Good news for a lucky bride at 30 Rock

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you think you can write about true love — your own, specifically — you have a shot at a honeymoon suite high above Manhattan. Brides magazine is looking to make a lucky couple even luckier, with the winners nabbing a night at the Top of the Rock. In 150 words or less, the mere length of a Gadling blog post, all you have to do is rattle off what makes you and your husband special.

A luxurious night in this rare destination not enough for you? Yeah, I figured. So did the folks over at Brides. Greed is rewarded with a trip to the Four Seasons Bora Bora in Tahiti. On a rate-per-word basis, you’ll never find a gig that pays like this!

Compete for the Brides Mile-High Honeymoon Suite, and take a look at what you could win!

New train travel between New York and Atlantic City

by Jamie Rhein on

After my summer Amtrak trip between Cleveland and New York City, I became a train fan. I couldn’t find one negative thing to say about it except that train travel is elusive to many because of the schedule and the fact there just aren’t that many train routes.

There is another train route to start on February 9 which should make some folks happy. The Atlantic City Express Service (ACES) will take people between Penn Station to Atlantic City, NJ for $50 round-trip in coach class. If you want a jazzier ride, pay $75 for first class. As a bonus aspect of the service, it also includes shuttle service to three different casinos: Bogata Hotel Casino & Spa, Caesars Atlantic City and Harrah’s Resort. These ticket prices are introductory, so if you don’t go soon, you’ll be paying more.

This rail project has been in the works for awhile, and according to the USA Today article from 2007, the casinos are footing the bill. Part of the motivation behind the new service is to entice younger New Yorkers (20 to 30 year-olds) to head to Atlantic City. For these folks, the bus wasn’t cutting it.

Depending upon your gambling habits, this could be a great day trip during the grey, sloshy months of winter when a bit of glitter and glitz could add a pick-me up to an otherwise gloomy feeling afternoon–or add a night or two for a fun weekend.

Find things to do when you feel hungover or romantic

by Scott Carmichael on

There are probably close to 1000 sites that list “things to do”, but most of them list the same boring stuff (OK, so I admit that I made that number up).

Thankfully, every now and then someone has a neat idea, and puts it into reality by building a web site around it.

“I Feel” is a “things to do” site that currently covers 3 big cities (New York, Toronto and London) and lets you find stuff to do when you are feeling naughty, energetic, hungover or one of 6 other moods.

Want to find somewhere to go in London when you are feeling broke? How about a nice discount shoe shop, or a cheap trip on the London Clipper!

The site is currently in “beta mode”, but invites are being sent out which should allow you to add your own submissions to the maps. No invite or account is needed to search through the tips. I browsed London for some of the ideas and have to say that there are some real gems listed. The results include anything from food to nightclubs.

All the locations are overlaid upon a Google map, so you’ll be able to do all the cool things their maps can do, as well as print or email your results, plus you can link to other reviews of the locations using Google local.

Sites: I Feel London, I Feel Toronto and I Feel New York

New season of No Reservations kicks off tonight

by Jeremy Kressmann on

The holidays are inevitably a time of excess. LIke many of you, I spent the last two weeks eating and drinking my way through way too many parties and get-togethers, and I’m feeling a bit of a holiday-induced hangover at the moment. Thankfully, starting today, I can now redirect my guilt at overindulgence away from myself and project it onto somebody else – Anthony Bourdain. Everyone’s favorite badboy chef is back starting tonight with all-new episodes of No Reservations, kicking off what is sure to be another season consuming copious amounts of booze, street food and local culture along the way.

No Reservations enters its 5th Season coming off a watermark year for the show in 2008. The past season’s top-notch content featured culinary hot spots such as Spain and Tokyo as well as some unexpected gems such as Colombia and Laos. This season offers an interesting mix as well. Tonight kicks off with a journey to Mexico, where Tony dines on some of “the best tortillas ever” before making a visit to a Lucha Libre training center to pay his respects. Season 5 will also feature episodes on such far flung locales as the Azores and Sri Lanka as well as more traditional U.S. destinations like Chicago and New York City.

The curious can stop by the Travel Channel site where Bourdain will be posting new insights into season 5 on his blog. And if you’re looking to catch up on previous seasons of No Reservations, make sure to check out Gadling’s summaries in our archives. Keep your eyes peeled for some great No Reservations giveaways courtesy of Gadling and the Travel Channel, coming soon.

Travel to France for free on the Jet Lag Study

by Grant Martin on

If you’ve always wanted to go to France but have never had the money or means, your opportunity may have just come knocking. Clinilabs, a New York City-based team focused on the study of sleep disorders is sponsoring a study on jet lag, the feeling of lost sleep and incorrect body time when you cross into a different time zone. And to complete the study you have to spend time in both of their research facilities — one in New York and one in France.

They’ll pay you up to $2,500 for your work, including a few days in Midtown New York and a few days in France.

Right, you say, what’s the catch? Well, from what I’ve read of first hand accounts, here’s how things loosely go: you basically have to get to the City two or three times on your own for some initial tests and an overnight stay. After that, you come back to NYC, catch a private Gulfstream jet out to a facility near the French – Swiss border then hang out an in a lab staring at the bucolic countryside with electrodes attached to you for a few days. Two weeks after you get back, you get a check in the mail.

So will you be sitting in Paris cafés sipping Champagne, eating baguette and staring at the Eifel Tower? Nope. But will you get to fly in a private jet, see some of the French countryside and make twenty five hundred bucks? Yep. Heck, I would do it.

Rumor has it that they’re taking applications again in January. Check out the site here for more info.

10 tips for smarter flying


What strange things have been found on planes?