Carve a pumpkin, win a vacation

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Head up to Cape Elizabeth, Maine to cut up a pumpkin, and you may wind up with a return trip. Inn by the Sea is taking the New England institution of pumpkin carving to a new level. Spend two nights or more at this resort in October, and you’ll be given a complementary pumpkin … along with the accoutrements for turning it into a frightening or masterful Jack O’Lantern. And, be sure to make some time to sip a cup of hot cider by the fireplace afterward.

At the end of the month, Inn by the Sea will choose the winner. The judges work from a blind photo array, awarding points for creativity, artistry and the all-important fun factor. In November, check the inn’s website for the winner. If it’s you, Inn by the Sea will credit all the expense from your trip back to you – regardless of what you spent or how long you stayed.

The Pumpkin Art package includes two nights at the inn, breakfast for two each day at the Sea Glass restaurant and the pumpkin carving essentials. The rest, of course, is up to you!

Randy Quaid (allegedly) stiffs hotel for $10K

by Tom Johansmeyer on
Actor Randy Quaid and his wife, former model Evi, got out of jail Thursday night. They landed in the Texas pokey because of a $10,000 hotel bill they didn’t pay in California. Each is out on $20,000 bail. They were arrested in Marfa, 160 miles southeast of El Paso.

Authorities in Santa Barbara, California issued a felony warrant – burglary, defrauding an innkeeper and conspiracy – for the Quaids. The couple disputed a charge of more than at a local hotel, prompting the hotel, San Ysidro Ranch to file a complaint. The police, hotel and Quaid family aren’t talking, according to a USA Today report.

Stay overnight at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater

by Katie Hammel on

Architecture buffs and fans of Frank Lloyd Wright have long enjoyed a visit to the architect’s Fallingwater house, near Pittsburgh, and soon, true fanatics can pay a premium to spend two days and two nights on the famous property. The new overnight program will debut on weekends, welcoming up to 8 guests at a time, either this December or in early March of next year.

Guests won’t actually sleep in the house – they’ll retire at night to a newer four-bedroom home built on the grounds. They’ll take an in-depth tour one night and be treated to a dinner party with a special guest and the house curators the next. Days are free to spend at leisure, enjoying Fallingwater as the house’s director says it was meant to be. Guests can stroll the grounds, explore different rooms of the house, or simply relax as though the home was their own.

The going rate to sleep in an architectural masterpiece? $1,195 per person for double occupancy.

Icon A5 personal aircraft puts us one step closer to the Jetsons

by Kraig Becker on

Ever dream of strolling out to the garage, sliding inside your own personal aircraft, rolling down the driveway, and flying off to some exotic place? If so, then you’re in luck, as Icon Aircraft is working towards making this dream a reality with their Icon A5 airplane.

The two passenger A5 is just 22 feet in length and comes with wings that fold up for easier storage. It can carry a load of approximately 530 pounds, including passengers and luggage, and it runs on both automobile and aviation fuel, meaning you can fuel up at the 7-11 on the corner if you’d like. The aircraft can fly as high as 15,000 feet and has a top speed of 138 miles per hour, and, best of all, with the optional retractable landing gear, it becomes amphibious, allowing it to take off and land on water.

The A5 is rated as a “light sports aircraft” by the FAA, which places some special restrictions on its performance but also grants it some liberties as well. For instance, to get licensed to fly this plane you’ll need just 20 hours of training, and you literally can take it down to the lake and use it as your runway. But, you’ll need a special, optional instrument panel to fly at night and for safety reasons, light aircraft are now allowed to stray too close to an airport with a manned control tower.

Icon hopes to ramp up production in 2011 and begin shipping the first models, but you can reserve your A5 today on the company’s website. A $5000 deposit puts you on the waiting list for your own personal aircraft which will have a price tag of just $139,000.

Hyatt’s problems increase as chain is boycotted

by Katie Hammel on

The Hyatt hotel chain is facing more trouble after firing nearly 100 housekeepers and replacing them with contract workers. Though a rep for Hyatt has denied that the fired workers were “tricked” into training their replacements and were not given severance, it seems the public isn’t buying it.

Union officials at the Boston Taxi Drivers Association have said that the 1700 drivers in the union will boycott Hyatt Boston locations, refusing to pick-up or drop-off fares there, unless the housekeepers are reinstated. The Massachusetts Governor has even gotten in on the action, saying that unless Hyatt rehires the fired workers, he’ll direct all state employees to stay at other hotels.

In a letter he sent to the CEO of Hyatt, the Governor said that while he understood that tough economic times meant making tough decisions, he thought that the manner in which the staff was let go was “so inconsistent with the expressed values of the Hyatt organization and basic fairness” that he did not think that “any other remedy other than full reinstatement” was appropriate. He also said he didn’t wish to instate a boycott but that the workers were treated so unfairly that he had no choice but to do so.

Of course, Hyatt fired back, saying “We do not understand why the Governor is putting more Massachusetts jobs at risk instead of working with us to find jobs for employees affected by the realities of these unprecedented economic challenges.” Looks like neither side will be backing down, and the only people who’ll suffer will be the workers.

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