http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/index.html http://media.miamiherald.com/images/logos/rss_sitelogo.gif http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/index.html 140 25 News, sports and entertainment from MiamiHerald.com en-us Copyright 2008 MiamiHerald.com Weekly Features 60 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:37:09 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys miamifeedback@miamiherald.com http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/613757.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/613757.html Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT MONTREAL: INFINITE STYLE Is there a more famous set of initials in haute couture than YSL? The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is showing this first retrospective devoted to the designs of fashion legend Yves Saint Laurent, who died last month at 71. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606043.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606043.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT Most cruise ships make their South Florida debut in late fall when they move from Europe to the Caribbean. NCL has brought Norwegian Sky -- formerly the Pride of Hawaii -- to South Florida this month to for three- and four-day sailings. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606050.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606050.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT Q: I'm having a problem with a hotel voucher that has turned out to be useless. Last summer, I took my daughter and 4-year-old granddaughter to San Antonio to visit SeaWorld. We stayed at the Motel 6 on Market Square, where I had been a guest more than a dozen times in the past. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606041.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606041.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT AIRLINES BRING A BOOK US Airways last week said it will start removing in-flight entertainment systems on domestic flights in November to save about $10 million annually in fuel and other costs. Spokesman Phil Gee said the movie systems weigh about 500 pounds each, forcing planes to use more fuel. US Airways will cut the movie systems from about 200 aircraft. It will keep movies in its widebody aircraft for international flights and trips to Hawaii. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606054.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606054.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT INNSIDE REPORT: CABBAGE KEY Want to live on the water? Me, too. Ah, to relax on a porch, blue water stretching to the sky, only steps away from a soft bed. Peaceful. Water lapping at the shore. Easy. A boat kept at the ready on a dock winding from the house. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606040.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606040.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT When I first saw the stone tower on a promontory overlooking the Grand Canyon, I thought it had been built by Native Americans hundreds of years earlier. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/605460.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/605460.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT CHINA: TO THE RESCUE Now here's a vacation to feel good about: Volunteer for Wild Spots Foundation's 10-day September trip to China to deliver aid to the local panda preserves, their staff members and the giant pandas that live there. The internationally known Wolong Panda Preserve was only 18 miles from the epicenter of the recent earthquake, and the roads to the reserve were destroyed. Volunteers will depart for Chengdu on Sept. 20, and travel to the Panda Garden in Bifengaxia, Ya'an, where they... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606738.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606738.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT CHINA: TO THE RESCUE Now here's a vacation to feel good about: Volunteer for Wild Spots Foundation's 10-day September trip to China to deliver aid to the local panda preserves, their staff members and the giant pandas that live there. The internationally known Wolong Panda Preserve was only 18 miles from the epicenter of the recent earthquake, and the roads to the reserve were destroyed. Volunteers will depart for Chengdu on Sept. 20, and travel to the Panda Garden in Bifengaxia, Ya'an, where they... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606052.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/606052.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT The stately, white-columned Williamsburg Inn commissioned by John D. Rockefeller Jr. is little changed since it opened. The lobby furniture is exactly where Mrs. Rockefeller placed it in 1937. Guests still bowl and play croquet on plush, green lawns, drink afternoon tea in the Terrace Room and dress up for dinner. Williamsburg, Virginia's capital from 1699 to 1780 and now a town of 13,500 people, likes its traditions. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598575.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598575.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT The Neretva River flows south from the Bosnian Alps, through Sarajevo and toward the Adriatic Sea. Historically, invaders came from the opposite direction. The Ottoman Turks emerged from the south in the 14th century, and for many years Venetian pirates sailed upriver to raid the Bosnian lowlands. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598561.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598561.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT AWARDS EDITOR HONORED Miami Herald Travel Editor Jane Wooldridge took first place in two categories in the recent journalism competition held by the Society of American Travel Writers -- Atlantic Caribbean Chapter. First place in Articles about Foreign Destinations went to ''An Israel Unknown,'' published June 24, 2007. First place in Self-Illustrated Articles went to ''The Red Carpet,'' a package of stories and photos about China, published July 22, 2007. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598564.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598564.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT With the rocky economy, international Business Class fares are sometimes on sale these days at as much as half of their usual cost. The bad news: That may mean that frequent flier upgrades are harder to come by. And if you've missed the sale, regular business class fares can set you back more than $4,000 roundtrip to London and more than $10,000 roundtrip to Hong Kong. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598576.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598576.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT Q: We've had a problem with a missing flight segment that I've tried to resolve for the last six months. Here's what happened: We had seats booked on a British Airways flight from Calgary to Rome with a connection in London. When the airline e-mailed my confirmation, I noticed that a leg was missing. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598554.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598554.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT Many of the resorts in Arizona's Valley of the Sun have attempted to deny the harsh environment in which they're situated -- or at least to tame it. So they've created broad expanses of lawn and thick plantings of petunias. The FireSky Resort, which opened last year on the site of the former Caleo Resort, opted instead to coexist with the desert. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598557.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598557.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT If you're like me, you probably use a bank card to withdraw local currency from foreign ATMs. More often than not, your restaurant, hotel and shopping bills are settled with a swipe of a credit card. But for all the safety and convenience in a magnetic strip, woe is the overseas traveler who uses plastic. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598573.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598573.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT WIND-UP PITCH: LifeGear has taken the crank-powered electronic device to new levels. The new LED Flashlight/Reading Lamp/Radio has a hand crank that recharges the built-in NiMH battery for operation of the device's flashlight, pop-up reading light, siren, red emergency LED flashers, AM/FM radio and emergency weather alert. The amount of operational time you get from cranking varies with the function, but averages about 20 minutes per 60-second crank. Don't feel like cranking? The device also operates... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598804.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/598804.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT ST. LUCIA: MANGO MADNESS Florida celebrity chef and mango maven Allen Susser, who joined Jade Mountain as consulting chef in April, will celebrate his first Mango Madness Festival at the Soufriere resort July 18-20. Employing the theme, ''1,001 things you could do to a mango before you die,'' activities include a mango chutney workshop, mango cocktail party with mangotinis and mango mojitos, a Mango Madness cooking class and the finale, the ''Night of 1,000 Mangos'' dinner at the Jade Mountain Club... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/590763.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/590763.html Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT Every August, the global theatrical community -- well, at least the part that is drawn to an all-male, musical version of Chekhov's Three Sisters -- heads to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh for a monthlong celebration of the dramatic arts, from world premieres by celebrated authors to one-man shows by unknown novices. The main event is the Edinburgh International Festival. But for many people, the real draw is the Fringe, a riotous collection of performancesby hundreds of artists, comedians, memoirists... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/590765.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/590765.html Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT Q: We recently booked a hotel room in Las Vegas through Hotwire.com. We prepaid $952 for it. Hotwire took our money but never gave us the room it promised. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/590757.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/590757.html Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT HEAD TRIP: A nice bright flashlight is useful to have on hand -- but sometimes more useful hands-free. Enter the 2 Light from Zelco. A flick of a latch at the business end of the flashlight opens the cover. Pull out the light and it becomes a headlamp thanks to the attached adjustable headband, which was hidden in the flashlight housing. The headlamp pivots for aiming light via a rotating cylinder that also houses the light's three AAA batteries (not included). A rubber-sealed push-button switch... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/590117.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/590117.html Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:01 EDT CURACAO: ROUGHING IT IN STYLE Lodge Kura Hulanda & Beach Club has opened its Tree House Mansion suite built atop wooden stilts in the island foliage and decorated with an African vibe. A wooden spiral staircase leads up to the open-air living room overlooking the Caribbean. The two bedrooms are air-conditioned and have flat screen TV and private baths. The Tree House also has wireless Internet and a full kitchen. If the $1,000 to $1,500 per night rates seem steep, check out Kura Hulanda's more... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582386.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582386.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:01 EDT . The new rush is on for California gold, and just as they did a century and a half ago, men and women from all over America are traveling westward to stake their claims before the lode dries up. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582403.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582403.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:01 EDT <strong><span class="subhead">AMERICAN AIRLINES MORE MILES TO GO Beginning Oct. 1, the number of miles required for frequent flier tickets on American Airlines will increase. Most of the increases are for peak travel periods and ''anytime'' miles. For instance, an ''anytime miles'' ticket from North America to Europe rises from 100,000 miles to 120,000 miles. Milesaver tickets during peak periods from North American to the Caribbean and Mexico rise from 30,000 miles to 35,000 miles. Upgrades from economy class to business class on flights from North America to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru or Venezuela will require 15,000 miles plus a $150 co-payment. You can still get tickets for travel in the next year at current levels if you book before Oct. 1. FYI, as of June 21, you 'll also pay a $5 processing fee to book an award ticket online. For details, see <a href="http://www.aa.com">www.aa.com</a>.</span></strong> http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582398.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582398.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:01 EDT Cruise ships are getting bigger -- and ever-more-interesting. In September 2009 comes the 130,000-ton Carnival Dream, carrying 3,646 passengers and boasting expansive children's areas, a massive waterpark and an indoor/outdoor café and live music piazza. In December of that year, Royal Caribbean launches the 220,000-ton Oasis of the Seas, with room for 5,400 passengers, an amphitheater, boardwalk and hand-made carousel. Not to be outdone, in 2010 NCL will launch a 150,000-ton ship with... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582399.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582399.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:01 EDT Q: I don't know if this is a lost cause, because it happened more than two years ago. But I thought I'd ask. We booked a roundtrip ticket for our son to fly from Dallas to Boston through Travelocity on ATA Airlines in July 2005. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582404.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582404.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:01 EDT INNSIDE REPORT: ISLAMORADA Innside report: Cheeca Lodge Cheeca Lodge & Spa isn't the Ritz -- guests here aren't looking for fancy with a capital F -- but it's a long way from the Holiday Inn. http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582392.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/582392.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:01 EDT CLIP POINT: The choices for privately listening to portable electronic devices and talking on cell phones range from cushy, but bulky, padded folding headphones that cover the ears, to tiny ear buds that can fall out if not plugged deeply (and sometimes uncomfortably) into place. Altec Lansing's AirFit inEar Earclips-S with Microphone may be the answer for those who want a solid fit in a light, non-intrusive device. The earphones virtually float in your ear, secured by flexible ear hangers that hook... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/581567.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/581567.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:01 EDT ORLANDO: SLEEP IN SEUSSLAND Kids can't get enough of the Cat in the Hat? Now they can fall asleep with Cat and Grinch and Horton and other Seuss characters -- all part of the decor in the new Dr. Seuss kids' suites at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando. The two-room suites offer a king bedroom for adults and two twin-sized beds in the children's (accessible only through the parents' room, but separated by a door.) Need more Seussmania? Hit Seuss Landing, with rides designed for young... http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/574652.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/574652.html Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:01 EDT So many (new) restaurants, so little time. No matter how frequently you get to New York, it's tough to keep up with matters of taste. Here's some help: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/574651.html http://www.miamiherald.com/living/travel/weekly-features/story/574651.html Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:01 EDT If you want to rent a hybrid while traveling: Book as far in advance as possible and choose a non-weekend day for your pickup. Reserve a hybrid at a neighborhood rental car office instead of the airport.