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What's on the Menu at West Virginia's RoadKill Cook-off?

A staged reenactment of the celebrated roadkill.

If you've got a steel stomach of Andrew Zimmern proportions, head down to Marlinton, West Virginia, for the 20th annual RoadKill Cook-off on September 25. There you'll taste some original street food, like squirrel gravy over biscuits and teriyaki-marinated bear. Yes, bear.

To be clear, the fare served at this bizarre food festival won't be scraped off of the country roads, sporting fresh tire marks...because that would be gross and break lots of health code violations. But the cook-off tries to remain true to its name by requiring contestants to use animals that you commonly see splattered streetside.

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Food Festivals / Food Travel / Events / Hot Dogs / West Virginia Travel / → All Tags

West Virginia Salutes Buns and Dogs with a Hot Dog Food Fest

Summer is like halfway over, so if you haven’t had at least a dozen hot dogs by now you need to get moving. West Virginia wants to help you out with your personal hot dog quotient, as they are putting the final touches on the preparation for the 6th Annual West Virginia Hot Dog Festival on Saturday, July 31.

The state has its own regional hot dog delicacies, and there are plenty of roadside stands and shacks that have been serving up tube meat delicacies for decades. Places like Stewarts Original Hot Dogs, Frostop Drive-In, and Hillbilly Hot Dogs are just three of many that will be making an appearance in just a couple weeks. Festival organizers are bringing at least a dozen vendors from the area to Pullman Square in Huntington, so that you can conveniently overindulge in one location.

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Fall Travel / Fall Festivals / Space Travel / Videos / → All Tags

Fall Travel: October Sky Festival

For fans of space, rockets and the movie "October Sky", it's time to make the pilgrimage to Coalwood, West Virginia, for the 10th anniversary of the October Sky Festival. The festival celebrates local hometown hero, Homer Hickam, the author who inspired the film about his childhood adventures involving rocketry.

Festival attendees will enjoy model rocket launches from nearby "Cape Coalwood," and performers from across the state will provide a backdrop of bluegrass.

The festival starts at 10 am on October 4 and it's free. Shuttle Astronaut Tom Jones will also be on hand to share his space experience, and NASA is even bringing a moon rock for guests to check out. After the click, check out an exceedingly earnest video tour of 2007's fest.

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Summer Travel / Adventure Travel / Active Travel / Rafting / Fourth of July / → All Tags

4th of July Travel: West Virginia Whitewater

If our other rafting suggestions haven't done it for you, maybe this one will get you moving. ACE Adventure Center in West Virginia has rock climbing, biking, kayaking, horseback riding and more on a 1,400-acre resort.

The center runs rafting trips on different sections of the New River. Each trip varies in difficulty, with some for beginners and some for those who can handle class V and class V+ rapids. For those just starting out, trips in 16-foot rafts make the ride a little more stable and comfortable, so there's no reason to sit on the shore.

With only two weeks until the 4th of July, it's not too late to get there for the holiday weekend. Three of ACE's rafting trips on the Upper New River will be half of the usual price, and there are a couple of discounted options on the Lower New River. The cheapest start around $100.

Related Stories:
· ACE Adventure Center [Official Site]
· Summer Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Sleestak66]

John Weikle / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Project New Horizons / CRW / New Airlines / JetAmerica / Matt Ballard / → All Tags

JetAmerica All But Finished

On Monday morning, the future for JetAmerica looked pretty grim, but we were holding out hope that John Weikle could get his airline aloft. But after Skybus went down in flames, he decided to pull the plug on the new project.

Charleston Area Alliance President Matt Ballard says fundraising for the project has stopped, and the Daily Mail quotes Weikle as saying checks are going back to investors. That's the end of Jet America for now.

Meanwhile Ballard says a lack of leadership on national energy policy is what's killing airlines these days, not a bogus business model:

I think all of the investors here in the local area still believe in John Weikle's ultra-low cost carrier model. In fact, there were many who despite the Skybus announcement wanted to move forward...I believe John will make this model work in the US; it works for Air Asia and Ryanair.

Related Stories:
· Skybus Founder Says Refunds of Public Money Coming [Daily Mail]
· What the Skybus Shutdown Means for Jet America [Jaunted]
· Jet America coverage [Jaunted]

John Weikle / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Project New Horizons / CRW / New Airlines / JetAmerica / Matt Ballard / → All Tags

What the Skybus Shutdown Means for JetAmerica

Skybus plans to file for bankruptcy in Delaware today, and that has a lot of people in West Virginia nervous. How's that? The founder of the 'bus, John Weikle, is now at work on JetAmerica, an ultra-LCC set to take off from Charleston in 2009.

Among those sweating is Yeager Airport Director Rick Atkinson:

[The Skybus shutdown] is like throwing a wet blanket on plans for Jet America...I don't see how we could go forward with this model.

Also worried is at least one local business leader--who's now frozen some of that seed money his group pledged to Jet America:

There's no way we would have done this if I didn't think Skybus was successful.

For his part, Jaunted pen pal Matt Ballard hasn't given up on the idea of Jet America. But we have to wonder: Does it count as an airline shuttering if the carrier never took a flight?

Related Stories:
· Weikle's Skybus Ceases Operations [Charleston Gazette]
· Top Secret Airline Watch: More Details on Jet America [Jaunted]
· Jet America coverage [Jaunted]

John Weikle / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Project New Horizons / CRW / New Airlines / JetAmerica / Matt Ballard / → All Tags

Top Secret Airline Watch: More Details on JetAmerica

Though it's still a long way off, more details are leaking out about the planned ultra-low cost carrier JetAmerica. At present, we'll be waiting until at least 2009 to see some actual planes.

Until then, The Charleston Gazette has the details on what to expect:

The paint scheme--called the aircraft livery--features a tail with a blue background and white stars. The rest of the back-end of the plane will be red, with a white outline. The airline's name...and website will also be on the side of the plane.

While the model of plane is still under wraps, the aircraft will hold at least 120 passengers, one investor said.

As far as we can tell, president John Weikle, pictured, is still shopping around for a $40 million investment to help things along. And Matt Ballard--who we spoke with recently--says destinations and more information should be released soon.

Related Stories:
· Jet America Details Still Under Wraps [Charleston Gazette]
· Jaunted Interviews: Matt Ballard Fills Us in on Project New Horizons [Jaunted]
· Top Secret Airline Watch: Yeager LCC Will Be Called Jet America [Jaunted]

John Weikle / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Project New Horizons / CRW / New Airlines / JetAmerica / Matt Ballard / Jaunted Interviews / → All Tags

Jaunted Interviews: Matt Ballard Fills Us in on Project New Horizons

A Jaunted Exclusive

We're obsessed with the idea of JetAmerica, the new ultra low cost carrier that could start flying in Charleston, West Virginia. But we don't really know that much about it. So instead of just speculating, we decided to actually ask someone who knows what he's talking about.

We got in touch with Matt Ballard, the President and CEO of the Charleston Area Alliance, a non-profit development group that chipped in some seed money to get Project New Horizons off the ground. Matt was bound by a confidentiality agreement and SEC regulations, but he did manage to illuminate some things for us.

One biggie: You won't see this airline till 2009 at the earliest.

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John Weikle / LCCs / JetAmerica / Skybus / Project New Horizons / New Airlines / → All Tags

Top Secret Airline Watch: Yeager LCC Will Be Called JetAmerica

According to a Jaunted tipster, and now confirmed by the Charleston Daily Mail, Skybus founder John Weikle's Project New Horizons has an official name: JetAmerica, World Police. Ok, we made up the world police part. Besides, you would think an airline based at Yeager would go after a name like The Right Stuff -- nope.

JetAmerica Inc. was registered on Nov. 26 with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

JetAmerica is a name from the aviation bone yard. Seven California businessmen established an airline with that name in 1981 in Long Beach. The original JetAmerica started with flights between Long Beach and Chicago.

...an action adventure airline from the creators of South Park Skybus.

John Weikle / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Skybus / Project New Horizons / CRW / New Airlines / → All Tags

Top Secret Airline Watch: Details Emerging on Project New Horizons

The nascent low cost carrier from Skybus founder John Weikle is one step closer to reality. Investors, including business alliances in Charleston, West Virginia, have cobbled together $3 million in seed money to start Project New Horizons.

There's understandably some skepticism about the project, in light of Independence Air's short-lived service to Charleston's Yeager Airport. Weikle told The Charleston Gazette the new project will be different:

Independence Air made use of the hub-and-spoke system, with its main hub at Washington's Dulles International, and competed with major carriers on nearly all its routes, Weikle said. The low-cost operation envisioned for Charleston, he said, "will offer point-to-point service" with no connecting routes, on routes not served by major carriers.

With the initial money in hand, Weikle is now looking for $40 million from institutional investors. If he can get that cash quickly, we could see a new airline by the end of 2008. As for potential destinations, we probably won't hear anything until next month.

Related Stories:
· $3 Million Airline Seed Is Planted [Gazette]
· Top Secret Airline Watch: Project New Horizons [Jaunted]
· New Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of CRW: Google Maps]

John Weikle / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Skybus / Project New Horizons / CRW / New Airlines / → All Tags

Top Secret Airline Watch: Project New Horizons

Back in early 2003, an airline industry veteran named John Weikle left US Airways to start Skybus. And though the ultra-LCC has moved on, he apparently still has the start-up itch. Weikle's rumored to be backing a new airline that'll be based at Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia.

At this early stage, there aren't many details about Project New Horizons, other than the Bond movie name. A local business alliance is planning to chip in some money for the start-up. But the numbers being tossed out at this stage are frighteningly low; one official says $3 million is the goal for this round of fundraising. (Skybus started operations with $160 million in the bank.)

As for Yeager Airport, it seems like a decent candidate for a new ultra-low cost carrier. It currently has regional service on five of the six legacy carriers. Aside from some seasonal service from a charter airline, an LCC would be the first point-to-point carrier to touch down at CRW.

It's worth mentioning, too, that Skybus' home base of Columbus is just three hours from Yeager. Could we be gearing up for a Stateside version of the eternal Ryanair/Easyjet battle? We hope so!

Related Stories:
· Charleston Group to Invest in Discount Airline Startup [Daily Mail]
· Low Cost Carriers coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of CRW: Google Maps]