Archives for May, 2008
Goodwill Through Good Food
Posted by marilyn terrell on May 30, 2008 National Geographic KIDS staffer Allie Carroll tells us about a culinary voluntourism organization called CulinaryCorps, which her sister, a chef, founded in 2007: On June 1st, volunteer cooks from around the country will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, to promote good will through good food. The trip is spearheaded by CulinaryCorps, a non-profit organization that…
Remaking James Madison’s Montpelier
Posted by it on May 30, 2008 Associate Editor Amy Alipio recently ventured to Virginia to witness the restoration efforts at Montpelier, the former home of our fourth President, James Madison. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know a whole lot about James Madison before I visited his house, Montpelier, recently. Without the benefit of an HBO mini-series chronicling his life,…
This Art Exhibit Made Me Cry
Posted by Amy Alipio on May 29, 2008 I’ve never been as moved at a museum as I was when I viewed the new exhibit “Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (After D.C., the exhibit will travel to San Francisco, Houston, and New York.) I love to visit museum exhibits, and am…
Spring for Spargel
Posted by Intelligent Travel on May 29, 2008 By: Ashley Thompson Spargel, asperges, asparagus. In any language, Asparagus Season is in full swing. And in Europe, this means markets, festivals and special “asparagus menus” are popping up all over the place. Every town I went to during my recent trip to Europe was in the midst of asparagus obsession. In Riquewihr, France, signs…
Pizza Pilgrimage: Al Forno in Providence
Posted by marilyn terrell on May 28, 2008 Hunter Walker gets us seriously hungry for some grilled pizza in Providence. Al Forno means “from the stove” in Italian, a style of cooking from northern Italy that uses a wood-fired brick oven. So it’s a fitting name for Providence, Rhode Island’s Al Forno’s restaurant, an elegant eatery whose grilled pizza is legendary. When they…
Save Gas: Fly Slower
Posted by Janelle Nanos on May 28, 2008 We have a thing for slow travel, but until now, we didn’t really think it could effectively involve planes. But that might change: Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) recently announced that, in an attempt to cut its carbon emissions and reduce their gas expenses, they’ve opted to fly slower. Reuters reports: SAS said on Tuesday it has…
Tour Guide: Hip-Hop History
Posted by Janelle Nanos on May 27, 2008 The musical history of New York is vast and varied, but perhaps one of the most fascinating facets is hip-hop, which emerged from the Bronx in the 1970s. The mix of beats and spoken word evolved from West African and Jamaican rhythms to become the international juggernaut that it is today, but its humble beginnings…
Secrets from the Alsace Wine Route: Fromage Pilgrimage
Posted by Intelligent Travel on May 27, 2008 By: Ashley Thompson The Alsace Wine Route is a winding, splendid highway in northeastern France that saunters through rolling vineyards and hundreds of tiny villages, and whose panoramic views cause cameras to click perhaps more than any other region in picturesque France. Stretching 110 miles, the road hits classical cities such as Strasbourg and Colmar,…
Art for Us, by Us at DC’s Artomatic
Posted by Meg Weaver on May 23, 2008 With Memorial Day upon us and with gas prices hovering well over $3 per gallon, I’m planning to stay put in DC this upcoming long weekend, to take in some Rolling Thunder along the Mall, and head over to NoMa to check out Artomatic. Held regularly since 1999, Artomatic isn’t the easiest DC phenomenon to…
Find Your Own Eco Hotel
Posted by Janelle Nanos on May 22, 2008 We’re always on the hunt for new and interesting environmentally friendly hotels (you can see some of our recent finds here and here). So we were excited to learn about a new website that’s begun listing some of the best. The aptly-named Eco Hotels of the World has a write-ups of more than 75 “green”…
Las Vegas Goes Au Naturel
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on May 22, 2008 In the neon haze of Las Vegas’s infamous Strip, it’s easy to forget the reason for the Capital of Excess’s birth (hint: it has nothing to do with blackjack or free margaritas). An oasis amid an expanse of barren desert, Vegas was once home to natural bubbling springs that sustained the area’s Native Americans, vagabonds…
Paris Sans Agenda
Posted by it on May 21, 2008 Suffice it to say that travel writer and guidebook author Andrew Evans knows a thing or two about how to navigate a city. But what happens when he arrives in Paris without a plan? A few months back, I had to go to Paris “for work,” but last week I got to go back just…
The Genuine Article: Guatemalan Textiles
Posted by Jeannette Kimmel on May 19, 2008 We’re still smitten with reader Lolly’s textile-themed trip to Peru from a few months ago, so we were glad to see Laura Morelli’s recent shopping column about weavers in Guatemala continue along that thread. Mayas in the Guatemalan highlands are still weaving beautiful textiles much the same way as their ancestors did 1,200 years ago.…
Experiencing Swiss Mobility
Posted by it on May 19, 2008 After arriving in Switzerland for the launch of the SwitzerlandMobility project, Brian Schott has been exploring the new linked network of trails that crisscross the country. He sends this dispatch from his travels. LAKE GENEVA—Over the past week, I’ve spent time wandering the landscape in this stunning area of Switzerland by bike, foot, and train—inspired…
Hotel Hip: Worm Composting
Posted by Crowd Favorite on May 19, 2008 Luxury and eco-savvy hotel chain Fairmont is proving that chic suites and green living don’t have to clash. The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa (Sonoma, California), known for its mineral hot springs and spa, has just recently introduced a worm composting initiative, which it hopes will compliment the resort’s aim to be a sustainable…
Hockey (And More) in Halifax
Posted by it on May 15, 2008 Jeffrey DiNunzio is a production coordinator at National Geographic magazine, and an avowed hockey addict. He recently ventured northward to Halifax to revel in the best that international ice hockey has to offer, and returned with a report on this sustainable city. If you’re an avid hockey fan, you already know that 2008 marks the…
Strange Planet: Mike the Headless Chicken Festival
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on May 15, 2008 Here at IT, we love a good tale of chicken grit. No, we don’t mean chicken and grits, but rather the industrious and absurd tale of Mike, the headless chicken of Fruita, Colorado. Legend goes that on Sept. 10, 1945, an almost six-month-old Wyandotte rooster was looking especially delicious to his owners, the Olsens. Lloyd…
Guilty Pleasures: Crab Legs
Posted by it on May 14, 2008 As the weather warms up along the Mid-Atlantic, people inevitably start thinking crab. But writer Jody Mace admits that for her, crabs are a borderline obsession. She takes us through the entire thought process at her favorite crab shack Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I hold the crab leg with both…
Tour Guide: Carb-Free Costa Rica
Posted by Jeannette Kimmel on May 13, 2008 Beloved Traveler senior researcher Meg is in the midst of planning her honeymoon—she’s thinking warm, English- or Spanish-speaking (her fiancé is Salvadorian), and on a budget. She thought Costa Rica would be nice, but found that hotels were either super-luxe (and out of her budget), or very rustic. “I’d like to have hot water,” she…
The Key to Recycling
Posted by Emily Haile on May 12, 2008 A printing company has come up with an alternative to those ubiquitous plastic hotel keys: biodegradable, paperboard keys that guests can recycle after their stay. Green Key bills itself as economical, eco-friendly, and sanitary (you’re not getting the same grimy key that’s been used by umpteen guests). So far, parent company The Whitehall Group has…
When in Hawaii, Drink the Local Brew
Posted by Jeannette Kimmel on May 12, 2008 As any good traveler knows, there’s no better way to get a taste of a place than by sampling the local cuisine. In Hawaii’s case, there is of course anything with macadamia nuts (from macadamia-nut honey to wasabi macadamia nuts—those’ll clear your sinuses anyday). When I think of Hawaii, beer isn’t the first thing to…
Utah’s Prehistoric Rock Art Threatened
Posted by Emily Haile on May 9, 2008 Just a few miles from the town of Price in central Utah lies Nine Mile Canyon, home to the greatest concentration of rock art in the United States, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Though there are few facilities, adventurous visitors can drive the 78-mile Nine Mile Canyon Back Country Byway to see the…
Beyond the City Limits
Posted by Jeannette Kimmel on May 9, 2008 Mid-April, I decided to visit my hometown of Seattle. Seeing as the Emerald City is in the peak of its rainy season at that time (believe it or not, the rain does stop eventually), my mom wondered why I’d ever want to visit for a week of gray drizzle. Well, I found round-trip airfare for…
Promise and Peril: Baja, Mexico
Posted by Janelle Nanos on May 8, 2008 In the Destination Watch column in our May/June issue, “Promise and Peril,” Traveler‘s Geotourism editor Jonathan Tourtellot‘s tells us that travelers should put a value on authenticity, and make “intelligent choices” when you visit a place. “When you seek authenticity, and pay for it, you’re not only sending a message, you’re helping protect a local…
Tour Guide: Hike and Feel Good About It
Posted by Jeannette Kimmel on May 8, 2008 Mount Rainier National Park If there’s anything I miss the most about living on the West Coast, it’s the mountains. Sure, D.C.’s got the nearby Appalachians (I visit Shenandoah National Park as often as possible in summer), but there’s nothing like looking out your Pacific Northwest window and seeing snow-capped peaks in every direction (Seattle…
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