Courier August/September Courier | Page 6

FROM THE EDITOR Bob Rouse Editor 101 Prosperous Place, Suite 350 Lexington, KY 40509 USA +1.859.264.6548 [email protected] HAPPY BERTH DAY! That line was under serious consideration for the main blurb on the cover, along with “Let’s give ’em something to talk a boat,” “All hull breaks loose,” “A boatload of tour options” and my favorite, “Increase your sails!” OK, so maybe they weren’t all under serious consideration, but I want you to know what we put ourselves through here in the Courier office in order to assemble a magazine that engages and enlightens you. We toss in a few groaners every issue at no extra charge. I take full responsibility for creating the nautical nightmare of puns and wordplay associated with this issue’s feature on museums, “That ship has sailed,” starting on page 23. And I applaud all 15 members who got on board with the theme when I reached out for information. One thing I’ve learned about writing is that nearly every project involves parallel parking your thoughts into a space with defined lines: purpose, word count and a cast of char- acters. If you throw in a theme—sensible or whimsical—the parking space gets a little tighter … but you feel better about the task when you step out and take a look. NTA gives us Courier writers a fantastic cast of characters to engage. Gabe Webb did just that with an insightful piece about unconventional destination marketing. See what members told him, starting on page 18. For this month’s City Spotlight, pages 31–34, Pat Henderson took his impressions from a recent trip to Colorado, added in some info from our friends at VISIT DENVER and cooked up a compelling case to do just that: visit Denver. Kendall Fletcher is part of our destination-coverage crew, and her look at the U.S. Southwest, starting on page 46, makes me want to go to El Paso for a margarita—like, now. We also explore the Great Lakes states, Coastal California and Eastern Europe in this issue. Tour operators who package parks should turn to page 14, where you can learn about the U.S. National Park Service’s plans to standardize fees and requirements for its commercial use authorization program. Details weren’t available at press time, but you can get them—and make comments on the pro- posals—through the links we provide. And last (literally, on page 64), but not close to least, is a piece by the Newseum’s Barbara McCormack, detailing her organization’s determined efforts to help people recognize and reject fake news. For me, fake news is not the problem. Tortured, walk-the-plank themes … maybe, yeah. Read on, August/September Courier Destination Index Alabama 26 New York 24–30 Arizona 48 Ohio 42, 60 California 23–26, 36–39 Oklahoma 46 Connecticut 21 Québec 27 Croatia 51 Scotland 27 Denver 31–34 Slovakia 22, 50 Illinois 40 Slovenia 51 Indiana 42 South Carolina 26 Louisiana 27–28 Texas 48 Manitoba 60 Utah 20 Massachusetts 28–30 Washington 30 Michigan 40 Washington, D.C. 28 Minnesota 40 Wisconsin 44 New Mexico 46 4 August/September 2017 On the cover: Cruises on the San Salvador, departing from the Maritime Museum of San Diego, include Saturday sails and overnight voyages that are part of the Pacific Heritage Tour series. Photo: Maritime Museum of San Diego