By Fred Wright, Jr.

Take a Dip
A new water feature, Pirate’s Paradise Water Park, has opened at the Sunset Beach Resort & Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica, including the 40-foot-high (12 m) Pirate’s Plank Bridge, equally high water slides and two rooftop whirlpool spas. Blackbeard’s Lazy River allows guests to drift slowly around the park. Pirate’s Cove Teen Center offers arcade games, pool tables and nonstop reggae music, and a pirate ship offers a swimming pool and slide for youngsters. For rates and information about the 430-room resort, call 800-234-1707 or go to www.sunsetresortsjamaica.com.

Eight-Star Vacation
In the highly competitive world of first-class hotels, a five-star rating isn’t enough. The five-star Rome Cavalieri Hilton is promoting an “Eight Star Vacation” package that includes such amenities as one of the hotel’s premiere suites with a view of the Vatican, a sommelier-guided tour of the hotel’s 53,000-bottle wine cellar along with a private tasting, a private, pre-opening tour of Rome’s historical Vatican Museum and a caviar body treatment in the hotel’s Grand Spa. Cost: € 2,500 (US$ 3,019) per person per day. For more information, go to www.cavalieri-hilton.it

Chocolate Ride
Reese’s Xtreme Cup Challenge, the world’s first interactive ride to pit car against car in a multisensory laser competition, opens in May at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Two competing teams (Chocolate and Peanut Butter, of course) travel simultaneously through a series of eight interactive competition zones that feature sports events such as snowboarding and inline skating. Riders, equipped with customized laser blasters, take aim at the targets and accumulate points. Each car has four passengers who shoot at up to 158 targets — a mixture of animation, animatronic figures and special effects. The ride lasts two minutes, 45 seconds. For more information, call 800-HERSHEY or go to www.HersheyPA.com.

World War II Revisited
The National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, reopened after being damaged during Hurricane Katrina last year, is offering two week-long trips to World War II battlefields and historic sites in June. Both include lectures by museum staff and veterans. The first week, June 1–8, visits London, Normandy and Paris, and includes stops at Churchill’s Museum and Cabinet War Rooms and the Imperial War Museum in London, followed by visits to the landing beaches in Normandy. The June 8–16 tour visits Paris, the Battle of the Bulge battlefield and Hitler’s Eagles Nest in the Bavarian Alps. The first tour is US$ 3,990 per person, while the second is US$ 4,490 per person. For more information, call 887-813-3329, ext. 257, or go to www.ddaymuseum.org.

Solar Eclipse — Seeing Dusk after Dawn
If you haven’t marked it on your calendar, now’s the time to do so. There will be a total solar eclipse on March 29. The shadow of the moon will sweep from Brazil over the Atlantic Ocean, parts of Africa, the Mediterranean coast, Turkey, Georgia and Russia, ending in Mongolia. Some Turkish towns, such as Side and Manavgat (between the coastal towns of Antalya and Alanya) are directly in the totality path. Eclipse-chasers may consider joining the Treasures of Turkey special package offered by Travcoa tour operators, which includes a 17-day escorted journey (March 25–April 10). On Day 5 of the tour, solar eclipse day, the tour will be in Antalya, Turkey, a 2nd century city on the red cliffs of the Turquoise Coast. On other days participants will visit Turkey’s historic sites that date back to the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Cost: from US$ 7,595 per person/double. For more information, call Travcoa at 800-992-2003 or go to www.travcoa.com.

Inside Stuff
Worried about protecting your passport or credit cards while traveling? Of course you are. Now there’s a newly designed inside shirt pocket designed by a company called Inside Pocket that’s ideal for travelers as well as golfers, commuters and the general public. The inside pocket is like the one commonly found on a regular shirt, but instead of being applied to the outside of the shirt, the pocket and its opening are hidden on the inside of the shirt. The initial launch is priced at US$ 29.95. If you buy online you will get a discount of US$ 5. To take a look at one of the ISP shirts or to order, go to www.InsidePocketInc.com.