Destination: United States
Morning Links: Weird Hotels, Flight 1549: The Game and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.03.09 | 8:24 AM ET
- Marketplace looks at U.S. efforts to lure Chinese travelers.
- More than one million people have already played Flight 1549: The online game.
- Flight 1549 pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger III won’t have to pay fees on the library book that’s still in the plane’s cargo hold.
- At the Window Seat, World Hum contributor Rolf Potts recommends five travel experiences in his home state, Kansas.
- AP Travel Editor Beth Harpaz has a new book out about parenting teenagers, 13 Is the New 18.
- Now we know what the penalty is for smoking on a no smoking flight in Saudi Arabia: 30 lashes.
- Rome’s traditional delis are facing extinction.
- More and more, Mexican singers of narco corridos are becoming victims of the drug-related violence that’s the subject of their songs.
- The Telegraph’s slideshow of the world’s weirdest hotels includes Idaho’s Dog Bark Park Inn.
- It’s the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, and fans are paying tribute in Holly’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas and elsewhere. Eva
will havehas more in her blog. - Video: Overzealous Amtrak police arrested a man for taking pictures of trains for an Amtrak photography contest. Stephen Colbert has the hilarious story.
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Yahoo! BuzzU.S. Airways Plane Draws Onlookers Again
by Rob Verger | 02.02.09 | 2:03 PM ET
The plane from U.S. Airways Flight 1549 that splashed down in the Hudson on January 15 drew quite the crowd of onlookers (including me) when it was moored at a pier in Battery Park City in the days afterwards. Over the weekend, it became another source of attention as the fuselage was moved to a salvage yard in New Jersey, The New York Times reports. The Times article also links to this great series of pictures, and brief video, of the torpedo-like fuselage being hauled down the street and passing through an intersection (you’ll need to scroll down the page just a little bit). It’s worth watching.
Mind the Vog
by Pam Mandel | 02.02.09 | 10:32 AM ET
It’s the byproduct of an active volcano. Vog, it’s called, volcano plus smog. It might make for some pretty sunrises or sunsets, but vog also produces acid rain and can aggravate respiratory conditions. The Department of Health just launched a website to monitor vog conditions and United States Geological Survey (USGS) has a fact sheet up about the dangers of vog:
SO2 is a poisonous gas that irritates skin and the tissues and mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and throat. During even moderate physical activity, SO2 penetrates deeply into the airway and can produce respiratory distress in some individuals. In the absence of strong winds, SO2 emitted by Kilauea can accumulate in the air and reach levels that exceed Federal health standards. Since 1986, this has occurred more than 85 times within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, which includes much of Kilauea.
Kiluea Volcano is a stunner, but she’s also the culprit, emitting sulfur dioxide into the air whenever she erupts. Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park keeps their site up to date with not just where to see the lava, but which parts of the park are closed due to vog. Live lava is a big draw, but don’t be disappointed if the volcano isn’t active for you—your lungs may be thankful for the volcano’s rest.
Morning Links: Flushing the French Quarter, Car-Rental Madness and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.02.09 | 8:30 AM ET
- Kurt Andersen talked to Pico Iyer about his life as an “outside man” in Japan. There’s also video.
- Spud Hilton calls place-dropping a “a subtle and often unnoticed art form.”
- Goodbye, street-flushing in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Hello, toxic stench?
- Travel with Spirit, a new magazine for “focusing exclusively on Christian travel,” debuted last week.
- Arthur Frommer has an idea to stimulate the U.S. economy: Induce more foreign tourists to visit.
- Dan Bilefsky investigates the battle for the Czech Republic’s Kingdom of Wallachia.
- The outlook for mobile-ticketing—using your cell phone as a boarding pass—is strong. (via Tripso)
- One upside of the down economy for travelers: Unexpected hotel room upgrades.
- Video: This guy was pushed a little too far at the car-rental counter.
- This is kind of creepy: Plane-crash simulation as team-building exercise.
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What We Loved This Week: Flip Video, Language Lessons, Pandora and More
by World Hum | 01.30.09 | 4:18 PM ET
Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Michael Yessis
I love this response to the news that Birmingham will do away with apostrophes on street signs: “If you don’t have apostrophes, is there any point in full stops, or semi-colons, or question marks? Is there any point in punctuation at all?” Indeed.
Sophia Dembling
I already love my Flip Video camera, a gift from Santahubby. And I love the Hocking Hills region of Ohio. Now I learn that the Hocking Hills Tourism Association is lending Flip Ultra cameras to visitors staying at an association member property, no cost. Double shot of love! (Triple, if you count Santahubby.)
Eva Holland
This might sound crazy considering the array of not-available-elsewhere experiences that New York City offers, but what I loved most about my first full week here was having access to Pandora again. The site, which helps listeners discover more music similar to their old favorites, cut off all non-U.S. users awhile back. Yesterday, I plugged in “Etta James,” and have been enjoying Candi Staton ever since:
Reading America: ‘New in Town’? I’d Rather Read ‘Main Street’
by Sophia Dembling | 01.30.09 | 1:11 PM ET
The new fish-out-of-water romantic comedy, New in Town stars Ren?e Zellweger as a sharp-edged Miami business woman and Harry Connick Jr. as the flannel shirted Minnesotan for whom she falls when she comes to his frozen town to downsize his factory.
Critics are unimpressed. “Listless,” says the Los Angeles Times. The Chicago Tribune calls it, “‘The Pajama Game’ without the songs, the laughs or the bare-knuckled realism.” (It is among my dubious achievements to have played Babe Williams in my high school production of that show.) “Pleasant but predictable rehash,” sighs Newsday.
Movies are too darn expensive these days for ho-hum, so I’m skipping this and instead will pull out my dog-eared copy of Sinclair Lewis’ 1920 novel, “Main Street,” my all-time favorite book.
When Planning a Trip, Do Local Politics Matter?
by Jenna Schnuer | 01.30.09 | 11:57 AM ET
No, you didn’t imagine that loud (and long-lasting) yay coming from Nashville on Jan. 22. It was the sound of the city’s English-only? seriously? contingent celebrating after the ridiculous measure was defeated in a (costly) special election.
While nothing could come between me and my Nashville (cause it’s a pretty damned fantastic city), it did get me wondering how much local politics play a role in other people’s travel choices. Have you ever put the kibosh on a trip because you didn’t like the politics of the place?
For the Love of Her State: A Kansas Day Tour
by Jenna Schnuer | 01.29.09 | 2:45 PM ET
Nobody loves Kansas the way my friend Jodi Rosenberg loves Kansas. At least, nobody I know. She grew up there. She moved away for some years. She moved back. And she’s been talking Kansas up to me from the moment we met at college, 20 years ago. (And, yes, Jodi—I’ll be there soon. I promise.) So, to celebrate Kansas Day and the state’s 148th birthday today, I give you Jodi and her recommendations for the ultimate Kansas experience:
Meteor Crater, Arizona: National Treasure or Big Hole?
by Sophia Dembling | 01.29.09 | 11:37 AM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling Meteor Crater in Arizona seemed a very long way off the highway. By the time my husband and I reached it and paid our $15 each admission, we could only agree with the little boy who, standing crater-side with us, turned to his mother and said accusingly, “It’s just a big hole.” Truly, it looked cooler when we saw it from an airplane.
Now the The New York Times reveals us as the philistines we are, in this story about the crater’s wonders. Guess we better return with the proper attitude.
Flying Coach as ‘Punishment’?
by Rob Verger | 01.29.09 | 10:31 AM ET
Tennis phenomenon Serena Williams has promised she’ll fly back from Australia to Florida in economy class if she loses the Australian Open, the AFP reports. It’s a punishment to herself, she says, and a way to conserve money. The article quotes her as saying, “I wouldn’t allow myself to have the emergency row either. I would be so mad, I would have to sit like the last row, the tightest row. That way I wouldn’t do it again.”
Do you think she could also arrange to be put next to a crying baby?
How to Get Your Uke On in Hawaii
by Pam Mandel | 01.29.09 | 9:22 AM ET
Photo by Pam Mandel Pam Mandel introduces you to your new four-stringed friend. Just don't call it a "you-koo-lele."
Morning Links: America’s Dirtiest Hotels, London From Above and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.29.09 | 8:59 AM ET
- Paul Theroux remembers John Updike.
- American Airlines has been flying some planes without enough life rafts. Its short-term solution: Cap the number of passengers on the problem aircraft.
- The Big Picture shows off more of Jason Hawkes’ lovely aerial photos of London.
- Here’s a Q&A with Renia Ehrenfeucht on “the higher meaning of the humble sidewalk.”
- How are Spirit Airlines flight attendants like players for Manchester United? They both wear ads on their uniforms. (via Jaunted)
- Inside the “war on Roquefort cheese.”
- TripAdvisor’s list of America’s dirtiest hotels is out.
- Are these the top 50 adventure books of all time?
- Jason Barger pays tribute to “one of the daily unsung heroes of the air travel experience: the de-icers.”
- The “bizarre crime spree” that got this drunken Irish traveler deported from Australia included demanding money to feed his goldfish.
- World Hum gets a shout out in a Guardian piece about Twitter and travel—yes, World Hum has a Twitter feed. We’re happy to have you follow us.
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Hawaii, Vegas Style?
by Pam Mandel | 01.28.09 | 4:17 PM ET
With Hawaii’s tourism-driven economy taking such a big hit this season, all kinds of ideas are being thrown around to raise money for the island state. Legalized gambling is again on the table—only Hawaii and Utah do not have legalized gambling in the United States.
Charles Memminger—writing in the Star Bulletin —has another proposal: Export Hawaii to the mainland. Vegas, to be exact, and build a Hawaii-themed casino.
Standard Deviation
by Alexander Basek | 01.28.09 | 3:15 PM ET
A Half-Century Ago: Let the Jet Age Begin!
by Rob Verger | 01.28.09 | 2:21 PM ET
