Jaunted

Rental Cars / Thrifty / Political Travel / Election 2012 / → All Tags

One More Thing to Check for on Rental Cars: Political Bumper Stickers

When you pick up a rental car it’s always a challenge. Even if the process goes smoothly there's always some little but of stress to complicate matters. Whether it's what kind of car you’re going to get, checking for previous damages, figuring out driving routes...the list goes on. Now there’s apparently one more thing to look for when doing your rental car walk around, as you’re going to need to check the back for political bumper stickers.

We couldn’t care less if you throw a bumper sticker onto the back of your personal car, but when someone else is doing so on your rental car it’s a different story. Apparently that’s exactly what’s happening at one Thrifty outlet in Buffalo, New York, as renters haven’t been too thrilled with seeing “Vote for the American” bumper stickers on their cars.

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Flight Attendants / JetBlue / AYCJ 2010 / AYCJ / LCCs / → All Tags

How to Sleep With a Flight Attendant (And What They Think About You)

Our lesson learned: not all JetBlue FAs will go Slater on you, but that doesn’t mean you should treat them badly

You may want to address any issues you have with anger or jealousy before you read the rest of this post, because if you’ve ever had any flight attendant-related fantasies, you may well want to hurt us. Why? Because we slept with a flight attendant the other week.

No, not in the Biblical sense, of course. Perish the thought! We mean it literally. We befriended a JetBlue flight attendant on a flight, and she ended up being so nice that when we found ourselves alone in her home town, she invited us to stay with her. On her waterbed. Yes, the story really is that good.

It took place last month. We were on our first flight of All You Can Jet, riding from Vegas to New York, and Jennifer – we won’t tell you her second name, in case you try to stalk steal her from us – was working the flight. We liked her instantly – she was friendly but professional, approachable without being in your face. She was, we remember thinking, the perfect person to get us off the ground for the next 30 days of flying.

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Full-Body Scanning / Airport Security / TSA / Technology / BUF / Airports / Naked Travel / Nude Travel / Terrorism / → All Tags

What It's Like to Go Through a Full-Body Scan: A Firsthand Account

A picture we sneaked of the full-body scanners at BUF

So yesterday we told you about the march to the scaffold approach to a full-body scan. Today, onto what it’s like to have one.

We ran into our first full-body scan the other week at Buffalo International Airport and although those pictures made us a bit squeamish (especially as we’d been hitting the Buffalo wings while we were there), we thought it was something we needed to try. This is what happened.

There was no fanfare from the TSA types telling us we were going through a full-body scanner. In fact, either few of the other passengers had cottoned on, or they were delightfully unbothered about some guy/girl in another room seeing them in the all-together. Everyone was just following instructions and going through the scans.

Talking of the scans: what happened was that, as normal, we unloaded our belongings onto the conveyor belt, and then instead of going through the usual metal detector, we went through the Backscatter machine – which basically looks like two big blue boxes that you stand between.

The TSA apparatchiks guided us through the process – you stand between the boxes, put your feet on the places marked out for them, cross your hands over your head, like you’re making the A in YMCA and stand there for about five seconds.

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Fall Travel / Niagara Falls / Buffalo Travel / JetBlue / Flight Deals / Tourism / → All Tags

Could Niagara Falls Be Autumn 2010's Big Hotspot?

Are you thinking about heading to upstate New York (or down south Canada) to do your autumn leaf peeping with a mix of Niagara Falls whitewater? Join the crowd. We've been hearing more and more interest in this age-old tourist hotspot as the days get cooler and as prices for airfare come down.

On big example is with JetBlue's decision to discount all of their New York state flights this season to $49 each way from New York City. That includes Rochester, Syracuse and—the most important—Buffalo. Buffalo is the popular jumping-off point for trips to the falls, and cheap buses will take tourists directly from the airport. Thus, it's already been getting a lot of action during the past couple weeks, as we read tales of many All You Can Jetters doing the Buffalo flight and the Niagara Falls side trip simply because they'd never take the time nor the money out to do the trip on its own. And truthfully, we can't blame them.

So, with the usual busloads of Asian tourists, the cheesy honeymoon couples and the flash flood of AYCJ people, we're wondering who's not tempted by a trip to the falls?

[Photo: kim327]

JetBlue / All-You-Can-Jet Pass / Travel Deals / Airline News / → All Tags

All-You-Can-Jet Duo Arrives Home to Buffalo, Got Their Money's Worth

When Clark Dever (left) and Joe DiNardo heard that JetBlue was offering special All-You-Can-Jet Passes for a flat fee of $599 last August, they took it as a challenge. Quitting their day jobs, they embarked on a month of value-maximizing travel that took them to 30 cities in 31 days, racking up more than 50,000 miles before ending their quest back where they started in Buffalo, New York on Friday.

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Food Festivals / Food Travel / Labor Day Travel / New York / → All Tags

Spend Labor Day Feasting At The Annual National Buffalo Wing Festival

Another Labor Day, another annual National Buffalo Wing Festival. The Buffalo, NY event stretches back to 1992, when Wing King Drew Cerza was inspired to start it by Bill Murray's junk food addicted character in "Osmosis Jones." Over the years, it's grown from a small competitive eating spectacle to a full-blown convention--hosting over 400,000 total people, generating over $125,000 for New York charities, and even serving as the site of a wedding.

This year's gala promises to build on last year's gigantic festival, where more than 78,000 people consumed over 27 tons of wings.

Buffalo Wing Festival organizers are fond of describing the spectrum of sauces as stretching from the mild to the suicidal, with dozens upon dozens of stands serving their specialties. The "Official Wing Sauce of the National Buffalo Wing Festival," Frank's RedHot, will be given away from a booth at the festival. There are also a variety of eating contests, including one that involves bobbing for chicken wings in a vat of blue cheese.

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Thanksgiving Alternatives / Disco / Live Music Travel / Videos / Thanksgiving-Alternatives-Map / → All Tags

Disco's Not Dead. Yet.

To break a world record, the city of Buffalo threw the biggest disco party ever in 1979 with 13,000 attendees. In the '90s, they did it again--for charity. Saturday's World's Largest Disco attracts a giggle-inducing parade of '70s stars and a crowd of 7,000 people every year to benefit Camp Good Days, which organizes festivals and fun days for children with cancer.

We know what you're thinking: Are you, venerable website, really suggesting we trek up to Buffalo, where it is supposed to snow all weekend, in order to participate in a giant disco dance? Why, sure we are. Because we've all had that Thanksgiving we'd rather forget, due to a "House of Yes"-style family fight or a "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" travel nightmare. This one, though, you'll never forget. Don't forget to send us your notes if you go!

Related Stories:
· World's Largest Disco [Official Site]
· Buy Nothing Day [Jaunted]
· Toast Your Thanks In Oregon [Jaunted]
· Thanksgiving coverage [Jaunted]

Music Venues / Music Travel / Live Music / → All Tags

Buffalo Music Venues: Nietzsche's

Friedrich Nietzsche famously proclaimed "God is dead," and nowhere does his statement feel truer than along the abandoned-factory-lined waterfront of Buffalo. But the city embraces its darkness in black humor films like "The Savages" and "Buffalo 66," where neurotic, blue-collar intellectuals suffer the existential crises that Nietzsche invented.

So it makes sense that the epicenter of this angst-ridden city's counterculture culminates at Nietzsche's, a music venue for people who like their musicians local, talented and gimmick-free.

Located along narrow Allen Street, lined with bookstores and bars where owners still stand behind the counters, Nietzsche's authenticity is the antidote to faux-dive music venues where the mirrors are intentionally hung askew. Its trademark cobweb-covered candelabras have lit the venue for decades, with the exposed wiring to prove it. Get there soon--before the fire department shuts the place down.

Related Stories:
· Nietzsche's [Official Site]
· Movie Set Travel: The Savages [Jaunted]
· Buffalo Hotels [HC]

[Photo: Linden Tea]

Movie Set Travel / → All Tags

Movie Set Travel: The Savages

This week's movie pick is perfect for a dose of reality amidst all the holiday cheese factor out there, so sidle up and get serious. The Savages is about a brother and sister who have to face up to familial responsibility when their father becomes ill and they are forced to care for him.

Two of our favorites, Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman, are Wendy and Jon Savage, a sister and brother who are forced to get reacquainted after they've drifted apart, when they have to care for their dad.

This one's also good for a dose of winter weather seriousness, with part of it being shot in Buffalo. We offer you some things to check out in "The City of Good Neighbors". (Wait, that's really the city's nickname?)

Where To Stay: Hotel Indigo Buffalo's answer to the boutique hotel, Indigo features brightly decorated rooms (think red bedspreads) and a loud public areas including an on-site bar and restaurant, but it's a nice break from the standard offerings and you'll enjoy a dip in the indoor pool when it's negative 20 outside.

Where to Eat: Anchor Bar One does not go to Buffalo and not have wings! Hit up Anchor Bar, where it all began. One Friday night patrons came in starved and wanted to try something new and Anchor Bar had the answer. This place serves up over 1,000 lbs a day of wings, and even took home a James Beard award for its secret sauce.

What to See: Ansley Wilcox House Step back in time and check out the exact spot where Teddy Roosevelt was inaugurated back in 1901. This is one of the very few inaugural sites outside of Washington DC, due to the fact that Teddy had to take office fast after President McKinley was assassinated. Visits inside the house are by guided tour only, and admission is $5.

Related Stories:
· Movie Set Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Buffalo Hotels [HotelChatter]

[Photo: stratushead]

R2D2-Mailbox-Map / Cult Travel / → All Tags

R2D2 Mailbox Map: Droids Go Back To School, Too

Contribute your R2D2 mailbox locations by uploading your photo, with mailbox address to the Jaunted Flickr Photo Pool, or sending us the photo and street address via email.

Jaunted tipster Mary Kay spotted this R2D2 mailbox not far from home in Buffalo, New York. Right across the street from the University at Buffalo, these days this postal unit should be fielding plenty of desperate cries to mom and dad to send more money for "books".

Mary Kay's son is a major Star Wars fan, so even though these mailboxes are on the way out she wanted to get this one on the map. We're hoping to spy a few more before they disappear.

Go Straight To The R2D2 Mailbox Map

Airport Security / Celeb Travel / → All Tags

No Love for ?uestlove at Buffalo Airport

According to a somewhat brain-melting MySpace blog posted by ?uestlove (a.k.a. Ahmir Thompson), the Roots drummer was a victim of racial profiling at the hands of BUF airport security and the DEA. In addition to his gig with the Roots, Thompson does some lucrative moonlighting as an international DJ, a job for which he's paid in cash. He was making his way through Buffalo Airport when that international cash aroused suspicion at the special security line, where he had to check in due to a last-minute ticket purchase.

they were like there are too many red lights: "you carry two computers, these orange things (external hard drives), this louis vuitton bag (no one gave me the memo that louis bags are suspect on TWO levels for men) you carrying all this money from different countries, you have a passport, and you fit the description with this knitted rasta farian hat"

i wore this hat to conceal the afro that could be the difference between the autograph/photo pause i have to take while going to plane and just maybe an extra 6 mins at starbucks concealed enjoying a muffin and coffee before the flight. i know i joke with the "disguise" kit hat but it does buy me minutes. i have nothing against taking photos. its just one photo leads to another photo and then 4 photos and then there goes 10 mins and then "final call for USair flight passenger thompson!!!!!"

Well, at least we know that he is a Star Alliance kind of guy. ?uestlove also calls coach class "nigga shit" and connects his woes to the "government orchestrated" 9/11.

[Photo: Drummerworld]

Related Stories:
·  Blog 95: Father You See King The Police [MySpace via FishbowlNY]

The Best Minor League Ballparks / Sports / Road Trips / best-minor-league-ballparks / → All Tags

Best Minor League Ballparks: Dunn Tire Park

What's not to love about Minor League Baseball? It's got easier parking, cheaper food, wackier traditions, contests and great deals on last-minute seats. Seats that are close enough to the action that the visiting team can hear your heckling loud and clear. This week, we'll be guiding you around the country to play ball with the stars of tomorrow and the washed up heroes of yesterday on a Bull Durham-style road trip. We've even got the whole thing all mapped out for you.

Best Minor League Ballparks ::: Map

Buffalo Bisons
Though the major league season started last night, the Triple-A International League kicks things off when the Buffalo Bisons host the Richmond Braves on April 5. The priciest tickets for the day game at Dunn Tire Park are only $10. The stadium holds more than 18,000, making it one of the biggest in the minors. (Bonus for architecture nerds: it was designed by HOK, the same folks who brought you AT&T Park and PNC Park.)

Getting There:
The ballpark is right downtown, off I-190. Parking around the stadium is plentiful. Scope the lots on our map.

Insider's Tip:
We shouldn't even have to suggest this, but you'll obviously want to get some Buffalo wings while you're at the game. You also don't want to miss Belle the Ballpark Diva. Think we are joking? Click here and scroll down to check out the Belle Ballpark Diva video and just try not to be singing "100% girl" for the rest of the day.

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