Magnifique Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Right? Wrong! It’s the replica at Paris Resort, Las Vegas

Maybe it isn’t the original, but it is an impressive 3/5th replica of it, the tallest structure in Las Vegas (540 feet), and offers spectacular day and night 360 degree viewing. You can see the glittering city, busy aircraft activity at nearby Las Vegas Airport, surrounding desert and mountains. There’s a glass-paned elevator to take you to the observation deck as well as to the glitzy Eiffel Tower Restaurant.

lthough it is a highly-publicized tourist destination, Pike Market is well worth visiting. It’s most obvious crowd pleaser and photo target is the ceremony of the throwing of the fish. However, that’s certainly not the only reason to visit.

If you want to get away from the winter blues, and you’re tired of fighting the crowds in Florida and California resort cities, try the warm desert air and magnificent uncrowded views in Arizona. A hundred miles west of Tucson, between the town of Ajo and the US-Mexican border, is one of the most majestic stands of huge saguaro cactus in the world.

I can remember as far back to the late 20s, when my parents took me to Atlantic City. Everyone in Philly called it The Shore, which meant that stretch of sand by the ocean 60 miles away, backed by a wide wooden boardwalk and a line of stores with goodies that included the famed salt water taffy. One of my earliest memories is seeing men on the beach or flopping on the waves in two-piece bathing suits, and women all bundled up in bathing caps, shirts, skirts, stockings and rubber slippers.