Jaunted - The Pop Culture Travel Guide

VegasChatter Knows What's Up in the Airport and the Pools

JetSetCD — 2012-05-23T17:37:26-05:00

Our sis site HotelChatter does a bang-up job of covering the latest news and trends in the hotel world. We're also including a few links from VegasChatter, the newest member to the family. So check in and stay awhile.

VegasChatter:
· What to expect from McCarran's about-to-open Terminal 3
· An attempt at Ocean's 14, foiled!
· VegasChatter's Official 2012 Guide to the Pool Scene
· What's WSOP? If you have to ask...

HotelChatter:
· A hotel tech trend we fully approve of
· Hotel/kitty cat news!
· NY's hit "Sleep No More" show spins off in a London hotel
· Two photo galleries from inside the Anantara Resort in Bali

Bangkok: The Adventures of Travel Cat: Bangkok, Thailand

JetSetCD — 2012-05-23T16:55:51-05:00

Kitty cats. They rule the internet and, whether we realize it or not, pretty much the world too. Ever noticed how cats sometimes stake out the coolest spots in a city? This new feature—Travel Cat—focuses on exactly that. Submit a photo to be featured by tweeting or Instagramming it to us (details below).

Travel Cat spotted in: Bangkok, Thailand.

This week's Travel Cat comes us here at Jaunted, as we have a nice backlog of #travelcat sightings to pepper in among yours as well.

This little wide-eyed fellow was spotted crouched down next to a large cement pot, along the roadside near Bangkok's tourist favorite, the Golden Mount Temple (aka Wat Saket). He wasn't begging for a meal, just focused on the street action and staying hidden in a tiny patch of shade, understandable given the searing sun and 92-degree temperatures this day.

Empire: Stalking the Empire Asparagus Festival: Kick Ass-paragus

MegaLaraZ — 2012-05-23T16:22:26-05:00

Two runners who got their Ass-paragus kicked

Here at Jaunted, we spend considerable time and (virtual) ink drooling over weird food festivals. So, this summer, we've decided to visit a few. All this week our Michigan embed Lara Zielin will report back from the Empire Asparagus Festival.

Ron Zywicki, this year's winner of Empire, Michigan’s “Kick Ass-paragus” 5k may have finished the race in 17:39, but the participants who ran more slowly—perhaps because they filled up on the asparagus beer the night before during the town’s annual Asparagus Festival kickoff—probably weren’t phased. It’s not as if the race is all that competitive, especially considering they don’t begin it with an actual clock, but rather by dropping a single asparagus spear on the ground: when it lands, you go.

The real bummer of running the 5k at a leisurely pace is that you get to the Asparagus Festival’s food tent later than everyone else, lengthening your wait time for a slice of asparagus pizza, or an asparagus boule, or get a brain freeze on some asparagus ice cream.

Joplin: One Year Later, Volunteers Are Still Needed to Help Rebuild Joplin

cmb — 2012-05-23T13:54:17-05:00

This week marks the one year anniversary of the tornado that destroyed more than 2,700 homes in Joplin, Missouri. The community has come a long way in the past year, but volunteers are still needed to continue rebuilding homes for those who are still displaced.

Yesterday Missouri's Governor, Jay Nixon, announced the Governor's Joplin Challenge, a partnership between Missouri sports teams and Habitat for Humanity to build 35 homes this year. To meet their goal, Habitat for Humanity needs all of the volunteers they can get. To be included in their build schedule, fill out the application at joplinchallenge.mo.gov/volunteer.

Three Cities Throwing Memorial Day Weekend 'Brew At The Zoo' Parties

kjb — 2012-05-23T12:32:30-05:00

If you’ve ever wanted to get drunk with a skunk Memorial Day Weekend is the time to do it. Animal parks across the country have started to add booze to their usual offerings, and now it’s time to take it all in. The weather’s just warming up, so now’s the time to cool off with a refreshing adult beverage while watching the lions, tigers, and bears do their thing. Here’s our picks for three “zoo brew” events that might just be worth your time:

Brew at the Zoo - Atlanta

Avoid the family barbeque—the food is bad anyway—and make your way over to Zoo Atlanta to check out the critters doing their thing. A couple cold ones will definitely turn the afternoon into something a little more interesting, and that’s especially the case when there’s some live animal entertainment. Just be sure not to overdo it and be sure to stay far enough away from any and all animal enclosures.

This year’s Brew at the Zoo events are set to do their thing between 5:30 and 9:30pm on Saturday, May 26. Admission is going to set you back $43 in advance, but if you’re a member of the zoo you’ll save a few bucks. Your ticket includes access to all the animal magnetism that you’d like to see, and of course there will be unlimited samples and sips of plenty lagers and ales. There will be plenty of live music to go with your beer and wine tastings, and there’s 1,500 different furry, scaled, and winged friends as well.

Zoo Brew – Memphis

The River City of Memphis has a lot going for it, but during Memorial Day Weekend we’ve got to point you over to the city’s zoo. They’ve been running their annual Zoo Brew event for several years now, and this year promises to be one of the best yet. There’s no kiddos allowed at the event, so be sure to call the babysitter and don’t forget your ID.

There’s two different ticket options from which to choose, but we’re thinking that most will go with the $35 option. However, high rollers can choose to shell out $55 for access to the Dino VIP Lounge where they can schmooze with local brewers and animal experts. All the samples from local and national breweries will be available on Friday, May 25 from 7pm until 10pm. So we suggest skipping the usual after work happy hour, and taking the cubicle crew over to the Zoo to start off the holiday weekend.

Get Out of Londontown: Check Off Stonehenge from the Bucket List

Lilotchka — 2012-05-23T11:40:51-05:00

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

If you can make it through a visit to Stonehenge without making a Spinal Tap joke, you’re a better person than I am. The stone formation, built by Druids during the Bronze Age, is still one of the world’s great wonders as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site. That said, it’s also kind of in the middle of nowhere. Though there are plans to build a more convenient rail route out to Stonehenge, currently the only way to get there is by car. There are several tour companies who will take you there and back from London and it’s also quite common to combine this with a trip to Bath, which is the route I took.

Dusseldorf: When Paid Airport WiFi Goes Too Far

JetSetCD — 2012-05-23T10:57:18-05:00

Did you know that D�sseldorf International Airport is Germany's third largest airport, after Frankfurt and Munich? It even beats Berlin (for now)! Did you maybe also know that the New York area has a direct flight to D�sseldorf, from Newark-Liberty, on Lufthansa? Well, they do and we just hopped off of it less less than 12 hours ago.

This isn't our first time through DUS, but it is the first time we've bothered at all to log into the airport's WiFi, run by Vodafone. Warning: it isn't free. Warning part deux: it's the opposite of free—it's pretty expensive!

Yes, this is Europe and there's extra little charges to be found on everything, but D�sseldorf fancies itself a forward-thinking airport and its key traveling demographic is the on-the-go businessmen who need to be connected whenever/wherever possible. Perhaps this is why Vodafone believe it can squeeze 5.95 EUR ($7.50) out of travelers for just 30 minutes of WiFi use.