Suggestions for vacation

I'm looking for suggestions as to where in
the Caribbean would be good for a trip for
me. I'm looking to go around November or
December, for about a week.

I like museums, architecture, natural scenery,
zoos, things like that; I'm not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife.

I'm thinking of Curacao as a possibility; can
anyone suggest alternate ideas, or arguments
for or against Curacao?

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 22:07:35 GMT, wrote:

I like museums, architecture, natural scenery,
zoos, things like that; I'm not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife.

I'm thinking of Curacao as a possibility; can
anyone suggest alternate ideas, or arguments
for or against Curacao?

I would say most the places in the Caribbean have natural scenery. With the
volcanic islands being mountainous with rain forests and the coral ones
being flat and dry.

Number one for museums I think would be Bermuda. Architecture there is all
pretty much the same. They do have a zoo. Of course, this isn't the
Caribbean.

Curacao probably is tops for architecture, if you like older buildings. For
natural scenery I pretty much cover it all in this album:
http://donwiss.com/pictures/CUR-2005/

St. Georges, Grenada was one of the prettiest towns in the Caribbean. I
don't know what last Fall's hurricane did to it.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Don Wiss wrote:
On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 22:07:35 GMT, wrote:

I like museums, architecture, natural scenery,
zoos, things like that; I'm not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife.

I'm thinking of Curacao as a possibility; can
anyone suggest alternate ideas, or arguments
for or against Curacao?

I would say most the places in the Caribbean have natural scenery. With the
volcanic islands being mountainous with rain forests and the coral ones
being flat and dry.

Number one for museums I think would be Bermuda. Architecture there is all
pretty much the same. They do have a zoo. Of course, this isn't the
Caribbean.

Second to Bermuda is Barbados which does have a zoo and also a museum,
and the east coast looks a bit like Scotland. They have one of the
few Jacobean plantation houses (only 3 in the western hemisphere),
caves, and a gully which is a cave where the top fell in long ago with
a lot of plants on a self guiding trail and gardens etc.

Curacao probably is tops for architecture, if you like older buildings. For
natural scenery I pretty much cover it all in this album:
http://donwiss.com/pictures/CUR-2005/

St. Georges, Grenada was one of the prettiest towns in the Caribbean. I
don't know what last Fall's hurricane did to it.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Belize has a very interesting zoo, and Mayan sites (architecture), but
not much in the way of museums.



grandma Rosalie

"Don Wiss" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 22:07:35 GMT, wrote:

I like museums, architecture, natural scenery,
zoos, things like that; I'm not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife.

I'm thinking of Curacao as a possibility; can
anyone suggest alternate ideas, or arguments
for or against Curacao?

IMO, Curacao had very boring cactus-based scenery.

How about Martinique? Only a couple of significant museums,
Especially the northern half of the island has lots of scenery, large
National Natural Park (rain forest). Best beaches are mostly toward
the south end of the island.

Or Guadeloupe. Even larger rain forest National Park. Volcano to
climb. Zoo. Maybe a museum or two about colonial life. Spectacular
cliffs into the sea. Mountains, zoo in western part, beaches in the
eastern, cliffs at the northern end of the eastern past. Old fort on
Isle des Saintes can be done as a day trip - recommended.

AFAIK, there aren't any WOW!!! museums in the Caribbean.

Islands I've visited that either are too small to hold interest or
didn't impress me with scenery: Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire,
Curacao, St Barts, St Maarten/Martin, St Vincent, ....

So, so or better but most rather small: Bequia, Carriacou, Tobago,
Dominica (not Dominican Republic),

Among the best: Martinique, Guadeloupe and nearby dependencies, Puerto
Rico. Maybe Dominica should be on this list because of scenery - but
it has little else.

Don't see enough of Grenada & Dominican Rep. to form a solid
impression.

Haven't been to: Anguilla (small), Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, Saba (very
small), Statia, Montserrat (mostly taken over by volcano), Trinidad,
Cayman Is, St Lucia, US & Brit Virgin Is, ....

I'd think 4 days (5 nights) would satisfy you on most islands, then on
to the next. Saba is unique, but one or two nights should be plenty.
Exciting 15-minute plane flight from St Maarten..

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 22:07:35 GMT, wrote:

I'm looking for suggestions as to where in
the Caribbean would be good for a trip for
me. I'm looking to go around November or
December, for about a week.

I like museums, architecture, natural scenery,
zoos, things like that; I'm not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife.

I'm thinking of Curacao as a possibility; can
anyone suggest alternate ideas, or arguments
for or against Curacao?


You might want to consider Statia (St. Eustatius). There is a great
museum, good snorkeling, Quill hiking, good views of Martinique,
not-so-good beaches unless you go to the windward side, but plenty of
history. Statia was the first Caribbean island to salute American
ships as an independent nation. Which then ultimately led to The
Golden Rock's downfall.

Also, Saba and St. Maarten are close at hand.

wrote in message
news
On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 22:07:35 GMT, wrote:

I'm looking for suggestions as to where in
the Caribbean would be good for a trip for
me. I'm looking to go around November or
December, for about a week.

I like museums, architecture, natural scenery,
zoos, things like that; I'm not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife.

I'm thinking of Curacao as a possibility; can
anyone suggest alternate ideas, or arguments
for or against Curacao?


You might want to consider Statia (St. Eustatius). There is a great
museum, good snorkeling, Quill hiking, good views of Martinique,

Not likely, since Martinique is about 240 mile away.

On Sat, 2 Jul 2005 11:30:39 -0400, "Robert J Carpenter"
wrote:


wrote in message
news
On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 22:07:35 GMT, wrote:

I'm looking for suggestions as to where in
the Caribbean would be good for a trip for
me. I'm looking to go around November or
December, for about a week.

I like museums, architecture, natural scenery,
zoos, things like that; I'm not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife.

I'm thinking of Curacao as a possibility; can
anyone suggest alternate ideas, or arguments
for or against Curacao?


You might want to consider Statia (St. Eustatius). There is a great
museum, good snorkeling, Quill hiking, good views of Martinique,

Not likely, since Martinique is about 240 mile away.


Oopsie! I meant Guadeloupe.

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 20:23:45 GMT, wrote:

On Sat, 2 Jul 2005 11:30:39 -0400, "Robert J Carpenter" wrote:
wrote in message

You might want to consider Statia (St. Eustatius). There is a great
museum, good snorkeling, Quill hiking, good views of Martinique,

Not likely, since Martinique is about 240 mile away.


Oopsie! I meant Guadeloupe.

Well, you are getting closer. Now you are mentioning an island that is only
100 miles away from Statia. I suggest you find a map.

You can see Saba in the distance from Statia. And St. Kitts is very close,
but it is south of Statia, and it isn't easy to get to the south part of
the island to be able to really see it.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

On 07/01/2005 6:07 PM while holding "court",
exclaimed:

I'm looking for suggestions as to where in
the Caribbean would be good for a trip for
me. I'm looking to go around November or
December, for about a week.

I like museums, architecture, natural scenery,
zoos, things like that; I'm not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife.

I'm thinking of Curacao as a possibility; can
anyone suggest alternate ideas, or arguments
for or against Curacao?




When you boil it down the Caribbean is mostly about lying around
beaches, diving, fishing and nightlife. When I think museums,
architecture and zoos I think world class cities: New York, Paris,
Moscow, San Diego, Madrid to name a few.

While there were some museums mentioned, it is doubtful that any can
compare larger collections. Might I suggest that you focus your
attention on Miami, which is a world class city and Ft. Lauderdale. In
addition to beaches, great shopping, dining and such both cities have
little known gems of museums. A few years back, the Ft. Lauderdale Art
Museum was one of the few locations chosen to exhibit the treasures of
Topkapi.
Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art http://www.moafl.org/

Listing of other Ft. Lauderdale Museums:
http://www.webcityclassifieds.com/museums.htm

For natural beauty the Flamingo Gardens are something to see.

The weather during November / December is warm in these cities without
being overly hot. I usually opt for the first week in December because
for many B&B and boutique hotels it's still value season.

Here is a listing of just some of Miami's many museums:
http://www.gmcvb.com/visitors/listin...&Submit=Submit

In Miami there is the architecture of South Beach and the nearby jewel
of Vizcaya whose pool is open on a limited basis to the public.

If you have a craving for the islands, book in advance and you can hop
an overnight cruise to the Bahamas. There's a ship that leaves Port
Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) on a regular basis.

It's not the Caribbean but it's warm, there's lots of greenery around
and you have varied architecture, zoos and museums of all kinds.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

In article ,
writes:

I'm looking for suggestions as to where in
the Caribbean would be good for a trip for
me. ...
I like museums, architecture, natural scenery,
zoos, things like that; I'm not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife.

My first thought is that if you are "not interested in diving
or lying around on beaches or nightlife", why are you considering
the Carribbean?

Natural scenerey is to be found most everywhere, but for your
other wants, you might find better places in the USA.

--
Charlie Hammond -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Ft Lauderdale FL USA
-- remove "@not" when replying)
All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily my employer's.