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Crossing state lines this holiday weekend? If you're planning to set off a fireworks display of your own making, then be sure to check out the laws regulating firework usage in each state. The National Council on Fireworks Safety reported that 9,800 people were injured using fireworks in 2007, so please don't become a statistic. We all know that fireworks can be dangerous, so be smart and use the proper techniques to keep yourself safe. Have a fantastic fourth!

How do you feel about consumer fireworks?

Map: Sarah Aldrich

Being in the nation's capital for the Fourth of July is one of those experiences that you never forget. Something about watching the fireworks with the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and Capitol as the backdrop is thrilling.

My favorite spot to watch is directly beneath the show. I tell everyone I know to bring a blanket and grab some room underneath the Washington Monument facing the Lincoln Memorial. The fireworks are shot from the reflecting pool so from there you feel every loud "boom" in the bottom of your gut as they're set off. At the same time, music from the National Symphony Orchestra plays over loudspeakers in time with the fireworks display. It's always packed, but there's a buzz of excitement that emanates from the massive crowd, who naturally are all adorned in red, white and blue paraphernalia. The Washington Post put together a great map that shows other places to sit and watch the fireworks.

Everyone has a different place that they think is great, so I asked some of the staff at National Geographic Traveler to share their favorite spot to watch, whether it be in D.C. or elsewhere in the United States.  Read on to get some new ideas for you and your family and friends, and share your own favorite spots in the comments.

One of my favorite things to do when I arrive in a new place is go to the highest point, it helps me get my bearings and lays out the landscape in front of me like a huge buffet table that I'm eager to dig into. But I do admit to the occasional bout of vertigo when it comes to actually looking down. So my stomach feels a little queasy right now just thinking about "The Ledge," the new glass-enclosed feature of the Skydeck in the Sears Tower in Chicago, which opens today to the public. These new glass balconies are suspended 1,353 feet (412 meters) in the air and extend 4 feet (1.22 meters) from the Sears Tower's 103rd-floor Skydeck. According to the Sears Tower:

The inspiration for The Ledge came from hundreds of forehead prints visitors left behind on Skydeck windows every week. From the memorable scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off to curious children going right up to the window, visitors are constantly trying to catch a glimpse below. Now they have a unique and unobstructed view of the city.

"The Ledge" is made from three layers of half-inch thick laminated glass, and each of the panels weighs 1,500 pounds. Apparently (and thankfully for the cleaning crew) the boxes are retractable, so they're able to be pulled into the building for easy maintenance. Because if this slide show from the AP is any indication, the number of forehead prints they're going to have to deal with will exponentially increase.

What do you think? Would you stand on "The Ledge"?

[Sears Tower Unveils Glass Balconies on Skydeck]

Photo: AP

For those travelers who feel like they have done it all, a new out-of-this-world opportunity will soon be available--for a price. On June 19, New Mexico unveiled plans for the nation's first commercial spaceport, Spaceport America. The spaceport, estimated to be completed by 2010, would take travelers up 50,000 feet, break out of the Earth's atmosphere, and then fly up to 62 miles above the Earth.

The $200 million project is being fronted by the state of New Mexico in hopes of creating jobs and increasing tourism. The spaceport will work with Virgin Galactic, who will supply the space vehicles. Spaceport America is anticipating launching one Virgin Galactic flight per week, and each will hold six passengers.

If you want to be on one of the tours, you will have to add your name to the waiting list of over 45,000 other travelers, and be willing to dish out $200,000.  Passengers must also attend three days of training to prepare for the trip. The total travel time is around two hours with five minutes of weightlessness.

What do you think? Is the flight worth the price?

[Spaceport America]

Photo Courtesy of Spaceport America

The 42nd annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival kicked off yesterday down on the National Mall, among D.C.'s iconic monuments and beloved museums. The festival will run this week through Sunday, June 28th, and picks up again Wednesday, July 1st through Sunday, July 5th for the Fourth of July weekend.

Each year the free outdoor festival (see schedule here) celebrates the living cultural heritage of specific countries, peoples, or regions. It's a great place to learn from the artists, musicians, and practitioners themselves about their unique and authentic cultural traditions. This year the festival showcases the music of the Americas, African American oral tradition, and Wales.

The New Acropolis Museum, a project that the New York Times called "one of the highest-profile cultural projects undertaken in Europe in this decade," is celebrating its opening day on Saturday after years of planning and labor--33 years in all, eight since the design was chosen. The stunning modern building, designed by New York architect Bernard Tschumi, allows visitors to view the Parthenon from balconies and see archaeological remains through glass floors. It boasts 226,000 square feet of glass, 150,000 square feet of display space spanning five floors, and 4,000 artifacts. However, perhaps the most important statement made in this museum's opening is not what it has, but what it is missing: The Elgin Marbles.

For all of the beauty and history encompassed in the existing displays, they are incomplete. According to the AP,   

The Parthenon was built between 447-432 B.C., at the height of ancient Athens' glory, in honor of the city's patron goddess, Athena.

Despite its conversion into a Christian church, and Turkish occupation from the 15th century, it survived virtually intact until a massive explosion caused by a Venetian cannon shot in 1687.

About half the surviving sculptures were removed by Scottish diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 1800s, while Greece was still an unwilling part of the Ottoman Empire.

Most belong to a frieze depicting a religious procession that ran round the top of the temple.

Steve Nash - 'The Player' from meathawk on Vimeo.

My football-fanatic fiancé (that's European football, mind you) tipped me off to a great charity event happening this afternoon in New York City's Chinatown. The second annual "Showdown in Chinatown," which is coordinated by the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash, pits international pro soccer players against an assorted group of NBA all-stars, all in the name of raising money for Football-for-Good, Nash's charity. Football-for-Good helps bring team sports to war-ravaged countries in Africa, and aims to "develop world-class youth football (soccer) academies that are sustainable, community-centered social businesses in regions that have been ravaged by war." They're working to support "human rights and child protection, and a committed global advocate for African players, families and their communities."

This year, in addition to Nash himself (who famously plays soccer in NYC during the off-season to stay in shape), star athletes expected to attend include Claudio Reyna, Thierry Henry, Tony Parker, Javier Zanetti, Raja Bell, Adrian Mutu, Chris Bosh, Ivan Cordoba, Grant Hill, and Giovanni van Brockhurst. And there's a rumor that Yao Ming may swing by. Check out the video that Nash put together to "recruit" the players, it's a whirlwind of travel, and must have been a blast to shoot.

Kickoff starts at 6 p.m. today in Chinatown's Sarah D. Roosevelt Park and it's free to watch. But I can't help but think it's already packed, so maybe you can sit on Yao Ming's shoulders.

Video: Football-for-Good

Guarded by giant seven-headed serpent gods high on an obscure mountain, in backcountry disputed by Thailand and Cambodia, is an ancient sacred site that's not on the regular tourist map.

 

Surrounded by landmines and bunkers from the Khmer Rouge era, and still caught up in today's border disputes, Preah Vihear, or "Holy Monastery," is a mysterious place few westerners have been able to visit.

 

Jon Ortner, photographer and author of the book "Angkor, Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire," shares his first encounters and impressions of the thousand-year-old sanctuary in this essay of words and photos composed especially for NatGeo News Watch.

Ever since Monday's announcement by Kodak that they're discontinuing production of Kodachrome film, professional and amateur photographers this week have been busy discussing its demise. Kodachrome was known for its rich color saturation and was widely used by National Geographic photographers in the first decades that the magazine printed in color. In fact, it was so well appreciated that when some explorers came upon a landscape that just demanded to be photographed, they decided to name it after the film. Traveler's Senior Photo Editor Dan Westergren has the details.

A little more than a decade after its introduction, Kodak's Kodachrome transparency film was becoming a favorite of National Geographic explorers in the field. In the September 1949 National Geographic magazine, writer/photographer Jack Breed chronicled the "First Motor Sortie into Escalante Land." Breed's expedition, which included 15 people, three jeeps, two trucks, and 35 horses, headed off into a rugged territory that is visible from Inspiration Point at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. The expedition was hoping to find unknown and yet unnamed geographical oddities in the hidden cliffs and canyons. One local cowman, when asked if there were any natural bridges or arches in the country replied, "Yes, I've heard tell of one or two, but in my 40 years here I've never seen any. I'm always too busy looking for stray cattle or good grass feed to notice the scenery."

There were arches to be discovered but, after only five miles on the first day of their trip they stumbled upon "A Color Photographer's Paradise." Here's what Breed has to say about the area:

It was a beautiful and fantastic country. A mile to the left near the base of the cliff I could see red pinnacles thrust up from the valley floor. The few natives who had been here called this area "Thorny Pasture," But we renamed it "Kodachrome Flat" because of the astonishing variety of contrasting colors in the formations.

We're always excited when a new National Geographic blog enters the fray, and for the past few weeks Blog Wild editor Ford Cochran has been publishing some seriously great content at a steady clip. Blog Wild covers all of the missions-related news at the society - from the work our explorers are doing out in the field to the programs and events that are happening in the building (Angelina Jolie's recent visit to our offices falls into the latter category, she was here speaking about U.N. World Refugee Day last week). Ford's got a great voice, and he's providing a sneak peek at the inner workings here, including a story about this behind-the-scenes shot (above) taken by Tim Greenleaf of Nat Geo Expeditions during a visit to Kenya's Amboseli National Park:

"Photography rule number one," Tim admonished. "Don't forget to look behind you!"

In fairness, Tim noted that the photographer and videographer above might have been filming, say, Amboseli's deeply endangered lions rather than the elephants. But still.

Congrats to Ford and the Blog Wild crew for a great launch. Bookmark Blog Wild now to keep up with all things National Geographic. 

[Blog Wild]

"Open your eyes -- everything is about to change for travelers," says contributing editor Christopher Elliott. Here's how:

One of the most popular cameras on the number one photo-sharing site isn't a camera at all. It's the Apple iPhone. I mention this for two reasons. First, because a new iPhone is being released June 19. And second, because it now includes a feature that promises to change the way we travel: a video camera.

The specs are nothing to rave about -- 640 by 480 pixels, which is not exactly HD -- but the implications are far-reaching for each and every one of us. At the touch of a button, travelers can now publish an edited video to YouTube. Not coincidentally, YouTube just last week added a feature that allows you to directly share clips to Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader.

Pittsburgh, aka "Roboburgh," has long been a hub of cutting-edge robotic technology, and Chris O'Toole downloads the details on the newest exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center, which opens this weekend.

Robots: so smart, so shiny, so smooth. They're the celebrities of the machine world (next to the iPhone). So it's fitting that the most glamorous and well-known machines have gathered in one place, at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center, so humans can pay tribute.

The Robot Hall of Fame honors movie droids like R2D2 and C-3PO, creepy HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still, and a classic 1928 pin-up girl: Maria, the shapely robot of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. But it also credits real-word winners like NASA's Mars Sojourner, the DaVinci surgical robot, and everyone's favorite living room pet, the Roomba.  

The hall of fame is the brainchild of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, which inducts new members each year. It's part of the world's largest permanent museum show on robotic sensing, thinking, and acting. It opens tomorrow, June 13. Roboworld features over 30 exhibits packed with super-smart demonstrations of how robots collect data, process information, roll, fly, and build things. And it has a few lovable greeters, like Andy, a robo-thespian, and Athina, a sassy chat-bot who'll converse on any topic. She even laughs at her own jokes, like this one: how many humans does it take to change a light bulb? Her answer: three. One to weep uncontrollably; one to cut its soft fingers while attempting to change the bulb; and one to program the robot to do it. Hey, at least we're good for something.

Photo: Andy the robo-thespian via The Carnegie Science Center

Jerry Costello is the co-sponsor of the FAA Reauthorization Bill of 2009, which contains several important new rules designed to help air travelers. Traveler's contributing editor Chris Elliott asked the Illinois congressman, who is also the chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, about passenger rights and the prospects that new rules would be adopted by the Senate and signed into law.

The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index gives the domestic airline industry an average score of 64 our of 100 -- essentially, a failing grade. What do you think needs to be done to fix the industry?

Ultimately, service will be as good as an individual airline wants it to be. The economic pressures of running an airline - which hit rock bottom after 9/11, through the boom period of the middle of the decade, to another lull currently - will always be there. It is a cyclical business. The key is to be able to focus on the customer experience at all times, and Congress can help emphasize these issues.

The FAA Reauthorization Act contains a number of provisions that could potentially help passengers. If they become law, which of the new rules do you think will improve air travel the most?

Short-term, I believe the emergency contingency plans for airlines and airports to better prepare for long tarmac delays can have an impact on the worst of these situations. We won't eliminate all of these situations, but I am hopeful the horror stories will be dramatically reduced.  Long-term, empowering the Joint Planning and
Development Office to really drive the NextGen process, and providing the funding to do it, will improve the system for everyone.

To compile his new book, My Favorite Place on Earth, Jerry Camarillo Dunn Jr., interviewed dozens of famous people -- from Natalie Portman to the Dalai Lama -- about the places they loved most. He'll be guest blogging about his experiences here for the next few weeks. Click here for recent posts.

I think a lot of us travel to find that special place that makes us feel completely alive and "in the moment." For some it might be a marble temple gleaming in the Greek sunshine. (In Delphi I once sat alone in the Temple of Apollo, trying to hear the Oracle speak.) For others it's an extraordinary spot in the natural world, whether a beach in Bali or the top of a granite wall in Yosemite. And for Cesar Millan, the host of National Geographic's hit TV series "The Dog Whisperer," it's a sanctuary in the city - with his favorite companions.
   
"Dogs don't know whether they're in Italy or China or France, but wherever they are, they do know that they're having a good time at the moment," he told me. "And my favorite moments are when I'm walking with the pack in Runyon Canyon, a park in the mountains above Hollywood where dogs are allowed to walk off-leash.
   
"Runyon Canyon Park is a magical place because it's natural, with mountains, rocks, chaparral, and trees. Yet, at the same time you're right in the city, so the dogs have the benefit of both worlds.

"We make two trips up and down the canyon, which takes about four hours. We have a special place about halfway down under what the locals call a Jesus Tree, because its seeds have a cross on them. It's nice and shady there, and the pack knows it's their resting place. They've created little holes and dens for themselves, and each picks its own spot. They're happy because they've accomplished something, and we all sit and relax and drink water. We don't say anything, just rest.

"It gives me such happiness to be there, just to be in the moment and not looking at the clock. I don't have to go to any meetings. I don't have to do anything. It's just me and my pack. It's a beautiful thing."

For other remarkable stories from My Favorite Place on Earth visit www.myfavoriteplacenatgeo.com.

So it's come to this. Our friends over at Gadling just posted a video from an unfortunate American tourist traveling through Australia by train. Nineteen-year-old Chad Vance stepped off the platform during a crew change, and the train began to leave without him. Instead of waiting for the next train, he jumped on, clinging to a tiny stairway platform for over two hours in sub-zero temperatures. He obviously got bored while there, so he had time to take a video of his escapade (one can only imagine his status update: "Stuck on train platform. Cold. Bored. Please Help!").

Eventually, one of the train's staff noticed him and pulled the emergency brake. He was brought inside and given a cabin upgrade (hot showers!) and continued on his travels through the outback. Fortunately for Chad they found him when they did, as the train had another 3.5 hours to travel before it reached its destination.

[Gadling]

Hitting the road this summer? Just because you're out of your comfort zone doesn't mean that your eco-friendly habits have to go on vacation too. Responsibletravel.com recently surveyed their readers about which travel faux pas they noticed most often in tourists. It's bad enough looking the part, do your best not to act it by avoiding these ill-minded actions.

1. "Littering - especially plastic bags."
2. "Purchasing illegal souvenirs or food produce."
3. "Wasting water in destinations which face shortages e.g. Spain."
4. "Leaving lights on."
5. "Leaving air conditioning on in hotel rooms when you're not in them."
6. "Purchasing mineral water in plastic water bottles when the hotel provides drinkable water for re-fills."
7. "Standing on coral reefs. It takes approx. one hundred years for one inch of coral to grow. By killing it you affect the whole eco system."
8. "Disturbing wild animals by getting as close as possible for a better picture."
9. "Throwing cigarette butts on the ground."
10. "Failing to take advantage of recycling facilities where offered."

Of course, there's hope for all of us, and lots of great ways to stay green while you're traveling. For more tips and ideas, check out Traveler's Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Travel. And National Geographic's Green Guide just launched their huge online package on having an eco-savvy summer, offering tips on what not to bring to the beach, a "How Green is Your Road Trip" quiz, and yes, even a buying guide to eco-friendly beer.

Got your own tip? Share it below.

[via Traveling the Green Way]

Photo: Vasjan Gulka, National Geographic magazine's My Shot

It's been a long time coming, but today marks the opening of one of the biggest public works projects to hit New York City in a generation. The High Line began its life as an elevated railway platform stretching through the western edge of Manhattan, delivering cows to the meatpacking district. Decommissioned in 1980 (the last train delivered a batch of frozen turkeys) it was a subject of intense debate in the neighborhood for almost two decades - between those who sought to preserve the rail line and those who hoped to tear it down and develop the land. Today it has been reopened -- and re-invisioned -- as a fantastic public park. Taking a page from Paris's Promenade Plantée, it's a park lifted above the city streets, an escape from the crowds and a place for contemplation. The design, by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio & Renfro, features over 100 species of plants and also provides connective tissue to the neighborhood's gallery scene, incorporating art works like Spencer Finches site-specific piece, The River That Flows Both Ways, which is made up of 700 individual panes of blue and green tinted glass, each of which represent light reflected off the Hudson River. It's also been a boon to development in the neighborhood, with over 30 new projects planned for the space surrounding it, said Mayor Bloomberg this morning at the official opening. The first section of the park, which runs from 20th Street to Gansevoort St. (enter at Gansevoort), is now open to the public from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The New York Times is calling it "something of a New York fairy tale" and I'm dying to check it out. If you have, let us know what you think!

[Getting to the High Line]

Photo: Iwan Baan, via The High Line Blog

Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted its ban on nonessential travel to Mexico on May 15th, I've been wondering how the H1N1 flu virus, aka swine flu, has affected tourism to Mexico and how the country is poised to recover from the hysteria.

The World Health Organization estimated that 23,000 individuals in Mexico were infected with the virus during its peak in late April. During that time and in the past few weeks, travel bookings to Mexico fell some 80 percent. The Cancun Hotel Association reports a loss of some $2.4 million in tourism revenue. Cruise ships canceled 64 port calls that would have brought 134,000 tourists to Mexico. Some hotels temporarily closed down. The flu certainly had a devastating effect, in many ways still not completely quantified, on Mexico's bottom line as tourism is the country's third largest source of legal foreign income (some 0.3 percent of its GDP).

To bounce back, the Mexican Tourism Board has launched a $90 million recovery plan to boost tourism and many hotels throughout the country are offering deals; two-for-one offers, discounts of up to 70 percent, extras like yoga classes, additional nights, nature treks, and a slew of add-ons. President Calderón says he'll invite international celebrities, including Plácido Domingo and golfer Lorena Ochoa, to visit Mexico to elevate its image as a safe and healthy travel destination. Many hotels and resorts are redoubling their cleaning efforts, installing hand sanitizer dispensers, and offering travelers refunds in the unlikely case they would fall ill after their visit.

In the New York Times, Michelle Higgins details some of the deals now available in Mexico. High-end hotel consortium Mexico Boutique Hotels is also offering many deals at it member properties. Specials are available in Cancún, the Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and just about everywhere in between.

Is it now time to rally around Mexico as we overcome what some have called an "epidemic of fear" to help save our neighbor from a tourism crisis? Or, do you feel that snatching up today's prevalent deals is somehow taking advantage of the situation?

Photo: Cabo San Lucas, by Janelle Nanos