Orbitz Blog

Articles for August, 2008

Best cabanas in Las Vegas

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Wynnsunlitcabanas
By E. C. Gladstone

Labor Day marks the "home stretch" of pool season in Las Vegas, and prime time for our competitively lavish cabanas. While renting a cabana might seem an extreme indulgence to some (prices rival those of rooms, going up on weekends and even up-per on holidays), it makes sense if you’re planning on a whole day at the pool with the family or friends. Typically you must be a hotel guest to reserve one, but you can invite a number of non-hotel guests (limits vary) along. And if an "adult/club pool" is in your plans, it may actually be a good deal since it includes admission fees for your whole party!

The best of them all include ample relaxation seating as well as reserved chaises, complimentary fruit/snacks and soft drinks, plasma TV, iPod-docking stereo, house phone, a safe for valuables and personalized service. Most also offer private massage service from their resort spa.

Here are my favorites:

• As far as cabana comforts, the Wynn resort is hard to beat — theirs are so luxurious you may want to move in!
• Bellagio‘s popular 50+ cabanas are roomy and pleasant, as you’d expect for their famously refined pool area.
• Those at The Venetian & Palazzo are comparable — and they even have A/C units.
• With certainly the most magnificent pool area, The Beach at Mandalay Bay also has over 70 cabanas of several classes from $150/daily upwards.
• Anyone can reserve the Red Rock Resort‘s cabanas at their cool circular pool deck, and they include Nintendo Wii and several treats daily (but start at a steep $400).
• The Hilton, MGM, Mirage and TI–all nice pools—are also good options.

Mandalayrotui
Best deals:

• Mandalay Bay‘s Private Garden Bungalows ($150 & up)
• The Golden Nugget‘s sexy & shady cabanas ($175 & up) are perched on two levels above their shark tank — you can take a tube slide straight down into the pool!
• Excalibur‘s recently remodeled deck includes an adult-only pool with pleasant cabanas, a bargain at only $75-150.
•Both TI and the JW Marriott, Summerlin offer half-day options at $100 or less (does anyone really spend 12 hours at a pool anyway?) and even the Marriott’s not-too-shabby Grand Cabana maxes out at $225 on weekends.

Adult/club pools:

• The nicest party pool, MGM’s Wet Republic, also has the best standard cabanas — roomy and chic, with huge TVs, DVD players and Xbox game systems (their 4 VIP cabanas feature king beds and private Astroturf terraces)
• Moorea at Mandalay Beach’s four open air "pavilions" are also gorgeous — and the Villa Rotui sky cabana, with panoramic views, rotating circular bed, stripper pole, wet bar and private pool is as cool as it gets.
• Sapphire pool at Rio may not have the swankiest cabanas, but its definitely the most "adult" party pool — and the only one which will pick up your party in a limo!
• For Vegas’ biggest pool party, Rehab (Sundays at the Hard Rock Hotel ), renting one of their see-and-be-seen open cabanas is a good way to get you and 12 or so guests in faster — hope it’s worth $1,000 or more!
• And if you’re dead set on the swank spa-quality cabanas at TAO Beach (Venetian), the bleacher-style bed-bungalows at Bare Pool (Mirage), or the exclusive Venus Pool cabanas (Caesars Palace) on a weekend…then you don’t need my help!

I’ve been told to warn you: prices can vary for many reasons, and advance reservations are pretty essential.

Insider tip: There are a lot of amazing concerts and DJ events here Labor Day weekend, but one definitely stands out: Ice Cube at the House of Blues on Saturday, August 30. A true hip hop legend in a room that small? Holla.

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E.C. Gladstone is a former editor for AOLVegas, and interviews top
Strip entertainers, restaurateurs, moguls and behind-the-scenes
players for VEGAS Magazine. Like many Las Vegans, he sleeps only when
absolutely necessary.

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Town of Napa comes of age

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Celadonnapa
By Lena Katz

Someone (I’m thinking Oprah) needs to stage a coming-out party for Napa. The formerly dowdy little town at the heart of glamorous Wine Country has undergone an extensive makeover/expansion during the past few years, and is being unveiled in stages from now through spring 2009.

When complete, it will claim entertainment appeal, character and historic charm on par with St. Helena or Yountville (though Calistoga still reigns as most picturesque).

The Westin Verasa will open on September 18, just in time for harvest and the accompanying tourist onslaught. According to locals, this property sets a new luxury standard for the Westin brand. The proof is in the kitchen, where Ken Frank oversees the new incarnation of La Toque, one of the county’s most famous restaurants. La Toque’s move to Napa from Rutherford was a huge coup for the town.

As buzz continues to grow about COPIA, Mondavi’s living legacy to food, wine and classic Old World values, the new executive team prepares to debut new attractions that will transform the COPIA experience — not to mention the wine-tasting world. The first new feature is set to debut in November at the inaugural
Sensorium at COPIA, a three-day conference led by Tim Hanni, COPIA’s
dynamic Director of Psycho-Sensory Studies. Till then, COPIA continues its schedule of Friday night films, outdoor concerts, food and wine education, and eclectic special events.

Nearby COPIA is the new and much-ballyhooed Oxbow Public Market, a casual gourmet stroll-through facility much like the markets of Europe or Great Britain.

A few years ago, a friend who’d visited Napa reported back, "The Napa River didn’t even have any water in it!." Now not only is the river flowing, but it has its own picturesque Napa Riverfront District. Construction is wrapping in September, with the complete development slated to open in spring 2009.

Already, the Riverfront is the site of much tourist activity, most of it centered on the Historic Napa Mill, a bustling mixed-use complex housed in a National Registered Landmark. Visitors can stay at the Napa River Inn, dine at longtime local favorite Celadon, or indulge in old-fashioned handmade chocolates and fudge at the Vintage Sweet Shoppe. The Napa River Inn pulled a particularly bold move this summer, opening SILO’S, a new by-the-glass wine bar and jazz club that stays open till as late as 10 p.m. on weekends. City-dwellers may laugh, but this is major news for Napa … and yet another indicator that it’s finally coming of age.

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Lena Katz lives on the Left Coast and writes about tropical islands, beach clubs and food, but her heart belongs to NYC.

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Airlines up prices for standby, baggage, blankets

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Ontheroad
By Joe Brancatelli

All sorts of new fees and charges keep coming: Get out the scorecard
because that’s the only way you’ll be able to keep track of all the new
fees that the carriers are inventing (or increasing). Along with
Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines continues to offer all travelers one free checked bag. But Delta says that it has upped the second-bag charge to $50. … Frontier Airlines
has eliminated its free standby travel. Travelers looking to stand by
will receive a confirmed seat if available, but will have to pay any
applicable fare difference. Frontier’s ticket-change fee will also rise
to $150. … Hawaiian Airlines will now charge $10-20 for
tickets purchased by phone and $25 for airport ticketing. It will also
charge $15 for the first checked bag on flights
to and from the mainland, although the first checked bag will remain
free on inter-island flights. And, of course, you have heard that JetBlue Airways
has eliminated free blankets and pillows. On flights longer than two
hours, you can now buy a $7 eco-friendly kit that includes a blanket, a
pillow and a $5 coupon that can be used at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

ROUTE MAP

Midwest Airlines makes big cuts in Milwaukee: After Midwest Airlines
said a few weeks ago that it would retire about a third of its fleet,
we knew big cuts were coming. Effective September 8, its primary hub in
Milwaukee will shrink dramatically. Gone will be flights
to Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers, Florida; San Diego; Los Angeles; and
Seattle. And Orlando will only be served on a seasonal basis. Also gone
will be commuter flights from Milwaukee to eight cities: Baltimore;
Hartford, Connecticut; Louisville, Kentucky; Muskegon, Michigan;
Raleigh/Durham; St Louis; San Antonio; and Wausau/Stevens Point,
Wisconsin. … It didn’t take long for Midwest’s competitors to fill
some of the gaps. AirTran Airways, which tried to buy Midwest
last year, will add Milwaukee-Fort Lauderdale flights. And Northwest,
which bought a minority interest in Midwest last year, will launch
nonstops between Milwaukee and Los Angeles.

INTERNATIONAL AGENDA

OpenSkies adds a destination and dumps a class: For a tiny subset of a gigantic airline, OpenSkies, the British Airways boutique carrier, is certainly making a lot of news. This month it announced its second route: New York/Kennedy-Amsterdam, which is due to launch on October 15. (The carrier currently flies JFK-Paris/Orly and its new subsidiary, L’Avion, flies Newark-Orly.) Then it announced a major change in its in-flight configuration. It is dumping coach and concentrating on its business class with lie-flat beds and prem+, a near-business-class product with reclining leather chairs that offer 52 inches of legroom. The airline’s Boeing 757s will now offer 64 seats, 24 in business and 40 in prem+. … The oil-fueled airline crisis isn’t just affecting U.S. carriers. Smaller international airlines are also suffering. Malev, the Hungarian carrier, is killing its only two routes across the Atlantic. The Budapest-Toronto route ends September 21 and the Budapest-New York service disappears on October 25. Air Berlin, which took over LTU, is dropping one of LTU’s signature international routes. The airline is closing down its New York/Kennedy-Dusseldorf run. … Israir is permanently dropping its Kennedy-Tel Aviv service. The Israeli carrier has been on and off the route for several years, but now is blaming high fuel costs for the definitive end of the flights.

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Joe Brancatelli is editor and publisher of JoeSentMe.com, a non-commercial Web site for business travelers.

Copyright 2008 by Joe Brancatelli. Licensed by contract for Orbitz use

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New clubs vie for Las Vegas’ late-night crowds

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Rokvegas
By E.C. Gladstone

Las Vegas resorts are continually trying to top each other in every way, but never more fiercely than with our nightclubs. I told you a few weeks ago about two new clubs. Now, for Labor Day weekend, four more clubs are joining the array of choices on the Strip (!), all more intimate and unique in character than our world-famous megaclubs like Tao and Pure. Check ‘em out:

• Lavo at Palazzo

When the people behind TAO announce a sequel, you know it’s a must-see, and Lavo (Latin for "bathe") does not disappoint. Mediterranean themed as half Roman bath, half North African souk, Lavo is technically smaller than TAO at 7,000 square feet, but in many ways better designed, with a larger lounge area and wide Strip-view patio (devoted to hookah smoking after hours), gorgeous glove leather seating, and lovely half-dressed ladies here and there in ritual bathing performances. The intimate top-floor club has a distinct New York/Euro feel, promising a sexy, high-energy, dance-anywhere-you-can scene. Hopefully the music will be equally creative and not just repeat the Tao formula.

• ROK Vegas at New York-New York

A Vegas-sized offshoot of Miami’s ROKbar, the new club in New York-New York (who’d ever imagine this casino would be going after the hotties?) sets itself apart with a huge 360-degree video screen ribbon, making the moderate-size room feel like a private Times Square or Shibuya. Intense lighting, fog effects and an overwhelming sound system augment the oval space featuring performance/DJ stages on both ends and bottle service tables right on the dance floor with stiletto-proof banquettes and mobile modular tables. The outdoor Strip-view patio, with separate DJs, has a more relaxed and roomy vibe — a nice duality for a club that wants to make rock and dance music fans equally at home. Check the huge photos behind the bar — they move!

Sugarcanelounge
• SushiSamba: Sugarcane at Palazzo

Miami’s Japanese-South American fusion restaurant (also in NYC, Chicago, Dallas and Tel Aviv) has likewise pumped itself up for Sin City, bringing a burst of creative cool that the Palazzo — if not the whole Strip — sorely needed. Hanging in the graffiti art and video infused dining room is trippy enough (like being inside an Anime), as is the decadently daring menu, but this SS is the first with an intimate 4,000-square-foot nightclub hidden in the back. Call it a space-age speakeasy! Great cocktails and a stunning sake list push it over the top.

• Dal Toro at Palazzo

Other than the larger-than-life chrome bull hood ornament, the restaurant/club overlooking a Lamborghini sports car dealership doesn’t have many "wow" factors, but the big bar, comfy Strip-side patio and large authentic Italian menu make this an interesting alternative.

Don’t forget Hard Rock Hotel‘s new rock club Wasted Space (my current favorite) and T.I.‘s new Christian Audigier nightclub too! Check with the venue’s reservations desk or your concierge for club hours and admission policies. (Related story)

Insider tip: Sept 1-7 is the annual Las Vegas Restaurant Week, when dozens of our best restaurants on and off the Strip contribute to local homeless charity Three Square for every prix fixe dinner sold ($25.08/$50.08). If you’re in town, don’t miss the chance to get a great meal deal for a great cause!

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E.C. Gladstone is a former editor for AOLVegas, and interviews top
Strip entertainers, restaurateurs, moguls and behind-the-scenes
players for VEGAS Magazine. Like many Las Vegans, he sleeps only when
absolutely necessary.

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Downtown Atlanta offers ‘fabulous’ family vacation

Monday, August 25th, 2008

Georgiaaquarium
By Liz Lippow

My husband and I love to visit major cities with our kids. Maybe because we have embraced city living ourselves, we are in love with experiencing other big cities’ cultural and educational attractions, as well as soaking up each location’s unique vibe. And of course, we like to compare and contrast with our beloved hometown!

One urban adventure took us to downtown Atlanta for a family wedding. We carefully chose our Atlanta hotel to be within walking distance of some excellent Atlanta attractions. We were happy to be "on the ground," as we put it, experiencing Atlanta without a car.

Our first stop was at the Georgia Aquarium, only a ten-minute walk from our hotel. It opened in 2005, and immediately became one of the most popular places to go in the city. Tickets are a little pricy at $26 for adults and $19.50 for children aged 3-12, but it was worth it! The giant tanks with floor-to-ceiling windows allow small children to walk right up to the fish. Visitors can view one enormous tank by walking through a tunnel beneath the fish. A tide pool exhibit lets kids touch the crabs and sea stars (if they’re brave enough -– mine weren’t). The amazing variety of marine life kept our kids entranced.

Another great choice was Centennial Olympic Park, right across the street from the aquarium. This park was designed for the 1996 Olympic Games, and was later repurposed into a beautiful public space. We ate a picnic lunch in an open pavilion at one of the many inviting picnic tables. The park also boasts a playground and a fountain, and is the site of numerous outdoor cultural events. It was great to have some "run around" time, and even better to have it in such a prime people-watching area.

Our only regret for this urban challenge was that we didn’t need to use MARTA (Atlanta’s transit system), even though our hotel was just blocks away from the nearest stop! As public transit geeks, we enjoy taking our kids on other cities’ buses and trains. And what kid doesn’t like to ride a train? Next time we’ll definitely sample the MARTA.

Despite the fact that Atlanta is known for its sprawl and its choking traffic, we had a fabulous downtown experience. I’d encourage Atlanta visitors to venture beyond Buckhead and see what downtown has to offer.

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Liz
Lippow is a working mom with a 5-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter. She
enjoys traveling with her husband and kids, despite wistful memories of the days
when she only had to pack for herself.

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Exploring Philadelphia with the family

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

BeerhalterBy Emily Beerhalter

Although I’m always tempted to park my family at the beach or a resort, we’ve made some of our most fun vacation memories in a big city. Especially if your kids don’t spend most of their time in a major metropolitan area, visiting a city has a lot of benefits that you don’t enjoy every day and that you can’t find at a typical resort.

One of our favorite big cities to visit is Philadelphia. It has the obvious benefits of having a plethora of historical places to visit and experience, but it also has some of the best big-city features like the ability to walk everywhere (no need to rent a car or pay for gas!) and a wide array of ethnically authentic restaurants.

Walking

I spend enough time in the car during our non-vacation time, so it is especially nice to not have to worry about car seats, parking and navigating a new city while I’m on vacation. Philadelphia is a city where once you’re there you don’t really need or want to deal with a car, so make the use of the train from the airport (or the Amtrak from the surrounding areas), bring some comfortable shoes, and be ready to explore by foot.

In addition to great exercise, walking around a new area give us the opportunity to look at a map and plan out each day as a family. Even young children know that maps help us understand where to go –- thanks to Dora the Explorer. We like having a master plan for what we’d like to see and accomplish during the day, but walking gives us the added advantage of being flexible to explore things along the way. We’ve noticed that when we drive we’re all about getting there, parking, and getting to the next place, but when we walk we’re a little better about looking around and "smelling the roses."

There are so many cool things to do in a small area you can easily hit Independence Hall, Penn’s Landing and St. Peter’s Church in a day.

Or riding

After a few days of walking you may want to give your feet a little break. My kids love riding the bus, train, and trolley — pretty much anything that moves! They are fascinated by different types of transportation that we don’t normally use. Taking public transportation is easy, inexpensive and memorable for them. My daughter still talks more about the bus we rode to the baseball game than the actual game itself. Philadelphia, like a lot of cities, also utilizes the WWII-era "Ducks" for tours, which are fun for kids and adults and are a nice way to give your (webbed) feet a rest!

Link to A&S for duck tours?

And eating

Although Philadelphia is known for cheesesteaks (and also maybe hoagies and pizza), make sure you make time to sample some of the more interesting culinary fare. Although my husband and I love to take advantage of Philadelphia’s authentic Italian, Vietnamese and South American cuisine, my daughter has somehow not yet acquired my taste buds. Even though she’s picky, we can usually find a few simpler dishes with just chicken, noodles, plain rice, at most places we’ve visited. Usually if we’ve asked nicely and have two adults paying for entrees we’ve been able to get a side of some more kid-friendly options.

Regardless of whether you’re walking or riding or eating cheesesteak (mine are wiz with onions) or homemade gnocchi, make sure your whole family enjoys your "Big City" Philly experience.

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Emily Beerhalter enjoys spending time with her husband and children, but also takes part in the occasional
"Mom’s Night Out" in her ongoing attempt to balance work, family and
self.

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Orbitz Best in Stay Awards honor guests’ top hotels

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

Orbitzbestinstayawards
And the winners are … the Boston Marriott Cambridge, Chicago’s Talbott Hotel, the Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii and 95 other recipients of the first annual Orbitz Best in Stay Awards.

The awards unveiled this week honor hotels and resorts across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean that earned the best reviews from Orbitz guests.

The guests were asked to rate hotels on a scale of 1 to 5 for service, amenities, comfort, location and value. The award winners were those that stood above the rest among leisure travelers, business travelers, families and couples.

The Orbitz Best in Stay Awards recognizes hotels in 16 destinations, including San Francisco hotels, Los Angeles hotels and New York hotels.

The other destinations include Boston, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Mexico, Toronto and Montreal.

Travelers can save 15 percent at the award-winning hotels by entering a promotion code — HOTELAWARD15 — when they book on Orbitz.

See the full list of winners.

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Celebrating the solstice in Cusco, Peru

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

Cuscoplazadearmas
By Howard Wolinsky

Happy New Year! It was June 24, 2008. And my wife Judi and I were in Cusco, Peru, part of a special birthday celebration for her in the Sacred Valley.

It was Inti Raymi, the most important festival of the Incan year: celebration of the winter solstice, the beginning of the Sun’s New Year.

Days earlier, we had been to Machu Picchu, a wondrous place that the Spanish invaders and their wrecking balls missed in the 1500s and later. By all means go to Machu Picchu and soak up the spiritual vibe.

But if you’ve made it that far, check out the other places in the Sacred Valley, including the often-overlooked ruins at Chinchero and Piscac.

And if you can, spend some time at Cusco (also spelled also spelled Cuzco, and in the local Quechua language Qusqu). Old Peru hands tell me that back in the ’60s, this city was a major stopover on the hippie trail, with young gringos sleeping the parks. We saw some people rolling their own on the streets of this old Incan/colonial town.

But forget the hammock in the park. Stay in a hostel if you wish. But these days, Cusco is a sophisticated place with fine hotels and excellent restaurants.

Alpaca and guinea pig

Over at the Inka Grill and the Baghdad Cafe, I had an alpaca steak and cuy (guinea pig, which indeed tastes like chicken). I had dishes from Sri Lanka, China and Myanmar at Al Grano and a hard-to-find burger at Jack’s.

There are loads of pizza joints in the Sacred Valley. Not Chicago deep dish. But still very good. I found it curious — and delicious — that Tabasco sauce and mayonnaise were used for seasoning at a restaurant we went to in Ollantaytambo, an Incan town where we caught the Peru rail train to Machu Picchu and also went to an Internet cafe near the ruins. (Sorry. I didn’t catch the name of the pizza place, but it’s just before the market, near the ruins.)

Be sure to try Inca Kola, with its bubble-gum flavor, and Cusquena beer, especially the dark beer which has a chocolaty taste.

It’s not unusual to find Inca walls inside an eatery.

It was Andean winter. We could see our breath in the early morning as we people-watched out on the Plaza de Armas, the central square in Cusco. The temperature was maybe into the 40s and headed to the 70s. The sun was beating down hard, requiring SPF-to-infinity protection. And flowers were blooming as brightly as they were in the flatland summer back in Chicago.

Cuscoplazadearmas2
Inti Raymi

Inti Raymi was revived 60 years ago as a Festival of the Sun. Since the time of the Spanish conquest, Inti Raymi had been banned. The people kept the Inti Raymi fires burning in secret.

Under Spanish rule, the ceremony had been shifted from the June 21 solstice to be observed on June 24 as St. John’s Day.

Like Inca walls especially designed to withstand earthquakes that hit these parts, and unlike the buildings designed by the Spaniards, the Inti Raymi celebration has endured. Locals told me Catholicism and Incan beliefs actually blended well.

Now all the wraps are off, and the Inti Raymi celebration starts off at Santo Domingo Church along Avenida El Sol. The church had been built on top of the Koricancha, the Temple of the Sun.

The celebration is aimed at the Quechua population, drawing people from all corners of Peru, from the high Andes and down to Amazon and over to Lima. It was nearly a non-stop party with parades and dancing from late morning into evening. People came dressed in ethnic garb or with floats, with Incan beauty queens and one of which seemed to have an honest-to-goodness mummy.

(more…)

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Rock, mariachi highlight end of summer festival season

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

Sanjosemariachifestival_2
By Lena Katz

The streets are alive with the sound of music. So are the amusement parks, the beaches, the patios and every other conceivable venue — not just in the cities, but in resorts and small towns from Bar Harbor in the northeast to Bal Harbour in South Florida, and from San Diego, Calif., to Vancouver, B.C.

Amusement park chain Six Flags has made many preteen summers a whole lot squealier, what with its nationwide concert series featuring headliners like Flo Rida, Good Charlotte and Katy Perry. Upcoming dates include Good Charlotte at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey on August 21, Flo Rida at the same park on August 22, and Katy Perry at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio on September 1.

Now that Burning Man‘s gone mainstream and Tiesto/BT/Crystal Method are playing regularly for Las Vegas club crowds, it falls on other people to carry the progressive electronica torch. Minitek, a New York-based festival of "electronic music and innovation," has that evolutionary artist spirit in spades. Its lineup includes M.A.N.D.Y., Audion (AKA Matthew Dear) and several other Euro-flavored DJs, all of whom would be too cool for school if they weren’t such obvious turntable geeks. The program also promises groundbreaking art, design and technology by "pioneers" who are "shaping the future." September 12-14, (night venue only) Penn Plaza Pavilion, New York City. Weekend passes: $80 + fees.

Around L.A.

As Southern California’s summer reaches its final few weeks, annual festivals encourage its citizens to come out and play. In the trendy East Side enclave of Silverlake/Echo Park,
The 28th annual Sunset Junction takes over nine city blocks and four stages. The music lineup includes Broken Social Scene, Cold War Kids, Kinky and the Black Keys. The tragically hip entertainment roster gets authentic street fair ballast, in the form of carnival midway games, food booths and craft vendors.  August 23-24, 3700-4300 Sunset Blvd and 4000-4200 Santa Monica Blvd.

Just north of the LA county line, old-school surfers, families and displaced islanders come together for a laid-back multi-generational celebration on the beach. The Aloha Beach Festival, held just west of the historic pier in Ventura, combines Hawaiian culture and athletics (i.e. an outrigger canoe race) with Southern California heritage and humor (as seen in the Old Guys Rule BZ Surf Contest — there are no winners, only many honorable mentions). This free festival takes place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on August 23-24.

World Music in the S.F. Bay & the Southwest

You’ve swooned to Shakira and watched countless samba/salsa/meringue renditions on the dance contest reality shows — but how much consideration have you ever given to that south-of-the-border soundtrack staple, el mariachi? Probably not too much. However, this under-respected subgenre a festival of its very own, complete with attending musical stars, luxury hotel sponsors, and a schedule of cultural activities. Now in its 17th year, the San Jose International Mariachi Festival takes place September 26-28 in California. Headliners include Pepe Aguilar, Los Tigres del Norte and Linda Rondstadt. This is the largest festival of its kind, and organizers see it not only as a world music showcase, but an important cultural heritage event — fittingly hosted by the United States’ fourth-largest consumer Latino market.

Speaking of world music … New Mexico is prepping to host the 4th annual !Globalquerque! world music festival on September 19-20, on the banks of the Rio Grande. Historic Southwestern setting notwithstanding, the event is inclusive to all cultures and musical genres: its program runs the gamut from Hawaiian rock (HAPA) to Sephardic/Ladino Israeli gypsy (Mor Karbasi) to Quebecois acoustic folk (Genticorum). Wonderfully diverse lineup, a full slate of educational and cultural side programs, and a limited number of mostly veggie food vendors. Venue: National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, NM.

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Lena Katz lives on the Left Coast and writes about tropical islands, beach
clubs and ski resorts, but her heart belongs to NYC.

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Key West welcomes visitors after tropical storm

Monday, August 18th, 2008

Florida Keys tourism officials say the region should be ready for visitors on Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Fay passed over Key West Monday afternoon. Wind and rain from the storm did affect the area but left no significant structural damage.

Officials say that most Key West hotels and attractions will begin reopening Tuesday, and Key West International Airport is expected to resume normal operations Wednesday morning.

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