One for the Road: Ghost Hunter’s Guides

by Kelly Amabile on

Calling all paranormal adventurers — ready for a Halloween ghost hunt?
Cardiology specialist and ghost hunter Jeff Dwyer’s latest guide reveals details about over 70 haunted hangouts around the Crescent City. The Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans provides historical background on the spooky stories that have made these locations legendary.

But no fears or frets if NOLA is not on your Halloween travel agenda. Ghost-lovers in Los Angeles and San Francisco can do hunting as well, using Dwyer’s guides to those cities. Folks who might be up for hunting goblins in between sips of chardonnay will want to pick up his Ghost Hunter’s Guide to California’s Wine Country, due out next year. (A guide to haunted locales in Seattle is forthcoming as well.) Whether or not you believe in the paranormal, these guides might be fun to have if you are traveling to these cities this Halloween season, or on any family vacation when you want to spook the heck out of your Aunt Martha.

Bonus for California residents: You can actually join up with Dwyer for ghost hunts taking place on Saturday, Oct. 13 at Acres of Books (1 pm) and Under the Bridge (5 pm). And he’ll be signing books at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose on Oct. 27 (6 pm). Boo!

Three of the Best Halloween Destinations

by Martha Edwards on

Does Halloween top your list of best-loved holidays? I must admit, it’s one of my favourites, though copious amounts of candy as a child and the fact that it’s exactly a week after my birthday probably play a big role in that. Nonetheless, I revel in the chance to wear something different for once, even if I’m a little too old for Trick or Treating now.

If Halloween’s your thing, you might want to think about taking a Halloween-themed vacation. Here are some places to have a very spooky trip, according to Frommer’s:

  • Romania. Instead of dressing up as Dracula, how about visiting his home in Transylvania? Transylvania is located one hour’s drive from Bucharest, and while there, you can visit Dracula’s crypt, do a witch tour, enjoy festivities at Castle Dracula Hotel and much more. Bring some garlic and a wooden stake just in case.
  • New Orleans. It’s not just the place for Mardi Gras — New Orleans‘ French Quarter is the goth capital of North America once the end of October roles around. To make your travels extra creepy, check out some of the local cemeteries, take a ghost tour, and be sure to attend the annual Vampire ball. For more information, click here.
  • Salem. Famously the home of the witch hunts, Salem, Massachusetts, is a great place to get your freak on. Spooky nature walks, tours of the witch museum and possibly even a stay in a haunted hotel will make your trip as scary as possible.

However, for those of us who are into Halloween but are still a little wimpy when it comes to goblins and ghouls, maybe a trip to Disneyland for their milder version of the holiday is in order?

Skybus Opens for New Routes: Move Quickly for the $10 Deals

by Jamie Rhein on

I’m waiting for a Skybus route to upstate New York to open. Stewart Airport in Newburgh would be divine. Not yet, but there are four more routes to start December 5.

If you have any desire or need to head to Chattanooga, Gulfport-Biloxi/New Orleans Area, Milwaukee or Punta Gorda/Ft. Meyers, check out Skybus to see if its schedule and airport locations suits you. Starting December 17 there will be one more flight a day to Jacksonville/Daytona (actually St. Augustine.)

Keep in mind, when you do book a Skybus flight, make sure you have a way from the airport to where ever you are actually going. A friend of a friend of mine was thrilled to pieces over her cheap flight to Boston. She didn’t know that the airport Skybus considers the Boston area is actually about 50 miles away and in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The friend she is visiting in Boston does not have a car. At this moment, she has no idea how she is actually getting to Boston.

Last week I tried to find the route from that same airport into Logan International Airport for a friend of mine. He’s flying from Atlanta to Boston and then wants to come to Columbus. Figuring out the logistics of how to get from Logan to Pease Airport made me tired, so I quit. Sometimes it’s just worth paying the extra money to be able to get to exactly where you need to go–unless you are renting a car anyway. Then, I say, go for the bargain.

Blogging New Orleans Remembers Katrina

by Justin Glow on

Today — on the second anniversary of hurricane Katrina — our sister site Blogging New Orleans is hosting a day-long blogothon with posts every hour detailing the ongoing rebuilding process. New Orleans has always been like a second home to me. I’ve been visiting the Big Easy at least once a year every year since 2000, and the devastating floods that ripped apart the city two years ago remain a vivid and horrifying memory even today. I can only imagine what it must have been like for those who actually lived through the disaster. Here are some interesting posts from Blogging New Orleans two-year anniversary coverage:

Head over to Blogging New Orleans to read the rest of their coverage on Katrina’s second anniversary.

High Demand for Katrina “Disaster Tour”

by Catherine Bodry on

A tour of post-Katrina New Orleans is dark tourism at its best.

Tours of the devastation began just a month after the levees broke, and two years later the demand is still high. The Associated Press reports that while many major downtown hotels remain closed, business is hopping for tour companies. Disaster tours once made up 99% of Isabelle Cossart’s “Tours by Isabelle’s” business. That number is down to 75%, which is good because it means that “people are starting to ask for beauty again,” Cossart says.

Tours are generally a few hours long, and pass by the Superdome, convention center, and the Lower 9th Ward. But passengers have been surprised, claiming that damaged areas look better than they expected. While the city is nowhere near full restoration, tourist numbers are healthy. Kelly Schulz, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, argues that the biggest challenges are dispelling myths [about lack of cleanup] and convincing people that New Orleans is a good place to visit.

[via USA Today]