Traveler's
USA
Notebook
Your guide to travel news, discoveries, delights and pleasures
Welcome travelers! Welcome professional travel journalists! Welcome Mensa members! Welcome TATLER readers! Welcome human rights activists! Welcome vegetarians! Welcome hipsters, hustlers, high-rollers, hyphenated scenesters, and the whole EU! Wilkommen, bienvenue, baby! We invite you to eavesdrop on tips and tales that professional travel writers like to swap with each other. But shhh . . . don't tell a soul.
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Looking For Fame, Fortune amd Room Service in LA
Traveler learns that in the screenwriting game, it's not who you know -- but where you stay. [more]
That Phladelphia Freedom It’s civilized here. It's a big, small town. And
it’s the birthplace of American independence.
A fresh look at some welcoming destinations. PLUS
The Thimble Islands
Bright lights! New York City! Curtain Up! The reviews are in. Spotlight on Gypsy, South Pacific, Sunday in the Park With George, Straight Up With a Twist, The 39 Steps and New Jerusalem.
The solar system on $10,000 a day. The astrology of travel.
There's travel fever . . .and then there's travel fever
Good taste in good taste and it's vegetarian.
Editor:
Traveler's USA Notebook |
The News
Cool hotels; hot restaurants; deals, sights, sites & more
J
oin
the Villa People
Italia Think Sicily’s new 2010-2011 brochure is ready for your perusing pleasure. The company, which arranges stays in Sicilian villas (and other venues) states, “There is always something to do, whether it be lounging on golden beaches, hiking in the mountains, visiting ancient archaeological sites, skiing on Mount Etna or shopping in Palermo’s fashionable boutiques..”
The 200-page, amply illustrated publication gives you the lowdown on 70 villas, 11 sea-front apartments and townhouses, and 12 wineries, retreats and boutique hotels, It also provides much information about Sicily. To get your copy (or someone else’s) click here.
Romantic Getaway Offer
St.
Augustine
One thing you can do for love is take advantage of the romantic getaway
offered by St. Augustine (Fla.) B&B group, the Inns of Elegance. The
deal take place during January and February of 2010.
Stay for two or three nights (Sun.-Thu.) and get a discount.
Book a two-night stay and the second night is half-price. Book three
nights and the third night is free. The participating inns are
Bayfront Marin
House, Casablanca Inn, Inn on Charlotte, St. Francis Inn and Westcott
House. Regular amenities
include free full
breakfast, wireless internet
access free parking and
evening social hour. For more
information, call
877.616.6444 or click here.
New Luxury Inn in Oregon
Copyright © Andrea Johnson
Photography
Newberg
Bon jour,
madame. Would you care for a luxury room with your
pinot noir? Now with the September opening
of the Allison Inn & Spa, visitors to the Oregon wine country can say, “mais
oui.”
While locals might appreciate the 85-room
hotel’s tourism-boosting mission, guests will care only about the
comfort and pampering they can find in this premium property located in
Willamette Valley (25 miles from Portland). Under the leadership of
owner Joan Austin, a local civic leader, planning started five years
ago. Two years elapsed between groundbreaking and opening day.
Affiliated with the
Preferred Boutique
Hotel Group, The Allison Inn & Spa offers
Spa and Fitness Studio
(directed
by Tara Calton)
with
12
treatment rooms, men's, women's and co-ed lounges, sauna and spa pool;
Jory Restaurant
showcasing
local cuisine (the bounty of vegetables, fruits and herbs grown in the
1.5-acre chef's garden helps) and wines, with two private dining rooms,
outdoor dining terraces, private Chef's Table and open kitchen; original
Oregon art— paintings, photography, glass and sculpture—throughout the
property. And let’s not forget the rooms and suites. The spacious
(500-1500 sq. ft) accommodations have bay window seats, fireplaces, and
terraces or balconies, spa-like bathrooms plush robes, wet bars,
mini-fridges and Bose sound systems.
For more information, call 503.554.2525 or toll-free 877.294.2525, or click here.
Naughty
or Nice
Las
Vegas
Who makes your travel arrangements? Your id or your superego? Either way
the
Signature at
MGM Grand has
a package for you. You can do it Nice or you can do it Naughty. (God,
where is Tina Turner when we need her)
The Naughty package gives you minimum two-night stay in a junior suite; 40% discount at MGM Grand’s Crazy Horse Paris; admission for two to Studio 54 or Tabú Ultra Lounge; vodka shot station in-suite welcome amenity; $75 beverage credit (to be used at Signature or MGM Grand Pools, WET REPUBLIC, Studio 54 or Tabú Ultra Lounge); and turndown service with surprise romance gift.
Those who want it Nice also get minimum two-night
stay in a junior suite. Additional perks include 40% discount at Cirque
du Soleil’s KÀ;
Breakfast in bed; $25 spa credit;
Champagne and strawberries in-suite welcome amenity; and
turndown service with surprise romance gift.
Room rates for each package begin at $129 per night. And you can start
booking now for book now for occupancy between 1 November and 28
December. To book, call (877) 727-000,
and use the code
“PKG021” for Naughty or PKG022 for Nice.
New York
If you’re hankering for something a
bit more exotic
than, say, international travel and you’re in New York, you might want
to stop by the
American Museum of Natural History. Its Rose Center for Earth and Space
(a/k/a/ the Hayden Planetarium) is now showing one of its inimitable
space shows, Journey to the Stars. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg
and using incredible images from space plus some beautiful simulations,
the show depicts the life cycle
of stars. You’ll see supernovas, the birth of Earth’s sun, galaxies,
clusters and other assorted space wonders. It’s
not the most informative show ever seen in the museum; but it’s
still an extravaganza and it’s still space. For more information, click
here.
WHEEL LIFE
San Francisco is letting the world know that it is a great place to go biking. Several spaces are particularly bike-friendly— Golden Gate Park (off limits to cars on Sundays on John F. Kennedy Dr.) the 1.5 ,mile long Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands offers great glimpses of the city, bay and Pacific Ocean, Marina District (with its scenery art deco buildings and the Presidio), Ocean Beach (Great Highway) and its three bicycle lanes, and more. For detailed advice, visit the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Web site resources page.
Saddle up
New York
As Don Draper would say
-- why be like the rest when you
can stand out from the rest?
Which brings us to the
news that
Beverly Hills
Rent-A-Car has opened its first East Coast branch and is located smack
dab in New York City.
The
car rental agency believes that some people like a bit of and swagger as
a tool about town.
Their
customers don't just arrive on the scene.
They like to feel they make the scene.
Hence Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car Manhattan includes in its stock
such automotive wonders as a purple Rolls-Royce, a ‘59 Cadillac
convertible, an Aston Martin Vanquish Lexus RX 400 hybrid, Toyota Prius
and a yellow Lamborghini.
The West Coast-based firm already has branches in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. For more information, click here
.
Gettysburg, What was life like for civilians during the Battle of Gettysburg?
Since 1996,
the answer has been provided by the Shriver House Museum, a restored
building whose Civil War era occupants were stuck in the middle of the
great conflict.
The museum has just released a
book — The Shrivers’ Story – Eyewitnesses
to the Battle of Gettysburg by Nancie W.
and Del Gudmestad. Ms. Gudmestad has been the museum director since its
opening.
The book chronicles the lives of the Shriver family and their house — particularly during the Battle of Gettysburg. It us a unique preparation for anyone who might be visiting the battle site, as well a memento for those who already have made the pilgrimage. For more information, click here.
