfront. The train ride lasts approximately 40 minutes and travels 1.5 miles (3 miles round trip). Train crew and/or museum docents are aboard with historical and site information and providing a narrative throughout the ride. Both open air cars and enclosed cars are available.
Celebrate the beauty of autumn with a ride aboard the Pumpkin Train. It’s fun for the whole family and even family-friendly pets on a leash are welcome to this leisurely way to enjoy the scenic Eastern Promenade of Casco Bay. Trains operates rain or shine.
Location: Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum,
58 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101
Dates: Oct 22nd & 23rd, Oct 29th & 30th
Time: 9:30 am – 4:00 pm, Trains on the hour 10am-3pm
Tel: 207-828-0814
mainenarrowgauge.org/pumpkin-train
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitportland.com
Canada: Montreal – Cavalia’s Odysseo is a Perfect “10”
Odysseo, the horse centric show, is awesome family entertainment which will WOW every member. If you can imagine taking Cirque du Soleil up a notch by marrying it with a team of gifted equestrians, this would be their offspring.
The show has acrobats, blade-running acrobats and horse acrobats – each team outdoing the other in their antics. However, at the same time, all the way through you will see members giving each other the high five in appreciation of each other’s work. Sweet.
There are raucous horses racing through jumps and quiet ballet-like riderless horses dancing to the whims of their female horse whisperer, Elise Verdoncq.
The carousel pole acrobatics is a charming setting for the melange of horse and rider/acrobat but the white fabric/rope acrobatic act is the perfect “10” for each of the costume designer, set designer, lighting, and the acrobats themselves.
It’s hard to imagine it fitting into a tent setting, but horses appear on mountaintops, in ice caves, the woods, walking down hills, galloping as fast as the wind and even and splashing in a waterfront finale.
Don’t wait, book tickets now. Great idea for Dad for Father’s Day.
Location: Odysseo White Big Top at the corner of the Metropolitan & Decarie Boulevards
1425 Dion Street, Montreal (QC), H4N 2C3
Tel: 866-999-8111
Dates: June 17-July 19
www.cavalia.net
www.facebook.com/cavalia
South Africa: Visiting Robben Island, UNESCO World Heritage Site
By Adele Shapiro – March 2012.
As a child I used to visit Robben Island with my grandmother. Her son, my uncle, was a warder in the prison services there. The name “Robben”, despite sounding very English – is in fact the Dutch for “Seal” – and the name derives from the extensive seal colony that was found on the Island by the first Dutch settlers.
We would go to the Cape Town docks and from there, take a boat ride to the island, where we would spend the day with family. I was vaguely aware that there were bad people on the island, and that it was a prison…. but little did I know then of the role it was to play in South Africa’s later history. Years passed and now as an ad
ult, I found myself revisiting the place where “the bad people” were kept, only now I realized that some were not so bad after all.
I bought a ticket for the tour some days before the trip, (advisable, as they fill up quickly) and took time out to examine the display at the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
There were many photographs of the political dissidents, the calls for boycotts, the anti-apartheid marches and there was also a prison cell that had been reconstructed for the purposes of the exhibit. I strongly recommend a visit to this exhibit before going to the island as it helps to contextualize the experience.
The trip began, as in times of old, with a boat ride from Cape Town docks, but this time instead of my uncle meeting us, we had a pleasant tour guide who told us jokes on our bus trip, whilst pointing out various sights on the island. Our bus was parked under a sign that said: “Welcome. We serve with pride.” I wondered if that sign had been there when Robben Island had been a prison as it was so sharply incongruous to the environment. I hoped not.
Robben Island has had a long history. First as a lighthouse to warn ships of the VOC, the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie), of the rocks that surround the island. But since the end of the 17th century, Robben Island has been used for the isolation of (mainly) political prisoners. The island was also used at various times as an animal quarantine station, a home for slaves, a leper colony, a hospital for the mentally ill and as a prison for French Vichy prisoners of war.
First we saw the Leper Graveyard and then house where Robert Sobukwe (Founder of the Pan Africanist Congress) had been kept separate from the other political dissidents.
It seems that Robert Sobukwe had special status in the prison. He was kept in solitary confinement at all times, but allowed certain privileges including access to books, being permitted to study, being permitted to wear civilian clothes, and being permitted bread. His children were allowed to visit him and they had their own bedroom in his “house”. Robert Sobukwe was convicted of incitement for demonstrating against and defying the Pass Laws, and in particular, for his connection to the PAC demonstration (although he was not present) which became known as the Sharpeville Massacre.
The notorious Pass Laws required black people to carry a pass book at all times when outside their compounds or designated areas, and were designed to limit severely the movements of the non-white population. This legislation was one of the dominant features of the country’s apartheid system.
Sobukwe was sentenced to three years in prison. After serving his sentence, he was moved to Robben Island for internment, as a new law called the General Law Amendment Act had been passed, which permitted his imprisonment to be renewed annually at the discretion of the Minister of Justice. This procedure became known as the “Sobukwe clause” and Robert Sobukwe was the only person whose imprisonment was extended under this clause. Imagine how special one has to be in order for parliament to pass a law just for you!
We also learned from our tour guide that the American politician and Pastor, Andrew Young, had fostered Sobukwe’s children in the USA, while Sobukwe had been in prison.
Our tour continued to the lime quarry where the political prisoners had worked. At the entrance to the quarry we saw a small cairn, and learned its history. In February 1995, (the landmark change of government was in 1994), about one thousand former political prisoners gathered again on Robben Island, but this time as free men, and to mark the occasion, each one placed a small stone from the quarry in a pile, making a small memorial to their years of hardship and struggle.
As we continued on our bus ride, we were shown a church, a hospital, a school and a mosque, and realized that far beyond our expectations, the island had supported a whole community. We duly arrived at the prison and tumbled out of the bus for our tour of “the real thing”. We were excited and filled with high spirits and I wondered for a moment where my heart would have been had I not been a tourist.
Inside we found grey walls. It was cool at midday; it was clear that at midnight it would be very cold. The communal cells were large and each had a bathroom attached.
Here we met our prison tour guide, Derrick Basson, a former political prisoner who served time on Robben Island for sabotage.
Derrick was very patient, humble and remarkably, not bitter. He answered all the insensitive questions calmly and without anger. In addition he explained the grading of the prisoners by race and also the diets that varied due to the racial classification of each prisoner. One of the curious facts he told us was that black prisoners were not given bread. As they were Africans their “natural” food was considered to be maize meal. The mixed race prisoners were allowed bread as they were considered to be more western or European and less African. The black Africans were also not allowed jam or syrup. I suppose you do not need jam if you have no bread.
Then I remembered that Robert Sobukwe, in spite of being black, was allowed to have bread, and it struck me that this must have been because he had been a university professor, and since this is a very “European” and non-tribal job, maybe he was considered eligible to receive bread.
Derrick further explained how prisoners slept on mats on the floor and how 5 blankets had not been enough to keep them warm at night. I suddenly remembered an interview with a former Alcatraz inmate who spoke of the extreme cold and of how prisoners had learned to sleep with only their elbows and knees touching the floor, hands locked behind the head. I became very grateful for my duvet.
We were told that in the beginning the political prisoners had been kept with the ordinary criminals, but later on, they were, thankfully, given their own “wing” and kept together. They came to call this place “The University” as they learned many things from each other and many of them also obtained degrees while in prison.
Derrick then took us to a yard where the prisoners had chopped rocks and turned them into stones, day after day in the sun. They were told that these rocks were used for roads built on the island, but no one seemed to know if this was true or not.
We were then taken to Nelson Mandela’s cell. Mandela was a militant anti-apartheid activist, as well as the co-founder and leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), Umkhonto we Sizwe or “Spear of the Nation”. He was arrested in 1962 and convicted of sabotage, (amongst other charges), after he admitted to manufacturing explosives and acts of public violence, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Mandela served 27 years in prison, 18 of these on Robben Island. After his release, he served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
My very first impression was of how small the cell was. No, not small, tiny. And then I thought that at least he could stand up and lie down in it, but not much more than that. At least it was larger than the dreadful box that I had heard was used in China. But there was no toilet. Just a metal bucket with a lid. At least a lid. And no tap, so no water. And if you are thirsty during the night, what should you do? And of course there was no electrical socket and no radio nor TV. And all I could think of was 27 years. TWENTY SEVEN YEARS! There was no door handle on the inside. The door was only operational from the outside, not unlike a cage. I remembered that Nelson Mandela had once remarked that the hardest and most traumatic experience he endured whilst on Robben Island for all those years was that he never ever saw, or even heard, a child. Can you imagine that? Now he insists on being photographed with children, whenever possible.
And then it was all over. We walked out to the yard, Derrick took us to the exit, and we said our goodbyes.I felt an odd mixture of elation and depression. Very happy that I had been to a UNESCO World Heritage Site of such importance, happier still that it was no longer a prison, and most happy that I was leaving. Yet also depressed and ashamed because of the suffering this place represented.
Duly subdued, we gratefully returned to our boat to ponder our feelings of inspiration and shock, enjoy the beautiful sunset cruise back to Cape Town, and watch a school of dolphins at play in the sea.
Remember when planning a visit to Robben Island, that the tours don’t always run on time. There was no snack bar on the boat. Our boat was 1 hour late in leaving Cape Town harbour and then we were rushed through our tour, which was a pity as there was too little time for questions.
A suggestion would be to make no appointments after the visit as the timing can vary, and also, take a snack pack. A sun hat and sun block are also good ideas.
Ferries depart (supposedly) at 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm, weather permitting, from Nelson Mandela Gateway, at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Tickets costs are R230 for adults and R120 for children (U/18). Telephone: +27 (0)21 413 4200
Fax: +27 (0)21 419 1057