Sharks circle Cape Cod

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Cape Cod vacationers just lost access to five miles of beach, thanks to sharks in the water. A spotter pilot saw three more great whites, one of them a mere 100 yards from a party on the sand. They’re swimming around off South Beach in Chatham, Massachusetts, and swimming is definitely out of the question. No timeframe has been given for when the water will be open again.

One shark is estimated to be 14 long and weigh 1,50 pounds – this is the aquatic beast that was found only a football field away from the shore. Before the recent sighting, several other sharks were seen off the coast of Chatham.

The state’s marine fishery officials blame seals, which I imagine are tasty, for drawing the sharks closer.

[photo by miusam-ck via Flickr]

Mandalay Bay installs self-serve beer taps

by Melanie Nayer on

Because there aren’t enough bars, clubs, restaurants, kiosks and servers catering to the dry mouths of Las Vegas patrons, the Mandalay Bay is joining the trend of hotels along the Strip installing self-serve beer taps throughout its hotel.

The pour-your-own-pint DraftMaster beer dispensing systems are already in 10 Las Vegas hotels. Why? Why should you have to wait for anything in Las Vegas, least of all a beer? Las Vegas is all about doing what you want, when you want, how you want it, so if you want a pint, why not pour it yourself?

According to the hotel, DraftMaster comes in two styles-fixed and mobile. The fixed table has four taps on the top connected to kegs underground, and the mobile unit features two taps on top with the kegs positioned in a compartment underneath the table. Each unit has the entire beer dispensing system built in, with cooling units and pressurized beer dispensing systems packaged underneath to keep the beer flowing at the perfect temperature, and the taps on top of each unit can rotate up to 320 degrees for flexible access.

Of course, each DraftMaster is controlled through an operating system behind the bar that allows the bartender to allocate the proper amount of beer to each table. In other words, if you think you’re tapping into this keg after a bender of a night out, think again… (that’s why they have a mini-bar in your hotel room).

Sweaty passenger chastises Delta on YouTube

by Tom Johansmeyer on


It’s bad enough to hear about the misery of being stuck on the tarmac, but to see it adds another dimension. When Tony Morales was stuck on a Delta plane in Phoenix, sweat dripping from his head, he recorded a portion of his ordeal, even though he risked “getting yelled at for filming right now.”

Morales described the situation on the plane as “uncomfortable, hot, miserable – it just wasn’t fun,” according to MSNBC.

The passengers were stuck in their seats, since the plane had pushed back from the gate, meaning that they were stuck in a hot cabin, without any fluids except those gushing from their pores. One passenger was allowed to deplane, but Morales recalls that it was for medical reasons.

Delta says it’s looking into the incident, MSNBC reports:

“We have reached out to this customer for more information on his experience as the timeline we have does not coincide with his account,” Delta spokesperson Susan Chana Elliott told msnbc. “Although, we can confirm that the flight did return to the terminal, passengers were offered water during the delay and provided the option to deplane when it was determined that the flight could not depart due to the maintenance issue.”

Passengers were finally offered water as the plane was headed back to the gate, and they were permitted to get off, but only after the situation had dragged on for two and a half hours, Morales says.

Travel fitness: Top 10 spots for yoga around the world

by Gadling Staff on

You can run, walk, hike, climb, swim, surf, and scuba your way to new experiences, but even the most active traveler needs a brief moment of zen every now and again. For those who need more than a few seconds of “Om” to get through their day, check out some of these top spots of yoga around the world:

1. Present Moment Retreat – Troncones Beach, Guerrero in Mexico
If you happen to be down in Guerrero don’t miss the chance to visit the Present Moment Retreat for a yoga vacation you won’t soon forget. Complete with a private beach for meditating and yoga workshops by the ocean. You’ll have the privacy of a deserted Island and the accommodations of a five star hotel. With it’s diverse yoga, meditation and healing workshops this is the perfect place to reconnect your mind, body and soul.

2. Himalayan Institute – Honesdale, PA
You don’t need to be familiar with founder Swami Rama to benefit from the many programs offered at this retreat, set in the rolling hills of the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. You can choose to stay for a weekend, a week, a month or even a long residential stay, where you will encounter a serious approach to hatha yoga, Ayurvedic medicine, eastern philosophy and meditation. Expect zero luxuries other than vegetarian meals, a peaceful setting and authentic, carefully crafted treatments.

3. Esalen Institute – Big Sur, CA
The Esalen institute with its 400 plus workshops, is designed to maximize the human potential. Located in the Santa Lucia Mountains on 27 acres of Big Sur Coastline this retreat offer the perfect atmosphere serious retreaters. Esalen’s unique blend of Eastern and Western philosophies give it a dynamic insight that opens the mind and cultivates the soul. Most people experience Esalen through a weekend or five-day workshop, where you can pick form subjects such as Yoga, somatics, dreams, shamanism, biofeedback, hypnosis and more. You can enjoy the hot springs and bodywork by appointment.4. White Lotus Foundation – Santa Barbara, CA
Founded by the accomplished Ganga White, this mountain oasis sits on ancient canyon grounds-considered sacred by the original inhabitants, the Chumash Indians-overlooking Santa Barbara and the Pacific Ocean. Personal and group retreats are available year-round with themes like Spirit Dance, Yoga Retreat, and Sacred Breath. A retreat will include any or all of these: daily Hatha yoga classes, hikes in the oak and manzanita forests, meditation within canyon walls, breathing exercises, bodywork, dips in the waterfalls, massage, music, dance, philosophical discussions, a visit to the underground Hopi style “Kiva” temple and vegetarian meals.

5. Sivananda Ashram – Sierra Foothills, CA
One of several Sivananda Yoga Centers around the world, this Sivananda Ashram is on eighty acres of Sierra foothills in Northern California. Founded by Swami Vishnu Devananda, a pioneer of yoga in the Western world, this Ashram is open year-round to practitioners of all abilities. You have a choice to stay a day, a weekend or a month with daily programs and wellness classes that include daily yoga classes, the swami’s five points of yoga (proper exercise, breathing, relaxation, diet, positive thinking/meditation), women’s health, positive thinking, vegetarian cooking, Ayurveda, meditation or a silent retreat.

6. Shambhala Mountain Center – Red Feather Lakes, CO
This Tibetan Buddhism-centered retreat caters to both begins and in-depth practitioners with many programs on yoga, Buddhist meditation, Shambhala warriorship training and much more. Being located on 600 acres in the Colorado Rockies, your surrounded by seemingly limitless natural beauty and an array of animals you might encounter. Besides practicing yoga, you can enjoy a walk in the Botanic Gardens, or a evening massage, a morning Vipassana Insight meditation, or poetry reading. The Shambhala Mountain Center is also home to The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, the “largest and most elaborate example of Buddhist sacred architecture in North America.”

7. Kalani Oceanside Retreat – Big Island, HI
This island retreat has a lushes setting that borders the ocean and tropical jungle. Incorporating a healing and joyful spirit, guests can enjoy skilled instruction in yoga, healthy vegetarian, creative writing, and Dolphin Dance. There is a year-round Introduction to Yoga retreat offered for those who have wish to begin their spiritual quest. Accommodations cover all budgets, from the colorful Tree House with ocean and horse pasture views to the friendly cottage and the campsite.

8. Satchitananda Ashram – Buckingham, VA
At the 1,000-acre Satchitananda Ashram Yogaville in the Virginia countryside guests enjoy yoga classes, meditation, three vegetarian meals a day, Saturday evening satsang and a visit to Lotus (the Light Of Truth Universal Shrine), an oasis for contemplation and prayer dedicated to world peace and all faiths. The kind of Yoga you will find here combines various branches of yoga such as Hatha, Raja, Bhakti, Karma, Jnana and Japa, to form a scientific system that incorporates your mind, body, and spirit in a most efficient way. Guests stay in air-conditioned dorms, private rooms in two guest houses or campgrounds on a quiet, wooded area. Weekend workshops and programs on anything from Thai Yoga Massage to structural yoga therapy or vegan and vegetarian cooking are also available, as well as teacher certifications.

9. Ashiyana – Goa, India
Located in the land where yoga was born, Ashiyana is more of a personal growth center than simply a yoga hideaway. There are special silent retreats lead by a master that enable guests to look within to glean the nature of the true self. Regular clinics are scheduled throughout the year for various types of yoga-Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Motion Yoga, teacher training and more. If you prefer to practice at your own pace, you can also plan a yoga holiday that eliminates the structure of a formal retreat and group involvement.

10. Ibiza Yoga – Benirras Beach, Ibiza in Spain
On the northwest coast of Europe in a quiet corner of the island people will find an oasis of calm tranquility to practice Ashtanga-based yoga. They can enjoy vegetarian meals and the peace of mind need to ‘find themselves.’ The accommodations of Villa Roca, Villa Palmas, Benirras Beach Apartment and the Pagoda Garden are tasteful and down to earth, and you cannot beat the sunsets.

Sea kayaking off Washington’s Whidbey Island: easy Labor Day getaway

by Laurel Miller on

Another bald eagle. Yawn.
I had just completed a tranquil, one-hour paddle from Whidbey Island’s Dugualla Bay, to Hope Island State Park. This dollop of land is a 106-acre marine camping park, reachable only by boat. It boasts a hiking trail and just four stunning, primitive, beachfront sites hidden amongst ferns and old-growth Douglas-fir forest. As we approached the island, my guide, Simon, and I watched six eagles alight on the tops of the tallest firs. Maneuvering our kayak almost beneath one of them, we then spent the better part of an hour entranced by the giant bird of prey. Meanwhile, a curious harbor seal bobbed and dipped around us.

At 45 miles in length, rural Whidbey is the longest island in the lower 48 (Long Island having been ruled a peninsula). It’s just 30 miles from Seattle, making it an easy, economical, uncrowded alternative to the San Juan’s farther north (although Anacortes, on Fidalgo Island, off Whidbey’s northern tip, is the ferry dock for San Juan-bound visitors). Whidbey juts into Puget Sound like a bent, bony finger, its western coast also accessible from Pt. Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. Whidbey is one of the oldest agricultural regions in Washington state, and family farms, farm stands, and mariculture operations are still prolific on the island, although it’s also become a haven for artists. The only real-world distraction on Whidbey is the Naval Air Station in Oak Harbor, at the island’s northern tip.
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Getting there from Seattle is a snap, whether you drive or take a boat, although you should note that ferry schedules change seasonally. You can shoot up I-5, and head west on Highway 20, over the famed Deception Pass Bridge, or take the ferry from Mukilteo, as I did. A 20-minute ride landed me in Clinton, on Southern Whidbey.

From Clinton, I headed up the road to the artist colony of Langley to meet up with Simon, who guides for Seattle’s Evergreen Escapes, a sustainable adventure travel company. Like most of the island communities, Langley is a haven for creative types, and while summer and fall weekends and festivals bring in tourists, island life is easygoing and relaxed (the best time of year to visit, weather-wise, is September/October). A “whale bell” sits in a town park overlooking the waters of Saratoga Passage, to signal passing orcas and gray whales. If you’ve got an extra day on your itinerary, the newly-expanded Boatyard Inn is right on the water down at the Marina. Styled after an old cannery, the 12 charming, spacious units boast modern amenities, and decks and windows that offer unbeatable views of the Sound and snow-capped Cascades.

I only had part of an afternoon and one night for my trip, and so left the details to the folks at Evergreen. (FYI, there is also Whidbey Island Kayaking Company, which specializes in custom and short paddles, and whale watching trips (which begin in mid-March). It’s also possible to rent boats and equipment, provided you have a certificate from a certified instructor, or demonstrate proficiency at time of rental. A great resource for Washington tide charts can be found here.

I’ve done a fair amount of paddling, but didn’t know how to read tides, which is why I asked for a guide to accompany me. I prefer to be in my own boat, but due to time constraint, we decided a tandem was best, for easier on- and off-loading. We made the scenic, 40-minute drive north to Dugualla Bay, passing farmland and forest. Simon was knowledgeable, capable, and cheerful, and his tide tutorial during our paddle gave me the confidence to plan a return trip, sans guide. It’s an easy, straightforward paddle to Hope Island, but the scenery and wildlife are so amazing, we took our time. After we tore ourselves away from the bald eagles, we paddled to the take-out, only to discover six more landing in the trees near the campsites.

The roomy sites are elevated above the beach. There’s a rustic but well-maintained outhouse up an overgrown path, and rudimentary fire pits, and that’s it. The only thing marring the experience are the distant smokestacks near the port town of Anacortes, and the odd jet from the Naval Air Station streaking overhead. These are mere blips, however, because Hope Island is just so damn beautiful and peaceful. The other two sites were empty, and aside from a few trails through the overgrowth, there’s not much to do except read, daydream, watch the sunset (at 10pm in high summer), and stargaze. Do be sure to bring rain gear and a waterproof tent. Although sunny skies prevailed during our paddle, it started pouring in the middle of dinner (and didn’t stop until the early morning hours), necessitating the hasty set-up of a tarp.

As for dinner, Simon made an admirable stir-fry, followed by the ultimate in pie- a purchase from Greenbank Farm’s shop. Located en route to Dugualla Bay, it was once the biggest loganberry farm in the world. You know what makes for a really kick-ass pre-paddling breakfast? Leftover loganberry pie.

Early the next morning, rainstorm over, we put in and paddled half an hour to our take-out at Coronet Bay State Park’s boat launch. In front of us loomed Deception Pass Bridge, an architectual triumph that has helped make this area Washington’s most-visited state park. The pass connects the Strait of Juan de Fuca with Skagit Bay; at high tide, the waters rushing into this narrow passage get pretty hairy, so again, check tide charts if on your own.

Try to allow yourself at least enough time to walk the bridge and take in the view. You can also camp at Deception Pass State Park, which has miles of shoreline. If nothing else, grab some post-paddle clam chowder and souvenir smoked salmon to go from Seabolt’s Smokehouse in Oak Harbor; a fitting island-style end to a weekend on Whidbey. For more information on the islands, click go the Whidbey and Camano Islands vistors center website.