Trip tips: Things to know
MILWAUKEE -- Guitar legend and innovator Les Paul is credited with developing revolutionary engineering techniques like close miking, echo delay and multitracking. Some of these innovations are used in audio and video recording studios in modern forms all over the world.
So it seems only fitting that Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin -- with its hands-on exhibits featuring technological advances -- would organize an exhibit honoring the 93-year-old born in Waukesha, Wis.
"Les Paul's House of Sound" runs through Jan. 31. It will concentrate on Paul's contribution to music technology but also will combine art and history. Guitar beginners will be able to take a virtual lesson with Paul and record the experience in a green room. More advanced players can record a virtual jam session with Paul. They can bring home a DVD of the performances.
Paul built one of the first prototypes for the solid-body electric guitar in 1941, but his work was rejected numerous times. Gibson finally began mass-producing a guitar based on his design in 1952, and the electric guitar went on to become the lead instrument in rock 'n' roll.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland opened a permanent Paul exhibit in 2004.
Paul still performs twice every Monday night with his trio at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A new state museum opens this fall in Arkansas to honor African-American heritage.
The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center opens Sept. 20 on the site of the Mosaic Templars of America, a fraternal organization founded by two former slaves, John Edward Bush and Chester W. Keatts, to offer insurance to blacks to cover sickness, death and burial. The organization's headquarters, in the heart of what was then the black business district on Little Rock's Ninth Street, became much more than an insurance office. It provided other black-owned businesses retail space, opened a nursing school, and had a ballroom.
The center will include exhibits on the history of blacks in Arkansas, the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, the Mosaic Templars, the life of sculptor Isaac Scott Hathaway, and Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Little Rock. Admission is free year-round. Details at www.mo saictemplarscenter.com.
TELLURIDE, Colo. -- Beer, music and mountain scenery: That's what you'll find at the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, Sept. 12-14, in the historic Colorado town in the San Juan Mountains.
More than 50 microbreweries from the Southwest and elsewhere will be featured, including Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Deschutes Brewery, among others.
Performers will include Etta James and the Roots Band, Gov't Mule, John Hiatt and the Ageless Beauties, Joan Osborne, Susan Tedeschi, the Derek Trucks Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Blind Boys of Alabama, G. Love & Special Sauce, John Butler Trio and Canned Heat.
Various travel deals are being offered. A new luxury boutique hotel called lumiere Telluride (http://lumierehotels.com/telluride) has a $1,100 four-night package that includes breakfast, local transportation, and a three-day festival pass and chair.
Elevation Vacations, which specializes in luxury lodging, homes and condos in the area, has a $100 fuel rebate toward a booking of three nights or more, along with a 20 percent discount on accommodations for stays booked through the company during the fest. Details at www.ElevationVacations.com.
If you're flying in through Denver or Boulder, you can take a round-trip charter on a motorcoach from the airport to Telluride on MrBusDriver, with fares starting at $115. Alternate city pickups are also available. Details at www.mrbusdriver.com.
MYSTIC, Conn. -- You've heard of winery trails and biking trails and birding trails. But how about an ice cream trail?
Eastern Connecticut has created an official ice cream trail to guide visitors to the best spots for locally produced and often homemade ice cream.
A brochure, "Follow the Ice Cream Trail: Sundae Drives," lists 35 places to get your scoops, cones, shakes, rainbow sprinkles and hot fudge sauce. Get it online at www.mysticcou ntry.com from the Eastern Regional Tourism District of Connecticut.
HERSHEY, Pa. -- Hotel Hershey in Pennsylvania has launched a falconry program to educate people about the birds and the sport's history. It includes outdoor free-flight demonstrations, a demo of the bird's hunting techniques and photo opportunities.
The program is available during weekends in September and October. It costs $85 for ages 13 and older and $70 for ages 8 to 12. The cost of the experience includes admission to nearby ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park, which, like the Hotel Hershey, is part of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts properties.
Participants must be at least 8 years old. Reserve a spot by calling ZooAmerica at (717) 534-3900.
AP