The Caribbean’s largest tourist destination is the Dominican Republic, where travelers are drawn in by golf courses and beaches. This small nation on the island of Hispaniola, a part of the Caribbean region’s Greater Antilles archipelago, shares the island with the nation of Haiti. Historically, the territory of the Dominican Republic was the place in which Christopher Columbus “discovered” the New World when he sailed “the ocean blue in 1492.” This is where the boats landed, and where the first permanent European settlement in the Americas was founded — Santo Domingo, which is now the country’s capital and was Spain’s first capital in the New World.

Inside the Dominican Republic, you’ll find the major resort area of Punta Cana and a hotel right for you , in a place known most for its beaches facing the Atlantic and Caribbean.

Punta Cana is home to about a hundred thousand people. The nearest city, the five hundred year old capital of the province of Higuey is about 28 miles away, and takes about an hour to drive the distance. In Higuey, you’ll find the Basilica Catholic Monument, which was constructed in 1962 and designed by two architects from France. The various beaches include on the north side of the cape, Arena Gorda, Bavaro , El Cortecito, Macao and Uvero Alto. To the south side, you’ll discover Cabeza de Toro, Cabo Engano, and Juanillo.

At night, the resorts in Punta Cana present Las Vegas-style show, with talent drawn locally; outside the hotels there are a number of discotheques, as well as more than eighty restaurants and bars, featuring cuisine from India, Thailand, and China. For those missing a taste from home, you’ll even find here a Tony Roma’s and Tommy Hilfiger stores.

Whether it’s night life, lounging on a beach, or diving into an ocean (with 22 diving sites available), you’ll be able to take your pick of ways to relax in this island country.

In Orlando, Florida, with a virtual cornucopia of amusement parks and giftshops, there’s no shortage of places to shop. However, if you desire a gourmet experience in shopping, then you’ll head for the city’s Mall at Millenia .

From the mall’s architecture to amenities such as multi-lingual guest services, valet parking, foreign currency exchange, and global shipping through the U.S. Postal office, it’s clear that the Mall at Millenia is not just another shopping center.

The mall strives to create an environment that surpasses the ordinary. It offers the latest runway fashions from London, Milan, Paris, and New York, and broadcasts these fashions on LED screens at the top of 35 foot tall masts. It features such stores as Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, and Macy’s, but it also has a variety of specialty stores, such as Apple, Coach, Hugo Boss, Crate & Barrel, Abercrombie & Fitch, Juicy Couture, Montblanc, and Z Gallerie. There’s also luxury botiques, too.

There’s no need to leave the mall for lunch, either. It’s “food court” offers quite a selection. You’ll find such restaurants as The Cheesecake Factory, Brio Tuscan Grille, PF Chang’s China Bistro, and McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant. After lunch in places like these, you might feel like heading back to the hotel to take a nap in one of the great rooms you can find by clicking here , or you might just revive yourself enough by taking a look at the luxury collections offered by such brands as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry Dior, Chanel, Jimmy Choo, Tiffany & Company, Cartier, David Yurman, Salvatore Ferragamo, and more.

This is a mall you don’t even have to leave to have a satisfying nightlife. If you’ve stayed late, try out the Blue Martini , an upscale martini lounge, a place in which you might start the evening or close out the night.

The Bay Area attracts a rather broad cross-section of humanity, where men who paint themselves white, or sometimes red, might show up suddenly, and for the sole purpose of standing or sitting on corners. The city of San Francisco is a concentration of all the elements that have made this section of the country so fiercely unique, and terribly interesting, for a lot of decades, and there’s no signs of any of it slowing down.

While the cost of living soars here, it might be reasonable to suspect that the artists who have made it great are being priced out of living here. That’s certainly true, in some respects, and it’s also worth considering how many artists of the next generation cannot afford to move here in the first place, to make it their home, when aesthetically they are the logical successors to the keys to the city’s culture. Still, there is enough funk to go around, and visitors staying at a San Francisco hotel will be able to find many interesting things, and many unexpected surprises.

When groups with names like Jimbo Trout and the Fish People are playing at fine eating and drinking establishments in town, there’s good news for everyone. The culture is alive and well, and there are daring bands of provocative musicians stretching limits. They push their own imaginations as much as they push the audiences, and there’s something about the chemistry of the wild west that’s still here, making nights out a pleasure.

The Plough and the Stars is just one excellent place to see these bands, and it also happens to be one of the favorite Irish pubs in the city. There are many who are not Irish at all who might recognize the pub’s name and be able to name the playwright, just as there are many who can enjoy the pub without any claim to ancestry. It’s not necessary here, just as much as it’s not necessary to be Cajun to like the Fish People. It certainly couldn’t hurt, however.