Laurel Highlands 2019 guide has new magazine format
The Laurel Highlands 2019 Destination Guide is being released this week with a new size and a new style. Produced by the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau, this year’s annual tourism publication for Westmoreland, Fayette and Somerset counties has arrived with smaller dimensions than past versions and with a shift in...
How long is the airport security wait? These apps will tell you
Airport security lines can behave like curly hair: One small change in the atmosphere and everything can go out of whack. Weather, holidays and most recently the partial government shutdown have turned a routine procedure into a panicky production. The Transportation Security Administration and airlines advise domestic passengers to arrive...
Travel tip: Go batty at Lincoln Caverns’ 12th annual Batfest
What’s the only mammal capable of sustained flight? The bat. Learn more about the much-feared furry flier at the 12th annual Batfest from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 9 at Lincoln Caverns in Huntingdon County. Visitors will have a chance to view tri-colored bats in their natural habitat and learn about...
Visiting Alaska in wintertime is a travelers’ badge of honor
Bundled in the warmest clothing I own, at least I’m snug while speeding across snow-covered trails and onto the Chena River, covered with a layer of 2-foot-thick ice. The old sofa cushion on which I’m seated helps smooth the ride. Ice crystals, kicked up by the 40 paws of
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Sometimes even the weariest traveler must refuse a hotel room
As a travel seller, I’d hear it from time to time: “That hotel was totally unacceptable.” But you slept there, right? Travelers often abandon rational thinking in pursuit of a travel objective. It’s difficult to make significant emotional investment selecting and booking a hotel, long anticipating a safe, quiet sanctuary...
Travel tip: Get your ‘Phil fix’ during Groundhog Day festivities
Standing in the freezing cold in the middle of the night, waiting for Punxsutawney Phil to emerge from his Gobbler’s Knob burrow, is only a small part of Groundhog Day fun. The Jefferson County borough after which the woodchuck weather forecaster is named has two days of nonstop activities, starting...
Pittsburgh makes BBC Good Food’s 2019 foodie destination list
What does Pittsburgh have in common with Matera, a town perched on a rocky hilltop in southern Italy? According to BBC Good Food, both are Top 10 foodie destinations for 2019. Matera ranked No. 1 on the list compiled by the global food media brand that has a monthly magazine,...
Royal Caribbean bans passengers for life for jumping off Symphony of the Seas balcony
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Royal Caribbean has banned a group of men from Vancouver, British Columbia from ever traveling with the cruise line again after one of them jumped off a ship’s deck and posted a video of the stunt on social media. Nick Naydev posted the video on Instagram...
Some things to consider about alcohol on airplanes
On a recent Delta Air Lines flight from Newark to Minneapolis, a passenger seated near Stephanie Wolkin downed five mini-bottles of vodka in rapid succession. By the time the plane landed, the intoxicated passenger had become violently ill, and Wolkin, a retired union worker from St. Paul, Minn., had earned...
New Amazon headquarters a tale of 2 very different cities
Before mid-November, Long Island City and Crystal City were never on the same page, much less uttered in the same sentence. Though both destinations are on the East Coast (New York and Virginia, respectively) and within shouting distance of a major metropolitan center, they had little else in common. Well,...
Hotels sweat the details to help guests meet their fitness needs
It wasn’t the price or the points or the location that most influenced Ruth Furman to book a stay at the Holiday Inn Express Waikiki in Honolulu last summer. It was the yoga. Namely, the free poolside yoga every weekday morning. Furman, who makes fitness a priority at home, knew...
Travel tip: All roads lead to Allentown’s Auto Mania flea market
All roads will lead to Allentown for antique and classic car enthusiasts, collectors and flippers from Jan. 18 to 20. Those are the dates for Auto Mania, which for more than 30 years has been Pennsylvania’s largest indoor heated automotive flea market. The 59,000-square-foot Agri-Plex facility at the Allentown Fairgrounds...
Pennsylvania resorts offer Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month specials
January is Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month, with more than 140 resorts nationwide — including 21 in Pennsylvania — participating As part of the special month, in its 11th year, Pennsylvania ski resorts will join with others across the country to celebrate Jan. 11 as National Learn to Ski...
Pittsburgh Travel Showcase offers one-stop vacation planning
The Pittsburgh Travel Showcase, set for Jan. 11-13 in the downtown David L. Lawrence Convention Center, promises one-stop shopping for all vacation planning needs. Presented by AAA Travel, the third showcase will offer presentations from industry experts and travel agency services, along with prizes and giveaways. “The Showcase promises to...
Make like Yukon Cornelius with Arctic Paws Dog Sled Tours
Get ready to unleash your inner Yukon Cornelius with the Arctic Paws Dog Sled Tours in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. Operating Saturdays and Sundays until March out of Manor Sports at Pocono Manor Resort and Spa in Monroe County, the tours are not for the timid. “Dog sledding is like mountain...
Smithsonian and National Gallery held on as long as they could, but they’re closed
Funds that kept the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art in Washington open since the beginning of the government shutdown have run out. That means that all 17 of the District’s Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo and the National Gallery and its popular skating rink in the...
