Maybe if it's a hit, they'll extend it beyond January 20: The DC city council passed some "emergency legislation" today that will allow bars, clubs and restaurants to serve booze until 5 am from January 17 through the morning of Obama's inauguration. That's three extra hours to knock back shots with fellow Democrats before heading back to your obscenely overpriced rental apartment!

Council members in DC, which has a reputation for lame nightlife partly because of its 2 am last call, think they've got to show inauguration visitors a good time when they come to town--as well as cash in on some free-spending tourists. But opponents say it's not likely the people who are still partying at 5 am are the kind of folks who need another beer.

For anyone planning to do the smart thing and use the Metro, this is actually terrific. The trains will be running later than usual--until 2 am--which until today would've put you on the last one out of the station with a bunch of wasted people. Now the booze hounds will still be at the bars, leaving you to ride the rails in peace!

Related Stories:
· DC Bars, Clubs to Be Open 24-Hours a Day [WaPo]
· Inauguration Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: &y]]]> pbb 2008-12-03T16:08:39-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/12/2/155232/837

Our sis site HotelChatter has been chronicling the absurdity of DC-area inauguration hotel packages, so we figured it was time for a look at the outrageous "deals" available on the couch-surfer's best friend, Craigslist. Can the nation count on DC for Obama-themed rip offs? Yes we can:]]> pbb 2008-12-02T16:00:24-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/21/143434/47

When we told you how to get to Inauguration 2009, we mentioned that Baltimore-Washington International should be on your radar, even if it's a bit removed from DC. Now there's ever more reason to consider BWI: Southwest is adding additional flights to the airport in the days before and after January 20.

The airline is adding service to and from Austin, Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, St. Louis and San Diego, and while some of those planes will be headed to BWI, others will land at Washington Dulles.

As we noticed when AirTran announced additional service to BWI, the extra capacity still isn't keeping up with demand: A number of Southwest flights from DC-area airports on January 21 are already sold out.

Prices are higher than you might expect from Southwest, too: Round-trip from San Diego to BWI, leaving January 19 and flying back January 21 starts at $688 all-in. Flying home on January 22 drops the price to $549. Book early and book often, Obamaniacs!

Related Stories:
· More Airlines Adding Inauguration Flights [Jaunted]
· How to Get to Inauguration 2009 [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikimedia]]]> pbb 2008-11-21T14:36:06-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/14/83611/335

We've told you how to get inauguration tickets, but we didn't yet mention how you should get to Washington, DC to see the swearing in of America's new president on January 20. There are plenty of choices, so let's break down the pros and cons of each:]]> pbb 2008-11-14T09:05:13-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/12/172222/21

Maybe when things get rough, we all just long for times gone by? A recent batch of stories has us thinking about the olden days, and we're not talking about the '50s.

While Google was putting the finishing touches on its recreation of Ancient Rome, archeologists announced they'd found a heretofore undiscovered, 4,300-year-old pyramid in Egypt. Not to be outdone, Lebanon said today it had unearthed a 2,900-year-old Phoenician cemetery.

Related Stories:
· New Pyramid Found in Egypt [National Geographic]
· Roman History Comes to Life [LatLong Blog]
· Lebanon Finds Ancient Remains [Reuters]
· Can Babylon Be Rescued? [AP, via Google]
· Something a Little Younger: Denver's Turning 150 [BT]]]> pbb 2008-11-12T17:35:11-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/11/53057/530

The countries of Indochina love themselves some communism. Laos and Vietnam are openly People's Republics, with red hammer-and-sickle flags lining the streets, while Cambodia fronts like a democracy. (Mao Zedong Boulevard and Josip Broz Tito Street in Phnom Penh hint at the country’s political ideology.)

In Laos and Vietnam, it seems every central square, statue and museum pays homage to the worker’s struggle in some form. Here’s a quick run-down of the reddest sites in the region:]]> ced138 2008-11-11T13:45:11-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/16/85851/387

It might be 30 years in the making, but the laid back Greeks are only just now putting the finishing touches on the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.

Located at the foot of the Acropolis, the new museum already has the ground floor open so you can get a taste for the ancient; the rest of the exhibitions are due to open early next year. At the moment it's free to see the ground floor and as yet, they haven't set a price--which scares us a little, as we think they've decided the price but it's too expensive to reveal.

Meanwhile, they've been trying to get back some ancient bits that were basically stolen by other countries. While Italy and Sweden have been cooperative, the Brits are holding off on giving back the Elgin Marbles, which are sittin' pretty in the British Museum.

Related Stories:
· New Acropolis Museum [Official Site]
· Inside the New Acropolis Museum [UK Times]

[Photo: New Acropolis Museum]]]> amandak 2008-10-16T09:45:46-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/