Creative Tourism

Missouri's most stunning Natural Attraction, Table Rock Lake, encompasses over 800 miles of natural shoreline, surrounded by breathtaking Ozark scenery. Year-round water activities, (No Lake freezing here!) on 43,000 acres of sparkling water, include boating, swimming, skiing, fishing, tubing & wake-boarding. Marinas offer a wide variety of services from boat rentals to swimwear to ski & scuba diving instruction and equipment. 7 days a week For anglers, the action is under the water. Fish year-round in waters abundant with Bass, Crappie, Bluegill, & Catfish. When one Table Rock Lake species isn't biting, another one is! Off the water there's premiere golf, horseback riding, Branson music shows, Silver Dollar City, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Eureka Springs, antique & craft shops and caves. 365 days a year! A wide variety of accommodations are available to suit your vacation plans and budget. Choose your "home away from home" from our many lakeside resorts, campgrounds, condominiums or hotels. Relax and enjoy a quiet sunset while you grill your favorite dinner or dine out. Area restaurants vary from casual to fine dining, on and off the lake.

Welcome to VisitMO.com From fall vacations to golf getaways to everything in between, Missouri has something for everyone. Tour one of our award-winning wineries. Experience our exciting festivals and events. Or take in the beautiful fall foliage with a scenic drive through the countryside. However you like to VisitMO, you’ll find it here. Learn about some of our best vacation packages, and start planning your trip today! Region Map You'll find something great in every corner of Missouri. Click here to learn more. Trip Planner Destinations (0) Build your ideal getaway. Getaway Guides Guides will provide in-depth information for your Missouri getaway. Tour of Missouri Six-day pro bicycle race. Click here for details. Enter a Missouri Promotion and the 2007 Photo Contest Win a free Weekend Getaway. Take home a big Cash prize. Enter one of Missouri’s promotional giveaways, or the Annual Photo Contest. Check back often for new promotions. VisitMO Coupons and Save Make your vacation dollars go further at destinations, restaurants and lodgings throughout Missouri. Click the button at left to print your own coupons and start saving today. (The list of participating locations is growing, so check back often.) Free Vacation Planner Order your FREE 2007 Vacation Planner and view the online version.

Being in the heart of the Ozarks means being in the center of activity. There are many interesting choices for the visitor. A drive through Ft. Leonard Wood offers opportunities to see history in the making and history honored. Taking short drives to area communities offers wonderful scenic views and an opportunity to discover our small towns. Enjoying a performance of our community theater can enliven your stay. There are restaurants with American and foreign cuisine and interesting historical sites. Take your choice! However you decide to spend your time in our part of Missouri, you will find friendly people and new experiences. To Pulaski County residents, quality of life means a friendly wave from neighbors, a short commute to work, cultural diversity, pride in hometown schools, and a pristine environment for recreation. It's all here – in Pulaski County The beautiful Ozarks landscape is home to numerous recreational opportunities, including swimming, fishing and hunting, hiking, horseback riding, canoeing and spelunking. Our community celebrations and historical preservation efforts reflect a hometown atmosphere. All of this adds up to a great place to enjoy your vacation.

Thousands of visitors tour the birthplace of poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier each year. Built by Whittier's great-great grandfather in 1688, the home surrounding property have changed very little since the poet lived there in the early 19th century. See the "Haunted Bridge," Whittier's boyhood school, and the home and burial place of sweetheart Lydia Ayer. Retrace the life and dangerous times of Indian captive Hannah Duston - the spot from where she was taken in 1697, the Merrimack River bank where she landed after her escape, the garrison house built by her husband Thomas Duston, and her statue in GAR Park. Discover how Haverhill became the "Queen Slipper City" at the Buttonwoods Museum. Haverhill produced one-tenth of America's shoes in 1913 - just three decades after the shoe district burned to the ground in 1882. Native American artifacts and over 10,000 collectibles and objects, including historic furniture, ceramics, quilts, dolls, and toys are just a few of the items that fascinate history buffs of all ages. A part of the Essex National Heritage Area, Haverhill is a great way to begin your exploration of the rich, historic, northeast corner of Massachusetts. Cobbler's Bench Haverhill Historical Society (click picture for larger image) Washington Square, at the heart of downtown, is named for the first U.S. president, who, during his visit in 1789, commented that Haverhill was the most pleasant village he had passed through. Movie mogul Louis B. Mayer began his career in Haverhill managing a theater in Washington Square. Before making it big in New York, department store magnate R. H. Macy opened his first store on Merrimack Street. Haverhill is the home of Archie comic strip creator Bob Montana, who based many of his characters on friends from Haverhill High School. The first business telephone call was placed in Haverhill. Alexander Graham Bell often visited Haverhill leather merchant Thomas Sanders in the 1870s.Sanders, whose deaf son was one of Bell's students, supplied Bell with most of the money that enabled him to develop the telephone. In the late 1960's national television personality Tom Bergeron began his career on Haverhill's WHAV radio station. The Haverhill High graduate is now host of the Hollywood Squares game show. Hannah Duston Statue (click picture for larger image) John Greenleaf Whittier Birthplace (click picture for larger image

Just across the river from Boston, Cambridge offers an exciting multicultural setting where visitors from around the world mingle in the shadow of two of the world's premier educational institutions: Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Teeming with cafes, bookstores, and boutiques, Cambridge is often referred to as "Boston's Left Bank". As a captivating, off-beat alternative to Boston, the "Squares" of Cambridge are charming neighborhoods rich in adventurous dining options as well as unique shopping, theatres, museums, and historic sites. Located between the academic powerhouses of Harvard and MIT, Central Square is the seat of City government and is home to a rich variety of international restaurants and music clubs. Harvard Square, located around the historic brick walls of the country's oldest university, is a mecca for dining, shopping, books, and entertainment. Historically, Inman Square is a bustling shopping district and today, is home to a bounty of unique restaurants offering cuisine of unparalleled excellence and diversity. Just a bridge away from Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood, Kendall Square is home to MIT and the heart of Massachusetts' booming high tech and biotechnology industries. In north Cambridge, Porter Square boasts the region's largest concentration of Japanese eateries and shops including a popular Japanese bookstore

Fishermen from Fujian and farmers from Guangdong were the first known settlers in Macau, when it was known as Ou Mun, or "trading gate", because of its location at the mouth of the Pearl River downstream from Guangzhou (Canton). During ancient times port city was part of the Silk Road with ships loading here with silk for Rome. Even after China ceased to be a world trade centre, Guangzhou prospered from seaborne business with the countries of Southeast Asia, so the local entrepreneurs welcomed the arrival of Portuguese merchant-explorers. They followed in the wake of Jorge Alvares, who landed in southern China in 1513, and set about finding suitable trading posts. In the early 1550s the Portuguese reached Ou Mun, which the locals also called A Ma Gao, "place of A Ma", in honour of the Goddess of Seafarers, whose temple stood at the entrance to the sheltered Inner Harbour. The Portuguese adopted the name, which gradually changes into the name Macau, and with the permission of Guangdong's mandarins, established a city that within a short time had become a major entrepot for trade between China, Japan, India and Europe. It also became the perfect crossroad for the meeting of East and West cultures. The Roman Catholic church sent some of its greatest missionaries to continue the work of St Francis Xavier, (who died nearby after making many converts in Japan). A Christian college was built, beside what is now today's Ruins of St Paul's, where students such as Matteo Ricci prepared for their work as Christian scholars at the Imperial Court in Beijing. Other churches were built, as well as fortresses, which gave the city an historical European appearance that distinguishes it to this day. Portugal's golden age in Asia faded as rivals like the Dutch and British took over their trade. However the Chinese chose to continue to do business through the Portuguese in Macau, so for over a century the British East India Company and others set up shop here in rented houses like the elegant Casa Garden. As Europe's trade with China grew, the European merchants spent part of the year in Guangzhou, buying tea and Chinese luxuries at the bi-annual fairs, using Macau as a recreational retreat. Following the Opium War in 1841, Hong Kong was established by Britain and most of the foreign merchants left Macau, which became a quaint, quiet backwater. Nevertheless it has continued to enjoy a leisurely multicultural existence and make daily, practical use of its historical buildings, in the process becoming a favourite stopover for international travellers, writers and artists. In modern times Macau has developed industries such as textiles, electronics and toys, as well as building up an a world class tourist industry with a wide choice of hotels, resorts, sports facilities, restaurants and casinos. As in the past, Macau's economy is closely linked to that of Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, in particular the Pearl River Delta region, which qualifies as one of Asia's "little tigers". Macau provides financial and banking services, staff training, transport and communications support. Macau is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China since 20 December 1999, and, like Hong Kong, benefits from the principle of "one country, two systems". The tiny SAR is growing in size - with more buildings on reclaimed land - and in the number and diversity of its attractions. The greatest of these continues to be Macau's unique society, with communities from the East and West complementing each other, and the many people who come to visit. Location & Area The Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) is a part of China’s territory. It is located on the Southeast coast of China to the western bank of the Pearl River Delta. Bordering on Guangdong Province, it locates 60km from Hong Kong and 145km from the city of Guangzhou. The Macau Special Administrative Region has an area of 28.2 sq. km, comprised of the Macau Peninsula (with 8.9 sq. km and connected to Mainland China), the islands of Taipa (6.5 sq. km) and Coloane (7.6 sq. km and the reclaimed area COTAI (5.2 sq. km). The three bridges connecting Macau to Taipa are Nobre de Carvalho (2.5 km long), the Friendship Bridge (4.5 km long) and Sai Van Bridge (2.2 km long). The longest one (Friendship Bridge) leads directly to Macau International Airport located on the Island of Taipa. The Sai Van Bridge, which was opened on 9 January 2005, is the first cable-stayed bridge in Macau. The double deck bridge has six lanes in the upper deck and four in the lower, which will open when a typhoon hits the city. The islands are connected by a causeway which is 2.2 km long. Besides the Barrier Gate (Portas do Cerco), the visitor can access Mainland China through the COTAI Frontier Post. Immigration and Customs are located in the reclaimed area between the islands of Taipa and Coloane. Time Macau is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. Population The total population was estimated to be 508,000 as at 30 September 2006. About 95% are ethnic Chinese, from different provinces, namely Guangdong and Fujian. The remaining 5% includes Portuguese, Europeans and other regions. Language Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages, Cantonese being most widely spoken. The official languages are used in government departments in all official documents and communications. English is generally used in trade, tourism and commerce. Currency The Pataca (MOP$) is divided into 100 avos and it is Macau’s official currency. There are banknotes and coins in the following denominations: Coins: 10, 20 and 50 avos; 1, 2, 5 and 10 Patacas. Banknotes: 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Patacas. By the decision of the Government the Pataca is linked to the Hong Kong dollar (HK$) which is accepted as currency in Macau. The exchange rate is MOP$103.20 = HK$100.00. There is an acceptable variation up to 10%. Roughly 10 Patacas is equivalent to 1 EURO and 8 Patacas is equivalent to 1 US Dollar. Foreign currency or travellers’ cheques can be changed in hotels, banks and authorised exchange dealers located all around the city. If the visitor needs to change money outside the usual banking hours, there are 24 hours exchange counters operating in the Macau International Airport (Taipa Island) and in the Lisboa Hotel (Macau). Banks open normally from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Most credit cards are accepted in many hotels, shops and restaurants. There are no restrictions on the amount of currency, which can be brought in or taken out of the territory. Climate Macau located at the west bank of Pearl River Delta in South China, is the intersection of Mainland China and South China Sea. It is also located at the south of tropic of Cancer. The winds directions in winter and summer are opposite. Therefore, Macau is in the monsoon region and from the climate classification is considered mild and rainy in summer. The most comfortable period begins from the middle of October to December. The winter season in Macau covers the months January and February. The cold air from north Siberia continuously passes through the Mid and South China into Macau region and brings us cold and dry northerly winds. The urban temperature sometimes drops below 10ºC. Therefore, the annual minimum temperature is generally recorded in these two months. When the precipitation and rainy days are less it is because there is lack of water vapour in the atmosphere. March and April is the seasonal interchange period. The wind direction along the coastal region of South China is mainly easterly to southeasterly, which will increase the temperature and humidity. Beside some occasional wet weather, fog, drizzle and low visibility days, the weather is mainly fine in spring. The summer in Macau is longer than the other seasons. Because of hot and wet conditions, the bad weather such as thunderstorm and heavy rain always occur from May to September. Waterspout can be seen occasionally. Meanwhile from May to October, tropical cyclones occur frequently which make the highest records of precipitation, temperature, rainy days and thunderstorms. As local tropical cyclones number 8 typhoon signal is hoisted the sea and air transports are suspended. The autumn begins at October, at that time the mainland China becomes cool. The autumn season in Macau is very short, the weather is stable and comfortable with clear sky. It finally returns to the cool and dry November. The cold air from the north will intrude periodically in December