New B&B deals offer savings around the world

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The bed and breakfast community will probably put a hit out on me soon, if the comments from my last article are any indication. But, I’ll take my life into my hands and cover the latest news from BedandBreakfast.com anyway.

Under the new “Tanks for Traveling” program, BedandBreakfast.com members will be able to save some cash on their travels this year. I’m not crazy about the name of the program, but it probably resonates with the cutesy B&Bers.

B&Bs in around 40 states – not to mention the Caribbean, Canada, Italy, France and (wow!) Croatia – have found north of 150 ways to help their guests save on travel this year. The Vine Street Inn (California), for example, is kicking in a $100 gift certificate to any guest who arrives by train or bus … and they’ll pick you up at the station! Tudor Rose, in Colorado, is only asking for $1 for the third night when you pay for two, and Sabal Palm House in Lake Worth, FL is willing to give you the third night free – as long as you bring a bag of non-perishable food items for personal care products for the local pantry.

So, there are plenty of ways to save some money in these shitty challenging economic times.

Please, B&B people, have I repaid my debt?!

Photo of the Day (3.12.09)

by Kent Wien on

Today’s photo of the day comes from Willy Volk at Lake Worth, Florida. So often when I’m browsing through Flickr, I’ll see a picture like this and exclaim, “why didn’t I think of this?!”

Clicking on the metadata to Willy’s picture shows he used the aperture priority mode (as explained by Karen Walrond) which gave him a shutter speed of 1/8th of a second. Just the right amount of time to blur the wave, making it look like it’s floating above the sand. He took another picture with a faster shutter speed here so you can see the difference.

As for the bottom right corner… Willy, is that your foot?

Nice shot! Karen also used this picture as an example of why you just might want to shoot some blurred pics.

Are you a Flickr user who’d like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling’s Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

Lake Worth’s Amazing Streetpainting Festival (A Photo Essay)

by Willy Volk on

This weekend, Lake Worth, Florida held its 13th Annual Streetpainting Festival. With the 2 major roads downtown closed to traffic, well over 200 artists got down on their knees, broke open their cartons of chalk, and painted the roads.

My wife and I attended and shot lots of photos. What follows is a photo essay of the event. I think you’ll agree that the results were pretty amazing.

On the first day, people were busy trying to get their plans laid out. Almost everyone worked from photos or drawings they had brought with them and covered in plastic (to keep them chalk-free). Amazingly, lots of people drew freehand.

Meanwhile, others drew a grid and developed their scenes rather methodically.


Some of the artwork didn’t seem all that impressive…

…until you took the time to read the label. They’re only in 5th Grade!?

There was, of course, a dedicated Young Artist’s section, which gave “emerging artists” the chance to show off their skills.

And there was also a Featured Artists’ Gallery.

Check out the artists’ names on the painting! No relation, though.

Most of the images were sponsored by local business that had retained an artist to create the art. Some images were drawn by residents who paid the negligible entry fee and joined the fun. Still other images were created by art clubs from area high schools. There were so many good ones, it was tough to say if the Featured Artists were better than the high schoolers.

The couple that drew this are my neighbors. They’re selling their house, and they thought this would be a good way to advertise that fact. Clever.




The Aurora Borealis.

There was also entertainment at the Festival.

And lots of street-vendor-food. Man, I love sweet nuts.

This guy, Randy Orwig, is something of a local celebrity. He paints himself in gold and sits completely still. It’s pretty amazing. I wonder how long it took him to train that dog to sit still, too.

Somebody even painted Orwig!

This was my favorite piece. I love the Florida theme.

Probably the biggest “buzz” at the event surrounded the “anamorphic art image.” The caption reads, “Anamorphic art is an image created on a 2-dimensional surface that looks 3-dimensional when viewed through a lens from a fixed point (developed in the Renaissance).”

Here it is:

Since the weather was beautiful, there was a great turn-out. We really had a good time, and we can’t wait to go next year.