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How to Find a 'Pick-Your-Own' Apple Orchard Near You

The season for apple picking is officially from around September 20 through the third week in October, so though you've got a little time left to add it to your iCal, making plans with friends and family for an outing should happen sooner rather than later.

Now, we could make a Top Ten list of DIY apple orchards, but we'd rather have you find the ones nearest you. For this, check out PickYourOwn.org, a website that lists places depending on your area within a state, and even shares a list of tips to best prepare you for a day in the orchards.

For New York City, the closest options are out in Long Island and listed here. For Chicago, the options are here, including some organic farms and some with pick-your-own-pumpkins as well.

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Island Travel / Midwest Travel / Ohio Travel / Michigan Travel / Lake Erie Islands / Travel Snapshot / → All Tags

Perhaps You've Seen This Island from a Plane. Well, It's For Sale.

You ever been flying over a body of water and looked out the window to spy an island that, from 30,000-ish feet, seems like the best place in the entire world? Perhaps you even say to yourself, "man, that's the island I'd buy if I had a million dollars."

Now, usually islands cost more than a million, not counting all the extra it'd take to build a home and a pool and manage the upkeep, but there's one that actually comes in right under budget...and we happened to have flown over it just yesterday.

Be sure to snag a window seat on the left side of the plane if you're flying Philadelphia to Detroit, and look down about 15 minutes prior to arrival. There's a high likelihood you'll spy the Lake Erie Islands, a grouping of odd pieces of land that you'd never expect somewhere like Ohio to have. South Bass Island is the gem, which spends its summer fostering a Mardi Gras-like atmosphere with rowdy bars and much dock-side drinking in its town of Put-in-Bay. Keep watching....past South Bass is the beach-ringed Middle Sister Island. AND IT'S FOR SALE.

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Summer Travel / Midwest Travel / Chicago Travel / Airplanes / Air Shows / Lists / Events / → All Tags

Three Upcoming Air and Water Shows on the Shores of Lake Michigan

It might not be the best way to beat the heat this summer, but when it comes to being entertained during the warmer weather nothing beats one of the country’s Air and Water Shows. It’s not just asphalt runways and tarmacs at these events, as all the flying fun takes place near, by, and on the water. Here’s three this summer to get your motor running:

South Shore Air Show – Gary, Indiana

The air and water show season begins at the beginning of July, as the planes and people gather on the shores of Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana. All the events are hosted in and around Marquette Park on July 6 through July 8. Admission is free—which is awesome—but just prepared to pay for parking, as the premium options can cost you as much as $20.

This year’s events are headlined by the USAF Thunderbirds, but those aren’t the only pilots and plains that will be doing the flyovers and the loop-the-loops. Other performers scheduled include the LED studded Starjammer, the US Army Parachute Team, and of course plenty of vintage vehicles and trick pilots. The highlight of the show—at least to us—are the sunset events on Friday evening with fireworks scheduled to close out the night.

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Bus Travel / Greyhound / Midwest Travel / Travel Deals / Greyhound Express / → All Tags

It's Okay to Take a Greyhound Bus, Thanks to These Three Major Improvements

Good news! Greyhound has gotten with the program. The bus line famous for long, unpleasant road journeys is cleaning up their act with new buses, express routes and cheap fares that match their competitors. Let's break it down:

· New Buses.
We had a happy accident recently of riding a new Greyhound bus down to Atlantic City, and they are nice, perhaps more so than the pretty alright buses of Megabus. It doesn't cost any extra to ride on one of these and currently they're only available on prime routes, but they offer major perks like free WiFi, outlets at each seat, more legroom and more fuel-efficient engines. Find out what routes they ride here.

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Midwest Travel / Ohio Travel / Cars / Road Trips / → All Tags

Ohio Joins The E-ZPass Party For Seamless Midwest-To-East Coast Road Trips

Paying tolls on a road trip is a drag, but at least there’s E-ZPass to speed things up. With less time searching for change and waiting in line at the toll booth, there’s more time to stop at awesome roadside tourist traps. Thankfully, Ohio has finally caught up with the rest of the East Coast and Midwest as they are set to join the electronic toll collection network starting October 1.

Effective next week, the entire Ohio Turnpike will be able to take away your hard earned cash thanks to that little E-ZPass gizmo on your windshield. It cost the state $50 million to get everything ready to go if that makes you feel any better—so that’s what, like two weeks of toll collection to recoup the cost?

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Travel Advertising / Michigan Travel / Midwest Travel / → All Tags

Another $30 Million Spent In Making Michigan Look Pure

If you enjoy the Pure Michigan ads that the state's tourism agencies have been plastering everywhere, then we have good news for you! The Great Lakes State has just decided to dump an additional $30 million into the campaign, locking in another year of radio, print, and TV spots across the Midwest.

This costly campaign was first launched in 2006, but didn't garner national attention until Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm threw $45 million at it in 2008. Along the way it managed to earn accolades from organizations as diverse as Forbes.com and the Travel Industry Association of America. Pure Michigan's organizers have even managed to produce figures showing that every dollar they spend brings back more almost $3 in tax revenue.

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Airline News / Delta / Midwest Travel / Cincinnati / → All Tags

Want Cheap Airfare on Delta? Move to Cincinnati

We never thought there'd be a single strong argument for relocating to Cincinnati, that limbo land which is not quite Ohio and yet not quite Kentucky. As always, leave it to the airlines to topple our belief in the big hubs with moves like Delta's new reductions on ticket prices out of Cincy's Covington Airport.

Apparently both leisure and business class fares from the Delta hub have been reduced by up to 58%, such as the Cincy-LAX route which used to be $310 one-way but is now $130, which means more money for the in-flight drinks you'll need to oil up for the transition from midwest to west coast.

Although a rate decrease is always great news for travelers, we can't help but think back to the days of Skybus and their cheap-o deals for those (un)fortunate enough to be based in Columbus. This rate decrease, being almost like a sale without no void date, is a plea from Delta to make their Cincinnati presence worth their while. So please, for the sake of the residents of the Ohio River valley who enjoy taking vacations further afield than Gatlinburg, fly Delta out of the Cincinnati and remind the airline why they have a hub there in the first place.

Related Stories:
· Delta Lowers Fares at Cincinnati Hub [Local 12]
· Hotlanta Airport Not So Hot for Delta? [Jaunted]

[Photo: livenature]