Jaunted

Volunteer Travel / Cultural Travel / Washington Travel / Minnesota Travel / Voluntourism / Charity Travel / → All Tags

Cultural Immersion and Volunteer Vacationing is Possible Without Even Leaving the US

Think you can't have a culturally rich volunteer experience in the US? Think again. Global Citizens Network's 2013 schedule includes trips to Washington and Minnesota that match volunteers with local Native American tribes and provide an opportunity to not only give back, but also learn about their unique cultures.

The White Earth Reservation, located in Becker, Clearwater, and Mahnomen counties in north-central Minnesota, welcomes volunteers in partnership with the White Earth Land Recovery Project/Native Harvest. GCN participants will work on various projects, including cultural initiatives with the youth group and refurbishing/painting community buildings, while visiting the Reservation.

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Gay Travel / Wedding Travel / Maine Travel / Maryland Travel / Minnesota Travel / Washington Travel / Election 2012 / → All Tags

Where to Celebrate a Same-Sex Marriage in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington

After (probably) staying up late last night and biting off all of your fingernails, Election 2012 finally came to an end with the result that there won't be any packing up going on in the White House.

Here at Jaunted, we always look at the travel angle and, of course, there was a huge issue to watch: that of gay marriage. Four states— Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington—had a proposal on the ballot for the legalization of same-sex marriage. In all four states it passed and now happy couples of all sorts can say their "I dos" in each (not to mention a few others). This ultimately opens up the possibility of gay marriage travel and honeymoon travel. And voila, you have the travel angle.

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Airline Lounges / Delta / Minnesota Travel / MSP / Photo Gallery / Delta SkyMiles / → All Tags

Inside Delta's SkyClub at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport

US airlines are surely not known for stunning domestic lounges with great design, nice (enough) food, and comfy areas to sit and relax before squeezing into airplanes for a flight. That's why it comes as a surprise we actually enjoyed ourselves when we stepped foot inside the Delta SkyClub at Minneapolis/St. Paul. It boasts tons of space, thoughtful design and free Wifi, just what we wanted.

Upon first entry, we noted the sleek entrance highlighted by the clean blue glass that makes the space bright and fresh. After a little hang-up flashing our Virgin Australia Velocity frequent flyer gold card, we were pointed in the right direction to sit back and relax (and eat Biscoff). With MSP being a major hub for Delta, the airport offers two SkyClubs (one near Gate C12 and one near the entrances to Concourses F & G; this is the latter).

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Beer Festivals / Beer Travel / Colorado Travel / Minnesota Travel / North Carolina Travel / Events / Summer Travel / Drinking Travel / Festivals / → All Tags

Three July Beer Festivals for Warm Weather and Summer Sips

The summer is fully underway, and if you’re anything like us the warm weather has you yearning for a frosty adult beverage. Thankfully breweries large and small have already read our minds, and they're pumping out pints of the finest summer ales and lagers. While there are plenty of places to indulge in a few summery sips, here’s three summer beer festivals worth the price of admission:

Summertime Brews Festival

It gets pretty darn toasty down in North Carolina, so what better way to cool down than with a few cold ones in Greensboro. To celebrate the season, both tourists and locals alike will be hitting the Greensboro Coliseum Complex on Saturday, July 14 for what organizers bill as the state’s favorite beer festival. The fun runs from 2:30pm to 8pm which is plenty of time to learn a little but about craft beers, and to indulge in one too many.

The festival will offer up unlimited samples and sips from over 50 different breweries, and of course there will be plenty of music, food, and other entertainment to keep everyone upbeat and happy. Tickets to this year’s event will set you back $30 if you order online in advance, but if you are having a little analysis paralysis about attending there just might be $35 options available at the gate. Thomas Creek Brewery, Natty Greene’s Brewing Company, and Boone Brewing Company are just some of the vendors prepared to provide plenty of samples—cheers!

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State Fairs / Events / New York Travel / Oregon Travel / Minnesota Travel / Food Travel / → All Tags

Three Huge State Fairs Happening Over Labor Day Weekend

State Fair season is now upon us, and that means that fried everything is probably only a short ride away from where you call home. Some states have already done their thing while others are still busy planning events for later this year, but there are several states getting ready to go for Labor Day Weekend. If you’re looking to overindulge on rides, foods, and fun here’s a couple spots to do it during the holiday weekend:

· Minnesota State Fair:
The Land of 10,000 Lakes has been holding state fairs since 1859, so it’s pretty clear that Minnesota is good at doing the fair thing. This year’s events start today and run through September 5 in Saint Paul. Tickets to the festivities are usually $12 for adults and $10 for the little ones, but there are a few days where you might be able to save a few bucks on admission.

Interactive guides in the form of the Food Finder and Fun Finder are available to help you plan your visit, so if you’re looking for that special food vendor—there’s over 300—or something fun to do they’ve got you covered. Of course there’s even iPhone and Android apps as well, so you can take your map to go when you hit the fairgrounds. There’s plenty of free entertainment too, but if you want to upgrade to a Grandstand show we’re recommending Weezer on September 3—$35—or Train and Maroon 5 on September 5—$37.

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Food Travel / San Diego Travel / Texas Travel / Minnesota Travel / North Carolina Travel / Wisconsin Travel / Festival Travel / Lists / Summer Travel / → All Tags

Five Weird County Fair Foods to Try This Summer

It's that time of the year, county and state fair season. While some go to see the has-been musical acts or to get their thrills on creaky old rides, the reason most people go is to gorge on fried fair food. We rounded up some of the weirdest fare that you will only find at a fair this year.

· Deep-Fried Kool-Aid Balls
The San Diego County Fair debuted these treats this year and they are selling like hotcakes. The balls of batter are made of flour, water and the fruity drink powder. A friend who tried them told us, "I could kind of taste the grittiness, which was not so appealing. If you like strawberry-flavored doughnut holes then I'd say it's worth the $6. Fried pickles were way better though." Get them through July 4.

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Tourism Ads / Tourism Boards / Minnesota Travel / Travel News / Travel Ads / Videos / → All Tags

Minnesota Travel Ads Now Starring Indie Bands

It's notoriously difficult to make travel ads that don't look like every other travel ad ever. Green mountains, crystal clear streams, maybe a time-lapse shot of clouds moving behind mountains—and then cut to an outdoor restaurant patio where an ethnically diverse and indeterminately aged group of casually dressed professionals delightfully dine over plates of presumably local cuisine. Most ads, in other words, look exactly like every spot from the Pure Michigan campaign.

To counter the sameness and get some attention, tourism boards have been trying to get ironic and edgy. There's nothing wrong with that—and it's sometimes effective—but when it fails, it spectacularly fails.

There's nothing more obnoxious than irony that tries to be funny and falls short (right Spirit Airlines?). So it's kind of refreshing to see this ad from Explore Minnesota, which takes the opposite approach...

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Museum Travel / Minnesota Travel / Events / Ancient History Travel / → All Tags

King Tut Has Arrived in The Twin Cities

It might not be the most practical layover destination from the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, but if you’re visiting the Twin Cities it might as well be on your itinerary this summer. King Tut and plenty of his ancient goodies have made their way to the Science Museum of Minnesota, and plenty of history will be on display through the beginning of September.

The museum welcomes one and all to enter the golden world of the pharaohs, as the exhibit opened up over the weekend. There’s more than 100 different artifacts from thousands of years past including plenty of goodies from King Tut. Golden sandals as well as 10-foot statue are just some of the items on display during this exhibition.

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Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / Minnesota Travel / MSP / Delta / → All Tags

Sneak Up the Stairs to Find MSP's Secret Observation Deck

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport might not be one of the mighty hubs for Northwest Airlines any longer, but Delta is still around sending plenty of planes to and from the Twin Cities each day of the week. There’s a slew of windows at the airport to check out the aviation action, but there’s actually a somewhat secret observation deck within Terminal 1-Lindbergh.

We say it’s a secret because anytime we’ve visited, there has been no one there, and it’s not even on the airport maps. It’s located in Concourse D up some stairs and kind of behind one of the gift shops in the area—we think it’s called Airport Express or something like that.

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Gay Travel / Minneapolis Travel / Minnesota Travel / → All Tags

Minneapolis is the Gayest City in the United States

We've recently been introduced to the gayest country to travel to, which, oddly, is Nepal, but what about the gayest US city? We use the superlative as it relates to the most gay-friendly city, as judged by The Advocate magazine using the most highly scientific criteria:

For each city, The Advocate added up numbers for Gay.com profiles, listed officiants for gay weddings within a 50-mile radius, openly gay elected officials, performances by lesbian sisters musical duo Tegan and Sara over the past five years, lesbian bars, gay and gay-friendly religious congregations and entries in YellowPages.com with "gay" in the business name or description.

And the winner of Gayest City to Visit in the USA is...Minneapolis, Minnesota! Congratulations, MN—you beat out other apparent shoe-ins, like New York City, Portland, Provincetown, and San Francisco. Time to put up some celebratory street signs!

[Photo: jimmywayne]

Baseball Travel / Baseball / Sports Travel / Minnesota Travel / Ballparks / → All Tags

Fancy Burgers and Wider Seats Await at the Minnesota Twins' New Target Field

In case you missed it, major league baseball has been getting ready for the 2010 season in both Florida and in Arizona, and after all that practice it’s almost time to get the season officially underway.

We’re big fans of ballparks around the country, and this year there’s one that’s getting us particularity excited. The new home to the Minnesota Twins—Target Field—is set to hold its first major league game this month. It’s also the first time Minnesota fans will be sitting outside to watch a game after years of being trapped inside a dome.

The Twins will first set foot on the stadium’s fresh grass this weekend, but it's only for exhibition games. The St. Louis Cardinals will be in town to check out the new stadium for themselves, but they’ll also be getting a couple last practice games in on April 2 and 3. There will be all kinds of special stuff to commemorate opening weekend, including the unveiling of bronze statues dedicated to Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew. To see some real games where the outcomes matter a little more, you’ll need to stick around and wait until April 12 when the Twins host the Red Sox.

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Tourist Traps / Minnesota Travel / Weird Travel / → All Tags

A Minnesota Roadside Tourist Trap To Get Full Fish-Lift

For 16 years, the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota has released a list of the ten most endangered historic places in the state. On this year’s list are obvious choices like historic hotels, classic ballparks, old buildings, and bridges. However, there’s one endangered species on the list as well, and it’s The Big Fish in Bena, Minnesota. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen it, because with a little love, and probably a lot of worms, local residents are bringing it back to its original beauty.

The giant critter was created back in the 1950s, and is made up of wood and roofing material—no taking the easy way and using fiberglass here. Originally designed to be an ice cream and hamburger stand, the 65-foot long fish has just been hanging out on the side of US Highway 2 ever since. Fans of the National Lampoon's Vacation film may recognize the structure, as it appeared in the postcard photo montage to start the comedy classic.

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