Travel Briefs

SANTA FE, N.M.

New museum, train and more unveiled

Santa Fe is a year away from celebrating its 400th anniversary in 2010, but there's a lot that's new in this very old city.

The New Mexico History Museum will open in historic downtown Santa Fe on May 24, with multimedia interactive exhibits on the state's history, legends and roots in Native American, Spanish, Mexican, French and Anglo cultures.

The museum is located adjacent to Palace of the Governors on the Santa Fe Plaza, since 1609 the nation's oldest continuously occupied government building. The palace building will be part of the new museum. The museum also includes a Discovery Center, a gathering space for families to engage in hands-on, self-paced activities, and a terrace cafe overlooking the palace courtyard. Details at www.nmhistorymuseum.org/.

Other recent developments in the city include the December debut of the Railrunner Express, a new train service linking downtown Albuquerque with the Santa Fe Depot, which also offers shuttles to the Santa Fe Plaza. A separate shuttle service is available from Albuquerque's International Sunport Airport to Santa Fe as well.

Several new restaurants and galleries have opened in recent months in the Railyard District, including Gebert Contemporary Art Gallery and The Zane Bennett Gallery. Santa Fe's Farmer's Market also has relocated to a year-round site in the district.

Coming up this year at the new Santa Fe Convention Center, which opened in September, is SOFA Santa Fe, June 11-14, an exposition of sculptural objects and functional art. Another arts event to mark on the calendar if you're planning a trip to Sante Fe later this year is the sixth annual Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, scheduled for July 11-12, www.folkartmarket.org.

Summer also is the season for the Santa Fe Opera, which is offering "La Traviata, "The Elixir of Love," and "Don Giovanni" among other shows. Tickets and details at www.santafeopera.org/.

For more information about visiting Santa Fe, go to www.santafe.org.

LOS ANGELES

Universal Studios builds new sets

Visitors touring Universal Studios Hollywood next summer will get to see the new movie sets that are now being built to replace fire-damaged locations.

Roofers using a blowtorch accidentally started the fire June 1. The blaze also destroyed the King Kong attraction and a video vault.

The new sets will be seen by Universal theme park visitors taking the tram for the Studio Tour, as well as by guests on Universal's behind-the-scenes "V.I.P. Experience" tour, which offers a more in-depth look at productions and locations.

Universal is also introducing hi-definition, flat-screen monitors by late spring on all of its Studio Tour trams. The trams stop at locations used to film everything from "Psycho" to "Desperate Housewives." While on board, passengers watch a video, and the new monitors will allow guides to instantly choose between hundreds of clips to show them, including clips from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Ghost Whisperer," which are regularly shot on the Universal backlot.

The majority of Universal's sets -- including the Bates Motel from "Psycho," Wisteria Lane from "Desperate Housewives" and lots used for "War of the Worlds" and Westerns -- were untouched by the fire. New sets will include a gas station, firehouse and urban cityscape with glass and steel facades.

ORLANDO, Fla.

Universal Orlando Resort extends deal

Universal Orlando Resort has extended a deal allowing families to book a three-night package and receive two additional nights free. Packages begin at $689 and include accommodations at a hotel near Universal and unlimited theme park admission to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

The package can be booked until March 29 for stays any time between now and Oct. 8.

Guests also can upgrade to one of three on-site AAA Four Diamond hotels at Universal, with packages starting at $1,144. In addition, guests of the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel and Loews Royal Pacific Resort receive free Universal Express access, which allows them to skip the regular lines at most theme park attractions.

This spring, Universal is debuting a new coaster: the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, which allows riders to select their own soundtrack and custom footage from their ride into a take-home video.

Details at www. universalorlando.com.

GAINESVILLE, Fla.

Guide to Caribbean dive vacations out

If you're planning a spring break or summer trip to go diving in the Caribbean, a new guide called "Scuba Caribbean" could help you explore new destinations.

The book, by Mary Peachin, has a section on Mexico's Caribbean coastline, including Quintana Roo, Cozumel, Cancun, Rivera Maya and Cenotes of the Yucatan, as well as chapters on more than two dozen islands, including Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, St. Martin, the Bahamas and Bermuda. The book also includes a section on Central and South American destinations with Caribbean coastlines -- Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela's Los Roques Archipelago.

"Scuba Caribbean" notes that "the region's diving is as diverse as the islands themselves. Below the sea, an underwater photographer's wonderland of colorful reefs and marine diversity awaits." Terrain ranges from "steep, bottomless walls" to "cliff overhangs, caverns and swim-throughs." Some areas offer visibility greater than 100 feet, but Peachin writes that low-visibility areas, often rich in plankton, may offer their own attractions, attracting whale sharks and manta rays. Other underwater attractions: shipwrecks, diving with trained dolphins and watching migrations of whales and other sea creatures.

The book is $24.95 from the University Press of Florida.

NEW YORK

Island's future as attraction in jeopardy

More than 125,000 people took the ferry last year to Governors Island for summer concerts, free bike rides on carless paths, and breathtaking views of New York Harbor.

But Governors Island's days as a free summer playground may be numbered.

Gov. David Paterson's new executive budget includes no funding for the island, an ex-military base off the tip of Manhattan. And New York City, which shares the expense of operating the island and usually matches state funding, is forecasting multibillion-dollar deficits, higher taxes and possible layoffs in its budget.

Without funding restored, "we would have to shut the island down," said Leslie Koch, president of the Governors Island Preservation & Education Corp.

The island is accessible only by ferry. Five times as many visitors used the island last year as in 2003, the first year it was opened to the public. Little Leaguers use the island's baseball diamond; a maritime school and artists' studios are under construction; and an ambitious, $500 million design would build hilly parkland, salt marshes, waterfront promenades and marine galleries.

Sold by Dutch settlers to the British in 1708, the 172-acre island later became an American military base -- home for 202 years to soldiers, Confederate prisoners of war and the U.S. Coast Guard.