More Maine travel: Backstage Pass: Rock & Roll Photography

by Jamie Rhein on

Maine has been on my radar lately. My husband has talked about heading there this summer. A friend who I don’t hear from often emailed me about skiing in Maine which prompted a post on skiing in Maine. The options for Maine skiing will take you right on into April.

Then while researching for a post on maple syrup festivals I found Maine is involved with the maple syrup action as well. Today while drinking my morning cup of coffee and reading the paper, I came across a travel brief on a photography exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art. “Backstage Pass: Rock & Roll Photography” has pulled in a record number of visitors. That info prompted a trip to the museum’s Website for more information.

The collection is a mix of 268 photographs that are privately owned. These are not standard, promotional type photographs, but intimate looks at the lives of the artists. Each give an indication of the relationship between the photographer and the subject whether it be Madonna, the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Hendrix or Elvis Presley.

From the description of the exhibit, it seems to me that part of the appeal of this exhibit is that it triggers off the viewers own memories of different times of one’s life when certain musicians were important to one’s own development. There’s a certain wistfulness I’ve always felt from seeing photos of people that were taken in our pasts. Here’s a link to some of the images in the exhibit.

Although there’s no way I’ll make it to Maine before the last day this exhibit is open on March 22, it does give me the hankering to head to Cleveland to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Lawsuit leaves airline feeling blue

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Bill Baker was mad. This crotchety blogger was so pissed at JetBlue that he took the airline to small claims court. On January 16, 2009, victory was sweet, to the tune of $494. The money, he says, will be donated to charity.

Clearly, one lone nut blogger can make a difference.

JetBlue delayed Baker’s red-eye flight from Portland, OR to New York for five hours, before announcing the cancellation of the flight. The passengers were offered flights out three days later. Meals, accommodations and earlier flights were not offered. So, Baker took JetBlue to Connecticut small claims court. He asked for damages of $722.50 (per his blog, $687.50 per the court record). The airline apparently took the lawsuit seriously, actually sending a representative to the hearing. This was not enough, however, to sway the events to JetBlue’s favor.

The airline has developed something of a reputation for canceling flights and pushing passengers days into the future. When I went to the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, JetBlue canceled my flight and simply said that I wouldn’t be able to get into JFK for another two days. I pushed, asking about the many other airports in the New York area – small spots, like LaGuardia and Newark. Finally, I got them to put me on a flight for the next day. Like Baker, JetBlue offered nothing to make my trip easier.

I just sent a letter to JetBlue, which garnered a very weak response from the airline. Baker aimed high, and it worked.Litigation was not his first choice. In fact, he offered to let JetBlue donate the $722.50 for which he was suing to the ASPCA or the Humane Society of America. The airline did not respond to his offer. They did offer some vouchers as compensation, which he refused to use. But, the judge seemed to consider them in his final award, as they account for the difference between the damages requested and those rewarded.

I guess the moral of this story is that airlines should realize that even the smallest complaint can snowball. I found out about Bill Baker’s story on his blog, which was linked to his Twitter account, went to his blog and was entranced. That’s all it takes, sometimes, for one company’s bad news to gain a hell of a lot of attention. One person cruising a series of links at the right time can turn a small story into a big one.

For travelers, the message is that we need to continue to talk to each other. Start your own blogs. Use sites like Twitter. As we saw earlier this week, with the use of the Hudson River as a runway, citizen journalism has become a powerful force. Let everyone know about the best and worst you see on the road. We’re all in this together. Also, the airlines and hotels are starting to pay attention. One tough tweet will be noticed.

And, Baker leaves us with his battle cry, “Ask not how airlines can screw you; Ask how you can screw the airlines back!”

Read about Bill Baker’s lawsuit against JetBlue >>

View the official results of the Connecticut Small Claims Court >>

Learn about blogging, microblogging and travel >>

Read about a suit against Easyjet in Europe >>

Start your own airline lawsuit >>

[Thanks, Bill]

U.S. News: Best (healthy) place to retire

by David Breisch on

Wonderful exercise options, a robust, eco-friendly economy, and beautiful vistas give Portland, Maine what U.S. News & World Report calls the “best healthy place to retire.” (And after reading the article, it doesn’t sound like a terrible place to vacation, either.) Here’s just a few of the reasons why.

  • A multitude of ways to stay in shape. Portland’s proximity to both the water on one side and mountains on the other side give it a unique combination of sports and leisure activities. You won’t find such diversity except in maybe Hawaii or another tropical island – and there, you can’t go skiing in the winter. In addition to these naturally-occuring events, Portland has done an excellent job developing a world-class park and urban trail system.
  • Environmentally-friendly living. Named on of the greenest cities in America by Organic Gardening magazine, Portland residents pride themselves on living as much of a carless life as possible. Portland’s downtown area is extremely compact, making your weekend errand run or touristy souvernir trip a little bit less about driving from strip mall to strip mall and a little bit more about exploring interesting storefronts.
  • Easy to get around. Portland runs a modern and popular public transit system, so it’s pretty easy to ditch your car altogether. If you are going to (or coming from) somewhere a little further away, join one of the other 45,000 people that ride Amtrak’s popular Downeaster each month. The Downeaster provides five daily round trips to/from Boston with easy connections to New York City and Washington, D.C.

The Horse Project in Portland, Oregon

by Meg Massie on

There’s so much to see and do in a big city like Portland that a tourist could easily miss out on some of the coolest parts of the city. You’ve probably been told before that it’s good to stop and smell the roses from time to time; in the Rose City, I like to stop and look for the horses.

What? Yes, horses. They’re all over the streets of Portland. Really. Dating back to the days of real horse-powered transportation, the sidewalks here have little iron rings for tying up your horses. Of course not many people are riding horseback around the city these days, but if you look closely, you’ll find that lots of these rings are still in use.

Artist Scott Wayne Indiana started the Horse Project in 2005 when he tied his first pony to a horse ring in northwest Portland. For a few months, he continued parking horses at rings all over town, and then he started asking the public to join in. It costs about $3 to round up all the necessary supplies (including the horse), and everyone is encouraged to participate. Now, pedestrians in Portland can spot plastic ponies all over town. It’s a really creative way to remember the history, and I love to go on horse hunting walks in this very pedestrian-friendly city. Take your kids out and make a game of it, and take your own ponies to tie up whenever you see an unused ring.

New Airline Makes Catching a Plane Almost as Easy as Catching a Taxi

by Josh Lew on

It happens all the time. The one hour flight from one city to another is turned into a five hour adventure with security checkpoints, baggage claim traffic jams and surly airport staff. It would often be easier, cheaper and faster to drive (literally). If only there was an easier way to fly.

A new airline in the Pacific Northwest is seeking to take the hassle out of commuter flights. The small Portland-based company SeaPort only has 3 turbo-prop commuter planes. That’s all it needs, because its only route is between Portland and Seattle. But what’s special about SeaPort is, like corporate airplanes usually reserved for the rich and/or famous, they fly under the FAA’s general aviation rules. That means that they can fly out of smaller airports where security screening and other hassles aren’t required. In Portland, for example, SeaPort uses the business aviation area, not the main terminal, of the Portland International. In Seattle, they land at Boeing Field, a crowd-less airport six miles from downtown Seattle. The result, no waiting in lines. The airline’s goal is to get passengers from downtown Portland to downtown Seattle in 90 minutes. The price of a flight: $149 one-way. That is marginally more expensive than flying the same route on a traditional budget carrier. But, the time saved just might be worth it to many.