Flexibility is key to traveling while kids are in school
One of the best tips you’ll ever find for affordable travel to exotic destinations is to have a flexible schedule. You’ll find cheaper flights and hotels during shoulder seasons (travel periods between peak and off-peak seasons), plus you won’t have to face the crowds and long lines. Unfortunately, if your...
Staycation destination: Pittsburgh to West Newton on the Great Allegheny PassageVideo
A trip on the Great Allegheny Passage is a tour through Pennsylvania history. From its terminus in downtown Pittsburgh, the biking and walking trail follows rivers and railways through industrial hubs, tiny coal towns and peaceful forests. The GAP connects Pittsburgh with Cumberland, Md., spanning 148 miles. It was completed...
List of ‘best’ Frank Lloyd Wright homes in 37 states includes Fallingwater
Fallingwater in Fayette County is among the Frank Lloyd Wright homes featured in a new “best of” list compiled by the home improvement website HomeAdvisor. The famous Wright home, visited by thousands every year, appears on a list and a map that shows the geographic reach of Wright’s work and...
Paris tests new bubble-shaped water taxi
Paris is testing out a new form of travel: an eco-friendly bubble-shaped taxi that zips along the water up and down the Seine River. Organizers are holding test runs this week on the white, oval-shaped electric hydrofoil boats that resemble tiny space shuttles gliding past Paris monuments. They can fit...
Travel tip: Chainsaw carvers will have Cook Forest buzzing
Unleash your inner lumberjack Sept. 12-15 at the Chainsaw Carvers’ Round-Up. The Cook Forest Sawmill Center for the Arts will be buzzing (literally) with the sound of 16 carvers transforming logs into surprisingly detailed works of art. Live carving will be featured each day, along with auctions of the newly...
Las Vegas is getting a millennial makeover
Of all the ways to burn through cash in Las Vegas, zip lining 12 stories above the throngs at the outdoor mall known as LINQ Promenade may be the most thrilling. Next to hunting down zombies in a virtual reality game, seeing Lady Gaga in concert or hanging out at...
A region in Italy will pay you $27,000 to live there
Finding cheap housing is one thing, but there’s a region of Italy that will pay you to live there. Molise, a mostly mountainous region of southern Italy, has been having issues with keeping residents around. According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, more than 9,000 people have left since...
Travel tip: AAA statistics say running red lights a common habit
Are you really in such a hurry? The latest AAA Foundation Traffic Safety Culture Index says about a third of drivers surveyed said they blew through a red light in the past 30 days. Recent data shows that more than two people are killed every day in the U.S. by...
At some airports, your face is your ID. Is your privacy at risk?
Every day in airports across America, travelers confront facial recognition technology. It probably saves time. Federal officials say it’s making us safer. And for the millions whose mobile phones already recognize faces, this would seem nothing new. But how does old-fashioned privacy square with all these head shots and database...
Travel tip: Bean soup festival celebrates humble-but-hearty dish
There’s a festival for just about everything, including the humble-but-hearty bowl of bean soup. The 128th McClure Bean Soup Festival and Fair is set for Sept. 8-14 in the Snyder County community of about 900. The festival has its roots in an 1883 gathering of local Civil War veterans, who...
Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, ‘The Waltons’ legacy lives on
Deep in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, miles from any multi-lane highway (or any straight road, for that matter), through dense forests of Virginia pine and over trickling streams, I heard a familiar voice. “Illi-noa? Why that’s a ways away from he-uh, suh.” The woman at the front...
‘Jelly brains’ emerge in Pennsylvania lakeVideo
Gooey blobs are living in a Monroe County lake. Visitors to Skytop Lodge near Canadensis just might catch a glimpse of these melon-sized bryozoans, or jelly brains, reports WNEP-TV. The colony of moss animals is harmless and indicators of healthy water. They were intriguing to guests on guided nature walks...
Traveling with pets: No-deal Brexit would make it far harder
All across Europe, families and couples on vacation are seamlessly crossing borders with their beloved dog, cat or even ferret, thanks to the European Union Pet Passport scheme. Now, as a no-deal Brexit looms as a possibility for Britain, free pet travel is under threat. If the U.K. leaves the...
Travel tip: Use common sense to avoid the ‘ugly American’ label
Want to blend in with the locals while traveling abroad? Here are a few tips for avoiding the dreaded “ugly American” stereotype: • Leave the athletic wear, sneakers, fanny packs, white socks and sandals at home. • Learn a few essential phrases in the language of the country you’re visiting....
Thomas Edison and Henry Ford: The original American road-trippers
Author Jeff Guinn of Fort Worth, Texas, has written acclaimed biographies about some really bad dudes: Charles Manson, Jim Jones and Clyde Barrow. And, oh yeah, the guys at the O.K. Corral. To be fair, Guinn is also the author of “The Autobiography of Santa Claus,” which launched his career...
Tourist may have brought measles to Southern California
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A New Zealand teenager who visited Disneyland and other Southern California tourist spots last week brought along more than just her luggage. She brought measles. Public health officials in Los Angeles and Orange counties issued a warning Friday that people may have been exposed to the...
TSA: What not to bring on a planeVideo
From hammers to hatchets, miniature baseball bats to tire irons, camping forks to cat-eye knuckles, Transportation Security Administration agents have seen it all. And agents have probably confiscated it as well. Lisa Farbstein, a spokesperson for the TSA, said as the number of travelers increases, so does the number of...
Travel tip: Living history train ride portrays Civil War clash
Experience the thrills and chills of a Civil War-era skirmish aboard a train on a Northern Central Railway Steam Into History trip. Five Great Southern Train Raid excursions will depart the station in New Freedom, York County, on Aug. 24-25 for a living history ride featuring Union and Confederate soldiers...
‘Chernobyl’ miniseries sends curious tourists to Lithuania
An HBO miniseries featuring Soviet-era nuclear nightmares has sparked global interest in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and boosted tourism in Lithuania. The Baltic country, which served as the filming location for “Chernobyl,” has become a destination of so-called atomic tourism since the program aired earlier this year. At Ignalina nuclear...
Security screener at NY airport fired after slipping ‘you ugly’ note to passengerVideo
A two-word note has gotten a New York airport security worker canned after it was given to a passenger. Neal Strassner, who says he regularly travels through the Greater Rochester International Airport, told NBC News that a security guard handed him a torn piece of paper with “You ugly!!!” scribbled...
Virgin Galactic reveals futuristic outpost for space tourism
UPHAM, N.M. — Spaceport America is no longer just a shiny shell of hope that space tourism would one day launch from this remote spot in the New Mexico desert. The once-empty hangar that anchors the taxpayer-financed launch and landing facility has been transformed into a custom-tailored headquarters where Virgin...
Erie Canal boating rivals vaunted European river cruises
Some folks dream of riding along canals in Europe, but we can do the same thing much closer to home. Two of my friends and I navigated a 41-foot packet boat for a round-trip voyage of 88 miles on the Erie Canal from Macedon, N.Y., near Rochester, to Holley, N.Y....
Travel tip: Ohio town hosts ‘Shawshank’ anniversary celebration
Fans of “The Shawshank Redemption” are invited to a 25th anniversary celebration from Aug. 16-18 in Mansfield, Ohio, where the classic prison break movie was filmed around the old Ohio State Reformatory. Cast members including Bob Gunton (Warden Norton) will attend, along with director/screenwriter/producer Frank Darabont and Turner Classic Movies...
Staycation destination: Westmoreland Heritage Trail
The Westmoreland Heritage Trail offers cyclists a chance to see the county’s natural beauty and rich history, all while getting some exercise. While a section connecting Export and Delmont has yet to be completed — that section presents the difficult problem of how to safely cross Route 66 — with...
Massive tarantula migration to start this month in ColoradoVideo
Why do thousands of tarantulas cross the road? To get to the side where their mates live. The annual spider migration is about to commence in southeast Colorado and Highway 109 south of La Junta is a good place to watch, according to the town’s tourism team. Large populations of...
