Hilton Head is a town located on Hilton Head Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina. The town covers an area of fifty-five square miles and has a population of almost thirty-four thousand residents. The island on which its situated features twelve miles of beach front on the Atlantic Ocean and is a very popular tourist destination. In 2009, and estimated two and a half million visitors added more than a billion dollars into the local economy. During the tourist season, the population of the town can swell from fifty-five thousand residents to more than two hundred and seventy-five thousand. Over the past ten years, the town has enjoyed a population growth of more than thirty percent. Notable residents of the town include Arthur Blank, Colonel Benjamin H. Vandervoort, Duncan Sheik, Trevor Hall, Bobby Cremins, Kathryn R. Wall, Jayson Williams, Jim Ferree, Michael Jordan, John Cougar, Cartha Deloach, John V. Lindsay, Luke Kerr-Dineen, John Jakes, Darrell Hedric, Mark Messier and Patricia Cornwell.

The educational needs of Hilton Head is serviced by several schools on the island. Prominent schools in the area include Hilton Head Island Early Childhood Center, Hilton Head Island High School, International Baccalaureate Elementary School, Hilton Head Preparatory School, Hilton Head Island Middle School, Heritage Academy, Hilton Head Christian Academy, Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts, St. Francis Catholic School and Sea Pines Montessori Academy. The European’s to set foot on Hilton Head Island was the Spanish in 1521. In 1663, Captain William Hilton sailed from Barbados to explore the lands granted by King Charles II of England to the Lords Proprietor. While he was traveling, he identified the island and named it “Hiltons Head” in honor of himself. He spend a period of a week on the island and took notes of the scenery and natural fauna. Five years later, the island was given as a barony to John Bayley of Ireland. During the American Civil War, the island would become an important point of operation for the Union Navy blockade of Savannah and Charleston. It was during this time that the Union built a military hospital on the island with a floor area of over sixty thousand square feet.

Today, the entire island of Hilton Head is home to a large selection of wildlife which includes sea turtles, alligators, deer, birds and dolphins. The town is also home to several gated communities which include Hilton Head Plantation, Windmill Harbour, Sea Pines Resort, Indigo Run Plantation, Palmetto Hall Plantation, Wexford Plantation, Port Royal Plantation, Long Cove Plantation, Shipyard Plantation and Palmetto Dunes Resort. Beaches in the area include Alder Lane Beach, Mitchelville Beach, Coligny Beach , Fish Haul Beach, Folly Field Beach, Driessen Beach, Islanders Beach and Burkes Beach. Hilton Head is also home to a great many parks. Some of the more prominent ones in the area include Xeriscape Garden, Broad Creek, Cordillo Tennis Courts, Crossings Park, Shelter Cove Community Park, Old Schoolhouse Park* Island Recreation Center, Jarvis Creek Park, Marshland Road, Old House Creek, Chaplin Community Park, Green Shell Park, Barker Field and Hilton Head Park.

A popular attraction in Hilton Head is the Coastal Discovery Museum. This museum gets over a hundred thousand visitors each year and is situated at 100 William Hilton Parkway. The museum features a History Time Exhibit, Museum Store and Sea Island Classroom. It also overs ten different tours and special cruises around the island. Coastal Discovery Museum also leases sixty-eight acres of land called Honey Horn Plantation. It uses this plantation to showcase special exhibits which educated visitors about the culture, environment and history of Hilton Head Island. This museum is open seven days a week. Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge is another popular attraction for visitors to the town. This wildlife refuge is located halfway between the South Carolina mainland and Hilton Head Island. Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge covers four thousand acres and was established as a forest and nature preserve. Animals that can be found on the refuge include white tailed deer, shore birds, white ibis, water fowl, egrets, bald eagles, armadillos, alligators, salamanders, wood storks, herons and raptors. Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge has no visitor center, but it does contain over ten miles of trails which offer spectacular views of key features of the island. Some of these key features include White Point, Osprey Pond, Ibis Pond, Wood Stork Pond, Dick Point, Clubhouse Pond, Shell Point, Bull Point and Nini Chapin Pond.

Hilton Head also throws several annual events throughout the year. Some of the events that occur here include the Gullah Celebration, Wine Fest, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Wing Fest, Harbour Fest, Verizon Heritage Golf Tournament, Rib Burnoff & Barbecue Festival, Celebrity Golf Tournament, Drink Making Contest, Food Festival, Chili Cookoff, Hilton Head Community Festival, Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival and the Dove Street Festival of Lights. Other attractions in the town of Hilton Head include Island Explorer, Gullah Gal Fishing, Endangered Arts, The Sandbox Interactive Children’s Museum, Arthur Hills Course at Palmetto Dunes, All About Me Spa, Bulldog Fishing Charters, Pirate’s Island Adventure Golf, Palmetto Hall Plantation Club – Arthur Hills Course, The Golf Courses of Palmetto Dunes, Baynard Plantation Ruins, Palmetto Dunes Plantation, Harbour Town Golf Links at Sea Pines, Drifter Excursions, Picture This Art Gallery, Vagabond Cruise, Oyster Reef Golf Club, Country Club of Hilton Head, Gullah Heritage Trail Tours, Cheers Charters Inc., Sea Pines Forest Preserve, Colleton River Plantation, Island Winery, Jones Course, Captain Hook Party Fishing Boat, Barony at Port Royal Golf Club, Robber’s Row at Port Royal Golf Club, Stan Smith Tennis Academy, Van Der Meer Tennis Center, Catmandoo, Newhall Audubon Nature Preserve, Shipyard Golf Club, Harbour Town Lighthouse, Golden Bear Golf Club, Robert Trent Jone Oceanfront Course, Shelter Cove Marina and George Fazio Golf Course.

Hilton Head is also home to a number of restaurants and hotels. Restaurants in the town include Hudson’s Seafood House-Docks, Crazy Crab, Alligator Grille Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar, Alexander’s Seafood Restaurant, Red Fish Restaurant and Old Oyster Factory Restaurant. Hotels in the town include Daufuskie Island Resort and Spa, Park Lane Hotel & Suites, The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa, Beachwalk Hotel and Condominiums, Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort and Holiday Inn Hilton Head Island Hotel.
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Bruges is the largest city of the West Flanders province of Belgium. It covers an area of one hundred and thirty-eight kilometers and has a population of ove one hundred and seventeen thousand people. The first settlement in the area were erected after Julius Caesar’s conquest of the Menapii during the first century BC. This fortification was used to defend the coast from pirates. During the fourth century, the Franks took over the area and called it Pagus Flandrensis. It continued in this capacity until the ninth century when Baldwin I reinforced the city to protect it from Viking invasions.

During the twelfth century the city was incorporated and immediately walls and canals were constructed. New life was breathed into the city during the twelfth century and the city vamped up its manufacturing activities, producing textiles and devoloping a woollens industry. The newfound wealth of the city produced not only prosperity, but also its fair share of problems however. They were a few social uprisings, but these were short lived and easily contained. The Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, establish a court in Bruges and this attracted artists and bankers from all over Europe. The population of the city soon topped two hundred thousand people and from there kept growing exponentially.

Today, Bruges is a city that is learning to reclaim its former glories. Most of monuments in the Middle Ages remain intact and the city is listed as a World Heritage Site. This in turn has sparked a health tourist trade which is driven by the city’s many attractions. One of the most important attractions in the city is the Church of Our Lady. Church of Our Lady was founded in the thirteenth century and is the tallest building in the city, as well as being the second tallest brickwork building in the world, with a height of over four hundred feet. The altar piece contains a white marble sculpture of the Madonna and Child sculpted by Michelangelo in the sixteenth century. This sculpture was probably meant to be used in the Siena cathedral, but it was bought by two merchants who donated it to Church of Our Lady.

The most famous of all Bruges attractions is the Belfry of Bruges. The Belfry of Bruges is a bell tower from the thirteenth century that rises two hundred and forty-nine feet into the air. The tower was originally used as an observation post to watch for incoming invaders and it also housed the archives of the city. Today, visitors willing to pay the fee, can traverse the three hundred and sixty-six stairs to the top of the tower and get an absolutely perfect view of the city.

The Beguinage is another famous attraction in the city of Bruges. It consist of a courtyard surrounded by several small buildings. It was used to house women who wanted to serve God in the Roman Catholic Church without having to become nuns. Also in the city is the Basilica of the Holy Blood. This was a minor basilica in the Roman Catholic Church that was erected in the twelfth century. The building consist of an upper and lover chapel. The lower chapel is done in the Romanesque architectural style and is dedicated to St. Basil the Great. The upper chapel is done in the Gothic Revival architectural style and was renovated during the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The chapel of Saint Basil consist of three naves, two lateral and one central. Above the entrance to the chapel is a representation of Saint Basil being baptized. In one of the naves is a wooden sculpture of the Madonna and Child.

Another prominent attraction in Bruges is St. Salvator’s Cathedral. St. Salvator’s Cathedral was founded in the tenth century and wasn’t meant to be a cathedral but only a parish church. In the early nineteenth century, a new bishop was placed in the city and this church was elevated to the status of cathedral. The church was kind of small to be a church, so massive renovations were done to it. This was done by the addition of several features, including a new tower. This church contains many impressive works of art. The wall carpets are from the eighteenth century and the church has many paintings by various artist. Even the podium is a work of art that was crafted in the sixteenth century.

A prominent museum in Bruges is the Groeningemuseum. This museum contains a collection of Flemish and Belgian art that covers over six centuries. Works located in this museum include The Madonna with Canon van der Paele, Portrait of Margareta van Eyck, Portrait of Paulus de Nigro, Triptych, Portrait of Four Children, Last Judgment for the Bruges town hall, Crucifixion and Triptych of the Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus. A beautiful park in Bruges is the The Minnewater. The name of the park actually refers to the lake in the park. Because of the beautiful scenery it is most commonly referred to as ‘the lake of Love’, the Dutch word ‘Minne’ means ‘love’.

The city of Bruges contains way too many attractions to list in one place. The city is full of restaurants, pubs and cafes. The city also has many beautiful historic hotels and hostels. And of course the city is rich in history, with attractions that include The Gruuthuse house and museum, The Godshuizen, The Beguinage, St Johns Hhospital, The Jerusalem Church, the Archeological Museum, Brangwyn Museum, Concertgebouw, The City Hall on the Burg square, Provinciaal Hof, the Kruispoort, the Gentpoort, the Smedenpoort and the Ezelpoort. Theaters and concert halls in Bruges include Aquariustheater, Biekorf, De Dijk, De Werf, Het Entrepot, Joseph Ryelandtzaal, Magdalenazaal, Sirkeltheater, Stadsschouwburg, Cinema Lumiere, Cinema Liberty and the Kinepolis Bruges.

Ottawa is a city located in Ontario Province and is the capital of Canada. The city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River and It’s situated in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern part of Southern Ontario. It covers an area of one thousand square miles and has a population of eight hundred and twelve thousand residents. Ottawa is a city with a long and distinguished history. Ottawa was the residence of the Odawa or Odaawaa First Nations people for a long period of time. The Odawa called the river the Kichi Sibi which means “Great River”. History attests to the fact that the Algonquins lived in parts of the Ottawa River basin and used the surrounding area for hunting and gathering.

European explorers traveled the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers in search of new territories. They claimed lands for their countries, searched for passages to Asia and India, and struggled to find precious materials. The first commercial industry to evolve in the New World was the fur trade. Entities such as the Hudson Bay Company user the Ottawa River to transport fur products to Europe through Montreal and Quebec. The first settlement in the area was started by Philemon Wright who hailed from Massachusetts. He arrived in the area in 1800, with his family and twenty-five laborers. He intended on starting an agricultural community in the banks of the Ottawa River. His food crops didn’t provide enough of an income for the colony and Wright started harvesting trees. He wasn’t the only one harvesting trees in the area however, and the lumber industry soon supplanted the fur trade as the number one industry in the area by 1812. In 1832, the Rideau Canal was finished by Colonel John By and the population of the area grew by leaps and bounds. The western portion of the canal was known as “Uppertown” and is where the Parliament buildings are located. The eastern portion of the canal became known as “Lowertown”. In 1855, Ottawa was incorporated as a new city. In 1857, Queen Victoria choose Ottawa as the capital for the Province of Canada.

Today, Ottawa is a beautiful city that enjoys a brisk tourist trade thanks in part to the beautiful scenery of the area and the city’s many attractions. A popular attraction in the city is the Canadian War Museum. This museum is the national museum dedicated to Canadian militaria and military history. The museum’s prime focus is on wars and conflicts that happened on Canadian soil, involved Canadian forces or directly affected the country. Key features of the museum include the Canadian Experience Galleries, Military History Research Center, a collection of war art and a collection of military artillery and vehicles. The galleries include “Battleground – to 1885′, ‘For Crown and Country – 1885–1931′, ‘Forged in Fire – 1931–1945′ and ‘A Violent Peace – 1945 to the present’. Vehicles and artillery on display here include a M109 Howitzer, Jagdpanzer IV, L3/35 tankette, Panther tank, M114 armoured personnel carrier, BMP infantry fighting vehicle, Leopard tank, Volkswagen Schwimmwagen, Molch midget submarine, Panzer II, Chieftain tank, Sherman tanks, M3 Lee, Valentine tank and CF-101 Voodoo. Though the museum was founded in 1880, it has only been at its current location since 2005. Its located less than a mile west of Canada’s Parliament buildings.

Another popular attraction in the city of Ottawa is the National Gallery of Canada. This museum is the premier art gallery of Canada and is located in a granite and glass building on Sussex Drive. The building was designed by Moshe Safdie and was opened to the public in 1988. The gallery contains a large collection of paintings, drawings, photographic art and sculptures. Notable works located here include Meadow and Farm of Jas de Bouffan by Paul Cezanne, A Woman at her Toilet by Rembrandt Van Rijn, Voice of Fire by Barnett Newman, Venus by Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Tribute Money by Rembrandt Van Rijn, Tiger Zebra by Tom Green, The Small Table by Pablo Picasso, The Port of Antwerp by Georges Braque, The Mechanic by Fernand Leger, The Age of Bronze by Auguste Rodin, The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West, 10 variations on Mao Tse-tung by Andy Warhol, Study for Portrait No. 1 by Francis Bacon, Still-life: Flowers by Vincent Van Gogh, Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds by John Constable, Nude on a Yellow Sofa by Henri Matisse, Memories of My Youth by Marc Chagall, Meadow and Farm of Jas de Bouffan by Paul Cezanne, Hay Harvest at Éragny by Camille Pissarro, Brillo by Andy Warhol, Composition No. 12 with Blue by Piet Mondrian and Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds by John Constable.

Peace Tower is another prominent attraction in the city. This clock tower sits on the central axis of the Canadian Parliament buildings. It is an icon of Canada and is featured on the Canadian twenty and fifty dollar bills. This tower was designed by John A. Pearson and Jean Omer Marchand. The tower rises three hundred and two feet high and is covered with three hundred and seventy grotesques, gargoyles and friezes. It is a perfect complement to the parliamentary complex and is designed in the Victorian Gothic style. Other attractions in the city of Ottawa include Dows Lake Pavilion, Nepean Point, Ottawa Farmers’ Market, Capital Infocentre, Rideau Hall, Jacques Cartier Park, Bytown Museum, Major’s Hill Park, Canadian Museum of Nature, Lusk Caverns, Rideau Falls, Green Island, Notre Dame Basilica, Royal Canadian Mint, National Archives of Canada, Organic Farmers’ Market, Maplelawn Garden, Ottawa Art Gallery, Alexandra Bridge, University of Ottawa, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Stables, Canadian Children’s Museum, Currency Museum, Great Canadian Theatre Company, National War Memorial, Canada Aviation Museum, Sparks Street Mall, Bank Street Promenade, National Museum of Science and Technology, Cube Gallery, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Casino du Lac-Leamy, Central Experimental Farm, Canada Science and Technology Museum, National Library of Canada, Confederation Square, Peacekeeping Monument, Mercury Lounge, Barrymore’s Music Hall, Prime Minister’s Official Residence and Vimy House.

Bath is a city that is located in England’s Somerset county. It is located ninety-seven miles from London and has a population of over eighty-three thousand resident. This city achieved city status in 1590 under a Royal Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I. It would go on to become a county borough in 1889, which effectively gave it independence from Somerset. The city can trace its history to the mid-first century, when it was a Roman spa resort known as Aquae Sulis (“Waters of Sulis”). It was formed because of the many hot springs in the area, which allowed the Romans to create many bath houses around the River Avon. It would continue as a spa resort well into the Georgian era. This caused a major expansion of the city during that period and that is why the city has some of the most prominent Georgian architecture in all of Europe. In 1987, Bath would become recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Though Bath once had a thriving manufacturing sector, in recent years it has been in decline. Today, the economic strength of the city is bolstered by software, publishing and service industries. Important service industries in the city include retail, professional services, education, health care and tourism. Tourism is the bread and butter industry of this city and employs a large number of people. This booming tourist trade has led to a large number of retail shops, restaurants and cafes. The city attracts more than three million daily visitor, and a third of those spend at least one night in Bath’s hotels. All this tourist activity can be evidenced by the large number of accommodations that are available in the city. There are over one hundred and eighty bed and breakfasts, and over eighty hotels. Hotels that are popular in Bath include Best Western Abbey Hotel, Carfax Hotel, Windsor Townhouse Hotel, Hilton Bath City Hotel, Royal Crescent Hotel, Harington’s Hotel and The Royal Hotel. The city of Bath also has a large number of tourist attractions which include museums, historical buildings and theaters.

A popular attraction in the city, and one that it derives its name from, is the Roman Baths and Pump Room. This well preserved site was one of the original Roman baths in the area and receives more than a million visitors each year. The major features of the Roman Baths are the Sacred Spring, The Roman Temple, The Bath House and the Museum. The museum contains artifacts that were tossed into the springs by the Romans either as offerings to the gods or for good luck. These artifacts include more than twelve thousand Roman coins. The museum also contains a bronze bust of the goddess Sulis Minerva. The geothermally heated water rises here at over two hundred and fifty-seven thousand gallons a day through a fissure. These waters contain high levels of sodium, calcium and sulphates and is considered not safe to bath in. If visitors want to experience Roman baths then they should pay a visit to the Thermae Bath Spa or the Cross Bath, which has been recently restored.

Another popular attraction in the city of Bath is the Royal Crescent. The Royal Crescent is a road that contains over thirty houses which are laid out in the shape of a crescent. These houses were built in the eighteenth century and designed by John Wood the Younger. The Royal Crescent is a beautiful example of Georgian architecture. Some very notable people have stayed in these houses over the past two centuries. The most prominent of these include Thomas Brock, Princesse de Lamballe, Prince Frederick, Philip Thicknesse, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Francis Burdett, Admiral William Hargood, Thomas Falconer and George Saintsbury. Today, the Royal Cresent contains a museum, a hotel and there are plans currently underway to develop flats here. The Circus is another fine example of classic Georgian architecture in the city of Bath. This structure was built in 1768 and is listed as a Grade I building. It was designed by architect John Wood the Elder and consists of three segments surrounded by townhouses. The inspiration for the design of The Circus was derived from the Roman Colosseum. This building incorporates Corinthian, Greek Doric and Roman Composite styles in a seamless architectural style.

Royal Victoria Park is another attraction in the city of Bath that shouldn’t be overlooked on your visit. It was opened in the nineteenth century by Princess Victoria, who was eleven years old at the time. This was the first botanical garden and park to bear her name and there is a monument inside the park that is dedicated to her. Royal Victoria Park sits on fifty-seven acres and has a wide assortment of attractions. Inside, visitors can find tennis courts, skateboard ramps, a pond, a putting green and a nine acre botanical garden. The Victoria Art Gallery is another popular attraction in the city. The building was designed by John McKean Brydon in 1897. The outside of the building features a statue of Queen Victoria and inside the museum are over fifteen hundred works of art by artists such as Thomas Jones Barker, Thomas Gainsborough, Edwin Long, P J de Loutherbourg, John Nash, Johann Zoffany, Thomas Lawrence and Thomas Malton. Exhibitions are always changing so there is always something new to see. Past exhibitions have included Bath Railway posters, Kurt Jackson: River Avon, In Colour: John Eaves, Ancient Landscapes, Comic Art, Paul Emsley Portrait, Bath as it might have been, Peter Brown: Bath and Beyond, The Blue and White Show and Peter Wells: The Tamil Nadu 27.

Other prominent attractions in the city of Bath include the Assembly Rooms, Cleveland Bridge, Building of Bath Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Jane Austen Centre, Lansdown Crescent, Holburne Museum of Art, Museum of East Asian Art, Beckford’s Tower, Pulteney Bridge, Sally Lunn’s Refreshment House & Museum, Herschel Museum of Astronomy, River Avon, Fashion Museum, Kennet and Avon Canal, Dundas Aqueduct, Solsbury Hill, Claverton Pumping Station and Bath Recreation Grounds.