"America's Playground" still offers a compelling entertainment value. The Las Vegas Strip was the second most popular tourist destination in the United States last year. Room rates and airfare are reasonable.

Once in Las Vegas, the activites available can range from hiking at Red Rocks, shopping at either the two local outlet malls or any of the high end boutiques on the Strip, golf at one of the area's 30+ golf courses, or even the traditional favorites such as gambling or taking in a show.

50 years ago, Orlando was a sleepy area of central Florida known mainly for it's production of citrus fruits. That all changed in 1965 when Walt Disney bought up 27,000 acres of land to establish an east coast counterpart to his Disneyland theme park in Anaheim. Since then, development has continued apace and today, Orlando is a major tourist destination in it's own right with Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando, and a Wet n Wild waterpark joining Walt Disney World as major attractions.

Since the gold rush, Seattle has been a center of culture, industry, and tourism in the Pacific Northwest. Visitors often tour Seattle Center, the site of the famous 1962 World's Fair which gave rise to Seattle's iconic structure, the Space Needle. Also in Seattle Center is Paul Allen's unique Science Fiction Center and Hall of Fame.

Many visitors also choose to visit Pike Place Market, take the ferry to Bainbridge Island, or take a longer day trip to Victoria B.C. Seattle offers something for virtually every traveler.

New York City is the top tourist destination in the United States and it's easy to understand why. Central Park, Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, and Times Square are just some of numerous attractions in the area.

5-star accomodations are plentiful and even some deals can be had with smaller, boutique properties. The restaurants are, of course, top-notch and include Thomas Keller's world famous Per Se, Daniel Boulud's Restaurant Daniel, and Le Bernardin.

The Mile High City is rightfully known as a sporting mecca. Situated just east of the Rocky Mountains, most of Colorado's major ski resorts are within a 2 hour drive of Denver. The overwhelming number of hiking trails, cycling routes, and waterways insure that there's plenty of things to do year round in Denver

But the city itself also hosts many events and attractions. The Denver Theater District boasts a dozen individual performing venues while LoDo district is both a hub of nightlife and contains many critically acclaimed restaurants such as Rioja.

Perhaps best known for it's active nightlife scene centering on South Beach, Miami was also ranked America's Cleanest City by Forbes Magazine and is a regional hub for finance and business. The accomodations can range from the sophisticated and modern Mandarin Oriental Miami to the art deco masterpieces of Miami Beach.

Miami is also a major cruise embarkation point for cruises departing for both Atlantic and Carribean destinations.

One of the largest cities in the Southern United States, Dallas is home to both the Dallas Cowboys and a revitalized urban center with recent public works project such as Trinity River, the largest urban park in the United States.

Notable museums in the downtown arts district include the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center.

History abounds in Boston with the Freedom Trail taking visitors to such sites as the Old North Church (the origin of Paul Revere's famous ride), the USS Constitution (known as "Old Ironsides"), and Faneuil Hall.

For visitors that tire of the historical sites, the Boston Museum of Science is a favorite of both locals and tourists, the Boston Common provides a green getaway in the midst of the city, and the shopping on Newbury Street is world class.

San Francisco has become one of the great restaurant cities of the world on the strength of noteworthy establishments such as Spruce, Michael Mina, and Quince.

San Francisco offers adventures beyond the gastronomic however, with the nearby wineries of Napa Valley and landmark sightseeing destinations such as the Golden Gate Bridge.