Center honors ’65 march

VISITORS can learn about the historic 1965 voting rights march, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., at a new interpretive center on the route from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

The center commemorates events of that year, when marchers urging voting rights for African Americans were attacked by law officers on what came to be known as Bloody Sunday, soon followed by a march to the state Capitol in Montgomery.

The 54-mile route was designated by Congress as a National Historic Trail in 1996 and is maintained by the National Park Service.

At the $12-million Lowndes County Interpretive Center, which was to have opened Saturday, a 22-minute film, interactive stations and life-size sculpted figures help explain the 1965 events.

Volunteers, including some march veterans, staff it.

The center is on U.S. 80 near White Hall, east of Selma, at a site where tenant farmers set up a tent city after being evicted for pressing for the vote.

It is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Info: www.nps.gov/semo.

Disney to offer twice as many tours

ADVENTURES by Disney, a tour program that Walt Disney Parks and Resorts started last year, will double its trip offerings next year.

Among new destinations will be the American Southwest, including the Grand Canyon; historic cities such as Philadelphia, Washington and Williamsburg, Va.; and Austria, the Czech Republic and Spain.

Info: (866) 765-0560, www.adventuresbydisney.com.

Delta adds LAX flights

DELTA Air Lines plans to add service from LAX to 16 destinations in the U.S., Mexico and Central America. Most new flights start in December; a few start early next year. Several are subject to approval by foreign governments.

The added service from LAX will include Las Vegas; San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland and San Jose; La Paz, Acapulco, Loreto, Mazatlan and five other cities in Mexico; Liberia, Costa Rica; and Guatemala City. Reservations: (800) 221-1212, www.delta.com.

In brief

Passports: Travelers returning to the United States by air or sea from the Caribbean, Mexico or Canada would be required to present passports starting Jan. 8 under a proposed rule from the U.S. departments of State and Homeland Security. This is a change from the previous scheduled date, Jan. 1. Public comments are being accepted through Sept. 24; www.dhs.gov or www.travel.state.gov.

Hotel renovation: The historic El Encanto Hotel and Garden Villas in Santa Barbara will close Sept. 9 for more than $10 million in renovations, including a new spa and main building. It is expected to reopen in 10 to 15 months.

Hawaii vacations: Southwest Airlines Vacations has added Hawaii to its destinations, using Southwest’s code-share partner ATA Airlines. From LAX, for instance, ATA flies nonstop to Maui, with four-night air-hotel packages recently starting at $819 per person. (800) 423-5683, www.southwestvacations.com.

-- Compiled by

Jane Engle