Archive for the 'Midwestern States' Category
Train art exhibit set to pull into Kansas City
August 14, 2008 2:00pm
![Thomas Hart Benton, \](http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/trainblog-300x198.jpg "Thomas Hart Benton, \")
[Click on the image to see more artworks in the exhibit]
Wake up, trainspotters, and cast your eyes toward Kansas City.
That’s where the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in September will open a show called “Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960.”
The exhibit, which includes more than 100 paintings and photographs, is currently on display in Liverpool, England, through August. The show opens in Kansas City on Sept. 13, 2008, and continues through Jan. 18.
Painters include Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Thomas Hart Benton and Edward Hopper. Among the photographers: Alfred Stieglitz, Charles Sheeler and André Kertész.
To see it in person, board an Amtrak Southwest Chief train at Union Station in Los Angeles, pony up $269 per adult, hang on for about 35 hours, then step off in Missouri.
Or take the easy way out and buy the very handsome catalog titled “The Railway: Art in the Age of Steam” published by Yale University Press — officially $65, but recently offered on Amazon for about $40.
Whether you check out the show itself or just the catalog, you will be reminded of at least two things: First, a lot of great paintings and photographs have trains in them. (And often tunnels. What do you suppose that’s about?)
Second, the average train station is 867 times more fun to look at than the average airport.
– Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times staff writer
[Images: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art]
Travel Ticker website from Hotwire focuses on bargains
July 21, 2008 12:01am
The unemployment rate in California is up to a five-year high, and that tells you nothing good about the economy in the Golden State or anywhere else.
So the timing for Travel Ticker (www.travel-ticker.com), a new bargain website from the Hotwire people, probably couldn’t be better. It makes its debut today.
“We love to read about deals so we wanted to have something that was enjoyable to read and peruse and would inspire travel among enthusiasts,” said Barbara Messing, vice president of Travel Ticker.
Unlike some sites that suggest bargains that aren’t bargains for West Coasters, Travel Ticker uses “geo-targeting,” meaning you’ll see bargains appropriate to where you live. Read the rest of this entry »
Six Flags Magic Mountain passes on Dark Knight coaster
July 15, 2008 6:00pm
Six Flags Magic Mountain came thisclose to landing a Dark Knight roller coaster after a sister amusement park decided at the eleventh hour against installing the indoor ride.
Magic Mountain was offered the Dark Knight — and even had a location picked out for the coaster — after Six Flags New England ran into bureaucratic red tape during installation of the $7.5-million family ride this spring. Because of building-permit issues, the Massachusetts amusement park was forced to abruptly halt construction of the Batman-themed coaster in April 2008 and completely dismantle the ride.
Screamscape broke the news in May that Six Flags New England’s unused Dark Knight coaster might be heading to Southern California.
Magic Mountain ultimately decided to pass on the Dark Knight and focus instead on another family coaster planned for 2009.
Northwest Airlines adds $15 checked bag fee
July 9, 2008 11:48am
Northwest Airlines has joined the parade of carriers that will charge for checked baggage.
The airline, which has hubs in Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam, announced the $15 charge today. It takes effect for any tickets purchased starting Thursday, July 10, and applies to travel that begins Aug. 28 and thereafter.
Starwood's Aloft hotel opens in Rancho Cucamonga
June 21, 2008 5:47pm
You’re hip, you’re fun, you like your iPod and you like to feel at home even when you’re not.
If that’s you, Aloft hotels may be just the ticket.
Starwood’s newest brand opened its second Aloft hotel, this one in Rancho Cucamonga, off Interstate 10 at Haven Avenue, about three miles from Ontario Airport. The first opened earlier this month in Montreal. More are expected later this year, including hotels in Rogers, Arkansas; Chicago; Minneapolis; and Beijing.
Rates start at about $139 (with taxes, $152) for a room, which measures about 315 square feet, with a king bed (that’s the Montreal property pictured above, but Rancho is its duplicate). Visitors get a 42-inch, flat-screen TV and high-speed Internet access. Its lobby is designed to be a gathering place and includes the w xyz bar.
Midwest tornado chasers break their record for sightings
June 19, 2008 4:40pm
Some towns in the Heartland have endured deadly tornadoes this summer, but that hasn’t seemed to deter travelers who are fascinated by the powerful weather formation.
Tempest Tours Inc., a tornado-chasing tour company that hunts storms in the Midwest’s Tornado Alley, has logged a record year for tornado interceptions, or sightings: 24. That tops the 23 from its 2003 and 2004 touring seasons. And, Tempest chief Martin Lisius said today, that probably won’t be all.
“I suspect we may catch another one to three tornadoes. … Maybe today.” Lisius said there’s a threat of tornadoes today across the Kansas plains, in Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado.
Spring storms have wreaked havoc in the Midwest, including a recent tragedy when four were killed at a Boy Scout camp in Iowa. Lisius knows that chasing bad weather is the focus of the tour experience, but he says: “Keep in mind that virtually all of the tornadoes we intercept occur in the country and do not harm anyone. So, it’s a natural experience. It’s a huge forecasting and logistical success any time we intercept a tornado. The guests know this and that’s why they are so satisfied when they see one.”
Last-minute: free gas card for Memorial Day from Expedia
May 14, 2008 5:51pm
Expedia has heard your cries at the pump. If you haven’t booked your Memorial Day plans, check out this opportunity to get a free gas card to go with your hotel room. Even if you’re planning on a stay-cation, who wouldn’t mind $50 worth of gas free?
Deal: Book three nights of hotel accommodations through Expedia and get a $50 gas card (prepaid MasterCard). The Expedia Memorial Day (and Fourth of July) sale page offers lead to discounted properties in San Diego; Portland, Oregon; Phoenix; Houston; Chicago; Miami; Orlando, Florida; New York; and more. The free gas card offer isn’t that easy to find. Click on the hotels page for one of the sale cities, and then you’ll find the gas card offered above the hotel listings for that destination.
Santa Monica Ferris wheel sold on EBay
April 25, 2008 4:54pm
The first thing Grant Humpreys ever bought on EBay was the Santa Monica Pier Ferris wheel – sight unseen – for $132,400.
Humphreys, the son of a former Oklahoma City mayor, placed the winning bid just before the online auction closed at noon today (Pacific Daylight Time). The 32-year-old real estate developer was one of six bidders who placed 35 bids on the nine-story-tall wheel. The auction generated 9,342 watchers and 400,000 page views.
The final price jumped nearly $50,000 in a flurry of bids during the last 10 minutes of the sale, according to L.A. Now.
Humphreys plans to incorporate the iconic oceanfront wheel into an Oklahoma City mixed-use commercial/residential community within the next three to five years, said Gayle Wilson, who handles financial matters in Humpreys’ real estate office.
“We’re out here in the middle of America,” Wilson said, clearly still excited by the purchase. “We don’t have too many shiny toys.”
Skybus Airlines shuts down, cancels flights
April 4, 2008 7:41pm
Skybus Airlines, the ultra-low-cost carrier based in Columbus, Ohio, tonight became the third U.S. airline in a week to announce its shutdown, after Hawaii’s Aloha Airlines and Indianapolis-based ATA Airlines. And once again, fliers were left dangling.
“Skybus struggled to overcome the combination of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment, ” Chief Executive Michael Hodge said in a news release. “These two issues proved to be insurmountable for a new carrier.” Hodge said Friday’s flights would be completed, but that operations would end Saturday. The company, he added, would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.
Skybus, less than year old, caused a sensation when it started operating May 22, 2007, as a low-fare carrier that charged extra fees for nearly everything. It flew to more than a dozen U.S. cities, including three in California: from Burbank to Columbus and Greensboro, N.C.; from Oakland to Columbus; and, until recently, from San Diego to Columbus.
Coaster Wars II: Magic Mountain vs. Cedar Point
April 2, 2008 8:56am
Which amusement park is the true “roller coaster capital of the world”?
With the peak summer season drawing near, the title remains in dispute as the industry’s two coaster heavyweights lay claim to the coveted title.
Cedar Point proclaims itself the coaster king on its website and an official count at Roller Coaster Database gives the Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park the edge worldwide with 17 coasters.
“We’re certainly well-known around the world for having the most coasters,” said Cedar Point spokesman Robin Innes.
Six Flags Magic Mountain recently relinquished the title after trimming two coasters from its fleet, but that hasn’t stopped the Valencia amusement park from running radio advertisements this week claiming the crown.
“When it comes to being the coaster capital of the world, it’s measured in thrill quality, not ride quantity,” said Magic Mountain President Jay Thomas. “At Magic Mountain, thrill seekers are fond of saying that they look at the competition and ask ‘Where’s the beef?’ That’s the standard by which we operate. Always pushing to distance ourselves from other coaster parks.”
