One of my favorite television programs is The Office. The show is set in Scranton, Pennsylvania, population 76,415. I not too sure that the citizens of Scranton enjoy having their town the center of all that attention, but maybe business is booming now.

I drove through Scranton last year on the way to New York and noticed the town seemed to be hoping! Maybe the popularity of the television show has made the town more attractive. Unfortunately, I was watching what I was doing and almost slammed into another car. I am sure glad I didn’t hit them because I wouldn’t want a Scranton personal injury lawyer breathing down my neck.

Settlers came to the Scranton area in the late 1700’s from New England and the village was known as Slocum Hollow. In 1947, two brothers Seldon T. and George W. Scranton began producing iron T-rails for the railroad. Scranton was incorporated in 1866 and was the height of industry. After World War II, however, iron need decreased and nearby coal mines were closed down. Scranton’s stores and theaters were closed and shopping moved out to the suburbs. In the mid-1980s Scranton began a successful revitalization plan. Scranton is Pennsylvania’s 6th most populous city.

I will be traveling through Las Vegas this year and I have my $20 of gambling money all saved up! I am not a big gambler, but I sure wish that I could get some of those hotel deals that the big spenders get. I would love to have a suite, all decked out, on top of some pricey hotel. But hey, I guess you have to spend money to get things for free.

Las Vegas isn’t the sorry little desert town that it used to be in the 40s. Take a look at the difference 60 years makes:

So many times we are led to believe that movies are actually filmed in the location mention in the movie. Not so. Movie Producers often seek to find the cheapest place to film a movie, not necessarily the right place. For instance, remember the TV show Northern Exposure, set in Alaska. This was actually filmed in Washington State in a tiny town called Roslyn. “Message in a Bottle” starring Kevin Costner was set in the Outer Banks, but was filmed in three different locations in Maine. “High School Musical”, set in New Mexico, was filmed in Utah.

Next time you watch a movie, and want to know where it is filmed, wait for the ending credits and see which cities get thanked!

The newest trend in home building is to have a small home theater installed. Before you agree to this expense, make sure you read the article How Home Theater Works on HowStuffWorks.com. This will explain the intricacies of setting up the theater from what kind of sound system you need to seating choices and home theater carpet choices. Also discussed are the different kinds of TVs that will work well in a home theater environment. You will also find a list of other great links to search if you want additional information.

Las Vegas used to be a dry piece of land out in the desert. It wasn’t until 1941, that the first hotel was built with 63 rooms. What a far cry from the 1,000 + rooms now available at the Excalibur Las Vegas!

Previously inhabited by Native Americans, Mormon Settlers from Salt Lake City traveled there to protect the mail route between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. They build a 150 square foot fort out of adobe. They also planted fruit trees, grew vegetables and mined for lead. The Fort was eventually abandoned in 1858 due to Indian raids. Part of the fort still stands today.

In 1890, the railroads decided Las Vegas would be a good place for a stop. In 1910, Nevada actually outlawed gambling in the State. This ban lasted for three weeks in Las Vegas where gambling went “underground.” In 1931, a bill was passed to legalize gambling. During the depression, Las Vegas was booming. Employment by the railroads and the Hoover Dam project and legal gambling kept food on people’s table.

During World War II, Las Vegas became more of a resort town. After the war, airmen from the nearby Air Force Base, came to settle in Las Vegas permanently.

After the building of the first hotel in 1941 (El Rancho Vegas), the strip started to take shape. And they have been building there ever since.

The newest thing in travel these days is staying at Condo Hotels. Often called condotels or apartotels, these are often high-rise, luxury properties in various locations. They can be near beaches, casinos, theme parks or golf courses and are operated by the big hotel chains such as Hilton, Starwood, Trump, Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton.

Most of the condo hotels have great amenities including spas, pools, fine restaurants, etc. You can buy a condo hotel and then rent it out for the time that you are not using it, thus it may be able to guarantee you some additional income.

Nursing homes are becoming a big expense for seniors and their care givers. Besides having to pay for the services and room, extras such as medicines, bed clothes, tranquility diapers and food are often not included.

Some seniors have figured out that the living is much better in Mexico. A nursing home in Mexico will run about $1,300 per month and includes three meals a day, laundry and cleaning service and 24-hour care from the staff. This is about one quarter of the cost of an American nursing home. Plus, the weather in Mexico is ideal. There is no worry about snow and freezing rain in the winter.

Between 40,000 and 80,000 retirees already live in Mexico. About 20 years ago, I was in Mexico and there was a huge population of retired Americans living the good life.

Nursing homes are not regulated in Mexico, so be careful before you decide that this is the route for you.

Celebrity homes are always a hot ticket. However, I will not be contacting my real estate broker, since the prices are a little out of my price range! I just found a few for sale in Palm Springs, California. I have been to Palm Springs, and if you like the desert, it is a beautiful place.

The former home of Claudette Colbert (silent film star), is selling for $1,595,000. It has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and is completely private

Red Skelton’s home is offered for $1,799,000 on 1/2 acre and has two separate guest homes.

Another silent film star’s home (Marion Davies) is being offered for only $5,600,000! The home was built in the 1950s, has eight bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and 14,000 sq. ft. There is also a separate guest home, private lake and a theater.

Bob Hope, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 100, will long be remembered for his wit, humor and service to the USO. He will also be remembered for the Bob Hope Classic, a golf tournament named for him since 1965. The Bob Hope Classic is held each January in Palm Springs, California and is part of the PGA Tour. Besides Pro Golfers, there are also a “celebrity” golfers. The first tournament was one by Arnold Palmer with a total of 22 under par! The event takes place over five days. Four of these days include celebrities.

In 1995, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Bob Hope and Scott Hoch (defending pro champion) teed up for the opening round.

Besides the game of golf, money is raised for local charities. There are also exhibits featuring advertisers such as Ping Golf, Taylor Made and Nike and a host of others.

You will probably not recognize the name H.H. Holmes, I didn’t either, but he is sometimes also known as American’s first serial killer. He was born in 1860 in New Hampshire as Herman Webster Mudgett. After graduating from medical school he took on the alias H.H. Holmes. He bought a pharmacy in Chicago from a widow and later killed her and disposed of the body. After running the pharmacy for a while, he bought a large piece of land across the street and not far from the soon opening World’s Fair.

It was here that he built a hotel and stores. The hotel was filled with windowless rooms, doors leading into brick walls and staircases to nowhere. The hotel also had a vault were he could torture victims without being heard and a chute that led to basement where he had installed furnaces to dispose of the flesh and organs. The skeletons he put together and sold to medical schools and doctors.

He was finally discovered after fleeing Chicago and admitted to killing 27. However, there have been estimates as high as 200 murdered. He was hung in 1896.

He was able to keep his secret for so long due to his cunning ability to lie and the fact that the hotel was built using many different workers who were often fired after just working two weeks.

The book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson is a fantastic telling of the building of Chicago’s Worlds Fair and the grisly murders that occurred during the same time period.