TripCart :: The Travel Blog

Southwest and Bar Refaeli help TripCart kick off Beach season

While half of the United States is buried in snow, Southwest airlines has decided to help out TripCart and cheer up the freezing citizens of the east coast by kicking off Beach Season. They even went to the trouble of painting a plane that will inspire people to plan their beach vacation on TripCart. You should not have trouble spotting this plane, pictured above but for the die-hard aviation nuts out there, the plane can be identified by the FAA Registration number on the tail of the 737-7H4 model, which is:

N922WN

Here are some popular beach destinations that Southwest flies to:

When you are finished with the Orlando, Florida places to visit, head to the coast for more places to visit in Florida -caladesi island state park, bathtub beach and sebastian inlet.

All over California - from glass beach in the north through pismo beach and  bolsa chica beach all the way to blacks beach in San Diego.Besides beaches, there are certainly lots of places to visit around Los Angeles, California

Besides the Norfolk, VA James river cruises, down the coast from Norfolk into North Carolina, follow in the footsteps of the Wright Brothers (without whom Bar Refaeli might not be decaled onto a 737) and visit Wrightsville Beach,Hammocks Beach State Park or Hatteras Beach.

And if a subway ride from JFK is about as exotic as you are getting this summer, head to Riis Beach, Orchard Beach in the Bronx, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn or - if you are a fan of the Ramones - Rock Rock Rock Rock Rockaway Beach. Then head back to the city and enjoy some of the fun things to do in Manhattan and NYC.

Sites on the Web that like TripCart

We figured that if a website was serious enough to recommend TripCart, they probably have other good links, so we decided to share them with our readers.

Mashable has written about us in the past, now they put us on a list of 100+ More Ways to Organize Your Life. Personally, we feel traveling is more exciting then organizing, but if you are going on a trip - a little organization can certainly help.

Thrillist gave us a real compliment by describing us as having an obsessive, type-A and a father figure type persona. We accept the compliment and agree that's what you need to plan a trip. And, yes, we are a group of  obsessive developers and managers. Asylum concurs and has a few hints of their own.

Smart Honeymoon seems to have a different view of TripCart. I guess they have a different audience.

Finally, for the Google mashup crowd - Google Maps Mania likes us, too.

The gas is worth more than the car - ZIPCAR and others

For the urban and eco-conscious types who don't own cars and don't want cars and don't want to park cars and don't want to feed cars and don't want to bathe cars - this post is for you (and we bet you live in NY, Boston or SF).

ZipCar pioneered the concept of renting a car for a few hours to visit friends on the island or for an interview in the valley or for the fall  drive to Concord or for NY Fall Foliage.  Walk over to where the car is parked, swipe the card and the car is yours, all gassed up. Drive back and the spot is waiting for you.

It turns out that the "gas included" feature really got people excited in the $4 gas age. SO, the big guys have noticed and are going for the same model. Recently (as described in the Boston Globe and summed up in this blog) U-Haul and Hertz are doing something similar. It looks like they are still trying to figure out what ZipCar already did, and ZipCar is more "green" using hybrid cars - but the fact that these guys are in means this is going mainstream. Great news for all of us and for the trees. Denver readers - this weekend begins the peak for Colorado Fall Colors.

Great Lakes Beer Festival - This weekend!!!

4000 people. 250 Beers from 80 Breweries. Unlimited Beer. $35 admission. Leave the kids at home.

So here is the plan - this week at the Beer Festival in Racine, Wisconsin. Next week apple cider while enjoying the Vermont Fall Foliage. Or Coors beer and some of amazing Fall Colors in Colorado.

More beer - try the Killington Brewfest on Columbus Day weekend peak time for New England Fall Foliage

Prefer wine? - How about Finger Lakes Wineries just around New York Fall Foliage season.

Finding yourself near Pittsburgh around Oktober? How about a little Oktoberfest and some Pennsylvania Fall Foliage.

Drink enough and you will actually see the leaves turning color.

Barack Obama vs. Sarah Palin

Usually, the folks at TripCart don't get involved with politics, but we have to take a stand this time. A generation from now, people will be traveling to visit the home of Sarah Palin or the Obama Presidential Library or visa versa. And that would mean a trip to Alaska or Hawaii. Both are good. Lets compare:

Sarah Palin lives in Wasilla, Alaska - kind of close to Anchorage.
Barack Obama was born in Honolulu.

Its a tough call, so lets let the "chad-punching" citizens of Florida decide. If you lived in West Palm beach - where would you rather go - Honolulu or Wasilla?

Beaches - neither. South Beach in Miami is just fine, thanks.
Flights - checked on Orbitz and RT Miami to Anchorage is $1000, to Honolulu $1038. Both are one stop.
Skiing - Palin wins - Alpenglow is about 45 minutes away.
Shopping - Obama wins with the Ala Moana Mall.  Obama wins again with the choice of kitschy souvenir. Pineapple and Hula skirt beats Moose paraphanalia.
Crowds - Palin wins. Unless you like them - then Obama wins.

I give up - we can just let the supreme court decide (in my next post)

Fall Foliage Staycations

Doing a Google search for "Fall Foliage" gives you the word "Vermont" a lot. At TripCart, we would all like a nice weekend off to enjoy the Vermont Fall Foliage, but realize that not all our readers want to fill up the tank to drive to Vermont from, say, South Carolina. So, in the spirit of 2008 Staycations, our research team came up with these options, closer to home, and some even by public transportation:

From Boston:

• Massachusetts Fall Foliage with in Concord, MA - 30 minutes from Boston. History, church steeples, orange and red trees - the works. ScubaMom has a nice article on "Planning your New England Fall Foliage Trip".

From New York City:

• Without a car - take the subway to Central Park, the Cloisters or Prospect Park for some genuine  New York City Fall Foliage

• Never leave the train - watch the Hudson Valley Foliage from the window of Metro North to Poughkeepsie. Good timing, a window seat (on the side of the river) and off peak fares make this a memorable way to view Upstate New York Fall Foliage.
• Jerry, Elaine, George and even Kramer could do it, so could you. Head out in October for some Long Island Fall Foliage and some mansions and maybe relatives.

From Philadelphia:

• Take a ride on the Reading. The Reading and Northern Railroad Company near Allentown. Closer to Philadelphia - the West Chester Railroad runs historic and scenic trips for viewing Pennsylvania Fall Foliage

From Pittsburgh:

• Have lunch at Mt. Washington's Grandview Avenue and enjoy the view - its urban and its beautiful.
• Join Frank Lloyd Wright at Fallingwater for  Southwest Pennsylvania Fall Foliage.

From Washington, DC:

• Don't even leave the city - the Tidal Basin trees put on a fine Washington Fall Foliage. Head up the Potomac for some Virginia Fall Foliage  views.

From Denver:

• Head West for Colorado Rockies Fall colors in close-by Georgetown.

From Santa Fe / Albuquerque:

• Do not despair - you are still in Fall Foliage Country.  Sandia Peak is where you want to be for some New Mexico Fall Colors.

And finally, from the "we don't care where you live" department - so spots worth an extra tank of gas:

• Bar Harbor and many more spots for Maine Coast Fall Foliage.
• South Carolina Fall Colors in the Smokys
• The Four Corners region for some more New Mexico Fall Foliage
• A hundred miles or more west of Denver for Colorado Fall Foliage.

When will he stop?

Donald Trump and Steven Carl (a caterer) are proposing a restaurant/banquet hall to develop at Jones Beach. Diane Yatauro, Nassau County’s presiding officer backs Trump in this fiasco, so that’s another strong point for Trump and Co.

Newsday quotes Trump: "As a New Yorker with an eye on historical significance, I am pleased to be a part of the history of Jones Beach."

It’s not that I’m against Trump or against building a nice banquet hall on Jones Beach, it’s this particular model which I find distasteful and gaudy.

Thanx newsday.com

I guess I’m not the only one who feels that way. The Newsday article continues: “In addition to surprise over the dimensions of Trump's moniker, "it doesn't look like the materials that we outlined or have agreed to."”

And the defense?: "This is solely, 100-percent, down to the square foot, what was approved earlier this year in the blueprints -- they just haven't seen the 3-D visualization of it," insisted Michael Russo, who has managed the project for the architectural firm of Hawkins Webb Jaeger.

Other ridiculous monstrosities in the area bearing the Trump family name include:

1. The Trump International Hotel and Tower Fitness Center and Spa, New York City
2. Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City
3. Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Atlantic City
4. Trump Marina Hotel Casino, Atlantic City
5. Trump Hotel Casino, Gary, Indiana (ok, this one is a bit out of town)

Maybe I’m just jealous of rich people. That’s come up before, hasn’t it?

Sometimes Sin City is just too far!

In the mood for some sin but just can’t imagine shlepping all the way out to Vegas?
I hear ya; it happens to me all the time.
Which is why, when things get tough and the urge comes on, I head to…

1. Atlantic City - Atlantic City is like Little Vegas. You have your pick of top names and, like in Vegas, if you get to know them and they get to know you, you can get some pretty fantastic deals. What? You want the list? Okay, here are your choices:
• Bally’s Atlantic City (The largest casino in the area)
• Tropicana Casino & Resort (New Jersey’s largest hotel and a true poker palace)
• Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort
• Caesars Atlantic City (Welcome to Rome!)
• Harrah’s Casino Hotel
• Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino
• Showboat Casino-Hotel (What? Mardi Gras? All the time?)
• The Borgata (Wait, maybe this one is the largest…)
• Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort (Play + Arabian Nights = a hell of a good time!)
• Resorts Casino Hotel
2. Mohegan Sun – Five football fields filled with gambling, eating, entertaining, sleeping, a spa, and a planetarium. Yes, even a planetarium (one of the world’s largest, at that!).
3. Foxwoods – The world’s largest casino is in Connecticut, NOT Vegas.
4. Freeport Casino Cruises This is off Long Island, of all places. Poker is always allowed on international waters!
5. Niagara Falls – I like Seneca Niagara Casino best, but if you don’t do well…y’know, just let this trip be about the casinos and skip the Falls, just to be on the safe side.

See how easy it can be to sin? So get in on the action…and let it ride! (Sorry, couldn’t help myself there)

Buffalo Wings

Just like French Fries aren’t actually French, but are fried in a French sort of way, I started to ponder the buffalo wings that I order in every Monday during football season and generally don’t even think twice about before I scarf them all down messily. Maybe buffalo wings aren’t actually from Buffalo, NY, but rather are cooked in a special cooking method that’s unique to Buffaloian cooking culture. Like, could sausages be “buffaloed”? Was it a special New York sauce? (I had already established a few years back that the wings aren’t actually from buffalos.)

And so my research begins. Buffalo wings did in fact originate in Buffalo, NY on October 30, 1964. Teressa Bellissimo, owner of Anchor Bar, had some leftover wings lying around, so she fried them up (maybe in a French sort of way?), dipped them in the special spicy sauce, and became a legend. There are of course variant stories and long-lasting disputes and who and what, but the where (Buffalo) is always the same.

Plan your next trip to Buffalo around July 29th and stay for Chicken Wing Day. Come for Labor Day, and participate in the National Buffalo Wing Festival, a weekend gathering  in downtown Buffalo celebrating the chicken wing in all its glory.

Wing events for wing enthusiasts take place all year all over the country. “The Wing Thing”, a competition for the best wings in Vegas, takes place this year on May 9-10. In April there was the Memphis Hot Wing Contest & Festival, and in February, Bailey Auditorium housed the Chicago Winter WingFest. In Philly every year, you can catch the Wing Bowl (on the Friday morning before the Superbowl), and then of course there’s Wingstock in September at First Energy Park in Lakewood, NJ.

Here you can learn how to make buffalo wings yourself!

While you’re in the Western New York region, I suggest making a trip up to Niagara Falls for some spectacular, mind-altering falls. Get some wings for lunch (I’m sure you can find them up there somewhere) and then take the Maid of the Mist Boat Tour.

P.S. The windshield wiper was invented in Buffalo, and Buffalo was the first city in the U.S. to have electric street-lights (for more see Fun-Facts on Mid Atlantic region).

DOH!

Do your part to promote beer literacy by learning the art of beer tasting. The AHA (American Homebrewers Association) invites YOU to join the ranks of the few, the proud, and the lucky men and women of America who are trained with discriminating abilities to drink beer. YOU can become a beer judge, too, and travel around the U.S. chillaxing and drinking. I’m thisclose to quitting my day job… Every year over 100 beer judges judge 2,300 beers at Denver, Colorado’s Great American Beer Festival. For three days straight at the beginning of October, these guys get to drink beers and give out medals to their favorites. In 2007, 25,000 gallons of beer “flowed.” (And it would be a huge shame to go all the way to Denver and not check out the Coors Brewery, the world’s largest brewery on a single site.) The Madison Homebrewers & Tasters Guild sponsors the Big & Huge Homebrew Competition in April (we just missed it). Wisconsin is home to great breweries, including Miller Brewing Company, Sprecher Brewing Company, Lakefront Brewery, Capital Brewing Company, and more! The Oregon Brewers Festival is in July at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland. Drink and listen to great music for four days straight. And east of Portland, in the town of Hood River, you can visit the Full Sail Brewing Company, get a free tour, and relax with some beers out on the brewery deck overlooking the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area — what a life! It’s like Benjamin Franklin said, so many years ago, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Amen, Brothah!