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Rundown
for the Week of July 25, 2003
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 Slideshow
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Discovering the Oregon Coast We're focusing on great places for summer travel in the U.S. these days -- and we're taking an extra close look at the breathtaking Oregon Coast. But there's a dark side to this stretch of coast, as David Welch says. Then, author Mark Morris shows us the natural sites and sounds of the area.
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Oregon Coast Treasure Hunt by David Welch
When most people think about the Oregon coast, they focus on things that make them want to curl up with a warm blanket: jagged cliffs battered by rain, stately Douglas Firs blowing in the wind, misty, crashing waves, buried treasure -- wait, what was that last one?! There's a legend in these parts that in the late 1600s, the Spanish empire's fleet offloaded precious cargo -- jewels and gold -- somewhere north of Manzanita. Some locals believe the story -- and some with "treasure fever" have been digging for it for centuries. David Welch went in search of the infamous booty.
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Revealing Oregon: Interview with Mark Morris, author of "Oregon Coast"
Whether you're a treasure hunter or not, the Oregon coast is one of the most relaxing and beautiful places to vacation. If you're wondering where to go or what to visit, Mark Morris, the co-author of "Coastal Oregon" (part of the Moon Handbooks Series), most likely has the answer. Mark delves into the natural delights of Manzanita, Oswald West State Park, Cannon Beach and Seaside. And, he has details on the Tillamook Cheese Factory and the Tillamook Air Museum.
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"Funny in Farsi", an interview with author Firoozeh Dumas
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Since 9/11 threw the Middle East into our collective conscience, misconceptions of the region -- from its people to its culture and religion -- are slowly being debunked. Well, author Firoozeh Dumas, who came to America from Iran as a child, has used humor and endearing stories about her Iranian family to open our eyes toward a culture we, perhaps, know little about. Her book "Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America" describes her experiences assimilating into America culture, from buying Barbie dolls to exploring the local grocery store. She talks with host Diana Nyad about her intentions of breaking cultural barriers with the book.
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Revisiting our Families
Summer gives us longer vacation time to, perhaps, travel back to the countries of our roots, filling out branches of the family tree and tracing the paths of our relatives. Two of our contributors went traveling, hoping to hear legends of their family members.
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Revisiting the Somme by Martin Stott
Across Europe, there are many tour companies that will take you around the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars, which claimed the lives of over a million Americans. Late last year, Martin Stott went to France to join a tour of the battlefields of the Somme. But he wasn't just going as merely a curious tourist -- he crossed the Channel to go back to the place where his great-grandfather fought, suffered and died during the bloodiest battle of WWI.
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In Search of My Inner McCabe by Susan Van Allen
Susan Van Allen also took a trip to connect with her family roots, to the green farmland of Ireland. Part of Susan's family is from the Emerald Isle. But since they left no stories of the old sod, she has become more and more interested in uncovering the secrets of her Irish side. So, she planned a trip with her husband to meet her cousins living on the family farm, in the town of Crossmaglen, on the northern border.
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Travel Behind the Scenes New York: Grand Central Shoe Shine
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In our "Travel Behind the Scenes" series, we talk to people who work around travelers every day. Today, producer Jamie York brings us someone who shines shoes in Grand Central Station in New York. More than half a million commuters pass through the hall of Grand Central daily -- so, Kevin Tucker has heard a lot of travelers' tales in his day.
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Other "Travels Behind the Scenes"
"Lost and Found Department, Disneyland, Anaheim, California ": June 13, 2003
"Adolphus Onyiante, ground operations coordinator, Jet Blue Airlines, JFK": May 23, 2003
"Fred Christina, former waiter at New York's Plaza Hotel": April 25, 2003
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Sound Travels Summer in Los Angeles
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On "Sound Travels," where we travel with just our ears as our guide, we're continuing with our summer series of audio adventures: We've asked producers and sound artists to give us tours of their hometowns. This week, Kelly Markham takes us down one of the world's best-known streets, LA's Sunset Boulevard. Sunset starts near downtown and dead-ends 23 miles later at the Pacific Ocean. Along the way are taco stands, glitzy Hollywood nightclubs, various movie star hangouts -- everything the City of Angels has to offer. Pull up a chair and listen to LA.
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Traveler's Aid Seat Pitch 101
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Our Travel Troubleshooter, Chris Elliott, addresses a problem that nearly all travelers face and complain about: the lack of legroom on planes. Is there anything we can do about it? Chris sits down and stretches out to explain "seat pitch" -- the distance between the back of one seat to the back of the seat in front of it. Then, he tells us which airlines have the roomiest and most cramped seat pitch, if they're any health hazards with being stuck in a small space for so long, and whether passengers really prefer lower fares to more legroom.
Then, since the seat pitch issue raises other questions, host Diana Nyad talks with Bruce Wilson, VP of strategic planning and product development at Britax Heath Tecna, about how airlines retrofit planes to shrink the seat pitch. So, how do companies that specialize in this add new rows of seats to shrink or increase the seat pitch? Bruce has the answer.
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Online resources
 www.elliott.org: Travel Troubleshooter Christopher Elliott's Web site
www.seatguru.com: Check out how much legroom will you have on your next flight?
www.heath.com: Visit Britax Heath Tecna if you're interested in aircraft retrofitting.
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Deal of the Week Summer airfare bargains to Europe!
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While we can't do much about the relative value of the euro versus the dollar, our Travel-Expert-in-Residence, Rudy Maxa, calls in from Germany with a darn good incentive for anyone who has put off flying to Europe this summer because of sky-high airfares: deeply discounted flights on US Airways.
Click here for details and link information
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Deal info.
For details on US Airways "Diamond In the Rough" sale, visit: www.usairways.com.
For package tours to Germany early this fall, call Nordique Tours at 1-800-995-7997, or visit www.nordiquetours.com.
>>> Deal of the Week sponsor <<<
Orbitz.com - The travel Web site where your travel missions are accomplished.
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