Heat “dome” descends on mid atlantic region: what are the coolest places to visit this summer?

by McLean Robbins on

What’s hot for summer? Well, everywhere. The predicted heat index for Friday in Washington, D.C. is a miserable 116 degrees. According to ABC News, 22 people have already died as a result of this natural phenomenon and this temperature spike could last weeks.

Sitting in the air conditioning all summer just won’t do.

Thankfully for us, the folks over at MyWeather.com have come up with the seven “coolest” cities to visit this summer. These domestic cities have average July high temperatures of 81 degrees and below, as well as an array of attractions, activities and other amenities that make them desirable vacation spots.

Breckenridge, Colorado – Average July High: 73 Degrees F

What’s cool about it: This winter wonderland is more than just a ski town boasting 300 days of sunshine annually with activities to keep you busy all year long. Breckenridge Fun Park features scenic gondola and ski lift rides – two miles high – along with plenty of hiking, whitewater rafting, and picturesque views of the Continental Divide.

[Flickr via Ed Yourdon]

Upper Peninsula, Michigan – Average July High: 73 Degrees F
What’s cool about it: With more than 150 waterfalls, 40 lighthouses, and a terrain that’s perfect for camping, boating, fishing and other outdoor activities, Upper Peninsula boasts 1,700 miles of shoreline along three of the nation’s five Great Lakes. Want to be adventurous? Try taking a glass-bottom shipwreck boat tour.

San Francisco, California – Average July High: 68 Degrees F
What’s cool about it: Besides being home to Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Ghirardelli Chocolate Co., San Francisco has the coolest daily summer temperatures among major U.S. cities. In fact, a popular quote (incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain) notes: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” While wine country and Fisherman’s Wharf are popular tourist destinations, the Monterey peninsula is a less traveled side trip. Though it may be summer, be sure to bring plenty of layers!

Jackson Hole, Wyoming – Average July High: 81 Degrees F
What’s cool about it: Breathtaking views, national park access and a whitewater rafting mecca – that’s Jackson Hole. If a leisurely float down the river is more your speed, you can do that, too. Grand Teton and Yellowstone Park offer great hiking, climbing and water activities, with unparalleled photo opportunities. Wyoming‘s daytime temperatures run in the 70s and 80s in the summer, but the air cools quickly after sundown and humidity is low year-round.

Portland, Maine – Average July High: 79 Degrees F
What’s cool about it: With the Atlantic coast and Appalachian Mountains only a 45-minute drive apart, Portland has the best of both worlds. There’s also fine cuisine in between as Bon Appetit recently dubbed Portland the “Foodiest Small Town in America.” With tours to help you sample culinary delights by foot or by trolley, Maine‘s seaside climate creates cool breezes and temperatures which are comfortable and with low humidity all summer long.

Olympic National Park, Washington – Average July High: 73 Degrees F
What’s cool about it: Located on Washington‘s Olympic Peninsula, this million-acre national park encompasses three major ecosystems ranging from rain forest to snow-topped mountain peaks. Here you can walk, backpack, camp, or fish, as well as participate in one of the many ranger-led programs. Summers are fair and warm with highs between 65-75 degrees. Little rain falls during the summer months, although the low valleys are foggy in the morning.

Chena Hot Springs Resort, Alaska – Average July High: 73 Degrees F
What’s cool about it: Located 60 miles from Fairbanks, Chena Hot Springs features legendary healing mineral waters, a renewable energy tour, and a working dog mushing kennel. To keep cool you can also visit the Aurora Ice Museum. Maintained by world ice art champions Steve and Heather Brice, the museum began as the only ice hotel in the Americas. Summer days are breezy, dry and warm – perfect for boating, fishing, and other outdoor activities. The area has less than 12 inches of annual rainfall.
Where did they miss? Is your hometown or favorite vacation spot a “cool” place to go this summer? Leave suggestions for heat-ravaged mid-atlantans in the comments below.

Is Dhani Jones the most interesting man in the world?

by Justin Delaney on

We have all seen the commercial. “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.” He’s called the most interesting man in the world. But, beyond the LCD panels in your television, and the din of late night TV, the man is just an actor in an especially resonant role, in a very successful advertising series, mythologized with strange deeds and characteristics. His blood smells of cologne, and he despises gyms. After all, running in place will never get you the same results as running from a lion.

It is all hilarious nonsense.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Dhani Jones may just be the most interesting man in the world. Like the Dos Equis demigod, Dhani spends much of his time defying conventions and curating his own personal mythology. He has conducted orchestras, played a decade at middle linebacker in the NFL, scrimmaged with baby elephants, swam with sharks in Australia, flown a Cessna through a thunderstorm, and even carried a suffering man on his shoulder through the Himalayas to safety at a mountain camp.

He has also played a washboard bass on a corner in New York city for tips, and was once arrested for literally dancing too much in the streets of Miami. For Dhani, life is a journey, an extremely interesting one.Dhani Jones also travels, a lot. Bring up the topic and he leans in a little closer, his eyes light up, and he spouts off philosophies culled from the epic lore of a vagabond sportsman. His eccentric convictions peel back the stereotypical jock persona, revealing that ballers can do more than make plays and cash. They also start philanthropic bow tie companies, write books about life, and travel.

Gadling Labs sat down with Dhani at ‘inoteca in New York to discuss his life, his travels, his partnership with Bing Travel, and his new book The Sportsman.

You recently partnered with Bing Travel. What was your reasoning behind this partnership? In what facets of this service do you truly believe?

There are too many decisions in life. Sometimes, someone has to be the decision maker for you. I wear all black because I don’t want to have to go into the closet and make decisions. At restaurants, 9 times out of 10, I will have the server or someone else at the table choose for me. It’s so much easier. At the same time, you are experiencing the perspective of someone else.

That is why I partnered with Bing: they make decisions for you. So many people think that it is difficult to travel because they can’t find a flight within their budget, or can’t find a hotel room in their budget, or they just can’t figure out where to go. Some people are not to the point of being adventurous enough on their own, so they need helpful coercion. Bing makes it easier to travel with advice and discounts as it pertains to travel. It helps you surf the world.

It also takes the thinking out of the situation. Tools like the Price Predictor pulls historical data with statistical modeling to assist in telling you the right time to buy a flight.

Speaking of flights, have you ever had an especially terrifying one?

I don’t get scared during flights. When there is turbulence, I get kind of happy. I like to look around and think, why do these people not have confidence in the pilots? They have family, friends, and they are in control.

I fly planes, and the worst flight I have ever had was one where I was the pilot. I was in Pennsylvania in a 4-seater Cessna 182, and we were flying, and I was checking out property in Pennsylvania. I was taking one of my practice flights, and all of a sudden I see this storm, but we just keep circling properties. The clouds started getting real dark, and my copilot decided it was time to head back. All of a sudden, we pull this turn, and I see him reach over and tighten his belt down. I ‘m like, oh hell no. The storm was on us. We started dropping 50 feet down and back up, sideways. We finally landed and golf ball sized hail started coming down. If that had happened in the sky, that would have been it. That was my worst flight, and I was at the sticks.

You have been all over the world, what were some of the most racially uncool places you have visited?

Australia. I always knew there was some dissension between the Aborigines and the Australians, but when I arrive in a country I wipe the slate clean. There was an incident where people acted like I didn’t know what sand and water were. People say these things to me, and if I respond negatively, it upholds the negative image. But if I respond in a positive way, then I can change people’s minds. Australia and Switzerland were both a little bit difficult. Everywhere else is pretty cool.

I quickly dismiss the sadness and ignorance of it all and leave it to the past.

Some of these experiences are why I travel. There is ignorance on both sides. In Switzerland, I didn’t feel like they liked me. In Cambodia, they thought I was Barack Obama. Different places have their own ways of things and it’s our responsibility as travelers to make our own introductions. I am like a diplomat of travel.

My favorite travel quote is “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” As someone who majored in “self-representation” at Michigan, what do you value more, your academic education, or what you have learned from traveling?

Michigan allowed me to understand the world from a diverse perspective, enhancing and encouraging my appetite for travel. I could never say one more than the other. I go to places like Thailand and China and always meet people from Michigan. Michigan is an international school, and they really encourage you to travel the world. You know what I mean. My parents introduced me to travel, Michigan shaped me, the Travel Channel and Bing allowed me the opportunity to really travel.

Aside from the clothes on your back, what are five things you always travel with?

1. a pen and a pad
2. a camera – Canon g11 or 5D, depending on the length of the trip
3. a bowtie – very versatile (Dhani runs a philanthropic bow tie cause)
4. bathing suit – always have to be ready to swim
5. mobile device/phone – for the apps (like Bing travel app) and pictures of family

In your book you mention an especially uncomfortable scene in a locker room in Switzerland. What are some of your other uncomfortable travel experiences?

With every country you travel to, the first day is always a little uncomfortable. You are adapting to speech, trying to get bearings, trying to figure out who to meet up with, and everything falls into place once you start walking. Walking is the key. And opening up to people.

In Russia, we (the film crew for Dhani Tackles the Globe) got caught in passport control for about 7 hours. We went from Cambodia to China to Russia, and after paying a baggage fee in China, Russia also tried to charge us some exorbitant baggage fee. Just stuck in customs, they didn’t want to let us in. It was like that Tom Hanks movie, The Terminal.

Do you ever miss home, or family?

When I’m gone, I’m gone. When I am overseas I am full on into it. I am the country. When I am in Croatia, I am Croatian. When I’m in South Africa, I am South African. When I’m in Brazil, I am Brazilian. I even change around my accent to talk like the locals, eat the food. I ask people how they talk to different types of people: parents, girls, friends. How do they go out, and how do they meet girls. How do they order food. I try to change everything, and just try to find my way through.

I am not thinking of home. I live here now. My hotel is home.


With an excellent career in the NFL, doing the show was very risky. One mix up and your NFL career could be compromised, costing you millions of dollars. And yet here you were competing in some of the most dangerous sports in the world. Did any of it make you extremely nervous?

When we got green-lit for the show, and they told me the first sport I would play was going to be rugby, I thought to myself, shit. I didn’t have a contract. I was in the middle of re-negotiations. I have the opportunity to travel, but I have to play rugby. And I was going to play rugby against professionals. What do I do?

There is no way I am going to back down. I am going to play rugby and I’m going to be all right. Something has to go well. Right?

Then, I get on this horse (in England, during the rugby episode).

I love horseback riding, and when I had to jump, I thought to myself, I don’t know what’s going to happen now. If anything, it’s going to be a telltale sign of why I should be doing what I’m doing.

Falling down off of the horse, I am thinking, I hope I survive this because I really want to keep doing this show.

And I land. I get stepped on by the horse. I look up. Take a moment. I’m okay. From that moment on, I knew that I was supposed to do the show.

Also, in Spain, getting hit in the face with a surfboard – not a fiber glass surfboard, but a Styrofoam one. If I got hit with a real surfboard, my whole jaw would have been broken.

Those situations gave me an indication that I was supposed to do the show. Also the last three years in football, I have played in every game and made every practice. Rather than hurting me, it has allowed me to keep my body fresh. When football started each season, I was not in a lulled state, I was in an excited state. A lot of people are always doing the same thing all the time. As you travel and play different sports and meet different people, your life becomes more fulfilling and fresh, because you never know what’s around the next corner. When you know what’s around the next corner, and you know what you are coming to do each day, there is a complacency factor. I hate to become complacent.

The equation is, do what your passionate about, find a way to incorporate what your passionate about into what you do every day, and you will be alright.

I wrote the Sportsman to allow others a little more insight into why I travel with so much on the line. I don’t have millions of dollars on the line; that is not my thought process. What I do have on the line is, if I am not out there doing it, who is?

Which sport was the most challenging on a technical level during your experiences filming Dhani Tackles the Globe? Also, what sports could you play professionally other than football?

Jai alai is the most difficult. The ball is this big (3/4 baseball size), it goes 200mph, and you have to catch it in a curved basket. If you blink, the ball has passed. If you blink twice, the ball has passed and hit you in the back. If that ball hits you in the back of the head, you are dead.

Other than football, the top three sports I would play professionally are sailing, cricket, and rugby, in that order.

Martin Johnson is the coach of the English rugby team. He would definitely give me a tryout. I would like to play cricket. Sailing is great because you make money, travel, and see the world with someone helping you out.

But, my life is from the middle linebacker position. Playing middle linebacker is equated to seeing the world. From my perspective of travel, you have to have a wide vision. Strong side or weak side has one responsibility. At the mike (middle), you are looking everywhere, seeing the entire field. Looking at multiple different places, interacting with multiple groups of people, it is just like travel. You can’t have a narrow mind and just focus on one thing or one responsibility. My life is from the middle linebacker position.

Now that Dhani Tackles the Globe is cancelled, do you have any television aspirations other than playing on Sunday?

I would love to do another travel show. If I could travel for the rest of my life and tell everybody how amazing it is, I would do that for the rest of my life.

Go on some crazy adventures like travel around the world in a sailboat. Sail the Amazon, or the Nile, or go horseback riding from Montana to Mexico, or drive down to Tierra del Fuego.

Another thing is a talk show. I would love to have a talk show where we give athletes a platform to discuss what they care about and what they are doing. Social media has afforded us the opportunity, and people want to know more about these guys than just the sport side. I think there is a definite spot.

I have dedicated my life to travel so that other people can have the opportunity to understand what it is to travel, where to go, and how to get there. And to just learn, that ultimately is the best type of education to ever be afforded.

After football, you mentioned maybe being a pediatric neurosurgeon in your book. What do you have planned?

I will be the first black James Bond. I am well on my way. I scuba dive. I have a Morgan Aero super sport. Next? I have a 63 mini cooper. I have all British cars. I can fight. I shoot guns and am a sharpshooter. Next? I wear a tuxedo rather well, and I rock the bow tie even better. What’s next?

So basically, a lot of the things you have done have built your resume up to be the next James Bond.

I am dead serious about being the first black James Bond. Once Daniel Craig is done, I want next. I know I can’t be 230 lbs, but I can get down to 215. I’m ready to go. I think the world is ready.

So, is Dhani Jones the most interesting man in the world? Maybe or maybe not. But at age 33, he is well on his way. Check out his blog over at Bing Travel. His book, The Sportsman, was released last month.

photography by Justin Delaney

New website promises Epic Thrills for adventure travelers

by Kraig Becker on

Travelers looking for great deals on their next journey have a new tool at their disposal today, as a website has just launched that promises to be the Jetsetter of adventure travel. The new site, fittingly called Epic Thrills, will offer members substantial discounts on adventure travel opportunities from some of the top companies in the world.

For now, the site is members-only and requires an invite to join, but once you’re in the club, you’ll receive exclusive access to some excellent travel bargains. The creators of Epic Thrills have worked closely with top adventure travel companies to offer fantastic deals to ET members, and each week they’ll put another amazing trip on sale. That trip will be available for 7-14 days at a discount of up to 30% off the regular price.

And what exactly can members expect out of Epic Thrills? Their very first deal, which goes on sale later today, offers some insights. The first trip available is an 11-day mountain biking excursion through the Himalaya hosted by Pedlars Pub & Grille, one of the absolute best adventure cycling companies in the world. While on this two-wheeled journey through Nepal, travelers will stay in rustic tea houses while riding more than 200 miles of trail with the stunning backdrop of Annapurna to spur them on. According to the Epic Thrills website, future trips could include heli-skiing in Alaska, surfing in Costa Rica, rafting in Patagonia, and a whole lost more.

Epic Thrills is the brainchild of founder Allen Burt, who came up with the idea when he was left frustrated by the inability to find good, compelling adventure opportunities online. An avid adventure traveler himself, Burt has launched the site to not only offer great deals on adventure options to others, but to also create an online destination to help them discover new opportunities that they didn’t even know existed.

Checkout the site yourself at EpicThrills.com

Booking award tickets can be frustrating, unless you’re a pro

by Chris Owen on

Collecting reward points is often the easy part of the whole deal while redeeming them can be challenging. If we remember when and where to gather points though, they rack up fast. Still, when it comes to using them, the whole process may seem complicated and we may wonder if we used those points to our best advantage. One way to be sure is by using a professional, someone who lives and breathes the whole process and is passionate about it.

“Booking award tickets can be incredibly frustrating, yet if done correctly, incredibly rewarding” says PointsPros.com, an award travel booking service devoted to helping clients save “time, miles, frustration, and potentially thousands of dollars.”

Ben Schlappig of PointsPros is a college student, travel consultant and avid points collector who also writes the travel blog One Mile At A Time. Spending about a third of his nights in hotels, flying around 300,000 miles and visiting over 40 countries each year, Schlappig’s blog is a treasure chest of travel deals, bargains and shared experiences often not found elsewhere.

“After we analyze the best approach to take for booking your award, we find the award availability, assist you with transferring points as necessary, make the actual award booking, and select the best available seats for you” says PointPro’s easy to navigate website.

Leaving the complicated fee structures to the airlines. PointsPros pricing is simple, $150 for the first passenger on any type of award then $100 for each additional passenger on the same general trip. If they can’t find you a trip matching your specifications, there is no charge.

“Whether you’ve tried to book an award and the airlines have told you there is no availability for your desired trip, or you just want to make the booking process easier, let us put our expertise to work for you. You worked hard to earn those miles, so you shouldn’t have to work hard to redeem them.”

We ran across Ben following up on a story Gadling did about how to free frequent flyer miles by purchasing dollar coins a couple months ago.

“Just last week I came back from a trip from Australia and Singapore and Malaysia all in first class, just on miles,” Florida-based Schlappig says, adding “partly thanks to the dollar coin program.”

Is this service for everyone? Absolutely.

Those who don’t travel all that much can often benefit from having a professional take a look at this side of their travel plans. If the majority of ones travel points on a given airline are racked up buying non-air goods and services, odds are those people can use the help.

Savvy travelers with time on their hands can work through the process on their own. If for no other reason than to save time by having someone else do it, using a award travel booking service can do just that.

Even Road Warriors who sometimes feel like they know more about a particular reward program than the people on the other end of the phone when trying to redeem points can gain from occasionally letting a neutral professional dive in and see what they can do.

Services for booking award tickets like this are not a substitute for a good travel agent or booking travel however we have successfully done it in the past. But wise travelers know considering another element to incorporate into a total travel planning program is worth a look.

Flickr photo by Larry Johnson

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Cheap summer travel deals, there are a few still out there

by Chris Owen on

Summer is peak season at popular vacation options from U.S. National Parks to theme parks and cruises. Its the time when many travelers are off school and have the time to go which normally drives up pricing. Experts in summertime travel say not to write off the possibility of a late summer vacation that won’t break the bank.

Save 50% Off Your Vacation by Taking a Mini-Vacation says Best Travel Deals Tips in their Last Minute Summer Travel Tips & Mini-Vacations.

“One way to save on your last minute vacation is to take a shorter vacation or a mini-vacation. It can cut the cost of your trip in half, especially if you do a road trip to a destination not more than a half-day drive from your home. Mini-vacations don’t require weeks of planning but still provide the same basic essentials of any trip: the chance to recharge your batteries, get your mind off of work and take a break from your regular routine. Also, when you’re traveling with the kids, look for a hotel that is reliable, kid-friendly and has all the amenities they need, like the Hilton Garden Inn. Between now and September 6th, with the HHonors ‘Great Getaway Promotion’ you get 20% off the Bed ‘N Breakfast rates plus get a delicious cooked-to-order breakfast for up to four adults staying in the same room. And kids 12 and under eat breakfast for free.”

Cruise vacations still available and they don’t have to make us fat

“Back in the day, cruise travelers came home with more than souvenirs – taking a cruise usually meant bringing home an extra 10 pounds,” said Dwain Wall, Senior Vice President and General Manger of CruiseOne, the nation’s leading cruise retailer. “Today’s travelers have asked for healthy and fun activities to choose from while onboard and the cruise lines have responded. The best part? Many of these offerings are included in the price of the cruise.”

Carnival Cruise Lines is having a “cash back” sale where they load up your on-board spending account with up to $150. They may not lower the price, in fact it may cost more to get this offer, but cash to spend on board a Carnival Cruise is always a welcome addition to any cruise vacation. Watch prices though, only certain price codes qualify. The promotion is available with virtually all of the line’s three- to nine-day cruises to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexico and Alaska departing between August and April from a variety of North American homeports. Terms & Conditions

Some other sources to check
There are a number of online sources that specialize in last-minute travel and are worthy of a click or two.

LastMinuteTravel.com has portfolio of 16,000 plus Undercover hotels in 2,500 major cities
worldwide. By keeping the name of the hotel quiet until after one books, LastMinuteTravel.com is able to dramatically drop the rates across every hotel providing even better last minute prices, in advance.

FunJet Vacations lets us save up to 60% on last-minute packaged deals like a 3-night stay in Cozumel, Mexico with airfare starting at $399 per person. Packaged tours, once looked down on by seasoned travelers, are making a comeback as travel agencies are finding a new value-oriented market for their services.

Consumer Reports, the people who have no horse in the race for your travel dollars, offer ten great tips for saving on travel. My personal favorite:

#5. Negotiate with hotels

“Average room rates have been falling in vacation spots such as Orlando, Fla., and the Caribbean. Bad news for hoteliers can be good news for you, so skip Web sites and toll-free lines and contact the property directly. Because many hotels are independently owned or managed, you might have more bargaining power. (Just don’t call in the morning, when guests are checking out.) Haggle for a lower room rate and ask for complimentary breakfast, gym access, or parking. Follow up by e-mail, so you have written confirmation.”

Who really does this? Have you? Share your experience with a comment below please. We would love to know how you did it for an upcoming post “Travel Mercenaries; get the best deal, take no hostages”

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