Destination: United States
An Open Window on a Winter’s Night
by Beth Harpaz | 02.17.09 | 9:40 AM ET
iStockPhoto Beth Harpaz and her 10-year-old son went to Alaska to see the Northern Lights -- and to hold on to his childhood for a few more minutes
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Yahoo! BuzzMorning Links: Holidays in Banda Aceh, ‘Slavery Theme Park’ and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.17.09 | 9:15 AM ET
- Passengers can no longer kiss at England’s Warrington Bank Quay Station.
- Is Marlon Jackson supporting a “slavery theme park” in Nigeria?
- The Mumbai attacks have apparently “put the brakes” on tourism in India.
- State and local governments to travel booking sites: Pay up!
- Daisann McLane: “Until I learn a place with my feet, I never really feel like I know it.”
- John Aglionby says Banda Aceh “has arguably become one of south-east Asia’s hidden holiday destinations.”
- Spud Hilton sifts through language-study options for travelers.
- In typo news: There’s one on the Manhattan Supreme Courthouse. It only took 82 years to discover it. Hooray!
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Regional American Words: Is That a Pork Steak in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy to See Me?
by Jenna Schnuer | 02.16.09 | 7:24 PM ET
Pop? Soda? Coke?
Hoagie? Grinder? Sub?
These questions are about as basic as it gets when it comes to American regionalisms—yet who doesn’t want to duke it out in defense of their hometown heroes (or grinders)? Just watch what happens in the comments sections (hopefully it happens) when I declare the answers to be soda and sub. (Please, if you disagree, just don’t hurl your hoagie at me.) If you’ve ever discussed either one of those, then you’re going to want to meet Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, hosts of A Way With Words. The public radio show is “Car Talk for language,” says Barrett. “People call us about their questions and peeves and just observations about language, things they’ve always wanted to know or things they heard on television last night, and we help them get to the bottom of it.” Adds Barnette: “We talk just about everything having to do with language. That means grammar, punctuation, slang, regionalisms, word origins and usage. A lot of times we’ll get couples who have had an ongoing [word] fight for years ... or there’s a dispute in somebody’s office. They call us and we make our pronouncements.”
‘American Idol’ and Disney World, Together at Last
by Eva Holland | 02.16.09 | 12:29 PM ET
We’ve had movies inspired by theme park rides, and roller coasters inspired by rock anthems, so isn’t it about time we had a theme park attraction inspired by the “reality” television craze? (I’m a little far removed from my college philosophy classes to say for sure, but I suspect there’s a meta-something at work here.) Yes, the American Idol Experience opened at DisneyWorld this weekend. Here’s how it works: visitors can choose to perform on a re-created “Idol” stage, or to sit in the audience and vote. At the end of each day, the lucky hopeful who receives the most audience votes lands a Dream Ticket to an actual “American Idol” audition.
There is no option for visitors to sit at the judging table and hurl abuse at the contestants; still, I suspect the new attraction will be a hit. The Traveling Mamas have posted a (snark-free) review, and there’s a clip previewing the American Idol Experience after the jump:
We’re All Icelanders Now
by Eric Weiner | 02.16.09 | 10:26 AM ET
REUTERS/Ints Kalnins Global Positioning: On the intersection of place, politics and culture
The Unfortunate End of Captain Cook
by Pam Mandel | 02.16.09 | 9:57 AM ET
The story of Captain Cook’s death—the anniversary of this unfortunate event just passed—is an object lesson in cultural misunderstandings.
Cook and his crew first blew into Kaleakakua Bay while the Pleadies were rising, during the festival of Makahiki. Hawaiian custom deemed that during this time, there was to be no fighting, no conflict of any kind.
Morning Links: The Belgian Flair for Comics, New Orleans Street Theater and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.16.09 | 8:46 AM ET
- The investigation of the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 reveals sudden erratic movements 26 seconds before impact.
- The state of the Velib bike program in Paris isn’t good.
- The New Yorker’s Katherine Boo investigates a Mumbai slum located on land owned by the Airports Authority of India. (subscribers only)
- David Lyon looks at the comics-character murals of Brussels. He writes: “The Belgian flair for comics is as inescapable as Manneken Pis.”
- Nora Roberts’ Inn BoonsBoro—an inn in Boonsboro, Maryland, that features rooms named after literary couples—opens tomorrow.
- Wayne Curtis says “New Orleans knows how to do street theater like no other American city.”
- Benji Lanyado visits a pay-what-you-want bar in Berlin.
- Video: A woman goes wild after missing her plane in Hong Kong and becomes a YouTube hit.
- The Costa Brava is not the Bahamas—except in an ad for the Costa Brava. I’d say, “oops,” but it looks like the people behind the ad planned using the image of the Bahamas as a stand in for the Spanish coast. (via Shore Trips)
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What We Loved This Week: London, New Jersey, ‘Heima’ and More
by World Hum | 02.13.09 | 4:11 PM ET
Photo by Rob Verger. World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Rob Verger
I love my new Canon G10 camera. Hello, 14.7 megapixels. It gave me an excuse to roam around my neighborhood over the weekend, taking pictures. Here’s the 125th Street subway stop in New York City:
Would You Rather Live in a Big City or a Small Town?
by Sophia Dembling | 02.13.09 | 2:06 PM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling I keep a file titled “Good Reads,” into which I tuck stories and articles that I enjoyed reading and like to revisit from time to time. The other day, I pulled the file out and found a photocopied page from the book O Pioneers! by Willa Cather.
I copied the page for a particular speech, spoken by Carl, who has just left Chicago, to Alexandra, who is trying to keep things together on her family farm on the Nebraska prairie. Read the quote after the jump.
One Traveling Man’s Weak-Dollar Dating Survival Kit
by Rolf Potts | 02.13.09 | 10:09 AM ET
With superior dentistry and monolingual charm, you too can pick up women overseas. Rolf Potts gets all Maxim magazine.
Morning Links: Vegas to L.A. High-Speed Rail, ‘the Gifts of Travel’ and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.13.09 | 9:44 AM ET
- Continental flight 3407 crashed outside of Buffalo, New York. Fifty people died.
- Looks like the stimulus bill might contain some extra funding for a high-speed rail link between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
- How will the United States look after its economic tumble? It’s the cover story in the latest issue of The Atlantic.
- In Dubai, the economic climate has brought forth an exodus of expats.
- Don George writes that “the gifts of travel are precisely what we need in daunting times like these.”
- Tom O’Neill chronicles the journeys of three North Korean defectors through China, Laos and Thailand on the way to South Korea. (Via Passport)
- Brave New Traveler asks: When does budget travel become exploitation?
- Northwest Airlines says it will start serving peanuts again on its flights. Passengers worried about peanut allergies say they will start planning trips on airlines other than Northwest.
- Germany, the U.S. and China are among the countries fighting the international battle of Ferris wheels. The Great Orlando Wheel may have the best promo video ever.
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Las Vegas: Cheap and Quirky Edition
by Eva Holland | 02.12.09 | 5:37 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland In spite of the recent plunge in room prices, “cheap” isn’t necessarily the first word that comes to mind when you think of Vegas—“jaw-dropping excess” might be closer. But beyond the high-roller tables, celebrity-helmed restaurants and designer clothing stores, there are bargains to be found. The Traveling Mamas recently posted a handy list of “free or cheap” Las Vegas activities, and it includes some more unexpected fare, like the Broadacres Swap Meet or the Pinball Hall of Fame.
I visited Las Vegas for the first time this summer, and with the exception of a close call at the Jimmy Choo store in Caesars Palace (where a part of me tried to argue that happiness is, in fact, a $600 pair of boots) I managed fairly easily to keep a grip on my wallet. My favorite Vegas freebie? The collection of vintage neon signage on Fremont East, where the glory of the good old days (sort of) lives on.
This is Not a Miami Vice Pun
by Alexander Basek | 02.12.09 | 3:15 PM ET
The Viceroy Miami, down in the Icon Brickell project, is set to open tomorrow. Predictably, hotelistas are excited. It’s very Miami-ish, and not in an old guys sipping from tiny coffee cups and playing dominoes way: 162 rooms with interiors designed by Kelly Wearstler, Sferra linens and a ginormo 28,00-square-foot spa. A spot-check on rates reveals that you could stay there next weekend for about $200 a night, less than half of what they intended to charge until very recently. It makes for a much more intriguing proposition than at the previous price point, which was justified with a “they’ll come because they’ve always come” attitude.
Much like the Standard in New York, look for this project to be the canary in the coal mine for new Miami hotel openings. All the recently opened properties in less-than-prime locations will start getting antsy should things not pan out here. Much depends on enticing visitors to stay in a part of Miami that doesn’t have quite the same name recognition as South Beach—the EPIC, just on the other side of the Miami river, is in the same boat. Still, if they are out in front with these rates, it’s a sign of flexibility that up to this point many Miami hotels lacked. I’ll be sure to head down to check it out just as soon as I get a base tan that upgrades my skin color from “Casper” to “eggshell.”
Tucson, Arizona: Moments of Zen
by Jenna Schnuer | 02.12.09 | 2:07 PM ET
Photo by Jenna Schnuer. A long day of flying wiped out the peace and relaxation I thought I’d stored up during two days of horseback riding and mountain biking at Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, Arizona. So, while there are stories to tell, they’ll have to wait. For now, with apologies to The Daily Show for the slightly more serious take on their daily dose of humor, I present you with two moments of zen. (And apologies to all of you for the sort of mangy shooting. I’ll get a handle and a steadier hand on this Flip camera sooner or later. I promise.) Video after the jump.
Some Say ‘Nay’ to Giant Horse Sculpture
by Rob Verger | 02.12.09 | 1:38 PM ET
There is a 32-foot-tall sculpture of a wild mustang in front of Denver International Airport, and to put it bluntly, it’s freaking some people out, the AP reports. There is even a Facebook group devoted to putting the horse out to pasture, so to speak. The sculpted horse is blue, muscled, and rears powerfully up on two legs. Mohawk-like mane juts from its neck and head.
To get more reactions to the horse, I emailed some friends who live in Colorado. “Driving by the horse is a surreal experience,” wrote Dan Knights. “The horse is incongruous with its surroundings. All around it there’s nothing but flat dry fields and highway, and then all of a sudden there’s this giant cobalt blue horse. It’s made especially creepy by its fiery glowing eyes. I’m not sure if the eyes are actually illuminated or merely reflecting the ambient light, but they definitely give the horse a possessed demonic appearance.”
My friend Andrew Jones put things more strongly. “Frankly, the horse freaks me out,” he wrote. “In my last few trips to D.I.A., I’ve been trying to figure out why, exactly. The bright red eyes are an obvious candidate, of course, so I imagined: What would I think if it had green eyes? Or none, or black, like a normal horse? Is it the nostrils, aggressively flared, or the fact that the mane is so uproarious in its frozen flow?” Jessica Jones, his wife, wrote: “We see this horse every time we go to D.I.A. and its eyes scare the blazes out of me.”