Q: We love to attend plays by William Shakespeare and want to combine a festival with our summer travels. Where are the best Shakespeare events in the U.S.?

A: There are many, many excellent summer Shakespeare events, in both big cities and small communities throughout the country. If forced to choose examples, we recommend several below. For specific dates and schedules of plays and other events, contact the festivals by email:

Q: I know you guys at www.travel55plus.com are all for travel, and love to promote Las Vegas. However, as a retired steelworker, I have very mixed feelings about what’s happened to the closed Bethlehem Steel Plant, the biggest employer in our area for a century. On the site now is the just opened Sands Bethlehem Casino.

On the positive side, the casino has hired more than 500 local people in a town that really needs jobs. And next year, when the hotel is built on the site, there will be at least 250 more jobs. Of course, when the steel plant was here during its heyday, there were 25,000 employees and the economy was booming. But that’s all gone now, and 750 jobs, even low-paying ones, are better than no jobs at all.

Q: I met a great guy on an LA-Mexico cruise. We hit it off immediately, and when when ashore for a sunset beach stroll, it was togetherness for the rest of the cruise. The problem is that I’m in the middle of a divorce, and I told him I was single. He wants to book us for another cruise in September, this time Fort Lauderdale-Bahamas. He says he’s single, too, has a great job and offered to pay my way on the Bahamas cruise. I’m not sure he’s telling the truth either. Should I take a chance and go for the new cruise?

A: What do we look like here on www.travel55plus.com, a lonely hearts club? We’re experts in travel, not romance. However, we can tell you that cruises always create an emotional wonderland, a temporary fantasy world that often masks reality. That’s why all the fibs and promises work on new romances at sea. Or at least delay the truth until we must face real life on shore.

Tell the romantic guy the truth. Give him an idea of when you’ll be completely free. Ask him to level with you, too. Then, when there are no spouses or other complications keeping you apart, accept the invitation for the Bahamas cruise. If you feel you can afford to pay your own way on this cruise, tell him so. He’ll respect your indepenence. Then, if you really enjoy each other’s ... er ... company, why not get together again. And again. And again.

Q: I rented a car in Manhattan, and when I drove to my hotel’s garage, a parking attendant took it. Several days later, after I had checked out and returned the car to the agency, the clerk there said I owed $400 for a parking ticket. I asked how and where it could have happened, and the clerk read me a street address from the citation. It was two blocks from my hotel, indicating the garage attendant had left it illegally parked long enough to get the ticket.

The agency said it could do nothing, and the payment of the ticket was my responsibility. When I complained to the hotel, the manager said the garage was a concession, and the hotel was not responsible. The parking garage management weaseled out by claiming their attendants never left cars on the street. This was a round-robin of excuses, leaving me holding the $400 bag. What can I do?