Here’s some posts you won’t want to miss:

The New York City Traveler combines two of my favorite food groups, bacon and beer, in his post about a limited production beer at the Brooklyn Brewery.  Another reason to make the trek across the bridge!

Nerds Eye View takes us along her road trip – in a 32 foot RV.  I’m not a camper, but maybe RV-ing it would be a little different.  What do you think?  Is a road trip in your future?

MSNBC gives us some tips on how to spot a hotel in bankruptcy.  Ignore these warning signs at your peril.

Seattle PI Blog has an interview with Hollywood screenwriter Mike Thompson, and he talks about his new movie, Love Happens starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart.  Parts of the movie were set in and around Seattle.

Fox Nomad suggests that we ask for a corporate discount, even if we don’t work for that business.  Or ask for a conference rate, even though we may not be attending the conference.  A good topic at the intersection of budget and ethics.

A Traveler’s Library reviews the recent Travel Insight 100 poll about using Twitter.  Members of Travel Insight 100 are travel writers, travel industry professionals, advisors and analysts, and travel bloggers.  (Full disclosure:  I’m a member of the panel.)

A Single View has a beautiful photo of the Hotel Cala di Volpe on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, Italy.  Beautiful!  And makes me long for my return trip to Italy.

Traveling the Green Way lists some green activities in the Portland area.  Some great stuff happening just down the freeway a-piece.

Photo credit: SXC

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

San Francisco-Bay Bridge will be closed over Labor Day Weekend

In most cases, this means that repairs are going to happen over a weekend, when the disruption to commuters is minimized.  Okay, that makes sense.

But why, I am asking myself, would anyone schedule repairs to the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge over Labor Day Weekend?

The repairs are necessary bring the bridge into compliance with current earthquake standards.  It’s necessary and important, of course, but why close the bridge over Labor Day weekend?

Sure, there won’t be people commuting into the city.  But this is one of the chief driving holiday weekends, and these repairs mean that the Bay Bridge will be closed down over Labor Day Weekend.  Offering up alternatives like “allow extra time for travel” and “use the other bridges” (Golden Gate Bridge, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, San Mateo-Hayward Bridge and the Dumbarton Bridge) just don’t seem like they’re going to be terribly helpful or practical.

If you’re going to be traveling in the Bay Area, you’ll want to keep up-to-date with information provided by the Bay Bridge Public Information Office.  And I’d start making other plans straight away.

I’m thinking that lots of car trips are going to be cancelled or changed.

Photo credit: yanec @flickr

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

While I’ve been known to put on lipstick or glance at an email while my car IS AT A COMPLETE STOP at a STOP SIGN, I’ve never believed that I was capable of texting and driving at the same time.  At least not do them WELL at the same time.

Whether you’re taking a road trip, or merely renting a car at your destination, it’s a wise idea to put your phone down and drive.  14 states and the District of Columbia have laws that ban texting and driving.  But I say, don’t bother trying to keep up with the driving laws of the various states, just put down the phone and err on the side of safety.

Do you really think you can drive and text at the same time?  HA!

Check out your reflexes and see how well you can text and drive with the Distracted Driving test (hat tip to the NY Times).

I couldn’t do it!

Photo credit: gcbb @flickr

Post from: Fly Away Cafe

First of all, this is both a coffee table book, oversized and full of beautiful photos, as well as a practical road travel book, with entries by state giving you the where and why of what you should see. 

I started my review looking at what they had to saw about Washington, the state that I’m the most familiar with.  Washington has 23 entries, a respectable number for a state that has as much rural area as it does urban.  The expected places were there, in the San Juan’s, Olympic Peninsula, and much in the central part of the state.  While I take issue with Olympic Sculpture Park being classified as off the beaten path (it’s downtown for criminey sake!), it was a fair representation of nature, quirky, and charming.

Still, the book was off to a pretty good start!

Next, it’s time to call in some friends and have them take a look at the states that they’re familiar with.  It was a good way to get additional opinions and reviews, and we sat around having a class of wine playing the “have you been there?” game as we looked through the book.  We looked at Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Ohio, and Massachusetts.  The consensus was a big  THUMBS UP, and that there was a good job of indentifying the hidden gems of nature, science, art, culture, and the unexpected.

The book has 50 chapters, one for each state, with a total listing of over 1,000 sites.  That’s a whole lot of road tripping to do!  You’ll find lots of color photographs, detailed maps, vital details and information, and links to the attraction’s website.  Attractions come complete with a legend of visitor information (camping, swimming, hiking sightseeing, etc.),  and this year three new icons were included – pet-friendly, accessible, and wi-fi compatible.  I liked the “Did You Know” and Seasonal Events sidebars, as they packed in a little more personality about each of the states.

This book isn’t going to make it to my bookshelf; it’s one that I’m going to keep handy for regular reference.  In fact, I got a bunch of ideas for a road trip, along with spots that show great promise for future blog posts.  And I can just refer to that wi-fi compatible icon, and I’m all set!  It’s a great planner for an affordable family road trip.

Pick up a copy of Off the Beaten Path at your local bookstore.  It is also available through Amazon ($19.80).

Photo credit:  Amazon

Post from: Fly Away Cafe