(Clipart.com,AP Photo/Morry Gash)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tickets to balls and other events related to the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration will be hard to come by, but you can always join the crowds along the parade route, and Washington tourism officials say it’s not impossible to find a place to stay.

Hundreds of thousands of people always gather along Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the procession from the Capitol to the White House after the swearing-in ceremony. You’ll likely see marching bands and floats no matter where you stand, but you’re not guaranteed a glimpse of the president and his family. Only bleacher seats require tickets.

The Monday holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on Jan. 19, the day before the inauguration, which will also add to the crowds.

Be prepared for cold weather. According to Weather Underground’s Trip Planner, since 1993, temperatures on Jan. 20 in Washington have run from an average low of 27 to an average high of 39. The temperature dipped below freezing in 11 of the past 16 years, and only once did it go as high as 60.

The official Washington tourism agency, Destination DC, advises that hotels do still have some rooms available, but they require a three to four-night minimum stay and prepayment. If you’re trying to book online, entering information for a one- or two-night stay for Jan. 19-20 may not yield results. Destination DC offers online hotel booking at http://reservations.washington.org/953. On some Web sites like Craig’s List, individuals are offering space in private apartments and homes.

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies prints some 240,000 tickets for official events to be distributed for free through Senate and House offices to constituents, and through the Presidential Inaugural Committee. The official Web site http://inaugural.senate.gov/index.cfm advises that “members of the public interested in attending the Inaugural Ceremonies should contact their Member of Congress or U.S. Senators to request tickets.” The committee site also states that “no Web site or other ticket outlet actually has inaugural swearing-in tickets to sell, regardless of what they may claim” and adds that tickets will not be distributed to Congressional offices until the week before the inauguration and will require in-person pick-up.

Fancy parties are a big part of the festivities, and the new president typically drops in on a few of them. Tickets for balls organized by state societies and other private organizations sell out fast, though you may find some tickets to these types of events being resold at higher prices online. The Hawaii State Society reported on its Web site that tickets were already sold out to its island-themed inaugural ball. In 2001, President Bush and his wife attended the Texas State Society’s Black Tie & Boots inaugural ball among others.

The theme of the 2009 inauguration, which is set by the official inaugural committee, is “A New Birth of Freedom,” a phrase from the Gettysburg Address, in honor of the 2009 bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Victoria Isley, spokeswoman for Destination DC, notes that if you can’t make it to Washington for the inauguration or can’t get tickets to any official ceremonies, consider coming back instead for one of the Lincoln Bicentennial events, such as a recreation of Marian Anderson’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial, planned for Easter Sunday.

Various Web sites offer information about the inauguration. Destination DC has created a 2009 Presidential Inauguration event on Facebook that anyone with a Facebook account can join. TripAdviser.com has a forum with all sorts of information. Expedia is also offering booking and advice at http://www.expedia.com/inauguration.

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3-D show revives gladiator battles in Colosseum and secret pagan rites of ancient Rome

ROME (AP) — Ever wonder how a gladiator fight looked like from the front row of the Colosseum?

“Rewind Rome,” a 3-D simulation presented in a theater a few steps from the ruined arena, will offer visitors the chance to experience the monuments and daily life of the ancient capital.

Virtual tourists will see the simulation on a giant screen and animated characters will guide them through the streets of Rome as they appeared in A.D. 310, with grandiose bas-reliefs on triumphal arches and less ambitious graffiti scrawled by vandals on buildings. The show opens to the public Nov. 20 and can be followed with earphones in eight languages.

The show is based on a simulation created as a scientific tool by experts at the University of California in Los Angeles.

Some of the reconstructed monuments include the Forum, ancient Rome’s center of power, and the temple of Vesta, where visitors will spy on a secret rite dedicated to the pagan goddess.

While the setting is based on archaeological evidence, commercial developers jazzed up the simulation by adding characters such as the Emperor Maxentius, who governed Rome at the time, and a host of lions and gladiators battling to the death for a cheering crowd in the Colosseum.

Details at http://www.3drewind.com/ENG/Default.aspx.

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Utah ski season begins with tourism industry seeking greater share of winter sport market

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Chilly temperatures and a few early snowstorms are allowing ski resorts to open earlier than usual this season, with the first in Utah opening Nov. 7 at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort.

Tourism is increasingly becoming the state’s most important industry, raking in $6 billion a year, with skiers the most lucrative part of that.

Skiers spend 176 percent more than other tourists here, according to the Utah Office of Tourism. The number of skier visits is also steadily increasing, setting record numbers here each of the past five years.

“There are a lot of things that we can’t control like the economy and weather, but Mother Nature is getting us off to a really nice start,” said Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah. “Right now, everybody is just going berserk in getting ready to go skiing. Our phones are ringing and everybody’s excited.”

Utah’s main competitor in the winter sports industry is Colorado, which had five ski areas open the weekend Snowbird opened.

One advantage of skiing in Utah touted by the industry is that some resorts are as close as a 30-minute drive from downtown Salt Lake City. By comparison, some of Colorado’s resorts require a two-hour drive from Denver International Airport.

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Magazine recommends Snowkite Summit, Dec. 6-7, in Utah

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a cross between skiing and paragliding, and it requires a kite and a frozen lake or smooth field of powder.

It’s called snowkiting, and the December issue of Men’s Journal magazine says a place called Skyline Drive, 90 minutes south of Salt Lake City near the town of Fairview, Utah, is “poised to become the country’s top snowkiting destination.”

Snowkiters use skis or snowboards and hold on to kites pulled by the wind to glide across snow or ice. Skyline Drive, at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, has flats for beginners and slopes for more advanced snowkiters.

The 2008 Snowkite Summit will be held there Dec. 6-7, with demonstrations, lessons and races. Details at http://www.snowkitesummit.com/

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Steamboat ski resort gives free lift tickets with three-day bookings

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The ski resort at Steamboat Springs is offering free lift tickets from opening day on Nov. 26 through Christmas Day if you book a minimum three-night stay.

The offer is good for skiers who book through Steamboat Central Reservations before opening day with a $50 refundable deposit, with the stay completed by Dec. 25. Lift tickets are per person, with a limit of two people per bedroom, and are valid one day less than nights stayed.

Book through 800-922-2722 or online at http://www.steamboat.com.

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Appalachian Mountain Club offers winter getaways in New Hampshire, Maine

BOSTON (AP) — The Appalachian Mountain Club is extending its new family weekend series through the winter with programs that range from snowshoeing and cross-country skiing to animal-tracking and learning how to build a snow shelter.

There’s even a holiday-oriented “Gingerbread Weekend” where families learn to build a gingerbread house in between winter walks and hikes with AMC guides.

The family programs are in addition to other cold-weather activities like a guided lodge-to-hut trip for families, and a five-night winter family adventure camp, both offered during the February school vacation weeks.

Programs are based at AMC lodges in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in the Moosehead Lake region of Maine. Rates vary, but for weekends, they start at $155 per person for adults and $85 per child with lodging and most meals included.

Details at http://www.outdoors.org/winterguide or call 603-466-2727.

AMC is also offering a new health and wellness weekend series that combines snowshoeing with activities such as yoga or Pilates. For those 50 and over, AMC sponsors five-night winter camps and other winter programs.

In addition, the organization is offering a two-night add-on to its three-night itinerary for a self-guided lodge-to-lodge cross-country ski tour in the Maine woods. The extra days offer the opportunity to explore more local trails around AMC lodges and mix in some snowshoeing.

Snowshoes are available for guests to borrow at AMC’s New Hampshire lodges, and there is free use of L.L. Bean gear at Highland Lodge in the White Mountains.

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Ski shops increasing rental inventory

DENVER (AP) — Colorado ski-rental shops are expanding their inventory and making easier for vacationers to rent equipment amid increasing airline baggage fees, according to The Denver Post.

The spike in inventory at some shops comes as industry experts say bringing all the necessary skiing equipment in a second, oversized bag can cost skiers as much as $250 each way on some airlines — and that’s not counting what it would cost to bring skis for the whole family.

“You can buy a new set of skis for these prices,” Mike Boyd, with Evergreen’s Boyd Group aviation consulting firm, told the newspaper.

Ski shops are banking that the high baggage fees will put their rental equipment in high demand this season.

Winter Park spent $250,000 on new rental gear and Monarch Ski and Snowboard Resort tripled its inventory while others are enticing skiers by offering to deliver ski and snowboard rentals to hotels and condos, the Post reported.

“It has become a better option to rent at the resort than fly with your own,” Tapio Niskanen, national sales manager for rentskis.com, a division of Denver-based Specialty Sports, told the Post.

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Jamaica to invest $11 million, prepare resort areas for tourists

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Jamaica plans to spend $11 million to clean up and prepare several resort areas for the high tourism season.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says cleanups at six of the island’s parishes will start soon. The government recently announced a similar investment into renovating tourist attractions such as craft markets.

Crews will target cities including Negril, St. Ann and Kingston, according to Bartlett.

An estimated 1.3 million people visited Jamaica from January through August this year, a nearly 6 percent increase from the same period last year. The majority of new visitors were Canadians.

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NYC’s Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum reopens

NEW YORK (AP) — The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum has reopened to the public after nearly two years of restoration.

Visitors returned to the World War II aircraft carrier after a ceremony Nov. 8 at its Manhattan pier.

The museum on the Hudson River underwent a 22-month, $120 million overhaul at a New Jersey drydock.

After WWII, the ship saw service in the Korean and Vietnam wars and was twice a recovery ship for NASA astronauts. Since 1982, it has become a popular tourist attraction, drawing 750,000 visitors yearly over the past decade.

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Lots of five-star properties in Mobil guide to Hong Kong and Macau

HONG KONG (AP) — Mobil Travel Guide’s new book about Hong Kong and Macau includes more five-star rated hotels and spas than any other guide the company has ever produced.

Five hotels earned five stars and three spas earned five stars. They are the Peninsula Hong Kong, the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, The Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, the Wynn Macau, The Mandarin Spa, The Peninsula Spa by ESPA and the Spa at Wynn Macau.

The guide offers descriptions of all properties that earned star ratings from Mobil in the Asian island nations, as well as information on cultural attractions, suggested itineraries and tips. The guide to Macau also includes information about the island’s heritage sites and its famous casinos.

Mobil currently publishes 25 travel guides to various destinations, including U.S. states and regions, national parks, hotels and other segments of the travel industry.

The $17.95 guide to Hong Kong and Macau is Mobil’s second international guide after Beijing. In 2009, Mobil plans to release guides to London, Singapore, Dublin and Beijing.

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