Hotel deals for Leap Year birthday folks and their pals, goldfish included

by Jamie Rhein on

If you’ve looked ahead to February’s calendar page, you may have noticed the extra day tacked on. Yep, this is Leap Year. When I was talking about it with people earlier today, we wondered if that meant one extra day of work. It’s on a Friday this year.

For those folks who happen to have been born on February 29th and have identification to prove it, head to a Kimpton Hotel. There’s a deal with your name on it. Plus, this is the hotel company that provides you with a gold fish for your room. This goldie was hashcOde’s last September when he stayed at the Hotel Monaco in Seattle.

To those of us without this auspicious birthday date, we need to cozy up to someone who has it so we can get the discounts at one of these boutique hotels too. Maybe you’re one of those people whose dearest friend was born on February 29th. I don’t know anyone who was.

Even so, here is an overview of some of the cleverly packaged deals:

The Muse Hotel and 70 park avenue hotel are offering the “Forever Young” package. This includes a $229 per night rate, champagne and birthday cake.

At the Hotel Burnham and Hotel Monaco in Chicago, your February 29th birthday will get you 29% off on a two night minimum stay. (Thurs.-Sat.)

Leap Year folks can check into the Hotel Monaco and Hotel Vintage Plaza in Portland for a $29 for the night room rate on the night of February 29th. (I’m not sure what else this involves.)

For one free night stay, head to Washington D.C. There, at the all seven of the Kimpton Hotels, if you book two nights (Feb. 28 and March. 1) the 29th is free.

And, if someone is planning to propose to someone, the 29th is the day when there’s a deal for this too. In Denver at the Hotel Monaco, there’s the “Dare to Propose” package that includes a Leap Year themed cocktail.

All of the 29 Kimpton Hotels will have some Leap Year special. Here’s the link at the Kimpton Hotels Web site that lists all the properties and links to each one. As of now, I didn’t see all of the the deals I’ve mentioned, but we were tipped off by the company. There are other specials that are offered year ’round no matter what your birthday date. Perusing the Kimpton Web site is one way to imagine living the high-life. There are other deals for other occasions. I have an eye on the Dreams of a Muse at The Muse.

TV tourism: 132 and Bush, where are you?

by Justin Glow on

COPS is on all the time, it seems, and if you have cable with more than a few channels, chances are you can flip around and find an episode on any time of the day or night. In fact, just yesterday COPS aired it’s 700th episode.

I’ve been watching the show for as long as I can remember, and I’ve always wondered something that has perplexed me until today. At the closing credits, directly after the last scene, a female cop chimes in over the radio and says, “132 and Bush, I’ve got him at gunpoint.” Simultaneously, one of the members of Jamaica’s Inner Circle clears his throat and sings the iconic theme song, bad boys bad boys, what’cha gonna do?

Where is 132 and Bush? Of all the episodes I’ve seen over the years (699, no doubt), I’ve never seen the one where this audio clip was taken from. Does this place exist? Because if it does, as a true COPS fan, I have to go.

Turns out it does exist. It’s in the east side of Portland, Oregon. [see map]

So for all you true COPS fans out there, your mecca has been revealed. Now we just need a few pictures from the location…can anyone help?

[Sources: 1, 2]

Haunted Tours for Halloween Fun: West Coast Edition

by Kelly Amabile on

Want more haunted tour ideas? As promised, we’ve got some! Hop on your broomstick and fly with us to the western US, where we’ve uncovered eight more haunted tours to scare you silly this Halloween season:

Denver, CO: Morrison is a short distance from downtown Denver, but this Colorado Haunted History Tour sounds like it’s worth the trip out of town. Learn about the Hatchet Lady of Red Rocks and the Lecherous Indian Chief.

Hollywood, CA: Take a tour of the historic Hollywood Forever Cemetery with Karie Bible and visit the burial sites of famous dead celebrities.

Las Vegas, NV: We all know Sin City can be a scary place. But Haunted Vegas Tours explores the creepiest secrets of the city that never sleeps. Tours runs several nights each week, beginning at 9 pm.

Portland, OR: The Portland Haunted Tour is a 2.5 hour shuttle tour of 13 locations historically connected to secrets from the city’s chilling past.

Salt Lake City, UT: Ghost Tours of Salt Lake City and Ogden run every weekend and on Halloween, led by a professional storyteller with a skill for spooking!

San Diego, CA: Haunted San Diego urges you to call and reserve your plot (um, they mean seat) today for this tour of documented haunted locales.

San Francisco, CA: The Haunted Haight Walking Tour begins most evenings at 7 pm at a coffee shop, and ends at a haunted pub, where you never quite know what’s on tap.

Seattle, WA: Market Ghost Tours runs tours through the Pike Place Market. And don’t miss the Paranormal Pub Crawl on Halloween, complete with a Houdini seance at the end!

Not hitting either coast for Halloween this year? Then be sure to check out this list of the Top Ten Haunted Ghost Tours in America for frightful tours in in Chicago, New Orleans, Galveston and other parts of America’s haunted heartland — Happy Halloween!

Come Visit Portland, OR! Just Don’t Move Here, Please.

by Iva Skoch on

It rains here all the time, it really does. Do not move here, you will regret it! At least that’s what the locals want you to think. The more people move here, the more developed and expensive the city will become. While the “transplants” generally like that idea, a lot of locals dread it.

In terms of quality of life, Portland consistently ranks near the top of all American cities. Oregon seems to have it all — vibrant urban life, mountains, beach, desert, woods… without the prices of California. Not yet at least. I am actually in Portland this week and loving it. Since living here in the late nineties, the city has grown and changed a lot. The once edgy and artsy Pearl District–however fun and chic it still is–has become a sanctuary of rich white people, it seems.

In terms of rainfall, I am here to tell you that it really is not bad. I would take Portland over New York any time. According to a recent study, the Top 10 wettest cities are all in the Southeast. However, Olympia, WA ranks first in the number of rainy days each year (63). Olympia is only two hours north of Portland. See? Believe the locals, you don’t want to live here. Especially, I hear, if you are from California.

Portland’s “Voodoo Doughnut”: The Magic Is In The Hole

by Willy Volk on

Triple Chocolate Penetration. Cock-n-Balls. Butter Fingering. No, these aren’t the names of the movies your co-workers talk about in hushed voices. These are some of the doughnuts made by the whacked-out guys at Portland’s Voodoo Doughnut. They also feature a Vegan doughnut, an Apple Fritter doughnut “as big as your head,” and — my favorite — a voodoo doll doughnut, which is stuffed with berry filling. When you buy a voodoo doll doughnut, you’re also given pretzels, so you can stab the doll, and watch the “blood” ooze out. It’s better than being in the mafia…cuz you get to eat berry filling! Yummy!

Open 24 hours a day — except for real, real early on Monday mornings — the doughnut shop is very popular with the after-bar crowd. Yeah…I’ve always wanted a Tang doughnut after a night of heavy drinking. But evidently, it’s good. Voodoo Doughnut also features local bands, Swahili lessons, and bizarre contests; in fact, their schedule of events is as eclectic as their menu. Oh, and I almost forgot: they perform weddings.

If you want to learn about these delish-nuts, check out some of the press they’ve received; gawk at their Flickr-hosted cult following; or set your TiVo to record the Travel Channel’s Anthony Bourdain as he visits Voodoo Doughnut — tonight at 1am!