Best dive bar in the Midwest: Fast Eddie’s Bon Air in Alton, Illinois

by Aaron Hotfelder on

About a thirty minute drive from downtown St. Louis, Fast Eddie’s Bon Air humbly calls itself “The best bar in the Midwest, maybe even the world.” We don’t know about that, but we do know what keeps us coming back: the cheap beer, 99-cent half-pound burgers, and huge peel-and-eat shrimp for 29 cents a pop.

The crowd is as eclectic as the decorations on the wall, from bikers to businessmen and everyone in between– except for those under 18. “There was a sign that said ‘No Kids’ and it got us interested,” a diner said in one Youtube video.

Be on the lookout for a glass display case which holds the shoes of the world’s tallest man, Alton resident Robert Wadlow, who lived from 1918-1940 and stood a whopping 8’11”.

For more on Fast Eddie’s, check out this video hosted by the Food Network’s Alton Brown:

Utah tourism off 10% in 2009, $700 million lost

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Utah isn’t quite the tourist destination it used to be. Last year, the number of visitors to the state fell by a million, and spending declined 10 percent. The recession kept people from rushing to the slopes, according to the state’s 2010 Economic Report to the Governor. Hotel occupancy rates plunged to their lowest level in six years. The number of skiers checking into the state’s 13 resorts fell by 300,000, and more visitors took cars instead of planes.

Tourist spending fell by $700 million in Utah, amounting to $6.2 billion last year, after several consecutive years of growth for the tourism and travel industry, which is one of the state’s major money-makers. Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah, an industry group, told The Associated Press, “People who came out here spent their money differently. The same family of five might have come out – they’ve gotta have that ski vacation and do whatever it takes to get it. Instead of renting three hotel rooms, they squeeze into one or stay at their aunt’s house.”

Even though the green wasn’t flowing as easily, 2009 was still the third best year on record for Utah, but it’s likely to be bumped to #4 by 2010, since a modest increase is expected this year. Rafferty believes the number of skiers coming to Utah will increase by 3 percent, to 4.1 million.

[Photo by Mat_the_W via Flickr]

Former airline employee allegedly robs bank — dressed in his airline uniform

by Scott Carmichael on

Why is it that we never hear stories of smart bank robbers? For some reason, when someone decides to rob a bank, it is usually someone as dumb as a bag of rocks. Take for example 24 year old Deoquisto Dennis.

According to the FBI, this Chicago resident walked into a TCF bank branch on South Cicero Avenue in Burbank, handed the teller a note demanding cash, and threatened to harm if his demands were not met.

Now, most bank robbers use face masks, and dark clothes — they understand that leaving any clues about their identity may screw up their plans of instant wealth. Sadly, Mr. Dennis could not find a suitable bank robbers outfit, so he allegedly put on the uniform he used to wear when he worked for Southwest Airlines.

Imagine a bank robber walking in with a Southwest Airlines sweatshirt and a fluorescent ramp workers vest — can you think of a more useless outfit? Of course, with the whole thing caught on tape, all the cops had to do was take the footage to Midway airport, interview a couple of employees and within hours they had a name.

Dennis has now been charged, and was released under bond with a home confinement, awaiting his next court date. In addition to his TCF Bank heist, he is also a suspect in four other Chicago area bank robberies around the same time.

A description of one of his robberies, along with more photos can be found on the Chicago Bandit tracker site. His “wardrobe mistake” may now end up costing him 20 years of his life.%Gallery-76818%

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Lifelong New Yorkers are unreliable for directions

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Don’t ask New Yorkers for directions. Don’t get me wrong, we’re more than willing to help. But, you could wind up with some bad information. A recent poll of lifelong New Yorkers conducted by New York Pass, an attraction discount card, shows that most of us don’t have the city’s basics nailed down.

[Photo by James Trosh via Flickr]

New device will let you text, twitter from remote places

by Kraig Becker on

The Consumer Electronics Show has been going on in Las Vegas the past few days, with a host of new gadgets and gizmos being announced, including everything from new digital camera, ebook readers, and even 3D LCD TV’s. One product that was announced, and may be of interest to travelers heading to remote places on the planet, is the Earthmate PN-60w, a hand held GPS device from DeLorme and SPOT, that will allow adventurers to more effectively communicate from locations that are not covered by cell service.

The new device pairs one of DeLorme’s GPS units with SPOT’s next generation Satellite Communicator, to send custom message from the backcountry. The Earthmate wil have all the regular features you’d expect from a GPS, including base maps, in this case covering the entire world, navigation, electronic compass, and so on. But it will also wirelessly pair with the Communicator, allowing the user to type text messages and send them to friends and family back home via satellite.

For its part, the Satellite Communicator allows for adventure travelers to call for help, should the need arise, from nearly anywhere on the planet. It also lets the user to share tracking information and custom messages that can easily be interfaced with Twiter, Facebook, Geocaching.com, and SPOT’s own SPOTadventures.com.

The Earthmate PN-60w will be available later this spring, but pricing, for the device and the communications service, have not yet been announced. If DeLorme and SPOT stay true to form however, you can expect global communications to become available and affordable for the average consumer.