Cultural sights in North America
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A
Chinatown
Most visitors to DC’s dinky Chinatown are surprised they didn’t trip over it. Anchored on H and 7th Sts NW, this was once a major Asian entrepôt, but today most Asians in the Washington area live in the Maryland/Virginia ‘burbs. However small she may be, Chinatown is still entered through Friendship Arch, the largest single-span arch in the world – local wags say the structure should be renamed the ‘Starbucks-Fuddruckers Gateway’ seeing as both chains now flank Chinatown’s entrance. This used to be an infamous boozer strip, now scrubbed and shiny thanks to the nearby Verizon Center, but if you miss the old ‘hood you can still buy a bottle of Mad Dog for under $3 at…
reviewed
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Laurel Valley Village
Another option for wetlands exploration is to head further west of New Orleans. Positioned at the confluence of Bayous Lafourche and Terrebonne, Thibodaux ( ti -buh-dough; population 14,400) became the parish seat at a time when water travel was preeminent. It’s history that holds the interest for visitors here. Among the cane fields, Laurel Valley Village, about 2 miles east of town on Hwy 308, is one of the best-preserved assemblages of sugar plantation slave structures in the state. Overall, some 60 structures (c 1755) survive here, including the old general store and a school house.
reviewed
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B
Mount Pleasant Street
There’s no consensus as to why so many immigrants in the metro area are Central American as opposed to Mexican, but what can be confirmed is Mt Pleasant St is the corazon of DC’s Latino, largely Salvadoran community. Every few businesses advertise money-transfer services to San Salvador or surrounds, or sell cheap, delicious pupusas (Salvadoran baked turnovers stuffed with cheese and pork), or both. Look out for the 7-Eleven, popularly known as El Seven (cnr Kenyon St & Mt Pleasant St NW); the storefront is a popular informal hangout (inside, it’s just a 7-Eleven).
reviewed
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C
Ocean Front Walk
Known locally as the Venice Boardwalk, this unmissable parade of hustlers, freaks, artists and exhibitionists will have you either thanking your lucky stars for your office job or plotting your imminent escape from drudgery. Looking to shop? Cheap sunglasses, Bob Marley tees, beachy photographs and sarongs are representative fare. Personal makeover? Body piercers, tattoo artists, open-air masseuses and hair-braiders are happy to help. Hungry? Sausages, funnel cakes and burgers abound.
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D
Venice Canal Walk
Just north-east of the Washington Blvd and Pacific Ave intersection, it’s a step through the looking glass from the traffic-clogged roar of Washington Blvd to the bougainvillea-lined bungalows bordering Venice’s once-plentiful canals. Wandering the narrow, impossibly cute bridges and walkways, it’s tough to keep envy in check as dog-walkers, surfers and grandmas pass by, enjoying their tranquil patch of paradise.
reviewed
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Miccosukee Resort & Convention Center
Here the long-storied legacy of the nation’s indigenous peoples has culminated in…slots. Lots of slots, and comatose gamblers pouring quarters into them. If the Miccosukee and Seminole are cashing in on this stuff, more power to them, but it’s still depressing to watch.
reviewed
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Acadian Village
Less flashy than Vermilionville is Acadian Village, where you follow a brick path around a rippling bayou to restored houses, craftsman barns and a church. If you’re lucky enough to be there on a day when Mr Manville is minding the school house, be sure to sit a spell. The octogenarian shares stories of his childhood, plays a tune on his fiddle, tells a joke or two and kisses the ladies’ hands – always the Cajun gentleman.
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