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Five States Known for Their Yummy Pies (and How to Win One from Michigan)

A slice of Michigan ABC pie

Happy National Pie Day! Yes, this is a real thing and yes, it totally warrants a cheer of "America, f*ck yeah!" Pie is awesome, having a day just to celebrate it is awesome, so go get you some awesome pie.

Or let pie come to you...

Michigan kinda feels sad for everyone who doesn't live in their state, a state where bakeries average 30 fresh pie varieties daily. So, just for today, Michigan will ship out Grand Traverse pies every hour to people who share their pie love on Twitter. Here's how it works:
· Follow both @PureMichigan & @GTPie on Twitter.
· Between 10am & 5pm EST on January 23 (today!), tweet your favorite type of pie at them.
· Include the hashtag #puremichiganpie when you do
· Wait for pie* (*if you're one of the hourly winners)

Speaking of state allegiances, here's Five States Known for Specialty Pies:

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Summer Festivals / Food Festivals / Food Travel / Festival Travel / Summer Travel / Michigan Travel / Maine Travel / Indiana Travel / → All Tags

Three August Festivals to Celebrate All Things Blueberry

While we we've busy enjoying the warmer weather it’s been all work for those responsible for tending to this year’s blueberry crop. Thankfully things must have gone according to plan, as it’s time to harvest. Before August slips into September it’s time to celebrate blueberry season, and here’s three of the best festivals where you can do exactly that:

National Blueberry Festival – South Haven, Michigan

Running August 9-12, this festival has everything and anything involved with the berries that are little and blue. All the events go down right on the shores of Lake Michigan at the town’s Riverfront Park. Blueberry Pie Socials, Lawn Tractor Pulls, Pie Eating Contests, and a Blueberry Cookout round out the weekend’s events.

Organizers are expecting at least 40,000 hungry visitors as the event celebrates its 49th year filled with live entertainment and way too many blueberry pancakes. If you need a blueberry break—like that’s even possible—just swing by the Sand Sculpture Contest scheduled to do its thing at North Beach on Sunday afternoon.

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Super Bowl Travel / Football Travel / Airfare / Super Bowl XLVI / Indiana Travel / Sports Travel / → All Tags

Airfare to Super Bowl XLVI is Already Soaring Out of Control

After a busy Sunday we now know that there’s going to be a Super Bowl rematch between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Fans from the Northeast—and the rest of the country—are already submitting vacation request paperwork as they roll into the office. We took a quick look at the flight situation, and here are some ideas on how to get to Indianapolis for this year’s big game on February 5.

You’ve only got two weeks to finalize your travel plans, but figuring things out sooner rather than later is the best plan. If you’re looking to fly from Boston for the weekend, expect to pay around $1100 for a nonstop option on Delta that gets you in on Friday and sends you home—hopefully with a championship t-shirt—on Monday. Staying a little longer and making a connection can save some serious coin, as leaving on Thursday and coming home on Tuesday will set you back around $500 instead. Flights from other parts of New England like Hartford and Providence are just as pricey—with must-do connections—so the smaller airports won’t save you any cash.

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The USA's Next Maple Syrup Festival Will Happen in...Indiana?

You may think of maple syrup as a fall comfort food staple to drizzle on pancakes, but maple-sugaring season is now. Celebrate the nectar of the season at the National Maple Syrup Festival, the "first and only National Maple Syrup Festival in America" dedicated to the gooey goodness.

Surprisingly, the fest, set for March 5 to 6 and 12 to 13, isn't in Vermont. It goes down in Medora, Indiana, a small town about 80 miles north of Louisville. Producers from syrup-making states all over the country attend to showcase their tasty product. It has some seemingly unrelated events to look forward to, like a man-eating chicken (wha?) and chainsaw-carving demonstrations. But we want to go for the sweet stuff. And it offers plenty, dishing out more than 6,000 flapjacks with 100 percent pure maple syrup—none of that imitation Aunt Jemima stuff—and maple-barbecue pork chops with maple baked beans.

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Food Festivals / Food Travel / Festivals / Indiana Travel / → All Tags

Dance with Mr. Pierogi and Ms. Paczki at Indiana's Pierogi Festival

If there's one food that doesn't get enough play, it's those small Eastern European pasta pockets full of potatoes. But they get their due once a year at Pierogi Fest, which honors the comfort food and the land from whence it came today through July 25.

More than 200,000 pierogi-loving peeps come out to Whiting, Indiana, for the free festival. There, you can partake in food-filled activities, from a pierogi toss that tests how far you can chuck the doughy dumplings to a pierogi-eating contest.

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

There's Still Tickets! Last-Minute Packages for the Final Four

This year has not been good for our sports gambling habit, and the men’s NCAA basketball tournament is not making things any better. We’re surprised our bracket hasn’t just been totally canceled, because at this point there’s no point in wasting the effort to tally up our final score. Despite our misfortunes, we’d still like to go check out the tournament’s last few games, and even though we didn’t plan anything in advance there are options. Here’s a few Final Four Indianapolis vacation packages in case you have some extra cash hanging around the house.

· PrimeSport
PrimeSport is offering up several packages that include accommodations and tickets, and none of them are really affordable. However, if you think you can siphon a little cash from the checking account without your significant other finding out, there is one option. For $1,695 per person—assuming two people—you’ll be resting up at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Airport. It’s not that close to the action, but you’ll get transportation to Lucas Oil Stadium for the games. The price of the package includes five nights accommodations and Terrace Level Side Court tickets. It’s not the best vantage point, but it’s cooler than watching on TV.

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Gary, Indiana To Build Michael Jackson Theme Park With 'Thriller' Coaster

MJ's Neverland Ranch, which will inspire the park

Some shocking news from the LA Times today, something which we oddly expected but truly hoped would never happen. That's right—someone is building a Michael Jackson Theme Park.

Although the obvious location for the King of Pop's playland would be his already theme park-ish Neverland Rand in Santa Barbara County, California. But no...this whole new development is landing in the singer's hometown of Gary, Indiana. They expect to break ground this year, and plan for a full decade-long buildout, to cost approximately $1 billion. Apparently they think that we'll be more ready for an MJ theme park in ten years, but they are wrong.

After the jump, more on a 'Thriller' roller coaster...

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Football Stadium Tours / Tours / Sports Travel / Football Travel / Sports / Indiana Travel / → All Tags

Take A Holiday Time-Out To Tour The Home Of The Indianapolis Colts

It’s hard to compete with the Dallas Cowboys’ new shrine dedicated to all things football, but the Indianapolis Colts are trying their best. The Colts haven’t lost one game this season, and thanks to solid play throughout the decade, they were rewarded with their own brand new stadium.

Lucas Oil Stadium sits just outside of downtown Indianapolis and swung its gates open for the first time in 2008—it might even still have that new stadium smell. The architects went with a retro design to the outside of the facility, taking inspiration from traditional stadiums. However, there’s nothing old about the inside of the place, especially when they decide to crack open the huge retraceable roof. They’ve also got a huge wall of windows that can be opened when the weather outside isn’t frightful, and it even allows for a pretty decent shot of the downtown skyline. It was the world’s largest installation of moveable glass, but the Cowboys stole that title from the place with their new home.

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Midwest Airports / SBN / Indiana Travel / → All Tags

Indiana Airport Getting Too Big for Its Britches

Leave it to the little regional airports to develop grandiose ideas during a recession; South Bend Indiana's puny terminal is looking to ramp up their routes and reputation with a new $12 million addition and eight jet bridges. As a small town dead in the middle of Indiana's northern border and home to the University of Notre Dame, South Bend currently loses most of its student travel to Chicago airports and Amtrak.

Except for the university and the town's proximity to the Shipshewana Auction and Flea Market, South Bend doesn't get much national play. Expanding their airport may be one way to attract new tourists, but we hope they aren't putting their money on hosting Midwest Airlines. After all, even Gary, Indiana's airport failed during the days when it hosted the old Hooters Airline. Hopefully all that South Bend needs are more hydration options beyond vending machines, shiny new elevators and natural light. Flying through SBN soon? Watch out for the extra ticket taxes and airport fees implemented to support this project.

Related Stories:
· S.B. Regional Airport embarks on renovation [South Bend Tribune]
· South Bend Airport Hopes for 'Massive Renovation' [Today in the Sky]

[Photo: Tysto/Wikipedia]