Key West Florida USA

Key West is a city and an island of the same name near the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the namesake island, the part of Stock Island north of US-1 (the Overseas Highway) (east), Sigsbee Park (north, originally known as Dredgers Key), Fleming Key (north), and Sunset Key (west, originally known as Tank Island). Nearby Key Haven (northeast), the part of Stock Island south of US-1 (east) and Wisteria Island, better known as Christmas Tree Island (northwest), are in unincorporated Monroe County. Both Fleming Key and Sigsbee Park are part of the NAS Key West and are inaccessible by civilians.

Key West is the county seat of Monroe County.GR6

Key West is known as the Southernmost City in the Continental United States. It is also the southern terminus of U.S. Route 1, State Road A1A and the East Coast Greenway.

Key West is 129 miles (207 km) southwest (229.9 degrees) of Miami, Florida,[1] (about 160 driving miles) and 106 miles (170 km) north northeast (21.2 degrees) of Havana, Cuba.[2] Cuba, at its closest point is 94 statute (82 nautical) miles 188°SE.[3]

Key West is a seaport destination for many passenger cruise ships. The Key West International Airport provides airline service. Hotels and guest houses are available for lodging. Many restaurants offer a choice of indoor or outdoor dining.

Naval Air Station Key West is an important year round training site for Naval Aviation due to the superb weather conditions, which is also a reason the site was chosen as the Winter White House of Harry S. Truman.

The central business district primarily comprises Duval Street, and includes much of the northwest corner of the island along Whitehead, Simonton, Front, Greene, Caroline, Eaton Streets and Truman Avenue.

The official town motto is "One Human Family." The Key West Business Guild claims to be the nation's first and oldest continuous gay and lesbian chamber of commerce. Each Saturday the Guild sponsors a tour of the island's historic gay sites.

Popular annual events

Acura International Boat Regatta – January
Key West Literary Seminar – January
Conch Republic Independence Celebration – April 23
Red Ribbon Bed Race – April
Survivors Party – May
Queen Mother Pageant – May
PrideFest – June
Cuban-American Heritage Festival – June
Hemingway Days Festival – July
WomenFest – September
Fantasy Fest – October
Goombay Celebration – October
Robert the Enchanted Doll Day – October 24th
Parrot Heads in Paradise Convention (aka Meeting of the Minds) – November
Boat and Holiday Parade – December


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_West

Kaanapali Beach Hawaii United States

Kāʻanapali is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaiʻi, United States. The population was 1,375 at the 2000 census.

Kaanapali Beach Resort began as an Amfac development in the 1960's, on mile-long Kaanapali Beach, on the western shore of Maui, a couple miles north of the old whaling town of Lahaina. Since that time, many more hotels and condos have been built both on Kaanapali Beach and for several miles up and down the coast, and Lahaina has turned into a tourist shopping Mecca.

Major resort hotels now on Kaanapali Beach (in order from the south end closest to Lahaina to the north end) are the Hyatt Regency Maui (opened in 1980), Maui Marriott (opened 1982, now turned into timeshares), Westin (originally opened as the Maui Surf in 1971, then rebuilt as the Westin 1987), Kaanapali Beach Hotel (1964), Sheraton (1963 but completely rebuilt in 1996), Royal Lahaina (1962), Maui Kaanapali Villas (originally a Hilton when it opened in 1963).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaanapali%2C_Hawaii

Daytona Beach Florida USA

Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,421.[2] Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had a 2006 population of 496,575.

Daytona Beach is a year-round resort area. The city is historically known for its motorsports, with both Daytona International Speedway and the old Daytona Beach Road Course having hosted races for over a century. The city is also the headquarters for NASCAR and the Grand American Road Racing Association. Daytona could accurately be called a seasonal town, with large groups of out-of-towners descending upon the city for various events, most notably Speedweeks in early February when over 200,000 NASCAR fans come to attend the season-opening Daytona 500. Other events include the NASCAR Pepsi 400 race in July, Bike Week in March, Biketoberfest in October and Black College Reunion in March and April. In the past Daytona Beach catered to spring breakers, but in recent years many of the breakers have migrated to other sites, like Panama City. Daytona Beach has tried to clean up its image but in the last few years spring breakers have come back again in smaller numbers.

The city and its beaches, lined with hotels, motels, condominiums and houses, attract over 8,000,000 tourists each year. In a wide variety of price ranges, hotel and motel rooms are typically plentiful except during special events. Daytona Beach has high security around its main hotel locations, with multiple cameras filming hotel and beach areas. It is one of the few places in the world where a family car can be driven on an ocean beach. Most other driving beaches require 4 wheel drive or other special equipment.

During motorcycle events (Bike Week and Biketoberfest), several hundred thousand bikers from all over the world visit the greater Daytona Beach area. While the city is often associated with spring break, the efforts of the local government to discourage rowdiness, combined with the rise of other spring break destinations, have nearly ended Daytona's former preeminence as a spring break destination.


Daytona International SpeedwaySpecial events that draw visitors to Daytona Beach include:

Speedweeks (Daytona 500 NASCAR race, Rolex 24 sports car race, and others)

Pepsi 400 NASCAR race on or around July 4 (Traditionally called the Firecracker 400)

Daytona Beach Bike Week Daytona 200 motorcycle race in March

Biketoberfest in October

Turkey Run car show and events during Thanksgiving weekend (Traditionally called the Turkey Rod Run)

Black College Reunion (BCR) (date varies)

Spring break (date varies, usually the first and second week of March)

Dayton to Daytona - date varies, but is usually the second week of May

Daytona Beach is also home to the headquarters of NASCAR, Grand-Am, International Speedway Corporation and the LPGA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytona_Beach

Cocoa Beach Florida United States

Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 12,482 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 12,435.

Cocoa Beach started its current growth during the 1960s due to America's space program. NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center is located approximately 15 miles away.

After manned space flights, the town held parades in honor of the astronauts.

Many of the homes in Cocoa Beach are built on dredged mud and sand from the Banana River. After NASA's Apollo program came to an end, and before the Shuttle program was in full swing, the town suffered from layoffs. Many families lost their jobs or simply moved away. People could not sell their homes and some walked away from them.

Cocoa Beach is located at 28°19′52″N, 80°36′47″W (28.331035, -80.613035).GR1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 39.0 km² (15.0 mi²). 12.7 km² (4.9 mi²) of it is land and 26.3 km² (10.1 mi²) of it (67.49%) is water. Bordered on the north is Cape Canaveral; on the south is Cresent Beach; on the east is the Atlantic Ocean; on the west is the Banana River.

Propelled by a powerful hurricane, the ocean pushed its way through the barrier islands centuries ago and formed the Thousand Islands in the Indian River.[1][2]

Surrounding Areas

Merritt Island
Atlantic Ocean
Cape Canaveral
Crescent Beach

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_Beach

Brighton Beach New York City United States

Brighton Beach is a community on Coney Island in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City.

It is bounded by Coney Island at Ocean Parkway to the west, affluent, but non-gated Manhattan Beach at Corbin Place to the east, Gravesend at Neptune Avenue to the north (at the Belt Parkway), and the Atlantic Ocean to the south (at the Riegelmann Boardwalk/beachfront).

Brighton Beach was developed by William A. Engeman as a beach resort in 1868, and was named in 1878 by Henry C. Murphy and a group of businessmen in an 1878 contest[1] ; the winning name evoked the resort of Brighton, England. The centerpiece of the resort was the large Hotel Brighton (or Brighton Beach Hotel), placed on the beach at what is now the foot of Coney Island Avenue and accessed by the Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Coney Island Railway, later known as the BMT Brighton Line, which opened on July 2, 1878. The village was annexed into the 31st Ward of the City of Brooklyn in 1894.

Brighton Beach was re-developed as a fairly dense residential community with the final rebuilding of the Brighton Beach railway into a modern rapid transit line of the New York City Subway system c. 1920.

The 1950s brought with it a neighborhood consisting mostly of second generation Americans, born of concentration camp survivors who had lost their husbands, wives and some of their children. Everywhere were the signs of the refugees who had fled, with numbers on their forearms, making their home in a small and welcoming town near Coney Island. The generation brought forth a well educated and industrious group of baby boomers, born into freedom and knowing of oppression and extreme antisemitism only from their parents' memories. These were the years filled with the odd and quirky stores that so embellished the little neighborhood seaside resort.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Beach

Bethany Beach Delaware United States

Bethany Beach is an incorporated town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 943.

Bethany Beach, together with the towns of Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, South Bethany, and Fenwick Island, comprises Delaware's beach resort area and is Sussex County's most densely-populated and fastest-growing area.

Bethany Beach, South Bethany and Fenwick Island are popularly known as "The Quiet Resorts". This is in contradistinction to the wild atmosphere of Dewey Beach and the cosmopolitan bustle of Rehoboth Beach. Assisting Bethany Beach's reputation as a "quiet" place is the presence of Delaware Seashore State Park immediately to the north of the town, a six mile-long barrier island providing a substantial buffer from Dewey Beach's noise. Serving as another buffer is a large unincorporated area of private condominiums and multi- million-dollar beach homes between the park and the town.

Despite its small size, Bethany Beach boasts the usual attractions of a summer seaside resort, including a short boardwalk, a broad, sandy beach, motels, restaurants, and vacation homes. Because Bethany Beach does not sit on a barrier island, residential areas continue some distance to the west of the town's limits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany_Beach