Where Will You Go For Free Museum Day?

by Meg Nesterov on

Whether you are traveling in the U.S. or having a staycation this Saturday, be sure to include some culture. September 28 is Museum Day Live! (aka Free Museum Day), when museums all over the country open their doors without charging admission.

The annual event is inspired by the Smithsonian museums, which offer free admission every day. You’ll have to register and download your free ticket in advance, which will get two guests in free to participating museums.

A few of our favorite museums participating:

Chicago
Smart Museum of Art
The University of Chicago’s art museum is always free, but this weekend is also the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and museum-goers can also enjoy free concerts in the sculpture garden.

Dallas/Ft. Worth
American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum
Regular price: $7 adults
Serious airline nerds, frequent flyers and those on a long layover can check out this museum of aviation and American AIrlines history, just a few miles from DFW airport. Exhibits include a rare Douglas DC-3 plane.

Las Vegas
Burlesque Hall of Fame
Regular suggested donation or gift shop purchase: $5)
What’s Sin City without a little strip tease? See costumes, props and photos documenting the history, traditions and stars of burlesque dance.
Los Angeles
Grammy Museum
Regular price: $12.95 adults
Pop music lovers can check out four floors of music exhibits and memorabilia. The current exhibition features the career of Ringo Starr, including an interactive drum lesson with the Beatles‘ rhythm man himself.

New York
Museum of Chinese in America
Regular price: $10 adults
Learn about the immigrant experience in New York’s Chinatown in a building designed by Maya Lin. Current special exhibitions on the glamour of Shanghai women and the role Chinese-American designers in fashion. Follow it up with dim sum in the neighborhood.

San Francisco
Cartoon Art
Regular price: $7 adults
Take your comics seriously? This is the art museum for you, with 6,000 works of cartoon cels, comic strips and book art. Best. Museum. Ever.

Washington, D.C.
Museum of Crime and Punishment
Regular price: $21.95
Value the free admission and your freedom at a museum dedicated to criminals and police work. Fans of police procedural TV shows will enjoy the CSI lab and the filming studio for “America’s Most Wanted.”

Sin City Casino To Invest $30 Million In… Bowling?

by Libby Zay on

Las Vegas‘ next big venture isn’t a multi-million dollar casino or even a gimmicky 500-item buffet or wacky wedding chapel, it’s a mega bowling facility constructed specifically for championship events.

The Associated Press is reporting South Point Hotel and Casino has struck a 12-year deal with the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) to host events in a new $30 million bowling center. Construction on the 60-lane center should begin as early as May.

If all goes as planned, the new center should put Sin City back on top of the bowling event hosting game. That’s good news for Las Vegas, but could potentially mean a tourism hit for Reno, Nevada. The Biggest Little City in the World currently hosts several annual bowling tournaments at the National Bowling Stadium, which is nicknamed the “Taj Mahal of tenpins.” Fans of the 1996 slapstick comedy “Kingpin” would recognize the interior of Reno’s center instantly.

[via Yahoo!]

[Photo credit: Flickr user ​j.o.h.n. walker]

Upscale Cruise Line Offers Something Sinful

by Chris Owen on

Cruise lines are looking for new, different and exciting entertainment options to keep passengers occupied at night. Some have added Broadway shows, others offer interactive audience participation programming, all focused on their target audience and what they want. Celebrity Cruises took a look at what their passengers are looking for in the way of late-night entertainment too. The result: Sin City Comedy.

If the thought of “Sin City” has you thinking raunchy, tasteless entertainment that we might not see from the (normally) upscale Modern Luxury line, think again.

Described as, “funny and a little bit sexy,” Sin City Comedy will tap comedians with tasteful acts for the late-night show offered on Celebrity Reflection and Celebrity Silhouette, rotating to Celebrity Solstice in May, said Celebrity Cruises in a recent statement.

Think of comics who have appeared on Comedy Central, VH1, HBO, (sort of raunchy) “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “Conan,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” (less raunchy).

That sort of sin.

Actually a product of Sin City Comedy at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, the cruise line version of the show will mimic a two-time winner of the Best of Las Vegas award.

Surprised? Remember, this is the same cruise line that sports a sea-view shower in its top end Reflection Suites. Those allow passengers to bare all to the world but come with an option to turn glass from transparent to frosted to reveal less.

Celebrity’s Sin City Comedy shows are presented at varying late-night time slots in the Celebrity Central venue on Celebrity Reflection and Celebrity Silhouette. 18 and older please. Thank you.



[Image credit – Flickr user STEVENJOHNSELLER]

‘Undercity: Las Vegas’ Takes You Above And Below Sin City

by Jeremy Kressmann on



Just last month, Gadling took you on a journey inside the world of urban exploration, bringing you on a behind-the-scenes look at the urban explorers who are inventing new ways of visiting the areas under, above and inside the cities we traverse every day. Today, we’ve got another intriguing look at the urban exploring phenomenon to share with you, courtesy of the short film series above called “Undercity: Las Vegas.”

Part of an interesting collaboration with shoe company Palladium, the film series follows the exploits of urban historian Steve Duncan, profiled in Gadling’s recent feature, along with director Andrew Wonder, as they investigate the subterranean water tunnels and unfinished construction sites that comprise the lesser-known side of this urban neon mecca of gambling and nightlife. In this particular clip, Duncan manages to sneak inside the as yet unfinished Fontainebleu Resort Las Vegas, climbing nearly 60 floors to take in an eye-popping view of the early Vegas dawn.

Though the trespassing on the construction site is clearly illegal, it’s an intriguing look inside the urban underbelly that few Las Vegas visitors ever see. Those interested in seeing the full film can head over to Palladium’s video hub to check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this ongoing series.


Four unusual ways to get married in Las Vegas

by Libby Zay on

Valentine’s Day is here, meaning many people can’t help but have marriage on their mind. It’s estimated that over 300 wedding ceremonies happen per day in Las Vegas–America’s quintessential locale for love, lights, and luck–where there are plenty of options that go beyond run-of-the-mill ceremonies. Below are a few of the most unusual ways to tie the knot in Sin City.Pop-Up Chapel
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
If you find yourself seeking an impromptu wedding, check out the pop-up chapel at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (pictured above). Novelty rings are dispensed from a gumball machine, and a photobooth posts pictures to Facebook and Twitter. Prices start at $80 for the bare-bones “Hitched in a Hurry Package,” which includes the ceremony, champagne, two rings, a photo, and a gift bag.

Photo courtesy The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Marriage in the Sky
Las Vegas Hotel
Say your vows high in the sky as you take a 22-mile helicopter flight over the Las Vegas Strip. At a cost of $1,200, the soon-so-be-wed couple can take off with four guests. The trip starts as the sun sets, and includes pretty much everything: digital photos, a bridal bouquet and matching boutonniere for the groom, transportation, and champagne. If a helicopter isn’t for you, there are also several companies doing hot air balloon wedding around Las Vegas.

Underwater Wedding
Silverton Casino
Dive right into married life at the Silverton Casino, where you can share vows inside a 117,000-gallon saltwater aquarium. More than stringrays, sharks, and more than 4,000 tropical fish will bear witness to the ceremony (plus anyone that just-so-happens to be passing by). The casino’s wedding package includes all the gear you’ll need, a photo package, and officiate service. Mermaids are available upon request.

Photo by mree / flickr.

Drive-ThruChapel
The Little White Chapel Tunnel of Love
This drive-thru wedding chapel was conceived in 1991, when Charolette Richards–who had been in the wedding industry since the 1950’s–noticed a handicapped couple having difficulty getting out of their car and into a chapel. Today, The Little White Chapel maintains the classic “Tunnel of Love,” a 24-hour drive-up wedding window, allowing couples to get married in limos, on motorcycles, or in their cars. It’s unusual, but it’s also one of the most talked about ways to get married in Las Vegas: the drive-thru chapel has hosted wedding ceremonies and vow renewals for may celebrities, and has been featured on TV shows including Friends and The Today Show.