Jaunted - TX http://www.jaunted.com/ The Pop Culture Travel Guide en-us Copyright 2006 - SFO MEDIA 2008-09-07T11:24:52Z Jaunted Jaunted Jaunted http://www.jaunted.com/images/jauntedw.jpg http://www.jaunted.com/ DFW Revamps Ultimate Airport Make Out Spot http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/3/17329/83829

Dallas/Fort Worth International for many years had an outdoor observation area called Founders' Plaza where locals and visitors on layovers could enjoy a picnic and watch planes come and go. Later this month, a new Founders' Plaza will open on the northwest side of DFW, with shaded pavilions and speakers hooked into a feed from the airport's air traffic controllers.

The new mini park will celebrate its rebirth with a performance by Olympic gold medalist Carly Patterson on September 17. Meanwhile, DFW is asking aviation obsessives to post photo memories of the plaza online.

Oh, and if you're not in it for the plane spotting, keep in mind that Founders' Plaza was once named the Dallas-Fort Worth area's "Best Place to Make Out."

Related Stories:
· Founders' Plaza [Official Site]
· DFW coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: hsiqueira]]]> pbb 2008-09-03T17:04:11-05:00 Sports Fans Travel: Matthew McConaughey Revises No-Shirt Policy for UT http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/3/8334/50711

Ladies and gentlemen: From now on Matthew McConaughey will wear your puny mortal shirts, but only if they bear the mark of the sacred Longhorn. The man brought girlfriend Camila Alves and son Levi to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin to cheer on his alma mater, the University of Texas.

It's cute how thrilled Camila looks to be teaching baby Levi the "Hook 'em Horns." Maybe later on in the season Matt can commiserate with fellow UT alums Wes Anderson, Roger Clemens and Jenna Bush about how he can never get the fam to a game.

Related Stories:
· Good Ol' Boys Matthew McConaughey and Lance Armstrong in Miami [Jaunted]
· Matthew McConaughey: No Photos Unless I'm Shirtless [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Socialite Life]]]> egw 2008-09-03T08:45:21-05:00 Regime Change Travel: Sorry, Crawford http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/27/143815/365

Whoever ends up taking the White House this fall, one thing's for sure: He won't be hosting meetings in Crawford, Texas. That has the dusty town a little teary-eyed after eight years in the spotlight.

Says the Washington Post:

Wednesday marks the final day of Bush's last Crawford summer vacation, a prospect [that] has left longtime residents marveling at the changes that have come to their dusty, 700-person town about 20 miles west of Waco--and wondering what comes next.

Tourist (and journalist) traffic is already drying up, and plenty of storefronts on the main drag are empty. And though the president's presence spurred a bit of development, plans for other projects have dissolved.

At least we'll always have the movie!

Related Stories:
· Ready or Not, Crawford May Soon Resume Normalcy [WaPo]
· Presidential Travel: W Loves Road Trips [Jaunted]

[Photo: mari.francille]]]> pbb 2008-08-27T14:45:17-05:00 Adventures of Link: Summer of Animal Terror Continues in Texas http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/12/163713/954

The Montauk Monster is so over! An eight-year veteran of a sheriff's department in Texas says he recently spotted a chupacabra on the run in DeWitt County:

I've been patrolling these back roads for a long time, and I've never run across anything like this.

The deputy even had the sense to tape the mystery animal with his dash camera as it ran down a dirt path. It would be the second chupacabra in as many years for the county--though one captured in 2007 actually just turned out to be a coyote. At least it wasn't a viral marketing gimmick!

Related Stories:
· Chupacabra Caught on Tape? [KENS]
· Raw Video: Is This a Chupacabra? [KHOU]
· Texas Deputies Add to Chupacabra Legend [KSAT]
· When Animals Attack coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-08-12T17:30:09-05:00 Hurricane Travel: Gulf of Mexico Says Hello, Dolly http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/23/112359/050

Hurricane Dolly is currently approaching Brownsville, Texas after making landfall north of Cancun over the weekend. The Yucatán Peninsula peninsula had heavy storm-related rains but sustained very little damage; Dolly retreated into the Gulf but picked up speed from there.

The fourth named storm of the 2008 season (after tropical storms Arthur and Cristobal and Hurricane Bertha) is expected to hit category two strength as it moves west into northern Mexico, possibly stopping for a "Wall*E" matinee.

The latest long-range forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says we should expect 12-16 tropical storms and 6-9 hurricanes before the end of the season on November 30.

Related Stories:
· Hurrican Dolly Gains Strength Near Border [AFP, via Google]
· Adventures of Link: It's Storm Season [Jaunted]
· Tesoro Manzanillo Offers Hurricane-Proof Package [HC]

[Photo: Associated Press]]]> egw 2008-07-23T12:00:31-05:00 Austin Cabs Helping to Keep it Weird http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/21/14858/9384

New Yorker writer and hyper-liberal Hendrik Hertzberg got lucky on a recent visit to Austin and snagged what could be the coolest taxi this side of the Cash Cab.

The Land Yacht bills itself as the city's only rock 'n' roll taxi, and the specs on this thing back up the claim. Here's the word, unedited and straight from the cab's website:

So much BASS it'll shake yer @ss right outta the seat! Music Videos playin from 4 honkin big video screens right up in your face. Oh, did I mention that you get to CHOOSE the Music Videos you wanna watch?

And what runs all of this? It ain't yer garden variety little dvd player in 'da dash. Full computer setup right in the cab means I can do just about anything you can do with a computer! Over 2 teraBytes of hard drives means I gotz plenty of space for over 15,000 High Quality music videos available at your fingertips!

We're not saying you should go to Austin just for the transportation... Actually, you know what? That is what we're saying.

Related Stories:
· The Land Yacht [Official Site, via]
· Taxis coverage [Jaunted]
· Austin Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: The Land Yacht]]]> pbb 2008-07-21T14:15:21-05:00 DFW Gets a Spruced up Website http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/18/17528/8665

Dallas/Fort Worth International just soft-launched a new website, and it's quite user-friendly. Reason number one? The airport's usually-paid WiFi will let you log on for free. Beyond that, everything you'd actually want to access is right there on the front door.

For example, it's now easier to find shops, restaurants and services. For restaurants, simply go to the home page, and you can filter 'em down to cuisine and terminal--and even see PDF menus (with prices!) before you pick a spot to eat.

The live flight info has also been expanded. The site uses data from FlightStats to track arrivals and departures, also right from the home page. And since you can log on for free, you'll be able to verify if that gate announcement of a 15-minute delay is for real--or if it's time to start calling the airline's reservation number.

And since the airport figures passengers will have even more ideas about how to update the website, officials will be hosting a user feedback blog until July 2. We can only imagine the comments will be more positive than what showed up on American Airline's blog.

Related Stories:
· DFW Airport [Official Site]
· Travel Websites coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-06-18T17:15:01-05:00 Search Jaunted Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/