In keep­ing with Black History Month, it seemed entirely appro­pri­ate to come across a post on Hubbard House, a ter­mi­nus on the Underground Railroad in Ashtabula Ohio, over at MidwestGuest’s travel blog.

Colorado is burst­ing with excit­ing new things to see and do in 2010. A num­ber of new devel­op­ments are tak­ing hold across the state, includ­ing lux­ury hotel open­ings, impres­sive resort improve­ments, and a num­ber of excit­ing activ­i­ties. Below are some high­lights. For more infor­ma­tion visit www.COLORADO.com.

With Orlando fresh off the dis­tinc­tion by Travel Leaders as the top domes­tic des­ti­na­tion being booked for 2010, the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. (Orlando CVB) has launched a new pro­gram fea­tur­ing rotat­ing Super Deals for travel any time through­out the year. Only avail­able through VisitOrlando.com/deals, Southwest Vacations kicks off the Super Deal pro­gram with an exclu­sive Orlando CVB offer start­ing at $34 a day for a seven-day Orlando vacation.

During the sec­ond month of the sec­ond decade, the folks at Doubletree Chicago Magnificent Mile, 300 E. Ohio St., are turn­ing up the heat on hot win­ter rates avail­able at the upscale prop­erty. Every Tuesday in February will fea­ture Twos-Days 2-Hour Promotion from 2 p.m. through 4 p.m. CST, with callers receiv­ing up to 50% sav­ings on rooms at the prop­erty con­ve­niently located just steps from Michigan Avenue, Navy Pier, and Millennium Park in Chicago.

Living so close to the Great Lakes (Lake Michigan to be exact), I often take them for granted. Then along comes some­thing new that I hadn’t heard of before. Case in point: The Great Lakes Seaway Trail.

“Great Lakes what?” Exactly. If you’ve never heard of it before, the Great Lakes Seaway Trail is a driving/boating byway that par­al­lels the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes in New York and Pennsylvania. The trail is a National Scenic Byway that includes includes Niagara Falls; 1000 Islands; 29 light­houses; War of 1812 farm and nature sites; lots of har­bors, world-class sport­fish­ing, bridges and fer­ries to and from Canada, and the Seaway Trail Discovery Center.