New York state launches program to market green lodgings

The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation has launched a program to certify hotels as "green" for using environmentally sound and sustainable practices.

Forty-three hotels and inns across the state have signed on.

To be certified, hoteliers must save energy, reduce waste, conserve water and resources and prevent pollution. The Audubon GreenLeaf program will certify lodgings and award them one to five green leaves based on performance.

The certification program is part of a larger state initiative to support and market sustainable tourism. The New York State Green Hospitality and Tourism Partnership, which includes state agencies and business and academic groups, launched a green restaurant program earlier this year.

Titanic memorial cruise to sail on 100th anniversary

A trans-Atlantic cruise is being offered in 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

The Titanic Memorial Cruise will depart, as the original ship did, on April 8, from Southampton, England, and arrive at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank on April 15.

A memorial service will be held onboard the cruise exactly 100 years after the Titanic hit the iceberg and sank, between 11:40 p.m., on April 14, 2012, and 2:20 a.m. on April 15.

The cruise will then head to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where passengers can visit three cemeteries where Titanic victims are buried. The final destination for the cruise is New York, where the Titanic was headed. The memorial cruise will also make a stop in Cobh, Ireland, after leaving Southampton, just as the original vessel did.

The British firm Miles Morgan Travel has chartered the Balmoral, a ship owned by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, for the memorial voyage. The Balmoral holds 1,350 passengers and a crew of 510 and has 710 cabins. Prices for the 12-night trip started at $3,900 for an inside cabin, including taxes.

The cruise will include food that matches the menus of the original voyage, a live band offering music and dancing from that era, and lectures from historians.

Minneapolis-based Borton Overseas is handling reservations for U.S. travelers who wish to join the trip. Details at 800-843-0602 or http://www.bortonoverseas.com.

Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of CruiseCritic.com, said the irony of the Titanic is "the boost that the tragedy has given to contemporary cruising. The fact that a ship sank and lots of passengers lost their lives has paled in the face of the romantic image that it portrays."

Jen Schak, a spokeswoman for Borton, said the cruise is "selling quite well. All lower-grade inside cabins and some suite categories are sold out."

Coincidentally, Fred Olsen's parent company Harland and Wolff built the Titanic. The cruise line is Norwegian-owned but based in the United Kingdom.

Voodoo Experience returns to New Orleans Halloween weekend

The Voodoo Experience alternative music festival returns to New Orleans for the three-day Halloween weekend with a diverse lineup that includes Eminem, Kiss, Jane's Addiction and Widespread Panic.

The event runs Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at City Park. Also on the schedule of 150 acts are Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School Of Medicine, Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.

This will be rapper Eminem's first full performance in more four years, and it is his only scheduled concert for 2009. KISS is slated to perform Halloween night, while Kravitz will close the festival on Nov. 1.

Besides alternative punk and rock groups, Voodoo offers a host of Louisiana favorites, including Walter "Wolfman" Washington and Trombone Shorty.

The festival is set among City Park's lush lagoons and oak trees and celebrates music, as well as New Orleans food, arts and culture.

Details at http://www.thevoodooexperience.com.

Expedia launches Web site for national park trips

Expedia is partnering with the National Park Foundation on a new Web site to help travelers planning trips to national parks. The timing of the Web site launch was designed to coincide with the airing of Ken Burns' new documentary on public television, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea."

The site at http://www.expedia.com/nationalparks includes downloadable park maps and other content from the National Park Foundation, as well as information about lodging options outside the parks.

The content also includes suggestions for long weekend itineraries with stops at national park sites in Colorado, Texas and Michigan, and a series of stories called "Can't-Miss National Parks." The first five parks featured in the "Can't-Miss" series are the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier, Olympic and Yosemite.

While the Expedia site can be used to identify and book accommodations near the parks, it cannot be used to reserve camp sites or book stays inside the parks. For lodging options inside the parks, go to http://www.nps.gov/ and search for the park you're interested in, then click "Plan Your Visit" or "Fees & Reservations." The Web site http://www.recreation.gov also offers links for booking campgrounds and tours inside some of the parks.

Spooky lighthouses, from Oregon to Florida

No such thing as ghosts, right? But a lonely lighthouse can look a little spooky on a foggy coastline above the pounding waves. The October issue of Coastal Living magazine describes six lighthouses with haunted legends. They are:

 · Heceta Head Lighthouse in Yachats, Ore., now a bed-and-breakfast that claims a ghost known as the Grey Lady.

 · Owls Head Light, Owls Head, Maine, where the spirit of an old sea captain is said to keep an eye on the place.

 · Point Lookout Light, Scotland, Md., located on the site of what was once a hospital and Civil War prison camp, with soldiers' graves nearby.

 · St. Simons Island Lighthouse, St. Simons Island, Ga., where one lighthouse keeper shot another in the 19th century and later residents claimed to hear the victim's footsteps.

 · Port Boca Grande Lighthouse, Gasparilla Island, Fla., where colorful tales of the supernatural include one about a headless princess.

 · Point Big Sur Lightstation, Big Sur, Calif., which boasts stories of not just one ghost but a half-dozen.