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Volunteer Travel / Disaster Travel / Joplin / → All Tags

Joplin, MO Still Needs Volunteers to Help with Tornado Cleanup

Last week the Joplin, MO Convention and Visitors Bureau sparked controversy among residents of the tornado-ravaged town when they launched a new "Tornado Tourism" Map. Visitors can pick up the map, for free, at several local hotels and restaurants to find the best routes through the disaster zone.

The Visitor Bureau Director defended the map after residents called it "tacky" and "insensitive" saying, "We are not actively promoting the tornado, mainly, (the map) is a piece of information. Maybe people will have a reason to give, or put together a volunteer group because there's still a lot of work being done, or even come into town and buy something."

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Zoos / Zoo Travel / Nature Travel / Green Travel / St. Louis Travel / Missouri Travel / → All Tags

The St. Louis Zoo is Awash in Cute Baby Animals

The St. Louis Zoo went out of its way to attract park-goers this summer, from opening a new Panda Trek to hosting a summer concert series. As the summer winds down, though, they're shifting to a more basic and straightforward strategy: reminding potential visitors that there are a bunch of cute baby things on exhibit, and that people who come to the zoo can see them.

Just this week the zoo let loose their new baby lion cub "Imani," which drew exactly the kind of press that you'd expect a rambunctious lion cub to draw. She's not technically on exhibit yet—apparently this was just a supervised excursion into her future home in Big Cat Country—but some visitors still managed to catch a glimpse of the cub.

Those who weren't lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time, of course, were still able to see the zoo's Amur Leopard, Amur Tiger, Jaguar, and Snow Leopard, all in nearby exhibits along the trail.

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Volunteer Travel / Tornadoes / Tragedies / Voluntourism / Missouri Travel / → All Tags

Join 1,000 Volunteers Needed to Help Rebuild Joplin in July

The situation in Joplin, MO since the May 22 F5 tornado has been so bad that volunteers haven't been able to get into town until this week, when the area was again deemed safe-ish.

Now that volunteers are able to enter the city and help rebuild, the challenge has become organizing those who want to help. That's why Project 195, a non-profit environmental organization in the U.S. which helps organize and lead community clean up, is currently recruiting and managing more than 1000 volunteers to help with Joplin's clean-up and rebuilding.

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Videos / Weather / Airport News / STL / Airports / Tornadoes / Southwest Airlines / → All Tags

Watch the F-4 Tornado Hit St. Louis-Lambert International Airport (Videos)

Talk about a tarmac delay. When the F-4 tornado swept through St. Louis, MO late Friday night, its 111-165 mph winds wreaking havoc on Lambert International Airport, there were still three planes full of passengers at their gates. Luckily airplanes are made for such high winds and no one was hurt—although those who experienced it say they were scared at experiencing turbulence while still on the ground.

Meanwhile, in the airport, things got dangerous very quickly. In the videos above and below, you can watch as the storm approaches and travelers gawk at the funnel cloud through the high, floor-to-ceiling airport windows. In the next moment, a mass of the same people are powerwalking away from the windows to talk shelter in baggage claim.

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Sports Travel / Final Four Travel / Basketball Travel / Missouri Travel / → All Tags

Fight Final Four Hangover with a Trip to the College Basketball Experience

Your bracket has been busted, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be tuning in this evening to check out the men’s NCAA championship game in Houston. However, once it’s over, things always become somewhat of a downer. Sure the winning team is excited, but fans like us get a little depressed without the thrill of the buzzer beater, so that’s why we’re suggesting a trip to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

The hall of fame is just one part of the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Missouri, so if strolling down memory lane gets a little boring, you can always hit up some of the place’s interactive displays.

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Missouri Travel / Memorials / Architecture Travel / National Parks / → All Tags

St. Louis' Gateway Arch to Get a 50th Birthday Upgrade

We knew that St. Louis was busy looking for some help giving a facelift to their city’s most famous attraction. However, it now looks like things are getting pretty serious as park officials and organizers have finalized an open call for plans, suggestions, and proposals to improve the Gateway Arch.

Specifically they’re looking to update and upgrade the park that surrounds the monument, the one dedicated to the American dream of heading west. Already there are plenty of naysayers that dislike that the current park, as it and the monument are detached from the rest of downtown and a huge intestate next to the Arch doesn’t really help things either.

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Royal Travel / Celeb Travel / Prince Albert II of Monaco / Monaco Travel / St. Louis Travel / → All Tags

Why is Prince Albert of Monaco Vacationing in Missouri?

What is Prince Albert II of Monaco up to only a month after making one of the biggest announcements in his country's modern history? Well, the Prince is taking a vacation to the Midwest, "the heartland of the USA," as the press keeps calling it.

Back in June, Prince Albert, the son of Prince Rainier III and American actress Grace Kelly, declared that he and his longtime girlfriend Charlene Wittstock, a former Olympic swimmer for South Africa, would be married next year. Monaco had almost given up on seeing another royal wedding, since Albert has always topped lists of the hottest bachelors, but now he will give his country something to celebrate for sure.

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AIrline News / AIrlines / New Routes / Missouri Travel / → All Tags

A Brand New Airline Welcomes All To Branson, Missouri

We’ve talked about Branson and airlines plenty of times before, but this time we’re talking about the place in Missouri not the man behind the Virgin brand. The family version of Las Vegas might not be your idea of the ultimate vacation, but there’s apparently enough people looking to go to justify a brand new airline.

The city built its own airport last year, and now they are going a step further to ensure that there are plenty of flights to fill its gates. Branson AirExpress is going to whisk passengers into the city beginning on May 17 from destinations including Des Moines, Shreveport, and Terre Haute, Indiana. Austin will have service as well even though we thought they were too cool for Branson. Officials are hoping the promise of infinite family entertainment and country music is enough to fill up these planes for years to come.

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Valet Parking / Cars / Driving / HotelChatter / → All Tags

It's True: Parking Valets Will Beat the Hell Out of Your Car

When I was a college student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, I worked as a bellman and parking valet at the Omni International Hotel, which is now a Sheraton. It was a fun job, because not only did I enjoy interacting with guests (and getting good tips), I also got a chance to drive some pretty fancy cars. I was kind of a shy kid, so I didn't put the cars through too much abuse, but a video that I discovered today reminds me of just how brazen some of my valet parking colleagues could be with other people's rides.

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Airport News / STL / Airports / St Louis Travel / → All Tags

St. Louis Airport Is Spending A Million Dollars So You Won't Get Lost

Travelers in St. Louis who aren’t the best at directions are getting a holiday present, but they will need to wait until 2010 to open it. The Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is doing a little sign upgrade along with a few other light renovations. The sign situation in St. Louis must be pretty messy since the airport is expecting to spend over $1 million on the new wayfinding project.

The new signs are needed in part because the airport is going to confuse flyers anyways as the names of the terminals are changing. The Main Terminal at the airport will now simply be Terminal 1, and the East Terminal will be switching to Terminal 2. Not too difficult, but when you’re looking for the park and ride at five in the morning all bets are off—we just might need those signs.

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How To Get Tickets To / Holiday Travel / Kansas City Travel / → All Tags

How to Get Tickets to 'A Christmas Story: The Musical'

Who doesn't end up watching "A Christmas Story" on TV at least once during the holidays? This year, the Kansas City Repertory Theatre is bringing Ralphie, and his dream of getting a BB-gun for Christmas, to the stage too. "A Christmas Story: The Musical" will run through Dec. 27 at the Spencer Theatre in Kansas City, MO. The musical includes all of the movie's best moments, like a tongue frozen to a lamp post, a bar of soap in the mouth, a mannequin leg lamp, and a Chinese Christmas dinner, plus new music created to compliment each scene.

Tickets for "A Christmas Story: The Musical" can be purchased from the online box office. You can select any date to see what seats are available before purchasing. Most shows are sold out or close to it though so you'll have to act fast. Adult tickets are $60, Senior Tickets are $47 and Student Tickets are $20.

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Bird Strikes / Frontier / Airplane News / Animals / → All Tags

Frontier Flight Proves Bird Strikes Aren't Just For LaGuardia

We thought since Frontier Airlines loved animals—they’ve got all those critters painted on their tail fins—they would be the last ones to have a bird encounter. However, that’s not the case, as a flight headed to Denver over the weekend had to make an emergency landing in Kansas City after running into a flock of feathered friends on takeoff.

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