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MoMA's Garden Parties Are Yours For $20

July 2, 2009 at 9:02 AM | 0 Comments

Think of it as your own personal culture oasis: New York's Museum of Modern Art becomes a Brazilian celebração Thursday nights in July starting today.

The museum opens occasionally at night for us non-major donors, but "MoMA Thursday Nights" will add live musical performances and a cash bar to Thursdays between 5:30 and 8:45 for the same price as a regular entrance. August's musical guests will focus on China in conjunction with a special multimedia exhibit on the second floor.

Given New York's recent ark-building-motivating weather, outdoor concerts are a bit dicey, but you can always flood back into the museum and wile away the hours in the galleries—you'll just have to leave that cocktail behind.

Resident tip: If you live in New York and dream of going to all four parties, shell out for a membership; $75 will get you in free those four nights and the rest of the year. Dual members, defined as "two people receiving mail at the same address," will make it up even faster, earning back a $120 membership in just three Thursday trips. That card will come in handy for the colder nights, too, since it gets you into MoMA's movies for free.

Related Stories:
· What Not To Do: Paris Loses a Picasso [Jaunted]
· Computer-Chair Travel: Taking In Museums Through the Flickr Commons [Jaunted]
· Museums coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: ogil]

Become An Alaskan Fisherman, At Least For A Few Hours

July 2, 2009 at 8:47 AM | 0 Comments

If your summer vacation plans include a cruise to Alaska with your grandparents, then you might want to seriously start considering some alternate shore excursions. Sure you can wander through some shops and check out the Totem Poles in Ketchikan like everyone else, or you can pretend that you're a true deep sea fisherman fisherperson.

Imagine being on the Deadliest Catch TV show, except not having to lift a finger. On the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen’s Tour, you’ll sit in a heated amphitheater right on the deck where you’ll be free to watch all the action while remaining totally safe. The crew will share some information about the ship, and before long you’ll be watching them haul in rockfish, cod, octopus, and king crab. Too bad they don’t bring drawn butter along.

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Breaking News: JetAmerica Server Snafu or Pushing July Launch?

July 1, 2009 at 6:58 PM | 2 Comments

UPDATE: Jet America has been delayed until August 14th.

We were really banking on JetAmerica taking off on July 13 but perhaps the fact that the airline never even put out a real photo of its jet fleet, we should have known that their inaugural flight date was not sent in stone, or is it?

A tipster emailed us to say that it looks like JetAmerica cancelled all of their July flights. Sure enough, when we went to search for a flight on July 15 we were shown the next available date was August 14. Then when we tried again, the next available date was suddenly August 16. What is happening here?

Since we actually have a reservation on Jet America in July, we dialed their odd 727 area code reservations number hoping for answers. While we were on hold for over 10 minutes we were repeatedly prompted to email Michelle for "marketing inquiries", odd for a reservation number, right? Oh, and at the 11 minute mark we got our answers.

JetAmerica: There is a problem with our server, it is only booking flights for August and September, IT says all should be fixed by end of day tomorrow.

Jaunted: So flights in July are still wheels up?

JetAmerica: As far as I know, yeah.

So is this just a server malfunction or is JetAmerica pushing their launch until August? Send us your tips if you got 'em.

Sweet Summer Amenity: Omni Hotels Offering Flip Cameras During Your Stay

July 1, 2009 at 6:17 PM | 0 Comments

Our sis site HotelChatter does a bang-up job of covering the latest news and trends in the hotel world. We're also including a few links from our newest member to the family VegasChatter. So check in and stay awhile.

· Recipes for Summer Cocktails Being Served Up at Hotels

· The 10 Surest Ways To Get Arrested In Vegas

· Las Vegas is The Only Place Where 'What Happens Here, Stays Here'

· Omni's Got A Sweet Summer Amenity: Flip Video Cameras

· A Slew of New Hotels Are Opening In July

· What to Expect Inside The Upcoming W Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Les 'Hidden Charges' With International Car Rentals

July 1, 2009 at 5:57 PM | 0 Comments

Renting a car in a foreign country can be a wonderful way to see a lot of off-the-beaten path places you could not otherwise reach. It can also be an expensive, dangerous, and fraudulent experience. Chances are it won’t be, but just in case, here are a few extra charges to look out for next time you rent a car abroad.

A Little Insurance Policy
Many credit cards offer rental car insurance that extends to international rentals. Often, this insurance is better than what the rental agencies offer, and covers medical care as well. Educate yourself on your cards’ policies, then choose the best one for coverage of your rental. Just be sure to opt out of the rental agency’s (usually expensive) insurance program or your own will be void. For more about rental insurance and what to do if something goes wrong, check out last month’s article, “What Happens When You And The Rental Car Agency Don’t Speak The Same Language.”

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Visit The Last Of The Great Railway Stations in Los Angeles

July 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM | 0 Comments

Urban blog Infrastructurist just published a heartbreaking post bemoaning 11 gorgeous American train stations that have been demolished. One that's thankfully been spared: downtown Los Angeles's Union Station, routinely referred to as "The Last of the Great Railway Stations."

Opening in 1939 and costing $11 million, the station quickly became a central destination for the West Coast's passenger trains. It was not uncommon during the 1930s and 40s for 7,000 passengers a day to crowd into the station, which still provides the hub for Greater LA's many rail services. Even if you're not a passenger it's an architectural treasure worth incorporating into your Los Angeles tour.

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Sanctum Soho's Restaurant is a Little Underwhelming

July 1, 2009 at 5:17 PM | 0 Comments

We liked Sanctum Soho when we looked around it back in April (a lot more than the New York Times did, as it turned out). We said at the time that, as long as the clientele were up to scratch, it held a lot of potential.

Last night we found ourselves back there, eating at No. 20, the restaurant. We had high hopes – it looked pretty fine when we saw it pre-opening, what with its sexy booths and scarlet bar – and we were looking forward to the puddings described in the Sunday Times as ”the sort of thing that could make all the difference on a first date”.

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Sydney Saves More Sightseeing Spots Forever

July 1, 2009 at 5:03 PM | 0 Comments

Mention Sydney and everybody can think of the Sydney Opera House or the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but in fact for those who've spent any time in Australia's largest city, there are dozens of other iconic places that say "Sydney" just as loudly.

Three of these are about to be listed on the city's heritage register, which will mean that they can't be extended or demolished or get "unsympathetic renovations". Our favorite of the three is the Luna Park theme park on the other side of the bridge, but the Queen Victoria Building (cool old building, great place to shop) and the Sydney Town Hall (a handy meeting point) also deserve their new status.

This is all good news for us tourists, we figure, because more of Sydney's high points will definitely be there whether we show up this year or not for a decade. Nice to see a government doing something we actually like.

Related Stories:
· Sydney Icons on Heritage List [The West]
· Sydney Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Predrag Bubalo]

The Worst Beach Books To Pack This Year

July 1, 2009 at 3:49 PM | 0 Comments

Every American outlet worth its salt is putting out a list of books for best beach reading this week in preparation for the glorious holiday weekend ahead. And while we've never seen a bandwagon we didn't want to jump on and eventually drive, we wonder why no one is offering a warning label of what not to bring on your Fourth of July road or plane trip. Finally, a raison d'etre! If these are in your carry-on, beware:

Jonathan Miles, Dear American Airlines. The New York Times cocktail columnist's debut is uproariously funny, but takes place entirely in Chicago O'Hare Airport on a cross-country trip gone wrong. We're scared even to pick it up in the vicinity of our suitcase for fear we will be jinxed.

Alice Hoffman, The Story Sisters. Hoffman's Turtle Moon and Practical Magic have comingled with sunblock in our beach bag before, but after the author went off on Twitter on a critic who wrote a mildly negative review, we're going to read something that's free to dislike.

Norman Ollestad, Crazy For The Storm. This memoir debuted at #10 on the Times Best-seller List for its riveting true story of an 11-year-old who survived a plane crash in the San Gabriel Mountains, and we're looking forward to picking up when we have no plans to fly anywhere.

Emily Chenoweth, Hello Goodbye. Cosmopolitan put this novel about a girl on vacation with her brain-cancer mum on its Best Beach Books list, which means tears must be sexy this year. (See also: Every Jodi Picoult book. Have fun crying!)

Herman Melville, Moby-Dick. There's no reason why this book is specifically bad for this year, but we once read it while being eaten alive by mosquitoes in the Russian countryside, and we've never forgiven ol' Melville from failing to distract us for our welts.

Related Stories:
· Aspiring Hotelier Reading List: Chip Conley's Book "Peak" [HC]
· What We're Reading coverage [Jaunted]
· Literary Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: josephrobertson]

Bare It All This Weekend At Our Top 3 US Nude Beaches

July 1, 2009 at 2:32 PM | 1 Comment

This weekend may be Independence Day, but hopefully it'll be hot and sunny enough on both coasts to celebrate a little something else: freedom from clothing. We've run through our rolodex of scandalous vacations locations to retrieve the the best nude beaches, one for each side of the country and a bonus for Miami.

· Gunnison Beach in Sandy Hook, NJ
This is the clothing-optional mecca of the East Coast, since it's designated as the largest such beach and even offers police protection over the 5,000 or so visitors who drop trou here every summer weekend. Best of all, the nudity here is legal and within comfortable range of New York City for...you know...showing off your lack of tan lines at a cocktail bar.

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Pick Your Departure Time Carefully When Driving To and From Vegas

July 1, 2009 at 1:25 PM | 0 Comments

Last week we drove out to Las Vegas from Los Angeles and boy, was it a doozy. While we were happy to save on airfare (weekend tickets to Vegas start at around $150 round-trip; gas was about $75), we just happened to choose the worst times to leave Los Angeles on the way out there and to leave Las Vegas coming home.

We left on Thursday at 4:25pm from Santa Monica which is prime traffic time in L.A. but we couldn't skip out of work any earlier. This was also the day that Michael Jackson died and everyone was flooding the Westside to camp out at the UCLA Medical Center. So try to avoid departing on a day that a major pop icon dies in Los Angeles. For instance, when Britney kicks the can in Malibu, put off your trip for another few hours or possibly a day, if her death was "too soon."

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TSA's Response To Clear Questions: 'Not Our Problem'

July 1, 2009 at 12:37 PM | 2 Comments

It's quick and it's dirty, but it gets the job done; yes, it's the TSA Blog's Response to your Clear questions. Although most of the post is devoted to reminding people that this whole debacle is not TSA's problem, but Clear's and that's who should deal with it, they nonetheless remind us that two other such companies still function out there: Flo and Vigilant.

Beyond that, the TSA assures that the market for such expedited security cards is still open: "This is purely a market-driven, private sector venture offered in partnership with airports and airlines. Another vender could potentially take up the program."

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