Resort

The proposed Valley Forge Casino Resort in Montgomery County was deemed enough of a competitive threat that the owner of local gambling power Parx challenged its specialized state license in court - a process that stalled construction for two years. That's all ancient history, say Valley Forge's backers, who announced Monday that construction was now proceeding nicely and that the new venue - the region's fourth casino - would debut in the spring. That's when patrons will be able to gamble there as long as they stay the night or spend at least $10 at the Valley Forge Convention Center's other amenities, including its restaurants and retail shops.

ATLANTIC CITY'S regional monopoly on A-list casino entertainment appears to have a May 2012 expiration date thanks to a planned addition at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem. Tuesday, the Lehigh Valley gambling complex announced construction of the Sands Bethlehem Event Center, a multipurpose facility seating up to 3,000 that is scheduled to open by Memorial Day of next year. In a Tuesday afternoon phone interview, Sands President Robert DeSalvio described the venue as accommodating 3,000 show-goers with standing-room-only admission and 2,000 for fully seated events on the 50,000-square-foot main floor (another 12,000 square feet of space will be used for, among other things, VIP seating)

McHENRY, Md. - The owners of Maryland's only ski resort may sell the landmark property to resolve financial problems linked to a slide in home construction around nearby Deep Creek Lake. Karen Myers says selling the Wisp Resort is the last option she and her partners would pursue to repay more than $23 million to BB&T Corp. of Winston-Salem, N.C. They're also seeking new investors in their businesses. But in an interview this week at the base of 3,100-foot Marsh Mountain, Myers said everything is on the table if they can't buy more time.

Question: My partner and I returned from a six-day vacation at Barcelo Puerto Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. While we were there, many guests were afflicted by a serious illness. We began hearing about it soon after our arrival, and within two days, we were both violently ill with vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. For the last four days of our trip, we were barely able to eat or drink and wouldn't dare take the chance of leaving the resort for any excursions. Judging by the large number of complaints posted online, many other guests were also affected.

A nonprofit backed by U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.) spent more than $2 million in federal funds to provide environmental education to Philadelphia high school students - including trips to a resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands. For three years, the Caribbean-American Mission for Research, Education, and Action ran an exchange program for students at Overbrook High School and two island high schools. The Philadelphia students and their adult chaperones stayed at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef beachfront resort, on what the hotel website calls a "luminous white sand beach framed with the majestic turquoise waters of the Caribbean.

SANTIAGO, Chile - The 100 million tons of pyroclastic ash and rock spewed by an Andean volcano has meant hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for communities more accustomed to profiting from the dramatic mountain landscape. The Cordon Caulle volcano opened a new gash along a ridge just across the border and upwind from Argentina. For six weeks, it has been belching ash, grounding flights across the lower third of South America for most of the winter tourist season. Lodges and restaurants have been ghostly at resorts normally filled with skiers.

TALK ABOUT "out of sight, out of mind. " Because it's tucked away off Route 611 high in the Pocono Mountains some 110 miles north of Philly, Mount Airy Casino Resort doesn't always enter the discussion when the subject is eastern Pennsylvania gambling halls. After all, the full-service resort complex - complete with 188-room hotel and golf course - located on the site of the old Mount Airy Lodge, doesn't have the glitz or high-voltage action of Bensalem's Parx, or the urban setting of SugarHouse in Fishtown.

It all started with a trip to the 1996 Philadelphia Home Show. Neil A. Morris stopped by the Lindal Cedar Homes booth, saw a photo of a post-and-beam ski chalet, and the wheels started spinning. The company's catalog, which resembled a coffee-table book, was a wealth of inspiration, but Morris had his own ideas for creating his Ivyland, Bucks County, dream house - most of which involved the principles of modern geometry. Morris found Chris Hughes, now the architectural and design manager for home builder David Cutler Group, and told him about features he liked - lots of curves and angles, windows, and open rooms.

THAT'S NOT a three-ring circus underneath the tent across North Carolina Avenue from Resorts Casino Hotel. It's three - count 'em - three circuses. Tonight, the first legal casino east of Nevada is scheduled to introduce the unprecedented concept of offering a trio of 75-minute circus programs. All performances will be staged in a 60-foot-high, 120-foot-wide, 1,800-seat temporary facility erected on what has, for years, been a self-park surface lot. The Great American Circus is a traditional affair, aimed at the family trade and featuring a cast of daredevils, aerialists and, of course, clowns.

People feel safer in Ocean City. They think the streets are cleaner, the people friendlier and the general way of life a little better than in most of the other shore towns up and down the Jersey coast. Since the public sale and consumption of alcohol has been illegal for over a century, it's also drier than most other shore towns. Town officials insist the ban is why certain tourists come there and some tourists, even those who weren't aware the town was dry, think it probably helps keep the peace.