Destination: California
Osama bin Laden in Indiana: ‘And Just Like That, a Don DeLillo Novel is Born’
by Michael Yessis | 07.01.09 | 4:07 PM ET
Steve Coll breaks the news that Osama bin Laden and his family vacationed in the U.S. for two weeks in 1979, visiting California and Indiana. The details of Coll’s post in the New Yorker come from a forthcoming book by Osama’s first wife.
The DeLillo reference in our headline comes from a related snarky Gawker post. Gawker also asks: “Doesn’t Growing Up bin Laden sound like a great name for a reality show?”
Why not? It certainly would be more interesting than this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Man, that’s tiring.
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Yahoo! BuzzAfter Michael Jackson: Will Tourists Flock to Neverland Ranch?
by Eva Holland | 06.30.09 | 2:52 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland Over at This Just In, the inevitable question has been asked: Where will Michael Jackson’s Graceland be? After all, the King of Pop’s fans will need a pilgrimage spot just as badly as the King’s do. JD Rinne offers a few possibilities: the Jackson family hometown of Gary, Indiana; Detroit’s Motown Museum; the Apollo Theater in Harlem; and, of course, Neverland Ranch.
Michael Jackson: A Global Force in Life and Death
by World Hum | 06.26.09 | 11:07 AM ET
REUTERS/Patrick De Noirmont See the full photo slideshow »
Travels in Tehrangeles
by Jim Benning | 06.24.09 | 9:59 AM ET
Photo by Jim Benning Los Angeles is home to an estimated half a million Iranian expatriates. On Monday, Jim Benning grabbed a camera and hit their streets.
See the full photo slideshow »
Samurais and Maharajas: It’s an Asian Art Summer
by Julia Ross | 06.08.09 | 3:34 PM ET
I’m fortunate to live in a city that’s home to one of the best Asian art museums in the world—the Smithsonian’s Freer-Sackler Gallery—but I’m not averse to traveling to see a really great museum or exhibit elsewhere. In fact, on a trip to Dublin last fall, I spent an entire afternoon immersed in the wonderful Chester Beatty Library, gazing at Persian paintings and Islamic manuscripts. I know, I know—I was supposed to be out drinking Guinness, but I couldn’t help myself.
Yosemite National Park, California
by World Hum | 05.22.09 | 12:19 PM ET
REUTERS/Robert Galbraith A youngster walks along the banks of the Merced River in Yosemite National Park
Drink a Microbrew, Save the Planet, Taste the Culture
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.19.09 | 1:29 PM ET
I’ve said before that travelers who want to walk the talk of environmentally responsible living must also seek out sustainable food (i.e. no Chilean sea bass!) when on the road. I’m adding locally brewed beer to my list.
Making and transporting beer doesn’t produce nearly as many carbon emissions as boutique wines, which are often flown by overnight air, says Pablo Paster in his column for Treehugger. Still, Paster advises eco-imbibers to drink a local brew over that beloved German beer.
Interview With a Celebrity Chef: Govind Armstrong
by David Farley | 04.30.09 | 4:15 PM ET
Photo courtesy of Table 8 at the Cooper Square Hotel Govind Armstrong may not yet be 40 years old, but the dreadlocked chef is already a veteran in the kitchen, having logged time in some of the world’s most famous restaurants.
It all started at the improbable age of 13 when Armstrong found himself working at Spago, Wolfgang Puck’s celebrated Los Angeles restaurant. Now, after working in some of the most acclaimed kitchens in Los Angeles and Spain, he’s on the verge of his own restaurant empire. The Los Angeles and South Beach outposts of Table 8 won rave reviews, and now he’s about to take his biggest leap yet: New York.
On his way up the celebrity-chef ladder, he’s found himself on Iron Chef America, as a judge on Top Chef and on People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” list.
I met up with Chef Armstrong at the Cooper Square Hotel in New York’s East Village where he’s putting the finishing touches on the Big Apple outpost of Table 8.
The Critics: ‘Fast & Furious’
by Eva Holland | 04.09.09 | 10:29 AM ET
Publicity still via IGN When I listed Fast & Furious as one of my travel movies to watch for in 2009, I have to admit that my tongue might have been straying towards my cheek. I certainly never expected that the movie—the fourth installment in a fading franchise—would smash box office records and enjoy the biggest April weekend opening ever. But with an unexpected $70 million (and counting) in the bank, I suppose the movie qualifies as a phenomenon of sorts. With that in mind, I decided to check it out and see if there were any vicarious travel thrills to be had in between all the lingering shots of hot (auto) bodies.
From Wilt to Woodstock: A Pop Culture Road Trip
by Chris Epting | 04.06.09 | 10:27 AM ET
Photo by Chris Epting Chris Epting has written numerous books on roadside attractions. Here, he reveals 10 favorite offbeat landmarks.
See the full audio slideshow: »
Invasion of the Hungarian Pigs
by David Farley | 04.03.09 | 12:15 PM ET
There are several different types of pig species (or, if you will, sub pigs). The bearded pig is one I’d certainly hate meeting in a dark pig pen. The Indo-Chinese warty pig is another ominous-sounding swine. In all, there are over two billion pigs on the planet right now (and if they’d ever join forces with monkeys, we’d be in big trouble). Most of the pork we eat comes from the generic domestic pig (or sus scrofa domesticus) and, thanks to mass breeding, its offerings have taken on rather bland notes. Not that we’d know it unless we began eating another species of swine. And, in fact, some restaurants around the country are letting diners do just that.
The Great New York Nacho Fail
by David Farley | 03.25.09 | 10:58 AM ET
These aren’t nachos, I thought to myself as I stared at a plate rimmed with neatly placed tortilla chips, each one gently topped with chicken, blanketed in cheese, and, for good measure, crowned by one single jalapeño slice. I might expect something like this if Jean-George Vongerichten put nachos on the menu at this eponymous eatery on Columbus Circle. But I was at a hole-in-the-wall eatery in Brooklyn bedecked with all the trappings of a salt-of-the-earth Mexican restaurant. Dressing up each chip as it were a microcosm of the usual mountain of nachos seemed unnecessary. And just plain wrong.
The Long and Short of Hotel Deals
by Alexander Basek | 03.23.09 | 2:40 PM ET
You don’t have to take advice from travel gurus to find the deals these days; you can go right to the source. Shell Vacations, which has properties all over North America, has started a blog to promote discounts and deals they offer. I like the vibe. It’s a bit earnest, but they break down what the deal is at the bottom of the copy, so you can skim for savings if you’re short on time.
Two, Twitter is blowing up as a source for hotel deals.
More Good News for Eco-Roadtrippers: The ‘Green Freeway’
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.12.09 | 11:11 AM ET
The governors of Washington, Oregon and California could start work as early as this summer on installing several alternative fueling stations on a highway stretching along the Pacific Coast, according to news reports.
If local and federal leaders agree to the plan, the states would allow only new businesses that have clean-fuel options and battery swap-out docks to operate as rest stops. These new businesses would not have to pay rent until they start making a profit. The states are hoping to pay for the venture with some of the $15 billion in energy-related stimulus money.
If this all works out, motorists with electric cars will be able to charge or swap out their vehicles’ batteries while those with cars running on biodiesel, ethanol or compressed natural gas can fill up at the pump.
Morning Links: The Zion Curtain, Pynchon and Baedeker, and more
by Michael Yessis | 03.12.09 | 10:00 AM ET
- Utah may tear down the “Zion Curtain” and make it easier to get into bars. Will that boost the state’s tourism?
- See Europe ... in New York City.
- Kurt Andersen in Nicaragua: “[T]he country has become one of those Places on the Verge, discovered by cognoscenti but not yet overrun.”
- Yes, Los Angeles has a bike culture. Matthew Segal immerses himself.
- MetaFilter celebrates Baedeker travel guides—“the de facto travel guide for international men of leisure”—and how they served as a research tool for Thomas Pynchon.
- Man sues US Airways for $1 million after it allegedly lost his Xbox and gave him “an unconscionable runaround.”
- Man jumps into Niagara Falls and survives, only the third person ever to do so.
- Welcome, Big World Magazine.
- Finally, another U.S. Senator, another embarrassing airport incident. If only someone had caught Sen. David Vitter’s alleged outburst on video like Cathay Pacific caught the Airport Auntie.
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