26-Dec-2006  (yacht cruise)

• 'Although overlooked, music and culture run deep in Panama (Inside Bay Area)
PANAMA CITY, Panama PANAMA HAS always been a convenient shortcut for travelers on their way somewhere else. The Spaniards used it to haul treasures from Peru.
• 'Fasano says appraisal may lower rate (St. Petersburg Times)
Feeling like Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is charging you too much? State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, says the answer might be a new appraisal. State-run Citizens sometimes sets the value of insured property too high, he said, causing rates to go up more than they should.
• 'Steeplechase raffle benifits range of groups (St. Petersburg Times)
The Little Everglades Steeplechase is extending the reach of its charity arm with a new raffle drawing benefiting several community groups. Tickets cost $10, and winners will be drawn at the March 11 steeplechase.
• 'SOUVENIRS OF THE TRIP: Solitary sunrises, funny coincidences, dreams fulfilled: Readers share transcendent travel ... (Detroit Free Press)
Memories are funny things. Big chunks of life can go by, and we don't remember them at all. But certain experiences can engrave themselves into our brains as sharply as a chisel on stone -- their sights, smells, tastes, sounds. They are gifts, these memories. And travel has a way of creating them. Here are some stories, from celebrity weatherman Sonny Eliot's account of a pivotal moment as a ...
• 'STAR STRUCK (The Florida Times-Union)
Morning fog blanketed the marshes along Heckscher Drive but you could still see the stars in temporary residence at JaxPort. Hapag-Lloyd's MS Europa, the world's top-rated cruise ship at five-plus stars, had stopped here for half a day on the first leg of a 157-day around-the-world voyage.
• 'And a very yuppie Christmas to you all (Boston Herald)
Suzanne Magaziner, she of the broomed OUI case, surely sends out an annual Christmas - excuse me, ?holiday? - letter every year. It?s such a Beautiful Person thing to do.
• 'Fort Myers celebration offers fun for everyone (The News-Press)
It's a three-day countdown to Dec. 25.
• 'Get a jump on your New Year's Eve celebration in Broward (Miami Herald)
There are plenty of reasons to go out: concerts, comedians, champagne toasts. You can drop big bills enjoying fine restaurants, Intracoastal cruises or a night at the casino tables or fritter away the last hours of 2006 dancing or sipping a brew by the beach.
• 'Local engagements, weddings, anniversaries: Dec. 24 (Naples Daily News)
• 'Advertising notes (Sun-Sentinel)
"Only on a yacht. Only on Seabourn" is the tagline of the latest advertising campaign from luxury cruise line, Seabourn. The new campaign was created by Zimmerman Advertising, Fort Lauderdale. The ads will appear in travel consumer and trade publications beginning in January.