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.

Veterans Day memorials and the Tomb of the Unknowns

by Jamie Rhein on

Years ago, when I was visiting my great aunt who lived near Ft. Knox, Kentucky, she took me to the base’s officers’ club for dinner. She was a major. Here’s the thing. She became a major during WWII, and, years later, whenever she passed onto the base, she had the honor of being saluted at the gate by a young strapping male. She was in her mid 80s. Sweet. I was impressed.

With Veterans Day being today, I thought of her. This got me thinking about memorials as well. There’s no better memorial bounty than Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Here’s the line-up. If you click on each, you’ll get a mini history lesson: Civil War Memorial, Spanish American War Memorial, World War I Memorial, National World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

One of the most moving places at the cemetery, I think, is the Tomb of the Unknowns. Here there are four white marble sarcophagus, one for WWI, WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Inside each is a soldier (or soldiers) from that particular war who was unidentified. That soldier stands for all the other soldiers who died from that particular war and were never identified.

Stop by during the Changing of the Guard, an elaborate feat of solemn pageantry. As I was looking for more information about this tomb, since I haven’t been here since I was perhaps in the 8th grade, I came across the Society of the Honor Guards Web site. This organization is made up of soldiers who have guarded the Tomb of the Unknown Solider (It’s more common name) since the 1920s. The page of FAQs provides info like the number of steps the guard walks with each pass of the tomb. Answer is 21. The number symbolizes the 21 Gun Salute.

With DNA testing, it seems never being identified is not as likely to happen. Even the tomb for the unknown soldier from the Vietnam War is empty. In 1998, DNA tests were done on the remains of this soldier and he was identified as Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie. It’s even known what happened to him. He was shot down near An Loc, Vietnam. Since he was exhumed, the tomb has remained empty. That’s haunting and as poignant, I think.

America’s Favorite Cities from Travel & Leisure and CNN

by Catherine Bodry on

60,000 people chose their favorite towns from 25 choices across the U.S., and the list is in. The results are divided into 9 categories and 14 subcategories, including Shopping, Food and Dining, Culture, and After Dark. The winners are to be expected: New York won a first-place favorite for diversity, ethnic food, and classical music. Also consistently near the top were Washington D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco. No surprises there.

Missing? Philadelphia didn’t get too many votes — one third place win for its Farmer’s Markets. Miami didn’t fare too well either with no top-three wins, and same goes for Orlando and Dallas.

What’s your least favorite city? (I think that’s a much more interesting question than asking about favorites.)

Check out the results at CNN, and get more info on methodology at Travel & Leisure.

Plan for Labor Day: Things to Do

by Jamie Rhein on

“Are you going anywhere for Labor Day?” our friends asked us last night as we sat in our living room after an evening at the movies seeing The Bourne Ultimatum. They were heading out on an extended family camping trip.

“Nope, we’ve been gone so much we thought we’d stay here,” we said. This summer we’ve been from the East Coast (Massachusetts, New York, Washington, D.C.) to the West Coast (Washington State and on over to Montana) to the Midwest (Owensboro, Kentucky) and to Cleveland two times, that Labor Day weekend needs to be spent catching up on the things we haven’t taken care around the house that we promised to do before the end of summer. I call this “shoveling out.”

But, since Labor Day does offer that present of a Monday off, here are some suggestions of Labor Day jaunts and possibilities that I came across. Beaches, parks, museums, restaurants etc. are on the lists.

  • For romantic getaway suggestions check out “Top 10 Things to Do Before Labor Day.”
  • For where to go for Labor Day on a budget, here’s “Top 6 Places to Spend Labor Day on the East Coast on a Budget.”
  • If you live near Seattle, here’s a huge list of things to do in an article from The Seattle Times.
  • And here’s Labor Day Weekend 2007 on About: Travel with Kids. This is a terrific roundup of things to do across the United States. There are links upon links upon links.

Doesn’t summer end though on September 21? Maybe we can slip in at least a day trip for Labor Day. There’s that rodeo going on at Smoke Rise Ranch in Hocking Hills, Ohio. (The photo is of the Working Man sculpture outside the Seattle Art Museum. The fence is gone now since the construction is completed.)

Tours on the Run

by Catherine Bodry on

One of my favorite ways experience a new place is by going for a jog. I love not having a map or a plan, just tying on my shoes and meandering along. I’ve had memorable runs in Tuscany as well as Ireland and France. Suffering from annoying jet lag in Asia motivated me to get out at dawn in China, Vietnam and Thailand. Asia is buzzing at first light, and in Shenzhen as well as Hanoi people gathered in parks for exercise routines that ranged from flag dancing to tai chi to something that seriously resembled jazzercise. These runs always felt a little bit magical, like I was privy to sights other tourists didn’t get to see. I also never felt like the usual conspicuous tourist, but just seemed to melt into the landscape with all the other early-rising exercisers.

I love running as a way to get to know a place so much that I’ve been planning to write a post about it for a while now. And then today I came across the website for City Running Tours, which offers guided jogs in New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C. Personalized tours are led by a guide who takes you on a nice long run and points things out along the way. Runs start at $60 for the first 6 miles, and are $6 per person per mile after that. Besides the guided tour, you also get a t-shirt and a souvenir photo.

I’m not a huge fan of guided activities, but this is the type of tour I would totally take part in. I have to try really hard to get all my exercise in while on the road (especially in countries where transportation is cheap and the air quality bad, like India), and an early morning jog with other travelers seems like a great way to wake up, burn some calories, and do some sightseeing.

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