North County Times from Oceanside, California • 44

North County Times hs aB Marine Corps Museum planned Associated Press FABRIZIO GI0VAN0ZZI Associated Press People prepare their tents and campers in Campeggio Michelangelo in Florence, Italy. Beyond the expected toilets and showers, Campeggio Michelangelo, considered one of Europe's premier campgrounds, has a well-stocked grocery, a bar, Internet cafe and a covered picnic-table terrace overlooking the historical Renaissance city. In the background is the dome of the 15tlvcentury Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. SPRINGFIELD, Va. A Marine Corps museum scheduled to break ground in a year will feature a 210-foot tilted spire meant to evoke the flag-raising at Iwo Jima during World War II.

The mast, inclined at a 45-degree angle, is the most striking feature of the museums glass atrium design. When people see the sketches of the atrium, about a third pick up on it immediately thats a stylized rendition of the flag-raising, said Col. Joe Long, the Marines project manager for the museum, which will be on the Marine base at Quan-tico. Workers will break ground on the $50 million Marine Corps Museum in April 2003. It is expected to be finished in 2005.

Long said he expects the museum to draw 250,000 to 400,000 visitors a year. A smaller museum on the base now draws about 30,000 visitors a year and displays only a fraction of the artifacts that will be exhibited at the new institution. Curtis Fentress, whose firm, Fentress Bradburn Architects, won a design competition for the project last year, said the architects immersed themselves in Marine Corps history. He said the famous Associated Press photo of the flag-raising at Iwo Jima, the angle of howitzers, and the way the fighting men hold their rifles all suggested the 45-degree angle. We really tried to absorb what it was to be a Marine, Fentress said.

The museum will also be designed to give people a taste of what it was like to be a Marine in different eras. The Vietnam room, for instance, will be hot and humid, like the jungle. The Korea room will be cold, just as it was in the months after the Marine landing at Inchon in 1950. Knotts to launch Xcelerator in June Knotts Berry Farm will launch its newest thrill ride, Xcelerator, in June. The 1950s-themed roller coaster features chrome-plated, flip-top, flame-emblazoned 57 Chevy trains, which hydraulically launch visitors off their tracks at 82 mph in 2.3 seconds.

Then its straight up a 205-foot ascent and an immediate descent at 90-degree angle, cruising through a total of 2,202 feet of track. With two trains and a capacity of 20 people per train, Xcelerator can thrill 1,330 guests per hour. Knotts Berry Farm is in Buena Park. Visit www.thrillseeker.ee. State offers 450 spring and summer packages California Tourism is offering more than 450 new vacation values from every region of the state at www.visitcalifornia.com.

These notable California Finds represent savings of 20 percent or more and are valid through May and August; some packages have blackout dates. Found at the California, Find Yourself Here section of the states official travel Web site, the offers may represent the best one-stop resource for planning a California vacation online. California Finds are organized by region and illustrate the state's rich travel opportunities, from luxurious spa resorts to whitewater rafting expeditions, from high country bed and breakfast inns to sandy coastal escapes. Lasers to clean ancient Parthenon marbles ATHENS, Greece (AP) Experts hoping to restore some of the Acropolis ancient glory have decided to use modern laser techniques to clean away pollution from the Parthenon Marbles. Using a new technology that combines lasers with microwaves, restorers hope to clean 16 remaining figures that once adorned the Parthenon in time to display the sculptures for the 2004 Olympics.

The statuary are a series of sculptures in a frieze that once adorned the upper sections of the Parthenon in Athens. Sixteen segments are in Greece and 17 are at the British Museum in London. The cleaning will take about 1 12 months for each of the marbles in Greek hands. Boston cemetery getting facelift BOSTON (AP) Bostons historic Granary Burying Ground, the final resting place of some of Americas greatest patriots, is getting a facelift, including the restoration of wrought iron fences, new pathways and the resetting of some headstones. Boston reeks of all this wonderful histoiy, and its necessary that we preserve the history that tells people who and what Bostonians are, says Mary Hines, spokeswoman for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department.

Among those buried at the downtown graveyard are 'John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Robert Treat Paine, who all signed the Declaration of Independence; Paul Revere; Peter Faneuil, benefactor of the well-known downtown landmark, and James Otis, a Revolutionary War-era lawyer. Tour of Europe by camper affordable and adventurous FRANK BAJAK Associated Press Backpackers relax on the terrace of Campeggio Michelangelo overlooking the 15th century St. Maria del Fiore Cathedral, in Florence, Italy. he view everyone loves from the Piazzale Michelangelo is of the suns shimmering reflection in the Arno River in the days waning light, the Duomo bulging majestically from the Florentine skyline. From the Italian plazas southern perimeter theres another good, if unspectacular, view down onto one of Europes premier campgrounds, Campeggio Michelangelo.

The place is a wonder. On any given night, the terraced townlet is home to 1,000 or more people from the world over: backpackers, caravaners, car campers and motor-home trekkers like us. Beyond the expected toilets and showers, Campeggio Michelangelo has a well-stocked grocery, a bar, Internet cafe, and a covered picnic table terrace overlooking the city of the Medici, Michelangelo and Machiavel-li. Throughout Europe, such quality campgrounds are often just a short walk from the narrow cobbled streets of ancient urban centers. Many of these campgrounds are municipally owned and expertly run, like Campeggio Michelangelo, or the one in Avignon, France, where we camped just across the Rhone from the opulent one-time seat of the papacy and had front-row seats for Bastille Day fireworks.

Going mobile They were the secret to the success of our familys 21-day excursion in a motor home. Starting in Paris last July, my wife and with our three teen-agers, covered nearly 4,000 miles in a rented mobile home, spending one or more nights at campgrounds across southern France from the Dordogne valley to the Riviera, the CRUISING, E-5 Associated Press An artists rendering of the new Marine Corps Museum that will be built in Quantico, features a glass atrium topped by a 210-foot spire tilted at a 45-degree angle. It is the same angle as the flagpole In the famous World War II flag raising by the Marines at the battle of Iwo Jima. People ride bicycles through the entrance of the Campeggio Michelangelo. (pi)r GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT LAS VEGAS LINE Adventuredome theme park adds new attraction The Adventuredome at Circus Circus, Americas largest indoor theme park, has opened Frog Hopper, a new attraction for kids.

The ride offers the thrill of hopping straight up and down to heights of 18.5 feet. Officials at the resort say the ride is designed for children who are at least 36 inches tall. The addition of Frog Hopper brings the number of rides at the venue to 21. Other rides at Circus Circus theme park include Canyon Blaster roller coaster, the Rim Runner boat ride, Chaos and the IMAX RideFilm Cineplex. Palms Casino Resort to open Skin Pool Lounge The Palms Casino Resort, two miles west of Australian vista Jeff Upton of Olivenhain and friend Judy Marsh visited South Australia last August and took this shot traveling along the Great Ocean Road.

The site is called The Twelve Apostles. Readers, thanks for your support for our 'Give Us Your Best Shot' feature. However, we need to do some catching up, so we ask that you not send any more 'Best Shots' until further notice. We'll let you know when we're ready to take more. Thank you! the Las Vegas Strip on Flamingo Road, opens the Skin Pool Lounge on Friday.

The venue encourages aquatic voyeurism and features a lavender-shaded swimming pool and Mermaid Cove, an elevated pool with portholes where mermaids swim after dark. The foot aquatic entertainment area offers 21 private cabanas and fiber-optically lighted water salons. At night, the Skin Pool Lounge will be transformed into a spectacular outdoor nightclub and concert venue under the stars. Skin will be open to hotel guests only by day and to the public at night. It has a concert stage, spectacular lighting, fog effects and two dance floors, including plexiglass dance platforms with aqua Go-Go girls emerging from the depths of the lavender pool and an elevated pool-top dance floor where guests can literally dance on water.

From wire reports.