Pearl Jam, Aretha Franklin to headline the New Orleans Jazz Festival

by Melanie Nayer on

We won’t have too many opportunities to put Eddie Vedder and Aretha Franklin in the same headline, so we’re taking advantage of this opportunity to bring you the latest news from New Orleans: the music line-up for Jazz Fest has been announced and it’s spectacular.

Music legends spanning all genres will converge at the Louisiana Fair Grounds Race Course for a 10-day feast this spring. The guys of grunge and the Queen of Soul are just some of the big names headlining the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Here goes the name-dropping:

Van Morrison, Lionel Richie, The Black Crows, Jeff Beck, Irma Thomas, The Neville Brothers, Allman Brothers Band, Anita Baker, My Morning Jacket, Darius Rucker, Elvis Costello… (and the beat goes on…)

The music festival takes place over two weekends — April 23-25 and April 29-May 2 — and tickets are currently on sale for $550 per weekend. Before you balk at the price, consider this: a typical concert ticket for one act costs anywhere from $50-$200, but for $550 you’re getting dozens of musical acts over one weekend.

Splurge on the ticket and save money on hotel rooms, which start at $169/night for hotels within walking distance from the fair grounds and French Quarter.

Airline recession will continue into 2010, good news for passengers

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The airline industry must be excited to see 2009 coming to a close. It was a year of route cuts, perk cuts and abuse from passengers over all kinds of sacrifices in the cabin … and a genuine commitment to fees for extra bags. The global financial crisis triggered in September 2008 hit the travel industry with extra severity, forcing airlines, famous for not being able to generate easy profits anyway, to scramble to keep their heads above water. But, at least there’s next year … not really.

While nobody with even shred of sense expected 2010 to be the year the airline industry went wheels up, the latest prediction from the International Air Transport Association is pretty grim. IATA expects the sector to lose $5.6 billion next year, thanks to higher fuel costs and revenue declines because of lower fares. This is worse than the $3.8 billion it originally forecasted. The number of passengers filling seats, IATA believes, will increase, but it won’t be enough to make a difference.

There’s good news in here. Continued brutal competition will keep fares low, so if you missed your chance to take that dream trip this year, you’ll have another bite at the apple in 2010. For the airlines … well, there isn’t any good news. But, is there ever?

[Photo by emrank | counting days | via Flickr]

ESPN reporter Erin Andrews makes push for stronger hotel safety laws

by Melanie Nayer on

After ESPN reporter Erin Andrews hears her stalker Michael David Barrett plead guilty in federal court for stalking her in hotels, she plans to plead to hotels to implement stronger safety laws.

The Andrews case made headlines earlier this year when it was reported that she was stalked and filmed nude in the hotels she stayed in for her job. Now, Andrews plans to take her fight one step further and advocate for safer security measures in all hotels that would protect the traveling public. According to an interview with Andrews’ lawyer Marshall Grossman of Bingham, McCutchen and USA Today’s Barbara De Lollis, Andrews plans to petition hotels for safety improvements including:

  • Hallway cameras on every floor
  • Improved employee training. According to previous reports, Barrett was able to access Andrews in hotels because reservations agents would reveal her room number and assign Barrett the room next door.
  • Understanding ‘red flags’ when it comes to potential stalking situations or safety violations.
  • Seek guest consent before assigning adjacent rooms.
  • Improved peepholes; peepholes that are likely more expensive, but cover the hole inside the guestroom.

[via USA Today]

The world’s most bizzare spa treatments

by Katie Hammel on

I’m not not usually a spa kind of girl. I like the occasional de-stressing massage, pore-clearing facial or special occasion mani-pedi, but mud baths, seaweed wraps, and caviar scrubs just aren’t for me. Neither are some of the bizarre and ridiculous spa treatments Forbes Traveler has rounded up from across the globe.

A few actually don’t sound that unusual. A wine and honey wrap is supposed to help you sweat out toxins, a goat yogurt facial will help clear your skin, and the cactus puree used in a massage will help reduce the appearance of cellulite. But a few others sound so off-the-wall you have to wonder who would be foolish enough to try them out.

A “cedar enzyme bath” may be a clever name, but really all you’re doing is sitting in a big tub full of sawdust. Why not save yourself a hundred bucks and head down to the gristmill? And, seriously – heated golf-ball massage? I highly doubt there are any magical healing properties contained in a set of microwaved balls.

Treatments involving animals seem equally wrong. I have a fish phobia so I wouldn’t climb into a pool and let hundreds of tiny fish nibble the dead skin off my toes. And can someone please explain to me exactly what the benefits of a “snake massage” are?

And then, for the most absurd of First World problems, there are holistic treatments. Feeling out of whack with the lunar cycle? Try a lunar treatment, which promises to help your body align with the moon. “Virtual dolphin therapy” is equally suspect. As clients watch images of dolphins on tv and listen to sonar sounds in their headphones, hey can hold a sound wave pillow for internal healing.

As the article points out “Now, though it’s considered a luxury in Japan, spreading dehydrated nightingale droppings on your cheeks doesn’t exactly scream ‘beneficial’, but geishas have been looking up at the skies for centuries, and spa owners have taken note.” Wait….so geishas have been looking up at the skies and …what…getting pooped on? No, I think I’ll skip that particular treatment, thank you very much.

I’ve no doubt that certain natural elements can help alleviate pain, relieve stress and improve skin, but that doesn’t mean that all such products should be incorporated into spa treatments. A little common sense should be used when drawing the line between beneficial and, well, birdshit.

Yellowstone opens for winter visitors

by Kraig Becker on

Winter may officially still be a few days off, but that hasn’t prevented Yellowstone National Park from opening for the season. According to the National Park Service, as of yesterday, all roads are now open for travelers who want to make the oversnow journey through the park’s scenic interior.

Visitors who want to explore Yellowstone, the nation’s first national park, in this manner will have to contract with a commercial guide service. Each day, up to 318 snowmobiles and 78 coaches will be allowed to roam the groomed trails from the South Entrance to West Thumb, and on to Old Faithful, with a few more trails opening up over time. Along the way, they’ll find miles of serene, snow covered backcountry that is as engaging in the winter as it is in the warmer months.

In addition to the trails opening, the Old Faithful Visitors Center opened yesterday as well, and by Friday the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, gift shop, and restaurants. The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel will follow suit on Monday, December 21st, offering more places to stay for those looking to visit the area and play in the snow.

For those who would prefer to drive through Yellowstone, there are roads open for four wheeled vehicles as well. The highway from the North Entrance and from Gardiner, Montana, through the park’s Northeast Entrance, by way of Mammoth Hot Springs and Cooke city are kept well maintained throughout the year, although winter storms can make them treacherous at times. The drive is also highly recommended and scenic as well.