Island Hopping and Globe Trotting | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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An oarsman pilots an excursion boat down the Hozu River, just outside Kyoto, Japan, as he points out sights to his passengers. The two-hour ride down the river offers the chance to spot wildlife while threading rocks and rapids, and is an especially appealing outing for a trip with children.

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Steven Keller, left, and his bride, Nancy Keller, shared a Pancake Puppie wedding cake after their wedding ceremony, the first at Denny?s on Fremont on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

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Pair takes plunge at wedding chapel in Las Vegas Denny’s

LAS VEGAS » An Iowa couple has become the first to get married at the Denny’s wedding chapel in Las Vegas.

Nancy Levandowski and Steve Keller tied the knot Wednesday evening, while some well-wishers sat in booths and restaurant patrons ate dinner nearby.

The 53-year-old bride is the food service director at Iowa State University in Ames, while her 54-year-old husband is a salesman for a food company.

Nancy Levandowski says she often ate at Denny’s restaurants during college, while Keller says he frequents the 24-hour pancake house while traveling.

The couple was selected from a pool of applicants vying to be the first married at the chapel inside the new restaurant.

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Ceremonies at the chapel start at $95, which includes Denny’s T-shirts and a Pancake Puppies wedding cake.

WWII museum reaches milestone

NEW ORLEANS »The National World War II Museum set a monthly attendance record in March.

Officials say the museum attracted 54,198 people, a 23 percent increase over the previous high of 44,800 visitors in March 2012.

The latest milestone comes just months after the grand opening of the U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, which features new exhibits and artifacts, including a restored B-17E Flying Fortress and B-25J Mitchell.

The museum opened in 2000. Work has begun on another new pavilion, Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theaters, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2014.

Project will let stone lantern shine

WASHINGTON » A 360-year-old Japanese stone lantern that is lit each year at the National Cherry Blossom Festival to commemorate the relationship between the United States and Japan will soon have a more prominent place on the National Mall.

A nonprofit group working to improve the mall is holding a ceremonial groundbreaking today for a new granite plaza and walking paths to display the historic lantern. The lantern sits among some of the original flowering cherry trees that were a gift from Japan 101 years ago.

Construction of the new $400,000 plaza with the lantern as a centerpiece will begin after the cherry blossom festival concludes, officials said.

The plaza surface will evoke the "raked" sand surface of a traditional Zen garden, along with natural stone boulders, according to plans from the National Park Service. The project also will include walking paths to reach the plaza and help protect the nearby cherry trees from soil erosion and compaction that can damage roots.

About 1 million people visit the cherry blossoms each year.