Pigeon Forge Winterfest in Tennessee to open with veteran dedication of 5 million lights

by Jessica Festa on

Not sure where to spend the winter this year? Head over to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, for their 22nd annual Pigeon Forge Winterfest. The four month long event will go from November 8, 2011 until February 26, 2012. This year, with the opening day of the festival being near Veteran’s Day, the event will open with a special parade dedicated to veterans as well as a ceremony in Patriot Park that will feature 5 million Winterfest lights.

The origin of Pigeon Forge Winterfest comes from the goal of the town to create activity and tourism in the area during their off-season. Luckily, the festival helps to bring many people to the area during this time and having an off-season is not a problem for Pigeon Forge any longer.

Some of the highlights that event attendees can expect include:

Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas
November 5-Decemeber 30

Not only will this event feature 4 million twinkling lights, it will also be the opening day for “Christmas on Ice” held in Dolly Parton’s Celebrity Theatre. The show will feature the Ice Theater of New York, the country’s leading ice dancing group, as well as singers who will sing Christmas song favorites.

The Titanic Museum Attraction
November 8-December 31

This event marks the actual ship’s centennial throughout 2012. There will be real snow every Friday and Saturday from November 25 to December 12. Attendees can also enjoy an ice carving competition, taking place on January 14, where people will be able to see the artists working with small hand tools as well as chainsaws.

Wilderness Wildlife Week
January 7-January 14

This week is sponsored by the city and includes educational programs about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and other topics pertaining to the outdoors. All activities are free, and include events such as guided hikes, classes, seminars and workshops. Learn about park wildlife, enhance your nature photography skills, or gain knowledge on the sport of fly fishing.

Saddle Up!
February 23-February 26

Also sponsored by the city, this portion of Winterfest is a tribute to the American West. Attendees can expect cowboy poetry, Western music, and an authentic chuckwagon cook-off. Don’t miss this, as Saddle Up! attracts some of Western music’s biggest performers, such as Kent Rollins, Ray Doyle, Saddle Cats, Chuck Pyle, and more.

Most popular cities for celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving

by McLean Robbins on

Monday, known in the United States as the Columbus Day holiday, holds another name in Canada – Canadian Thanksgiving, which means that this is a three-day weekend throughout much of North America.

Thus, Hotwire has compiled the most popular cities for celebrating, based on both room nights booked and total price.

“While Thanksgiving means family time to many, others see this three day weekend as an opportunity to pack a few overnighters and take a short leisure trip to a big city,” said Clem Bason, President of the Hotwire Group. “With popular Canadian cities seeing a dip in business travel over the holiday and the Canadian dollar nearly on par with the US dollar, there are deals abound in both Canada and the US. Travelers should take advantage of the Thanksgiving weekend discounts, and it looks like many of them already are.”

Destination

Average Price on Hotwire

1.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

$86

2.

New York City, New York

$231

3.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

$103

4.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

$99

5.

Chicago, Illinois

$117

6.

Boston, Massachusetts

$166

7.

Las Vegas, Nevada

$106

8.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

$64

9.

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

$93

10.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

$79

Sadly, these trends don’t extend to airfare – flying this weekend appears to be expensive!

White & Church in TriBeCa, New York, serves worm, scorpion, and cricket cocktails

by Jessica Festa on

This past summer, White & Church opened in TriBeCa, New York, as an inventive Italian restaurant with an extensive cocktail list. On the drink menu, not only will you find interesting food-based cocktails such as a Bloody Mary mixed with mussels, as well as nature-inspired libations including a martini made from smoked tree-bark, you will also find cocktails that include bugs.

No more are the days when you can get a drink on the house if you find an insect in your vodka. At White & Church, that insect is actually a garnish.

Some of the bug cocktail options you can sample here, according to Brian Niemietz of the New York Post, include:

  • Summer-This piña-colada style drink is garnished with bamboo (don’t eat) and crickets (eat). Supposedly, they add an element of sweetness to the cocktail.
  • Blue Velvet– This brandy-based libation is a mixture of Sambucca and Créme de Menthe and is topped with a scorpion. Don’t worry, it’s not alive.
  • Why Not– This frozen cocktail is similar to a margarita with the addition of avocado, red pepper, and spicy worms.

Want to see how these cocktails are made for yourself? Check out this video:


Ajungo, the new social network platform just for travelers

by Jessica Festa on

Sick of searching through advice sites and hearing reviews from who only knows? Wish you could connect with other travelers about past or upcoming trips and events? Love social networking but wish you could interact with others in your travel niche? Then there is a brand new social media website just for travelers that brings together all of these platforms into one site.

Ajungo, created by Ben Barton and Steve Shea, is a brand new networking site that allows travelers to connect before, during, and after a trip. Here is how it works:

1) Create a profile and link all of your social networking sites. What this does is allows the site to funnel through your social networking platforms to pull information and funnel it around specific
destinations.

2) Find others who have been to your destination of choice and look through their posted trip or ask them for advice. Or, you can find others who will be in your destination of choice and plan to meet up or travel together.

3) Create your trip canvas, which consists of enabling the sites real-time travel guide feature so that the site can pull your photos and updates while you’re on your trip. This allows other travelers to learn from your experience as well as acts like a blog or trip journal by keeping your trip memories organized and sharing them with friends.

The goal of the site is to make travel more social as well as more comfortable for people going to new destinations. And, if there is any information that you do not want shared, the site will not post it without your permission.

Make connections with travelers, view their trips, find travel buddies, or just interact with others in the travel community. It is all possible on Ajungo.

Young climber falls to his death in the Adirondacks

by Kraig Becker on

A young climber by the name of Matthew Potel was leading a group of college classmates on a hike through the Adirondacks last week when he slipped and fell to his death. Potel, who was the co-president of his university’s outdoors club, was assisting two other hikers past a waterfall when he lost his footing on slick rocks.

The seven-person group, all from Binghamton University in New York, were climbing up Trap Dike, a popular route on Mount Colden, when the accident occurred. That approach is a steep and challenging, non-technical, climb to the top of the 4715-foot peak that can present some challenges to inexperienced hikers. Potel reportedly helped one of his classmates negotiate a particularly tricky section, then turned to assist another when he lost his footing and fell 25-feet. The 22-year old, who was not wearing a helmet, died from an injury to his head.

Potel was an experienced outdoorsman who loved the Adirondack Mountains. In fact, he had recently become a member of the “46ers,” a term given to anyone who has climbed all 46 of the mountains in that range that are at least 4000 feet in height. He had also served as a camp counselor and was majoring in environmental studies.

This is a sad story that underscores the importance of safety in all of our outdoor endeavors. Matthew wasn’t climbing an especially tall or dangerous mountain, and yet he still lost his life while on the trail. According to his father however, this is exactly how the young man would have wanted to go – doing something he loved.

Our condolences to his friends and family.