Five steps to a better Valentine’s Day from Fairmont

by Tom Johansmeyer on

After the toll that 2009 took on your spirit and your body, it’s time for you to commit to a relaxed and steady 2010. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in on board with this and is kicking in some amazing deals through its Willow Stream spa brand, which is available around the world. So, if you’re planning to hit Monte Carlo, Miami or the Mayan Riviera, you’ll have a top-shelf treatment ready and waiting for you. Check out the “Follow Your Heart” spa experiences on tap at 11 Fairmont hotels this Valentine’s Day.

One Heart: This is a Red Ribbon Lips facial upgrade and includes a complimentary Jane Iredale Organic Sugar Lip Scrub treatment that will soften and soothe your lips. Worried about dry, cracked lip kissing? That won’t be a problem after this treatment.

Two Heart: Willow Stream’s Sending You Kisses offer includes a Willow Stream Lip Kit and Lip Definer pencil, which will make softened lips eye-catching — translation: you’ll more likely have the chance to use them.

Three Heart: Enjoy a Heartfelt 90-minute spa experience, an hour of which is side-by-side for couples, with a 30-minute dip in the spa’s oversized whirlpool tubs … complete with champagne.

Four Heart: The Love Me package makes you the center of attention. The solo day at the spa includes a 90-minute experience before noon and a Willow Stream spa bento box lunch.

Five Heart: Willow stream will Love You Forever. On the first day of the month, guests will enjoy enjoy either a 60-minute or 90-minute spa treatment … for an entire year!

Participating resorts include: Fairmont Turnberry Isle (Miami), Fairmont Singapore, Fairmont Scottsdale, Fairmont Le Montreux Place (Switzerland), Fairmont Mayakoba (Mexico), Fairmont Acapulco Princess, Fairmont Banff Springs (Alberta), Fairmont Dubai, Fairmont Southampton (Bermuda), Fairmont Monte Carlo, Fairmont Empress (Victoria, British Columbia).

Change the Trend: Use Your Vacation Days

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Not everyone is as brazen as Vanity Fair’s Graydon Carter. While his publication was in the middle of cutting 5 percent of its staff, he made himself scarce. But, you can do that when you’re the top dog. Most people don’t take vacations when the Grim Reaper is mingling among the cubicles. They’d rather be at their desks, they convince themselves, generating value for shareholders and demonstrating the return their employers get on their salaries. So, instead of going on vacation last year, many doubled down on the business of staying employed, always a priority when the unemployment rate hits double digits.

But, this can wear you down. Consider the factors converging on you: anxiety over your job, a shitty market for getting a new one, having to “do more with less,” survivor’s guilt, longer hours, smaller (or no) raises and bonuses and less appreciation. Now, take away the few days or weeks you take every year to recharge. What do you have left?

It’s a dismal situation, and it would be smart to commit to a vacation this year, especially if you didn’t take one at all in 2009.According to a new study by Right Management, the human resources consulting unit in Manpower, 66 percent of American employees didn’t use all their vacation days last year. Douglas Matthews, president and COO of Right Management was surprised: “We thought it would be about 50 percent.”

Doubtless, this was shaped by more than attempting to appear deeply committed to the job. Consumer spending spent most of 2009 in rough shape, as credit tightened and people repaid debt and held onto their cash in case they fell victim to the layoff trend. Dropping hefty amounts of dough on a trip entailed a financial risk that fewer people were willing to accept last year. Said Matthews, “The cost of taking a vacation is pretty high. He continued, Tons of people feel they don’t have the discretionary spending to take vacation, so they just stay at work.”

Simply staying at home while taking vacation time apparently wasn’t an attractive option. This feeds the other aspect of the dynamic. The notion that not going on vacation shows people how valuable you are was prevalent. Whether it’s a game of toughness among peers or jockeying for favor with the boss, there is a population that thinks it needs to make profound sacrifices to demonstrate its value.

Connie Thanasoulis, career services expert at Vault.com, doesn’t see it this way. “It’s silly to think that giving up vacation is going to make your colleagues think how important you are,” she tells Forbes. “Take your vacation and let them miss you.”

Joan Kane, a Manhattan psychologist, is on board with this thinking, calling vacations “underrated.” She says, “People think they’re fluff. I believe they’re crucial.” In addition to keeping you on an even keel, vacations help you feel like you control your time. Even if this is only a brief sensation, it’s one you should allow your self to feel every now and then.

Kane notes, “On vacation you have no boss to satisfy … “You’re not under constant surveillance.

[Photo via MigrantBlogger]

Papa Gino’s: a Massachusetts pizza that defies substitution

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Massachusetts can be a strange place. It took forever for the major national chains to work their way into the state. I didn’t see a Target or Wal-Mart in my area until I got out of the army in 1999. Tastes and attitudes tend to be more than a tad provincial, so even the chains are usually local. When I left Boston several years ago, I was able to find replacements for just about everything I enjoyed – and was usually able to upgrade. How could I not? I’d moved to Manhattan, which is famous for having everything … except what it doesn’t: Papa Gino’s.

Papa Gino’s is a New England pizza chain. Most of its restaurants are in Massachusetts, though it has a few outlets in northern Connecticut, Rhode Island and southern New Hampshire. It’s the quintessential local chain – it’s big in the area and virtually unknown everywhere else in the country. So, when I knew someone who was heading up to Massachusetts, I asked him to bring back a few slices, which I ate cold the morning after his return.

To the pizza connoisseur, a slice from Papa Gino’s would probably be a disappointment. It isn’t exotic and lacks the character of its local competitors. Ask a Bostonian if he’d walk to the nearest Papa Gino’s or brave the Callahan Tunnel for a pie at Santarpio’s in East Boston, and he’ll have his car keys in his hand. But, expats view the world through different lenses, and a slice from Papa Gino’s is something we just can’t get – making it all the more valuable.

Eaten cold, a slice from Pap Gino’s is at its finest – unless you’re eating it cold and you have a hangover. It may not be a cure for what ails you, but it’s sure as hell a great diversion.

[Photo by Svadilfari via Flickr]

Relive history at these B&Bs with Underground Railroad ties

by Melanie Nayer on

There’s more to Bed & Breakfasts than fresh-baked muffins and hot coffee. Did you ever stop to think about the history of the house, or where its owners are from? Did you ever consider its place in history, or its path to the future? On the outside, many B&Bs look like renovated homes with four-poster beds, but the walls in some historic B&Bs have remarkable stories to tell.

Over the next two months, we’ll celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday and recall the conflicts and accomplishments of African-Americans during February’s Black History Month, but it doesn’t have to end there. The folks at BedandBreakfast.com have come up with list of historical B&B’s throughout the U.S. that
tell the tales of struggle, strife and eventual salvation, as “conductors” or “stations” on the Underground Railroad. We’ve highlighted a few:

Amelia Island Williams House, Fernandina Beach, FL: According to family stories, Marcellus A. Williams bought this home in 1859, allowing escaped slaves following the Underground Railroad to use his home as a haven during their journey to freedom.

Mason House Inn of Bentonsport, Bentonsport, IA: During the Civil War, the Mason House was a station on the Underground Railroad and delivered food during the night to the farm’s hayloft where escaped slaves hid.

The Steamboat House, Galena, IL: A tunnel that offered an escape route for slaves still remains under the house.
Inn at Aberdeen, Valparaiso, IN: A hidden ladder beneath the old entry closet floor tells tales of a way station for the Underground Railroad.

Hall Place B&B, Glasgow, KY: A cave under this B&B linked to a network of other caves that eventually surfaced at a nearby spring.

Baird Tavern B&B, Blandford, MA: The B&B was a known stop along the Underground Railroad as slaves fled to freedom in Canada. (pictured above).
Samuel Fitch House, Westford, MA: A basement tunnel and a walk-in closet with bookshelves in front of a removable wall was believed to hide slaves on their escape.

Munro House, Jonesville, MI: Believed to be a station on the Underground Railroad, this house features a 100-foot-long stone-walled tunnel that leads to the basement where a secret room hid runaway slaves.

1830 Hallauer House B&B, Oberlin, OH: A secret room and a concealed opening are just a few ways this house aided slaves as they traveled on the Underground Railroad.

Tattersall Inn, Pt. Pleasant, PA: An underground concealed room once used as a stop on the Underground Railroad is found in the original part of this circa 1753 building.

Great Valley House of Valley Forge, Valley Forge, PA: A tunnel from the main house was used to house slaves moving north along the Underground Railroad.

Hamilton House B&B, Whitewater, WI: Rumor has it that a number of secret tunnels led from this historic inn to nearby homes and the train depot.

A new day, a new airport incident — JFK Terminal 8 being evacuated

by Scott Carmichael on

This story is still developing, but terminal 8 at JFK is being evacuated. The terminal is home to American Airlines, and the reason is the same as what shut down Newark two weeks ago – a “security breach”.

As of right now, all passengers are being told to leave the building, and will need to wait outside while the TSA and PANYNJ search the facility. After that, all passengers will need to be rescreened.

As of right now, aa.com shows flight delays of up to two hours, but this could obviously become longer once the security lines start to back up.

We’ll bring you more information about the terminal evacuation, and the reason behind it as soon as we can.

UPDATE: Passengers are reporting that Terminal 8 is the only building impacted, all other JFK terminals are currently unaffected.

UPDATE 2: According to the AP, a man left the American Airlines Admirals Club through an airport employee door. It was not clear whether this door let him onto the tarmac, or back into the landside portion of JFK. Either way – it was enough of a breach to cause the evacuation.