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How To Attend This Year's Groundhog Day Festivities In Punxsutawney

Bill Murray is definitely showing his age since his appearance in the movie Groundhog Day, but the true hero of the holiday is Punxsutawney Phil; even without plastic surgery he’s looking great. Sure the holiday seems a little silly, but why not check it out in person to truly decide. We’re all for an early spring, so it might just be worth attending this year’s events on February 2.

If you want to rub elbows with Punxsutawney Phil it’s essential that you get to Gobbler’s Knob—that’s where his house is—as early as possible. Admission and parking are free, but the place opens up at 3:00am. There’s separate sections for both students and families, as we’re thinking the students probably had drink or two to help them make it through the night.

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Drinking / Beer Travel / Winter Festivals / Beer Festivals / → All Tags

Beautiful, Bizarre Beer Week in Philly

We've been to plenty of beer festivals in our day—too many, trust us—but we've never seen a brew celebration take over a town quite the way Philly Beer Week does. We were down there for the inaugural event last year, and it seemed no one in the whole city could talk about anything but brews.

For its second outing, which starts Friday, PBW has suds-lovers salivating with nearly 700 different events that go way beyond just tastings. Here are a few of our bizarre-o favs:

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Paczki Day / Mardi Gras Alternatives / Winter Festivals / Food Travel / → All Tags

Take Your Tops Off: A Mardi Gras Alternative

OK, actually maybe leave your tops on, because this one's gonna be a little cold. But Mardi Gras isn't just for peeps lucky enough to make it to the balmy French Quarter. One of the longest standing Fat Tuesday celebration goes down tomorrow in bone-shattering Detroit.

In most Polish-American communities, Fat Tuesday is well known as Paczki (poonch-key) Day, and even better known as the "Polish St. Patrick's Day," when the raucous parties revolve not around strings of beads but paczki--deep-fried mini-cakes filled with Bavarian crème, lemon custard and other sweet treats--OK fine, they're donuts, but special holiday donuts, traditionally the last treats eaten before the start of Lent.

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Healthy Travel / Winter Travel / Skiing / Adventure Sports / Winter Festivals / → All Tags

Penguin Plunges Keep Burlington Fit

Don't know about you all, but we've spent the past week in heavy denial that the holidays are over. It's just so depressing--not only the whole back-to-work thing, but transitioning from two weeks of festive eating and drinking into a time when we're all supposed to be dieting and getting fit. Ugh.

So while we're certainly not about to stop writing about chili half smokes and 22,000-pound cakes, we'll at least make an effort to cover some healthy places too.

So where are these healthy destinations? According to the CDC, Burlington, Vermont is the healthiest city in America. Despite its proximity to the Ben and Jerry's factory, a full 92 percent of Burlingtonians are supposedly in good health. So what are all these hippies doing to stay so healthy, and how can we get in on it?

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Beer Travel / Beer / Winter Festivals / → All Tags

Bring On The Snow

Most beer snobs start toning down their travel plans this time of year, as the chilly weather signals the unofficial end of beer festival season.

But for a small segment of crazy-enough brewheads, ice and snow can't stop the outdoor drinking. Winter beer festivals have been popping up across the country in recent years, and there's one that is just insane enough to make plans for.

The Michigan Winter Beer Fest, featuring 150 varieties of the state's craft beers from 25 of its finest breweries, is being held this year in Grand Rapids. In February.

So if you're used to those lazy summer beer fests, buy yourself some long johns and start training: This one's not gonna be easy.

Related Stories:
· Michigan Winter Beer Fest [Official Site]
· Party Like You're a Michigander at Winter Festivals [Mlive]
· Beer Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: stefg]