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Boston Marathon Bombings Cause Deaths, Subway Suspension, No-Fly Zone

This afternoon, as the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon was under way with approximately 27,000 runners, two explosive devices detonated in the vicinity of the Finish Line, near the downtown Boston intersection of Boylston and Essex Streets. Initial reports state that the bombs were in trash cans within a block of each other (we've pinpointed the locations on a map below) and the explosions caused storefronts to explode as well as serious injuries for bystanders.

· 10pm: American Airlines is also offering a change waiver for flights to/from Boston. The Wall Street Journal tweets: "Officials found what they believe are 5 additional, undetonated explosive devices in Boston area."

· 8pm: One of the two confirmed dead is an 8-year-old boy.

· 7:15pm: The London Marathon is scheduled for this upcoming Sunday. Organizers are working with US authorities to review security and the potential for a copy-cat crime. The London Marathon is expected to have 37,000 runners. [Source: NBC News]

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Train Travel / Amtrak / Boston Travel / Amtrak Acela / → All Tags

O Beautiful for Spacious Skies, for Amtrak Waves of Grain...

Take a train through Europe, and you're bound to follow sparkling rivers near castles or dart through tunnels bored into scenes from a Tuscan dream. Take a train through the United States, and you're going to see lots of backyards with algae-green above-ground swimming pools, and Wal-Mart parking lots.

Okay so we're exaggerating a little, because sometimes, from the train window, you do get to see what's promised in "America, The Beautiful:"

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain...

This scene is exactly what kept us company through some of a recent Acela ride from New York to Boston. For a $120 one-way ride, the view better be worth it.

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Start the Week with Some Sweet Airport Rush Hour Time-Lapse Video

In case the coffee hasn't kick in yet, let us remind you that it's Monday. This isn't just any Monday, however; it's the final Monday of spring 2012. This Wednesday, June 20, the Summer Solstice hits and though we'll have more on that soon, we wanted to start off the week and end the season in style, in our favorite way: with a time-lapse airport video!

The above video, from YouTube user BostonAirborne, gives a sense of what it is to watch "rush hour" at Boston-Logan International. Filmed from Bayswater, aka the BOS plane spotter hotspot, the video captures the majority of the major US carriers patiently lining up for their go at the departure runway.

Keep your eye out for the few teeny tiny Cape Air Cessnas, who'll be popping up in other stories on Jaunted this week as we look at summer travel to Nantucket!

Airfare Deals / JetBlue / Airline News / BOS / IAD / BWI / DCA / Boston Travel / Washington DC Travel / LCCs / AYCJ / → All Tags

Buying Flights in Bulk: JetBlue's New $699 'Go Pack'

Buying flights in bulk—is this the next new thing? Virgin America tried it out last year with a Gilt City deal that saw a pack of 3 roundtrip short-haul flights going for $427, all the way on up to 10 long-haul roundtrips for $3,585. Well, the originators of the All-You-Can-Jet idea—JetBlue—are kicking off spring travel with a bulk deal of their very own. The only catch? You have to really love flying between Boston and Washington DC.

The deal is quite simple:
· Buy a "Go Pack" of 10 one-way flights between Boston (BOS) and all Washington, DC airports—Washington-Reagan (DCA), Washington-Dulles (IAD), Baltimore (BWI).
· Pay $699, plus $7 in taxes for each flight (so it's $776 total).
· Fly your 10 flights between April 23 through June 27, 2012.
· Earn a lump sum 4,200 TrueBlue miles

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Just What Boston's Logan Airport Needs: More Dunkin' Donuts

It’s not quite as exciting—at least to us—as Chick-fil-A arriving for the first time at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, but there’s a few new restaurants arriving at another pretty big airport. Boston's Logan International is ready for a few new shops and restaurants just in time for spring, and it looks like they’re all headed for many of the international arrivals and departures that do their thing within Terminal E.

If there’s one thing Boston—or Massachusetts in general—is known for it’s a passion for Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, so it only makes sense to have plenty of it available at the airport. There’s already locations within other terminals and concourses at the airport, but if you “run on Dunkin” you’ll be able to get your iced coffee or dunkaccino fix now within Terminal E as well. Obviously, there will be plenty of donuts as well, so why not grab a box of munchkins to share with your fellow passengers?

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Museum Travel / Boston Travel / Art Travel / → All Tags

$114 Million and a Spit Shine Revamps Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

We know, we know; it's freaking cold in Boston right now and it's not exactly your winter dream destination. Still, Boston has something up its sleeve during these slow months—the opening of a new wing to the Isabella Stewart Garnder Museum. The $114 million dollar addition designed by architect Renzo Piano houses 5,000 priceless objects, plus an interior garden courtyard and a cafe.

Potential art thieves will think twice about hitting here now, as a new entrance means beefed-up security. Lest we forget the curious case of the missing paintings, as Bloomberg refresh our memory: "in one of America’s most brazen art thefts, more than a dozen works were stolen from the Gardner in 1990, including three Rembrandts and a Vermeer. None have been recovered."

Of course, that's not what the Gardner Museum wants you to focus on as you tour the new wing's tapestry room, 300-seat recital hall and, of course, the galleries of paintings by the masters. If you'd like to see it all for yourself, tickets run $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $5 for students. If you're under 18, you're for free, and the same goes for anyone named "Isabella."

[Photo: ]

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Get Romantic in Boston with a Trip Inspired by 'What's Your Number?'

What's Your Number? opens this weekend nationwide. It's a new rom-com starring Anna Faris as a woman who doesn't want her "number" to go above 20 so she revisits her past "relationships." The movie was shot in Boston last summer and given the nature of its subject, probably at some of the city's most romantic locations.

Here's a look at a few of the movie's filming locations which may just inspire you take a romantic Boston getaway of your own.

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Airports / BOS / Boston Travel / Travel Magazines / Airport News / → All Tags

Did You Know? Boston-Logan Airport Has Its Own Newspaper

UPDATE: We guess print is dead, as Massport informs us that the paper is no longer available (and we only just picked up a copy in May).

"Print is dead," hmm? We completely agree in some respects, but walking through several international airports, you'd never know it from piles of complimentary newspapers specially written, edited and printed for the passengers briefly transiting through said airports.

Thanks to an extra long recent layover at Boston-Logan, we discovered BOS' Logan Times, a thin rag that discusses such topics as airport security complaints, area tourism and airport amenities. It's not for the average traveler, but #avgeeks will rejoice at the sight of it.

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Save Room for Dessert: Boston's Restaurant Week Gets Cooking in August

Huge news! Boston has announced the dates of their upcoming Restaurant Week. Okay, so you're like, "oh whatever, another Restaurant Week," right? While it's true that three-course dining on a budget does occur quite frequently around the country these days, Boston's Restaurant Week is special because it features many seafood restaurants...fresh seafood.

The dates to add to your iCal? August 14-19 and August 21-26, 2011. There's over 200 restaurants to choose from, and meals have more options and lower prices than you find at NYC Restaurant Week. It's a pretty worthy daytrip diversion if you don't live in Boston; we've done it before and you know we're already looking at BoltBus prices for this one.

Now for the pricing and featured restaurants:

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An Awesome Time Lapse Video from Boston's Logan Airport to Start the Week

You know we can’t resist an awesome travel video—especially when it’s time lapse—so that’s why we just had to share a little snippet from Boston’s Logan International Airport.

As you can see it’s a pretty busy place, and when the weather’s nice, the airplanes just effortlessly flow in and out. It might not look as fluid if you’re just watching through the terminal windows, but thanks to this video from BostonAirborne we get to see how impressive the workings of a major international airport truly are.

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Airport Food / Food Travel / Boston Travel / Airports / BOS / Gross Travel / → All Tags

Would You Eat a Lobster Roll Bought at the Airport?

It's 9am at Boston-Logan International Airport and you've already used up the one hour of free WiFi. You're hungry and Panda Express and a brewery aren't the most appareling options. Hmm—how about a crab-stuffed cheese pretzel? No? Then perhaps a famous East Coast lobster roll? Believe it or not, Boston'a Airport offers both and they're pretty popular options.

The question now is, do you trust supposedly fresh seafood served at an airport? This is Boston, so there's the proximity advantage, but that doesn't forgive the fact that this lobster salad had to be made, transported here and then run through security checks of its own to reach this airside restaurant.

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Bike Sharing / Bicycling / Biking / Active Travel / Boston Travel / → All Tags

Boston Breaks Out Bike Sharing This Summer with 'Hubway'

No need to hit up Paris or London this summer to ride around in pay-per-ride bicycles, as another city here at home is getting ready for a two-wheel test. Boston is just about ready to unleash its public bike sharing system on the masses, so get ready for a wicked fun time.

Things are moving full speed ahead, and if all goes as planned, the new system—it's called Hubway—could begin as early as July. They’ll start with just 600 or so bikes at around 60 stations around the city, but they’re already thinking about explaining. Eventually the plan is to have like 5,000 bikes all over the greater metropolitan area including spots like Brookline and Cambridge.

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