Travel briefs 8/31/03

Hopalong Cassidy Cowboy Museum opens

TOWANDA, Kan. -- Hopalong Cassidy fans have a new tourist shrine to visit -- in rural Kansas.

The Hopalong Cassidy Cowboy Museum has just opened at the Prairie Rose in eastern Butler County. The Prairie Rose began serving chuckwagon suppers in 1999, and the site now has a recreational vehicle camp, an opera house and a children's theater.

The new museum has 10,000 square feet of exhibit space devoted to Hopalong Cassidy, played by actor William Lawrence Boyd and featured in 66 movies and 52 television shows from 1935 to 1951.

Also new is "Hopalong House," filled with souvenirs, and a 250-seat theater.

The Prairie Rose drew about 50,000 last year, according to owners Thomas and Cheryl Etheredge. They believe it will draw 60,000 visitors this year and hope the new museum will draw even more in the future.

The Hopalong Cassidy museum is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, check out the link to the museum from the www.prairierosechuckwagon.com Web site, or call (316) 778-2121.

Travel deals and tips in a newsletter

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French heritage celebration in Louisiana

LAFAYETTE, La. -- The music, food and heritage of Cajun and Creole culture will be celebrated in Lafayette, La., at the Festivals Acadiens, Sept. 19 to 21.

The party starts with Downtown Alive!, an outdoor dance-and-Zydeco music festival that includes concerts and children's activities. A food fair follows, featuring everything from alligator sausage to bread pudding with rum sauce.

The musical component includes a tribute to Cajun musician, songwriter and singer Adam Hebert, whose first fiddle was a cigar box using hair from a horse tail for strings.

For more information, visit www.FestivalsAcadiens.com or call (800) 346-1958.

Sanctuary offers view of exotic birds

GRAFTON, N.Y. -- If you're leaf-peeping in the Berkshires this fall, plan a stop at the Berkshire Bird Sanctuary.

The sanctuary is home to 2,000 birds, from exotic species like emus, sandhill cranes, parrots and macaws that were abandoned by their owners, to bald eagles who were injured in the wild and brought to the facility for rehabilitation.

Eaglet hatchings in captivity are extremely rare, but two of the eagles brought to the Bird Sanctuary for rehabilitation became parents back in May, and their baby birds are being prepared for release into the wild.

The bird sanctuary is near Grafton Lakes State Park on the New York side of the Berkshires. It is open to the public every day through the end of October. For information, visit www.birdparadise.org.

-- From wire reports