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Tags: Fall Travel / Surveys / Travel News / Tourism / Arthur Frommer / Arizona Travel / → All Tags

Frommer's Arizona Boycott Can't Keep This State Down

Despite Arthur Frommer’s feelings about the Grand Canyon State, people seem to be ready to head out to Phoenix this fall. It is possible that his opinion might not have made it through to everyone yet, or it’s possible that nobody cares what Frommer thinks. Even though things are slow due to the economy, the Valley of the Sun appears to keep drawing the crowds into town.

According to the 2009 Travel Leaders Fall Travel Trends Survey—catchy name—the Phoenix and Scottsdale area sits just outside the top ten at number 11 among destinations booked throughout the rest of the year. People must want to avoid the cool crisp days of autumn at any cost. About 75 percent of those asked said that trips were down compared to last year overall, and about 60 percent said they had a good feeling about the strength of the fall travel season. Let's just hope the travel season isn't too strong, we're getting used to all the great deals.

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Tags: Best-Factory-Tours-Map / Golf Travel / Best Factory Tours / Phoenix Travel / → All Tags

Fore! Play Through The Home Of Ping Golf In Arizona

Become an informed consumer while still on vacation! Check out Jaunted's newest series of the Best Factory Tours the world over, and let us know if we missed any.

Ever heard the urban legend about how peeling the top layer of a golf ball will cause it to explode? Us too! We expect a tour of Karsten Manufacturing, maker of Ping golf balls, to clear this mystery up for us.

Karsten Manufacturing founder Karsten Solheim got into golf as a young engineer when his coworkers at General Electric strong-armed him into joining their foursome; the putter he subsequently designed first made a big splash when a winner at a Phoenix PGA tournament used it. At Karsten in Phoenix, you can watch club heads being molded in a machine and later, real-life orders personalized for golfers around the world.

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Tags: Pizza / Phoenix / Food Travel / Food / → All Tags

Our Five Hour Journey For A Single, Spectacular Pizza In Phoenix

Before we felt it right to make our way to one of the country’s best ice cream parlors, we had to backtrack for a moment and hit up one of the country’s best pizza places first. Located in a historic square along Phoenix’s downtown border, Pizzeria Bianco has been the pizza Mecca for crust aficionados across the country.

We knew that Bianco was a must-eat during our visit to Arizona, so we headed to the restaurant at 4:30 pm, as the place opens at 5:00, and only takes reservations for six or more. From what we’d read, we knew we’d have to wait, but we didn’t totally believe that our wait would be as long as it was. When we arrived, the line was already way down the block, and by the time we finally sat down and were rewarded with two delicious pies, it had become a five-hour journey.

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Tags: Sports Travel / Sports / Phoenix Travel / → All Tags

Celebrate NBA All-Star Weekend In Phoenix

This weekend is a great time to get away to Phoenix. Not only will you be able to escape the winter weather and enjoy sunny skies with highs in the mid 60s, but you’ll also get to attend the very romantic 2009 NBA All-Star Game with your sweetheart.

Things kick off Friday evening with the rookie and celebrity games. Saturday evening brings the fun stuff like the slam dunk contest, three point shootout, and the skills competition. Finally, on Sunday night, Jordin Sparks will get the evening started when she performs the National Anthem, before the league’s best look to battle it out at the US Airways Center. Originally, Chris Brown and Shaq were going to announce the starting lineups, but we’re thinking Shaq might be performing this one solo.

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Tags: Botanical Gardens / Phoenix Travel / Art / → All Tags

Art and Nature Collide at Phoenix's Desert Botanical Garden

We know, we know...you’re thinking, “Phoenix's Desert Botanical Garden? Is there anything to see besides cactus…lots and lots of cactus?” Apparently there is now through May 31, 2009, since glass artist Dale Chihuly’s fanciful exhibit, “The Nature of Glass,” will be on display at the PBG, which is usually known for...well, just for its wide variety of agave and palo verde trees.

But for now, there are 17 separate sculptures and installations, including The Sun, which towers over the entrance at 16 feet tall and 14 feet wide, and chandeliers in the Cactus and Succulent Galleries—that just sounds naughty, doesn’t it?

After training at the Venini glass factory in Venice (where else?), Dale Chihuly has been creating these fantastical glass works since 1965 at his Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State.

What makes the monumental scale and vibrancy of his works even more impressive is the fact that Chihuly himself is blind in one eye—that’s right, the eye patch he wears isn’t just for dramatic effect.

Advanced reservations are required as the garden is doing timed admissions. Members get free admission while the rest of us have to pay $15. Seniors get in for $13.50 and students get in for $7.50. Children 3-12 still have to pay too at $5 a pop.

Related Stories:
· Chihuly Exhibit [Desert Botanical Garden]

[Photo: Adam Rodriguez/PBG]

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Tags: Public Transportation / Light Rail / Travel News / Trains / → All Tags

Phoenix Unveils Fancy Light Rail Line, Newbie Transit Riders Too Polite to Squeeze Into Crowded Cars

We were in Phoenix for Christmas, and we wondered, as we always do when we travel, if we could ever be happy living there. Having fled the cold and wet New York winter, Arizona's mild weather and breezy lifestyle seemed awfully enticing, but we'd hate to give up the energy and convenience of the city for a suburban, car-dependent existence. We're just so used to taking the subway that the idea of having to drive everywhere seems like a drag.

But as of now, it's possible - if difficult - to live in Phoenix without owning a car. The city just took a big step toward a 21st century public transit system with the opening of its light rail line, and while it's a far cry from the New York City Subway, it's a cheap and convenient way to get around the city without worrying about traffic, gas, or those insidious red light and speeder cameras that keep popping up everywhere.

Transit geeks that we are, we took a ride on the Phoenix Metro on its first day of operation and found it to be quite impressive. The $1.4 billion line stretches twenty miles from northwestern Phoenix to Mesa, and the green-and-white cars are quiet, smooth, and futuristic. Since the train was free during its first few days of operation (normally it costs $1.25 a ride, or $2.50 for an all-day pass) it was packed with riders, many of whom probably haven't taken public transit in years. As regular subway commuters, we found it cute that people were reluctant to press into the crowded cars, opting instead to wait for the next train. That will change.

The light rail is also great news for area boozers, as it passes through the bar-heavy town of Tempe. While the last train leaves at 11:00 p.m., it offers safe, sober transportation to many tipplers who heretofore saw little alternative to getting behind the wheel after having a few too many. If only Charles Barkley had the option of taking the train on New Year's Eve he might not be in such hot water right now.

[Photo: Victor Ozols]

Related Stories:
· Valley Metro Light Rail [Official Site]
· Phoenix Opens $1.4 Billion Light Rail System [Reuters]
· Public Transportation Coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Not The President Travel / Possible-Presidents-Map / John McCain / Sarah Palin / → All Tags

McCain Concedes Close To Home

John McCain hushes a booing crowd during his concession speech at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix last night, flanked by running mate Gov. Sarah Palin.

Early punditry blamed the Arizona Senator's loss on a combination of tactical errors (including, some might say, the Palin pick), an inability to stick to a message that reached undecided voters and the shadow of President George W. Bush.

But McCain was all grace last night as he told a crowd, "I would not be an American worthy of the name, should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century."

Related Stories:
· For CNN, It's Never Over [NYT]
· McCain's Speech Last Night [JohnMcCain.com]
· Possible Presidents '08 coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: NYTimes.com]

Tags: UFO Travel / Videos / Phoenix Lights / → All Tags

Adventures of Link: More UFO Travel

In 1997, thousands of people saw the now-famous Phoenix Lights, including Arizona's governor at the time, Fife Symington. Last night, it appeared they'd returned to the skies above Phoenix.

Dozens of people called in to local radio and TV stations to report an eerie quartet of red lights. An FAA spokesman had no explanation for the phenomenon, but did have a sense of humor about it, given the agency's recent troubles:

It could be aliens coming down to save us from ourselves, you never know. The only thing I do know is if they were coming down, they weren't talking to air traffic controllers.

Former Governor Symington describes the original Phoenix Lights 45 seconds into this video.

Related Stories:
· Mystery Lights Reported over Phoenix [KTAR]
· Unexplained Lights above the Valley [KNXV]
· Officials: Source of Strange Red Lights Unknown [Arizona Republic]
· Phoenix Lights [Wikipedia]
· Mystery Lights Also Spotted in Florida [WKMG]

Tags: WiFi / Free WiFi / Airport WiFi / PHX / DEN / DIA / → All Tags

Airport WiFi: Phoenix Plays Net Nanny

Say it ain't so, PHX! The Phoenix airport, which we listed as one of the best in the US for WiFi, won't let you check out dirty websites while you're waiting for your flight. The airport filters web content in the terminals, a la Denver International.

Says The Rocky Mountain News, it's only one of a couple airports playing nanny for passengers:

A review of policies at two dozen of the nation's busiest airports found that DIA and Phoenix Sky Harbor are the only two that block content on their WiFi systems for travelers using their own laptops, according to [our] research.

As we told the author of the story, it's pretty ridiculous that the web is being censored while you can pick up nudie mags in the airport newsstand. (Though DIA should get some credit for making the WiFi free.) For more airports with free wireless, check out our handy map.

Related Stories:
· Web Surfers Makin' Waves [RMN]
· Denver Airport, Hotels Censoring the Web [Jaunted]
· Airport WiFi Map [Jaunted]

[Photo: cogdogblog]

Tags: Super Bowl XLII / Sports Travel / → All Tags

Adventures of Link: Super Bowl Monday

Now that we know it'll be the Patriots against the Giants in the Super Bowl, it's time to shore up those plans for a trip to Phoenix. The city's hosting Super Bowl XLII, but wants you to know that there's lots more to see than big, sweaty men smashing each other.

Besides Taliesin West, you could also check out the local spa scene or art galleries. (The Scottsdale Super ArtWalk happens on February 2.) And if you're into music, Diddy, Snoop Dogg and Dave Navarro will all be in town in early February. Even Tommy Lee and Kid Rock are flying in. Our Kid Rock Fight Venues map is at the ready!

Related Stories:
· Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau [Official Site]
· Phoenix Eager to Show Off as Host [Canadian Press, via Google]
· More to Phoenix than Super Bowl XLII [AP, via Detroit FP]
· Phoenix Cops to Use Segways [Mass High Tech]
· Super Bowl XLII Hotels [HotelChatter]

[Photo: Wikipedia]

Tags: Spas / Desert Travel / Scottsdale-Spas-Map / → All Tags

Scottsdale Spas: Getting Our Rocks On

On our recent trip to Scottsdale to get massages, pedicures and bodywork treatments in the name of, um, travel research, we learned that this desert oasis plays host to more than 40 spas, many of which are located in swank destination resorts. When you're in such close proximity to your five-star competition, you've got to offer something wacky, niche or ultra-luxe to win over guests--your basic Swedish rubdown or hydrating facial just won't cut the epicurean mustard.

Making our appointment at The Revive Spa at the JW Marriot Desert Ridge, we were urged to try The Turquoise Blue Sage Body Ritual, a 3-in-1 combination therapy designed to cleanse and purify our senses. As the name implies, the products used throughout the 80-minute experience feature the area's most recognizable rock, plus fragrant ingredients like sage and organic essential oils.

Guiding us into the treatment room, our spa therapist explained that turquoise possesses a kind of healing energy. We pondered this, more than a bit skeptical, as she began working a mineral-rich salt scrub into our skin. But as she coated us in a desert clay body mask, wrapped us inside a hydrating cocoon and worked us from head to toe in a full-body massage, we started to come around to her way of thinking. By the time the treatment rounded out with an energy ritual designed to cleanse our aura and balance our spirit, we were totally down with the whole desert healing vibe.

The Southwestern zen lingered for hours--at least, until we came inches from stepping on a live rattlesnake during hike in the nearby Sonoran desert. After such a traumatic, near-death event, we felt totally justified in booking another extra-long treatment at Revive.

Related Stories:
· Revive Spa [Official Site]
· Spas coverage [Jaunted]
· A Taste (or Ten) of Tuscany [Jaunted]

Tags: Celeb Travel / Paula Abdul / Sports Travel / Super Bowl XLII / → All Tags

Rumored Travel: Will Paula Abdul Sing at the Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl viewership numbers get higher and higher, but the performers they pick for halftime just get older and older. Apparently still freaked by the 2004 Janet Jackson Rhymes-With-Ripple Incident, the organizers of Super Bowl XLII, held in Arizona, might be ceding the stage to a crowd past their prime--the lovable crew from "American Idol," with Paula Abdul set to make her singing comeback. Yes, Paula "Opposites Attract" Freaking Abdul.

Even though "Idol" is the one mid-season television replacement sure to be a hit, do we want to see these jokers perform? They could just rewrite some Soulja Boy Tell 'Em lyrics and get those kids from "High School Musical" to do the dance. All the young'uns these days love that dance. Also, according to USA Today, Paula's new single is called "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow." Come on, the Bowl's less than a month away!

Related Stories:
· Paula Finally Pulls Through on That Forever Your Girl Promise [PageSix.com]
· Paula Abdul Joins the Bad Celebrity Fliers Club [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: PageSix.com]