Summer Restaurant Weeks – Cheap Eats, Yummy Treats

Indulge yourself in a delicious, relaxing, inexpensive meal this summer and you may not feel so bad about not being away on vacation.  Restaurant Weeks have traditionally been held during slow traffic weeks in the middle of winter, but this year with the slow economy,  they are springing up all across the country right in the middle of summer.  What a great reason to head into the city for an amazing meal and some R&R.  Here’s a glimpse at cities hosting Restaurant Weeks this summer:

Super travel mag, Budget Travel has announced it’s First Annual Restaurant Month.  Participating restaurants wil offer promotional meals for the entire month of June!  Check out the list of participating Restaurant Month venues from New England to California.

New York Restaurant Week – July 12-31, 2009
Boston Restaurant Week – August 9-21, 2009 (weekends excluded)
Providence Restaurant Week – July 12-25, 2009
Bethlemem PA Restaurant Week – June 21-27, 2009
Houston Restaurant Week – August 10-23, 2009
Madison Wisconsin Restaurant Week – July 26-31, 2009
Palm Springs Restaurant Week – May 31 – June 19, 2009

Bon Appetit!

Unique West Coast Inns and B&Bs

We recently learned about Unique Inns.com, an amazing site for finding impressive and off-the-beaten-path lodgings in the Pacific Northwest and California. Browsing through the list of inns, boutique hotels and bed and breakfasts will tantalize your senses.  These lodgings offer exquisite settings, inspired dining and relaxed elegance.  Click through to the homepage and watch the slide show of their distinctive properties- you’ll be packing your bags for a west coast romantic rendezvous in no time.

Unique Inns was the first Innkeeping organization to form in North America.  The member properties are all independently owned and dedicated to providing exceptional travel experiences.  Be sure to visit their Specials page for all the latest deals and my favorite, the Inspired Cuisine page to see what all the trendy chefs are preparing and to clip a recipe or two.  I can’t wait to plan another trip to the west coast just to stay in one of these amazing properties!

The picture in this post is from the webpage of the Casa Laguna Inn, one of the member Unique Inns.

Don’t Drive in Austria or Switzerland Without Your Road Tax Stamp Sticker

There are big fines for drivers in Austria and Switzerland who don’t have a Vignette Sticker (road tax stamp for driving on motorways and expressways) – so vacationers with rental cars beware!  Thanks go to Luda Kirk for sharing a painful tale of being fined in Austria for not having the proper sticker.  And you thought getting a speeding ticket was infuriating – read this:

“While driving between Germany and Italy I happened upon a service oasis outside Hohenems on the E43.  Before I was aware I was flagged down by an official looking gentlemen holding a small stop sign standing on the roadside.  He politely notified me that I was driving on Austrian roads without the proper permit.  Read more

Join The Mile High Dating Club

How far are you willing to go to find a perfect mate? Air New Zealand is betting that several hundred travelers will be on board for its first ever Matching Making Flight that departs Los Angeles on October 13, 2009.  Adventurous singles who purchase roundtrip tickets on The Match Making Flight will be treated to a pre-boarding party at the LAX gate, in-flight food, drinks, entertainment and games, and tickets to a grand Match Making Ball in Auckland, New Zealand on October 17th.  The ball will be attended by Air New Zealand passengers as well as local Kiwis (as New Zealanders call themselves).  It’s bound to be an hysterical journey!

Roundtrip airfare starts at $780, and well priced packages are available for hotel stays in Auckland.  In anticipation of the buzz and curiosity about this new concept in blind dating, a social networking site has been created at TheMatchMakingFlight.com - check it out for all the romantic details.

This promises to be the most blind dating fun Downunder since the Aussie favorite “Desperate and Dateless Ball” ended last year!  And if you’re wondering just how cheeky the Kiwis are – you’ve got to see their filming of the “Nothing To Hide” video ad.

Another Incredible Deal – This Time to Ireland

Time to start planning a family trip to Ireland!  How does 6 nights in a 5-Star 19th Century Manor Resort, roundtrip airfare, plus a full-size rental car with unlimited mileage for $499 sound? – Incredible, am I right?

The folks at Sceptre Tours have put together this family friendly package for travelers to Ireland from November 1 – Feb 15 (with some holiday blackout dates in between).  Accommodation is at the famed Adare Manor Resort in Limerick (voted #1 European Resort by readers of Conde Nast Traveler).  The resort features a top tier golf course, a luxury spa and lots of dining options.  Plus you’ll love strolling through the very picturesque Adare Village, filled with friendly pubs and welcoming restaurants.  The pricing is based on four travelers sharing a 2 bedroom townhouse on the 840 acre estate.  Included flights depart from Boston or New York, with other airports available at slightly higher prices.  Departures are available for summer and fall dates at marginally higher prices as well.  AND you just know there’s some fine print to read (like the line about air taxes – which are additional).  You’ll need to read all the terms and conditions on the Sceptre Tours website.

For those of you looking for a stay closer to Dublin, have a peak at Sceptre Tours package for $699 ppqo that includes 6 nights at the very beautiful Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt, along with roundtrip flights and rental car.

Ireland is even friendlier in the off season – which makes these trips even more of a great value!

Where To Find Discounted Vacation Rentals

Deals buttons are suddenly popping up all over vacation rental sites as vacation home owners slash their prices for the summer season.  If you’re looking for a great vacation home, villa, or condo to rent this summer, be sure to scan the ‘deals’ pages first.  We found deals buttons on VacationHomeRentals.com, HomeAway.com, OwnerDirect.com, VacationRentals.com and Interhome, to name a few!!

Become A Tour Director And Travel The World For Free

Let’s be honest, we’ve all sat in a tour bus at one time or another and thought, “I could do this…and it looks like fun”! Imagine being paid to travel, to tour the world’s most memorable sites, making new friends all along the way, and then there are the tips at the end – brilliant!  Could this be your new career as you downsize and simplifying your life?  Read on for some tips about what it takes to be a great (and well-paid) Tour Director.

First off, let’s discuss the difference between a Tour Director and a Tour Guide.  A Tour Director customarily greets a tour group at the airport and accompanies them throughout the length of their tour.  (For Instance, on a 2 week tour of China, the Tour Director might meet the group in San Francisco and accompany them throughout China, leaving the group again in San Francisco).  Think of a Tour Director as an official escort for the tour.  A Tour Guide escorts a group to a particular location, historic site, or performance, explains all about the site, it’s history, and other pertinent information.  Tour Guides generally stay with a group for one day or even part of a day.  (This same China Tour might have 10 different Tour Guides who join the group for one day at a new site, relate all the history and significance of the site and then leave the group in the hands of the Tour Director).  Consider a Tour Guide to be a subject matter expert.

So, assuming it’s the Tour Director’s job that has peeked your interest, what skills do you need (other than the fact that you “like people and love to travel”?  Read more

Stay In A Billion Dollar Resort For A C-Note!

I’m sure this economy was not what the developers had in mind when the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas was designed (by the group that built Wynn, The Mirage, Caesars Palace and others).   After investing a cool BILLION dollars (hard to even imagine) the sprawling resort opened to the public in early March.  As visitor numbers to Las Vegas have dramatically dropped, so have the prices.  Budget savvy travelers can stay in this over-the-top swish resort for just over $100 per night.  (I did a quick check on Orbitz and came up with a price of $102.99 per night in mid-June.)  Here are some of the features you get for your hundred bucks!

• The resort covers 90 acres of land on the southeast corner of St. Rose Parkway and Las Vegas Blvd with dramatic views of the Vegas skyline.
• The 390 guest rooms and suites are all over-sized with all the amenities you could want; plush mattresses, Bose sound system, iPod docking station, 42″ flat screen TV and spa-like bathrooms.
• Nearly all rooms have a beautiful skyline views.
• Nine restaurants and five destination bars will have you grazing through the resort.
• An enormous gaming area including 1,900 slots, a large poker room, table games of every description and the M Race & Sports Book betting area where you can wager on NASCAR and other top sports events.
• A world-class Spa Mio to be pampered to your heart’s content.
• An expansive Piazza where you can watch live concerts and rock out beside the luxurious pool.

  Sounds like a bargain to me!!!

PS – The hotel also charges a resort fee of $25 per night that includes a complimentory airport transfer and shopping transportation, free wifi, free local and long distance phone service and more.  Visit the M website for all the finer details.

Purchase Venice Tickets in Advance – Avoid The Lines

Venice Connected is a  new site that has been launched by the City of Venice to help tourists purchase services in advance of their arrival. Purchases can be made online with a credit card up to 3 days prior to arrival – although discounts are available for purchases made 15 – 7 days prior to a visit.  Services offered include passes for public transporation, museum entry, toilets, car parking, WiFi access and airport transfers.  Pay a visit to the website for a full description of services offered – and take an instant visit to Venice by viewing their well placed Webcams.

See Columbus’ Replica Ships The Nina And The Pinta This Summer

The Columbus Foundation has lovingly constructed replica sailing ships of Columbus’ famed vessels the Nina and the Pinta (also known as the Santa Clara).  The caravel ship Nina has been acclaimed as the most historically accurate recreation in modern times.

This summer the two ships will sailing in tandem as a ‘sailing museum’, visiting ports all along the eastern seaboard.  A few years ago I caught a glimpse of The Nina at sea – we were aboard a cruise ship far out in the Atlantic and came within sight of the ship.  Magical is all I can say – we were aboard a towering modern cruiseliner and here was a tiny bobbing ship making it’s way.  To think brave seamen took to the oceans in these compact vessels is truly amazing and gut renching to think about.  The two ships will be touring as a ‘moving museum’ this summer.  They began their current journey in February when the ships departed from San Diego, CA.  After transiting the Panama Canal, their planned stops bring them to ports in Florida, North Carolina, Delaware, New York, Michigan, and finally Chicago.  For a full schedule of ports the ships will visit and the dates, visit the website TheNina.com.  This is a fabulous living history lesson to bring the whole family to.

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