Jaunted

Zoos / Zoo Travel / Summer Travel / New York / New York Travel / Green Travel / → All Tags

Five Zoos for Visiting Baby Lemurs This Summer

Lemurs, as is well-known, are awesome. In their natural habitat of Madagascar they naturally form ecological kingdoms that feature all-night dance raves. This is a fact. You can look it up. In captivity they spend most of their time sunbathing and having cute lemur babies. Ergo this post, with as usual lots of grateful hat-tips to ZooBorns.

There are many different kinds of lemurs - not just the well-known ring-tailed variety - and it turns out that many of them are having babies across zoos and Centers in America. We've also embedded a couple of videos at the bottom for you. Happy Friday folks.

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WIne Travel / Shawangunk Wine Trail / New York Travel / Road Trips / Photo Gallery / Drinking Travel / → All Tags

On New York's Shawangunk Wine Trail: From Blue Hill to Sleepy Hollow

Within easy driving distance of NYC sits the Shanwangunk Wine Trail, a collection of 11 wineries that regularly offer tours and affordable tastings to the public. We managed to hit three in one day and, this week, will share them with you as summer means primetime for making the same road trip.

Final Stops: Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Now that you've likely had your fill of wine at three wineries we profiled, it's time for food and getting some fresh air. These are some other notable spots you'll want to hit on your way to and from the 'Gunks:

· Tappan Zee Bridge: It may not look like much, but this metal structure (over which you'll drive if you're heading up from NYC) has the distinction of being one of the crumblingest structures in the NYC area. So if there's ever an earthquake, don't factor it into your escape plan.

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Wine Travel / Shawangunk Wine Trail / New York Travel / Road Trips / Photo Gallery / Drinking Travel / Green Travel / Booze Travel / Winery Reviews / → All Tags

On New York's Shawangunk Wine Trail: Stoutridge Sustainable Vineyard

Within easy driving distance of NYC sits the Shanwangunk Wine Trail, a collection of 11 wineries that regularly offer tours and affordable tastings to the public. We managed to hit three in one day and, this week, will share them with you as summer means primetime for making the same road trip.

Third Stop: Stoutridge Vineyard in Marlboro, NY

First, we must admit to spending a little too much time drinking at our second stop, Brotherhood Winery. Second, we were disappointed that, at 5pm, we'd only hit two wineries. Third, we were crazy relieved to see that Stoutridge is open until 6pm. SCORE.

We pulled up before the large reception house at 5:55pm, cutting it so close we fully expected to be locked out. Instead, we made it into the tasting room and ended up being poured a full variety of Stoutridge's sustainable, unprocessed wines by the owner himself, Stephen Osborn. This wasn't anything special on our behalf; we were there of our own accord and Stephen saw us only as normal, enthusiastic drinkers and he made the decision to stay open a wee bit longer.

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Wine Travel / Shawangunk Wine Trail / New York Travel / Road Trips / Photo Gallery / Drinking Travel / Historical Travel / Winery Reviews / → All Tags

On New York's Shawangunk Wine Trail: Brotherhood, America's Oldest Winery

Within easy driving distance of NYC sits the Shanwangunk Wine Trail, a collection of 11 wineries that regularly offer tours and affordable tastings to the public. We managed to hit three in one day and, this week, will share them with you as summer means primetime for making the same road trip.

Second Stop: Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, NY

Leaving our first stop, Applewood Orchards, we hadn't nearly reached the level of tipsiness we had hoped to accomplish by noon. Thus it was straight off to a second stop, which turns out to be America's Oldest Winery, founded in 1839. These days the stone buildings sit on the edge of a suburban subdivision, but they were there first, ya'll.

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Wine Travel / Shawangunk Wine Trail / New York Travel / Road Trips / Photo Gallery / Drinking Travel / Winery Reviews / → All Tags

On New York's Shawangunk Wine Trail: Applewood Orchards and Winery

Within easy driving distance of NYC sits the Shanwangunk Wine Trail, a collection of 11 wineries that regularly offer tours and affordable tastings to the public. We managed to hit three in one day and, this week, will share them with you as summer means primetime for making the same road trip.

First stop: Applewood Orchards and Winery in Warwick, NY

It was just an idea shared by three friends. "Hey, we should wine tasting some weekend." Turning that idea into reality only took one friend to get serious enough to book the rental car. And then there was a hotel booking. And then there was a loose plan for which vineyards to actually hit. Soon we were driving down a tiny road to Applewood Orchards, the southernmost of our chosen stops.

Applewood is a collection of wood and stone buildings that not only produce their own wines from the surrounding acreage, but also churn out apple cider and apple cider donuts in the fall. We'll be returning for the latter. For now, our focus was on their $5 tasting and live music.

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Photo Gallery / Thanatourism / New York Travel / Historical Travel / Travel Photography / Hipstamatic / Literary Travel / Road Trips / → All Tags

Photographing NY's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (in Hipstamatic)

It wasn't part of the plan, spending some of our Sunday afternoon with long-dead notable names, but sometimes these things just happen. They specifically happen when, during a spur-of-the-moment rental car weekend trip up the Hudson River Valley, we spot Sleepy Hollow Cemetery coming up on Google Maps Driving Directions on our iPhone.

There was a fork in the road. Go right and continue on to our planned brunch? Go left and head into the thicket of graves, cutting brunch short? Since the best experiences usually result from taking the least convenient option in moments like this, we veered left.

What resulted was a surprisingly happy hour manuevering the inclines and switchbacks of this hilly cemetery to visit The Legend of Sleepy Hollow author Washington Irving, gazillionaires Andrew Carnegie, William Rockefeller, Walter Chrysler, Elizabeth Arden and the Helmsleys. We missed the Astors, so a return is already in order. You need to go. The photography opportunities alone are worth it, as we found out after firing up the Hipstamatic app and playing with our eeriest filters.

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Travel Advertising / Tourism Boards / Fashion Week / New York Travel / New York / Britain / Britain Travel / Victoria Beckham / Anna Wintour / → All Tags

Britain's Newest Tourism Campaign Plants Anna Wintour and Victoria Beckham on the NYC Subway

Some people—contemporary economists, most historians, journalists on every inhabited continent, academic and professional political scientists, not a few government officials, etc—have taken to suggesting that Britain is facing inexorable decline. Having once ruled the high seas and controlled an empire upon which the sun never set, the Brits have seemingly shifted their focus from having a navy to obsessing over "Jersey Shore" knockoffs.

Quite the opposite, says the tourism board officials at VisitBritain. Not only is 2012 going to be the best year ever, but the United Kingdom itself is simply great! To show you just how great the United Kingdom is, and also to "deliver long-term economic benefits from the unprecedented level of interest generated by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games," they've launched a tourism campaign called GREAT.

To perfectly complement that kind of subtle branding, they've just locked up Victoria Beckham to cut commercials for them.

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Movie Set Travel / New York Travel / Holiday Travel / → All Tags

Skip 'New Year's Eve' in Theaters for the Real Thing in Times Square Instead

The movie New Year's Eve is kind of a bore as it follows a bunch of big name actors through convoluted story lines that all come together around midnight. But for all the plot lacks, it does do a good job of conveying the mood of Times Square on New Year's Eve (or at least what we all fantasize the mood to be).

Capturing New Year's Eve in NYC was no small task for director Garry Marshall. Part of the movie New Year's Eve was actually filmed on location in Times Square on New Year's Eve 2011. Then, in February, they had to recreate the ball drop with thousands of extras to get a few additional shots.

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How To Get Tickets To / New York Comedy Festival / New York Travel / → All Tags

How To Get Tickets To The New York Comedy Festival

This year's New York Comedy Festival line-up includes Louis C.K., Tracy Morgan, Sarah Silverman, Ricky Gervais, Bill Maher, Wanda Sykes, Russell Peters, and Kathy Griffin who will all be performing around New York City between November 9th and 13th. If you want to be a part of the audience, you better act fast!

In total, the NYCF will feature 150 comedians at various venues around the city. For instance, Wanda Sykes Live will be held at Town Hall on November 10th at 7:30 pm. Kathy Griffin: Tired Hooker will take place at Carnegie Hall on November 12th at 8:00 pm, and for the first time, Sarah Silverman will perform at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Gilman Opera House on November 12th at 8:00 pm.

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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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Movie Travel / Movie Set Travel / Summer Travel / New York Travel / → All Tags

The Bryant Park Film Fest Will Start the NYC Summer Off Right on June 20

Movie fans in New York City will once again be able to enjoy classic films in one of the city's most beautiful spaces, Bryant Park, when the HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival returns on June 20th.

The free outdoor festival will screen classic movies every Monday through August. The opening film, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, will even include an appearance by director Milos Foreman. Other highlights of the fest include Dirty Harry, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Cool Hand Luke, and In The Heat Of The Night.

The films will show on a screen 20' high by 40' wide in Bryant Park, at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue. The lawn opens at 5pm and the movies will start at sunset. Believe us—the lawn will be full by 5:05pm, so get there early. For more information and to see the full schedule, visit BryantPark.org.

[Photo: NYCLovesNYC]

New York City / Tourists / Tourism / Landmarks / Skyscrapers / World Trade Center / Tourist Traps / New York Travel / → All Tags

Freedom Tower Finally Towering Over World Trade Center Site

Freedom Tower (left, under construction), as seen from 5th floor of the W Downtown

It's 75 degrees outside right now in New York City, and though it's technically still spring, the summer tourist season is ramping up. As usual, visitors will be making the rounds of the Empire State Building, Macy's Herald Square, Central Park, Apple 5th Avenue and the World Trade Center site, but unlike in recent years, there's actually something to see now at Ground Zero.

That's right; Freedom Tower is making serious headway.

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