TripCart :: The Travel Blog

Michael Jackson Concert Venues

As a tribute to Michael Jackson, we dug through the web to list some significant Michael Jackson concert venues in the United States. His last concert as part of a world tour in the United States was on January 27, 1989 (20 YEARS AGO!) in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, not far at all from Staples Center.

Other stops on the Bad World Tour were in:

• Kemper Arena in Kansas City
• Madison Square Garden in New York
• St. Louis Arena (demolished)
• Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY
• McNichols Sports Arena in Denver (demolished)
• Hartford Civic Center
• The Summit in Houston (now Lakewood Church)
  
• The Omni in Atlanta (demolished)
• Rosemont Horizon in Chicago
• Reunion Arena in Dallas
• Met Center in Minneapolis (demolished)
• Irvine Meadows Amphitheater (now known as Verizon Wireless - not to be confused with the Verizon Wireless in Virginia)
• The Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit
• Capital Centre (demolished) in Washington DC
• Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland
• The Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey
• Civic Arena (now called the Mellon Arena) in Pittsburgh

Prior to that - The Jackson's 1984 Victory Tour took him to 17 US cities:

• Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO
• Texas Stadium in Dallas
• Gator Bowl in Jacksonville
• Giants Stadium in New Jersey
• Madison Square Garden in NY
• RFK Stadium in Washington, DC
• Neyland Stadium  in Knoxville
• Pontiac Silverdome  in Detroit
• Rich Stadium  in Buffalo
• JFK Stadium  in Philadelphia (demolished)
• Mile High Stadium  Denver
• Comiskey Park in  Chicago
• Cleveland Stadium
• Fulton County Stadium in  Atlanta (demolished)
• Miami's Orange Bowl
• Houston Astrodome
• Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles

The Jackson's 1981 Triumph Tour took him to 39 US cities. I will list them in a future post (assuming this post is well received by MJ fans)

Interested in a pilgrimage to sites of his more recent appearances:

• Performed Rock With You as part of the 1980 UNICEF Benefit Concert at Nassau Coliseum in New York
• On Sept 10, 2001 (and three days before) at Madison Square Garden in New York
• United We Stand: What More Can I Give charity concert (for Sept 11 victims) at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC
• Pasadena, California - as part of "American Bandstand 50th.. A Celebration:"
• Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York in 2002, his final appearance in the United States

To the best of my knowledge, Michael Jackson never performed on Broadway, but he did perform with the Jackson 5 at Radio City Music Hall.

Top Ten Aquariums for Kids in the US

Some very dedicated mother travels all over the states with her kids while her husband works in what seems to me like a top secret government position. She posted at The Vacationer that she likes taking the kids to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. What Sharon didn’t mention, is that the National Aquarium in Baltimore ranks (just barely) in Parent’s Magazine’s Top Ten Aquariums for Kids in the U.S.

For your trip planning pleasure, here’s the list and their rankings:

1. Monterey Bay Aquarium
2. Georgia Aquarium
3. John G. Shedd Aquarium
4. New England Aquarium
5. The Florida Aquarium
6. Aquarium of the Pacific
7. Atlantis Marine World
8. Oregon Coast Aquarium
9. Sea World in San Antonio, San Diego, and Orlando
10. National Aquarium

This definitely narrows down my way too long zoos & aquariums list from Feb. 17, 2008.

Pele takes Royal Avenue

Pele, Hawaii's legendary goddess of fire, is sending her lava flows right down the middle of the streets in the Royal Gardens subdivision on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Fortunate visitors to Hawaii have seen the lava flowing on the slopes of Kilauea, in Volcanoes National Park since 1986. I managed to melt my rubber soles in 1989 and again in 2005. Both times I was rewarded with one of the most amazing sites in nature - red hot lava oozing out of the earth. And me standing 3 feet away. The hard part was the 4 hour round trip hike in the blazing sun (and on the hot black lava surface) without really knowing where to go.

Well,  it just got a lot easier and even more amazing.  Lava is now flowing through the lava tubes from the remote eruption site, right through the Royal Gardens subdivision and pouring into the sea. Its just a little over an hour from Hilo, near Puna. Drive southwest along the coast till the end of the road. Then follow the masses of people on the newly laid out trails. Check for latest reports - a new trail was opened yesterday at 2pm and closed 30 minutes later when the lava flow covered it.

I hope to report firsthand - but the video will have to do.

Follow this link for another video of Lava Enters the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii

See my old trip i called: Family Adventure Travel in Hawaii: Hot Lava

For near by Tourist Attractions:

• Punaluu Black Sand Beach
• Big Island Candies
• Mauna Loa (Macadamia Nuts)
• Pacific Tsunami Museum
• Hilo Arboretum - Hawaii
• Kilauea Caldera - Hawaii
• Rainbow Falls - Big Island, Hawaii
• Thurston Lava
• Mauna Loa
• Panaewa Rainforest Zoo - Hilo, Hawaii

Picture of the Day (09/15/07) - From TripCart

From San Francisco, California.

(thanks again Thomas Hawk)

Related posts: Biking Like a Dork in San Francisco • Forests are Forever • Central California Coast is on the Map! • Picture of the Day (05/29/07) • Picture of the Day (04/27/07) • Eccentric America

Related travel guides: San Francisco Bay Area Scenery • San Francisco Bay Area Tourist Information • Tourist Attractions around San Francisco Bay Area • Fun Things to Do around the San Francisco Bay Area

Recommended Tourist Attractions in San Francisco: San Francisco's Golden Gate Park • Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf • Lombard Street • The Golden Gate Bridge • San Francisco's Chinatown

Picture of NYC on September 11

(thanks larimdame)

We're Back / Google Street View Update

After a healthy few weeks on vacation we're back in action and one of the first things we noticed was that Google has upgraded their street views with four new cities - San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston and Orlando.  Click on one of the cameras to explore any of the cities currently available.

Related posts: Walk Down the Street with Google Maps Street View • Google Maps - Now With Traffic • MapQuest Does Gas • fastfoodmaps.com • Park in Peace Christmas Google Map Mashup • Stalking the News in NYC • Peculiar Maps for Your Perusal • Momo Paints the Width of NYC

Related travel guides: Tourist Attractions Map of Los Angeles and Southern CA coast • Tourist Attractions Map of San Francisco Bay Area, California • Tourist Attractions Map of Las Vegas, Nevada • Ski and Tourist Attractions Map of Vail, Aspen, Telluride, Steamboat Springs and the Colorado Rockies • Tourist Attractions Map of Manhattan and New York City • Tourist Attractions Map of Maui, Hawaii

Recommended Highlights: Mall of America - Bloomington, Minnesota • Fashion Island Mall - Newport Beach, California • Brea Mall - California • Glendale Galleria Mall - California

Picture of the Day (03/23/07) - From TripCart

A statue of King Louis the IX in front of the art museum in St. Louis.

(thanks again creativity+)

Followup: Top 15 Sightings from Google Street Views

Last week we told you about the new Street Views on Google Maps, over at Mashable they've compiled the top 15 sightings so far.  People are really getting into the new street view and lots of people have managed to find some pretty peculiar stuff (like this apparent robbery in progress above), and some pretty embarrassing stuff as well - it's two parts cool and one part scary (and three parts absurdly embarrassing if you're the guy coming out of the strip club).  Wired also seems to be keeping tabs on all the new pictures that are cropping up.

Related posts: We're Back / Google Street View Update • Walk Down the Street with Google Maps Street View • AIA and Google Earth Team Up

Related travel guides: Places to Visit in Seattle, Washington • Tourist Attractions in Los Angeles, California • Tourist Attractions in Washington D.C. • Places to Visit in Manhattan and New York City

Recommended Highlights: Killington Ski Resort - Vermont • Stowe Ski Resort - Burlington, Vermont • Ski Beech Mountain Resort - North Carolina • Potomac Mills Outlet Mall - Prince William, Virginia • Montgomery Mall - North Wales, Pennsylvania

Walk Down the Street with Google Maps Street View

Google's at it again, they've just made a major upgrade to their Google Map software for San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Miami, and Denver.  Now there's a nifty new feature called "Street View" which lets you get a pretty sweet 360-view of the area.  This is a good way to kill an hour.  Below is a moderately goofy video explaining how the street view works.

Related posts: We're Back / Google Street View Update • Biking Like a Dork in San Francisco • fastfoodmaps.com • MapQuest Does Gas • Google Maps - Now With Traffic • AIA and Google Earth Team Up

Related travel guides with Shopping Malls on a Google Map view: Mall of America - Bloomington, Minnesota • South Coast Plaza - Costa Mesa, California • Mall of Georgia - Buford, Georgia • Woodfield Mall - Schaumburg, Illinois • Ontario Mills - Ontario, California • Willowbrook Mall - Wayne, New Jersey • Roosevelt Field Mall - Long Island, New York • Dolphin Mall - Miami, Florida • Brea Mall - Brea, California • Glendale Galleria - Glendale, California • Regency Mall - Racine, Wisconsin • Jefferson Mall - Louisville, Kentucky • The Woodlands Mall - near Houston, Texas • Memorial City Mall - Houston, Texas • Katy Mills Mall - Katy, Texas • Fayette Mall - Lexington, Kentucky • Lynnhaven Mall - Virginia Beach, Virginia • Southridge Mall - Greendale, Wisconsin • Citadel Mall - Charleston, South Carolina • Broward Mall - Plantation, Florida • Baybrook Mall - Friendswood, Texas • Lenox Square Mall - Atlanta, Georgia • Smithhaven Mall - Lake Grove, New York • Deerbrook Mall - Humble, Texas • Walt Whitman Mall - Huntington Station, New York • Augusta Mall - Augusta, Georgia • Ingram Park Mall - San Antonio, Texas

AIA and Google Earth Team Up

The AIA has been going all out this year to celebrate their 150th anniversary, we told you about their new website a few weeks ago. Now they've gotten together with Google Earth and rendered the top 150 architectural wonders in 3D using Google's Sketchup program. You can download the KML feed here so that they all pop-up in your Google Earth.

Related Travel Guide topics: Empire State Building - Architecture in Manhattan and New York City - Architecture in Mid Atlantic

(thanks pulse 2.0)

Atlanta Still Has World's Busiest Airport

We reported a few months ago that Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport was America's busiest but in a statement released today by the Geneva-based Airports Council International Atlanta's airport also takes the prize as the world's busiest with about 85 million people passing through in 2006.  Chicago's O'Hare (76 million) came in second followed by London's Heathrow (67.5 million).  The rest of the top 10 included Tokyo's Haneda (65 million), LAX (61 million), Dallas-Fort Worth (60 million), Paris' Charles De Gaulle (57 million), Frankfurt (53 million), Beijing (48.5 million), and Denver with 47 million.