Inn at Lost Creek is a Bright Green Hotel

Back-of-the-house tour reveals Telluride hotel's commendable green initiatives

When I checked in after dark to the Inn at Lost Creek in Telluride's Mountain Village a week ago yesterday, I was appalled at the excess illumination in my room. As I wrote then, every single light in my little suite was blazing. I called housekeeping the next morning and asked for some electricity restraint, and as requested, only the foyer lights were turned on during subsequent evenings' turndown service.

But even better was the impact that even a enviro-rant like mine produced. The inn's sales and marketing manager, Karl Chase, told me that because of my alert, the inn would in the future add a question about additional energy conservation efforts in the pre-arrival questions that are asked of incoming guests. Perhaps both Lost Creek management and I got a big hit of good eco-karma from that one.

He also invited me on a back-of-the-house tour to show how green the hotel is -- and it seems to me to be "very green." When the hotel was built 11 years ago, it was tightly constructed with Pella low-E double-paned windows (obvious to any guest who looks), an energy-efficient, thermitic water heating system and other mechanicals that were state of the art for its time and have held up well.

Other green practices that this behind-the-scenes tour revealed:

• Restaurant 9545 uses eco-friendly compostable/recyclable containers, including sugarcane-based clamshell to-go boxes and utensils instead of plastic (top photo)


• No disposables used in the employee break room
  
• Linens that are no longer usable by a first-rate hotel donated for resale at the Second Chance Humane Society shop in nearby Ridgway


• Cleaning rags are stained or frayed restaurant napkins, dyed so they don't reappear in the restaurant


• As lightbulbs burn out, they are being replaced by CF bulbs; the "always-on" hallway lights are have been the first to be replaced; hotel is stockpiling CF replacement bulbs (center photo) but not discarding those incandescents that still have some life left in them


• Cleaning chemicals are green and also bought concentrated in bulk, mixed at the hotel and refilled into reusable spray bottles to keep excess packaging out of the waste stream (bottom photo)


• The executive boardroom, a small conference space, has outside windows so groups can opt for daylight rather than turning on all the lights all the time


• Low-flow toilets in all bathrooms


• Flex-fuel shuttle vans


• Trash separated and recycled

I appreciate Karl's taking the time to show me these green practices, and I urge environmentally concerned travelers anywhere to go beyond simply reusing linens to help the hotel business be as evironmentally-oriented as possible. Don't be shy about asking what a property's green practices and let hotel management know that these practices are important to you. You probably won't get the kind of tour that I did, but hotel managers will answer your questions and listen to your concerns. IMO, there is no more responsive a business than the hospitality industry -- especially at higher-end hotels. Repeat business and word of mouth are important to them.

With CNN in the background as I write this, reporting on the current crisis in the auto industry, I have to say that if only the Big Three had been as proactive and also paid as much attention to what the public wants as the hotel industry, execs wouldn't be begging Congress for a bailout right now.

Next U.S. Quarters to Feature National Parks

States have been featured on quarter-dollar coins. National Parks are next

Beginning in 1999, the US Mint struck the wildly popular 50 States Quarters series that eventually was extended to include the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories represented in Congress by non-voting representatives (Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). George Washington remained on the face of the coin, while the parade of states and other jurisdictions were on the reverse. Beginning this year, the Mint will begin a 12-year program of releasing quarters depicting 56 of our National Parks and other splendid public lands.

The first five are Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; Yosemite National Park, California; Grand Canyon National Park, California; and Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon. Having these coins in your pocket or purse won't replace the experience of actually traveling to these lands that we collectively own, but they do provide a nice incentive, memory or learning opportunity.

Billions Spent to Annoy Travelers

Transportation Security Agency's multi-billion-dollar budget mostly spent on passenger screening

Just a few days ago, I wrote a post on an inexplicable lapse in the TSA screening process that I personally experienced at Denver International Airport, the world's 10th busiest airport and the fifth busiest in the US, and the overzealous screening at tiny Telluride Regional Airport just three days later. This morning, I began to wonder how much this inconsistency is costing taxpayers.

The TSA's 2007 budget was $5.3 billion, 80 percent of which went to passenger screening (and annoying) at the nation's airports. In no other country that I have visited recently are passengers required to remove their shoes, toss bottled water, take laptops out of briefcases, limit carry-on toiletries to 100 ML or less and display said toiletries in a clear plastic, zip bag of a particular size (one quart).

Admittedly, $5.3 billion (or maybe more by now) is a fraction of what we have spent to invade and occupy Iraq ($500 billion or so since 2003), bail out insurer AIG ($85 billion) or on the proposed bail-out (thus far) for the Big 3 auto companies ($15 billion, but that's supposed to be repaid). It's also an awful lot less that the National Park Service allotment of $2.4 billion to preserve, protect and revitalize our great national treasures or the pathetic $145 million with federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

When Congress reconvenes in 2009, write to your Senators and Representatives -- whether continuing in office or newly elected -- if you think these priorities are as lopsided as I do.

Big Snow & Big New Lift at Whistler

Peak2Peak gondola a technological wonder and a skier's dream

The new Peak2Peak gondola that will be inaugurated on Friday, December 12, links two on-mountain stations on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, for the first time enabling people to ski/snowboard both mountains in a day without having to return all the way to Whistler Village. As if to bless the new lift (right, photo by Ian Anderson), the snow gods have been depositing fat white flakes on North America's biggest resort.

This state-of-the-art Doppelmayr 3S tri-cable gondola is a transport lift like no other. Its 16 Sky Cabins cross 2.73 miles (4.4 kilometers) from mountain to mountain. Between its farthest-apart beefy towers, built to withstand wind and weather, is the world’s longest unsupported span: a stunning 1.88 miles (3.024 kilometres) above Fitzsimmons Creek. It is also the world’s highest lift of its kind crossing the valley floor at a maximum of 1,427 feet (at 436 meters). The cabins were unveiled in September, and load testing began on October 1. Since then, skiers and riders have been salivating.

A Super Launch for a Super Lift

I wish I were going to the Peak2Peak launch but can only be there vicariously via a live webcast of launch ceremony -- and so can you. It will be transmitted beginning at 10:30 a.m. PST on http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/webcast. The official ribbon cutting is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at the gondola terminals on both mountains.

The first cabin to take off from Blackcomb to Whistler will ferry 22 locals who were nominated as "the most deserving" in the resort's Ride of Their Life contest. In the first cabin from Whistler to Blackcomb will be auction winners who bid for the places, with auction proceeds going to the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation that supports community organizations throughout the Sea to Sky Corridor. The day will be full of festivities from breakfast to "grand" après-ski celebrations.

Ski Season: It Ain't Over Till It's Over

But it's almost over in the snow-rich San Juans, despite a March dump

Telluride snared an amazing 22 inches in 24 hours. Too bad they close next week. Snow fell at a rate of two to four inches per hour throughout the area Friday evening and night. Below are three images, courtesy of the resort, that are heartbreakers for any skier or snowboarder who can't make it down there before the lifts stop running after Easter. I'm one of them!

Other San Juan ski areas also have been slammed this season -- and in the ski/snowboard world, being slammed is a good thing. Silverton Mountain, which netted 20 inches out of that storm and boasts a 125-inch base (that's more than 10 feet), remains open until April 28. Durango Mountain Resort is also about to end weekday operations but, with a 66-inch base, they extended their season to operate every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through April, conditions permitting. Wolf Creek operates seven days a week through April 4, then the next two Saturdays and Sundays.

Ski areas closer to the populous Front Range stay open longer, but somehow, it's especially sad to see a premature end to the season in the San Juans.

America's Healthiest Airports

What makes an airport healthy? Health magazine has some answers and has published a list

According to Health magazine, it seems to be a combination of factors that contribute to physical health and mental health by offering "nutritious food, special relaxation zones, walking paths, the latest safety technology, and a whole lot more." Other pluses: noise reduction, children's play areas and environmental stewardship. The opportunity to move around, to eat food that's not bad for you and to be in a stress-reducing place contribute greatly to an airport's health factor.

In a piece called "America's Healthiest Airports," the magazine selected the America's top ten -- and the links I have used are to the magazine's evaluations and descriptions, not to the airports' own websites:

1. Phoenix Sky Harbor
2. Baltimore Washington International Airport
3. O'Hare International (Chicago)
4. Detroit Metropolitan
5. Denver International (right)
6. Washington National
7. Dallas/Fort Worth International
8. Logan International (Boston)
9. Portland International (Oregon)
10. Philadelphia International

Of course, living in Colorado, I am more familiar with DIA than any other airport. Recently opened in the main terminal is the Vertical Mile Market (right), bright and inviting and offering some not-so-great-for-you snack foods but also far more healthy options than the newsstands. You'd never know from the food-court lines at various fast-fooderies that DIA does have healthy options, but they do exist.

The B Gates (aka, Concourse B), offer the most healthy options (be sure to choose wisely) including Cantina Grill Express, Itza Wrap! Itza Bowl!, Jamba Juice, Que Bueno! Mexican Grille, TCBY Yogurt, and Wolfgang Puck Express. TCBY also is in the main terminal and at the C Gates. For those who like to walk, the B Gates are also along DIA's longest concourse, so once through security, passengers can take a nice long hike there. Another walking opportunity is to use the skybridge rather than the train to reach the A Gates and to walk from the main terminal to A instead of using the moving walkways to approach security.

To Honor or Not to Honor "Error Fares"

Airlines don't always honor ultra-low fares that they posted by mistake

"The Middle Seat," an always-informative Wall Street Journal column on air travel, tackles an interesting topic today. In "When Airline Fares Are Too Good to Be True," columnist Scott McCartney discusses situations that occur when someone at the airline makes makes a mistake in fare quotes and passengers snap up the bargain deals. Some airlines live with their employees' errors, while others backpedal and don't honor their unintended offers.

McCartney cited to recent dramatic examples of backpedal ing carriers. "British Airways PLC canceled 1,200 reservations for 2,200 passengers from the U.S. to India last fall when it mistakenly offered tickets for $40 on October 2." The airline claimed that passengers should known have better and gave them an apology $300 vouchers for a trip from the US to India that had a short booking deadline. Some passengers have sued, but so far, the courts have reportedly sided with the airline. I think "Super Nanny" should have been enlisted to send BA to the "naughty chair."

Another example: "In January, American offered first-class tickets from the U.S. to Australia for the coach price of $1,100 round-trip. First-class round-trip tickets actually cost as much as $20,000. American refused to honor the tickets and offered passengers $200 vouchers as compensation."

The parent corporations of United, Continental., Southwest, JetBlue and Singapore Airlines told McCartney that "their policy is to not cancel tickets even when a mistake is discovered, no matter how large the error."

True TSA Tale: Read It to Believe It

Does TSA stand for Transportation Security Agency - or for Totally Screwed "Ap"?

A few weeks ago, I posted my experience of having a mostly used-up tube of sunscreen confiscated because a Transportation Security Agency screener said that a 100-milliliter container is the limit for a carry-on item, not the 110 ML I had with me -- even though there was nowhere near 110 ML of lotion in it. That was only irritating. My more recent experience was amusing, astonishing or horrifying, depending on how you view the entire process of airport security.

Early on Thursday afternoon, I checked in at the Great Lakes Aviation counter at Denver International Airport for a flight to Telluride. I didn't really look at my boarding pass, and neither, evidently, did the TSA agent charged with comparing boarding passes with picture IDs. Because of heavy regional snow, I was eventually switched from the cancelled Telluride flight to one going to Cortez. In the process of changing flights, one of the several podium agents who looked at my original boarding pass finally noticed something odd and asked, "Who is Christopher Weber?" I had no idea who he was other than being an alphabetic neighbor, coincidentally with the same initials. Mostly, I was astonished that I had passed TSA's so-called security procedures and a couple of gate agents before anyone noticed that I could not possibly be Christopher Weber.

After that DIA underperformance, the screeners at Telluride Regional Airport (TEX, right), from which I flew yesterday, made up for it with excessive zeal. At this time of year, the only commercial service is Great Lakes' two daily flights using 19-passenger Beech 1800 aircraft. Four (4) TSA screeners were on duty for a daily passenger count that cannot possibly exceed 38. Of the 11 or 12 of us on my flight, three of us were "selected" for extra screening. Our checked bags were opened and riffled through, as were our carry-ons. Many items removed from our luggage were swabbed for explosives or some other lethal substance. We were all patted down. I guess that quartet had to justify their underworked existence at TEX at this time of year.

After we were all cleared and were waiting to board the Denver-bound flight, I started telling someone about the Christopher Weber mix-up at DIA. A fellow sitting within earshot said, "Was that on Thursday? I'm Christopher Weber, and when I got to the airport, Great Lakes told me that I had already checked in."

British Airways Cabin Crew Strike, Cont.

Airline withdraws flight benefits from stiking cabin crews

Some people take airline jobs because they can bid hours and try to schedule their work around the rest of their lives, but I'll wager that most do so for the travel benefits. So it seems especially harsh that British Airways chose to punish cabin crews who went on strike to protect their working conditions and, I think, their very jobs. Click here for my earlier post and here for the Unite union's website including a backgrounder that they refer to as "The Truth About the BA Dispute," and BA's online outreach message to passengers. The latter, of course, will go away from the website when the issue is resolved. The union is also issuing Twitter updates. The Guardian, the well-respected newspaper that used to be called the Manchester Guardian and is anchored in a historic manufacturing, mercantile and shipping city and is traditionally sympathetic to unions, is currently conducting a poll about whether pulling flight benefits was too harsh. When I clicked on it, more than one-third of the respondents believed that it is.

I am in North America, far from the strike action and perhaps in no position to judge, but the union points out that cabin crew members are the airline's major point of contact between the company and the passengers, and from these thousands of miles, it seems that BA's choice of punitive measures might, in the end, be counterproductive.

World's Best Airports

Airports trade organization releases list

The Airports International Council's list of the five best airports on the planet and also the five best in six regions is again enlightening. Every one of the world's top five is in Asia. Some would say that's because the demands of international air travel developed in Asia later than in Europe or North America. Some would say it's because Asian governments are more willing to make major investments in transportation infrastructure, perhaps to show how progressive they are -- or perhaps because they want to serve the traveling public.

For the fifth year in a row, Soeul's Incheon International Airport was named the world's best airport, followed by four others in Asia. The honor came 2009 Airport Service Quality survey, conducted by the Airports International Council's monthly surveys conducted at 118 airports in 45 countries. Four of the top five African airports are in South Africa and one way up in the north, in Egypt, two of Europe's top five are on islands (Malta and Iceland) and the Asia list echoes the world list. But Mexico City as the second-best in Latin America? The international end of the concourse is pretty spiffy (I was there less than a year ago), but the domestic area is pretty badly designed, ill signed and crowded. Below is the ACI's list.

BEST AIRPORTS WORLDWIDE

1. Incheon (ICN) (right)
2. Singapore (SIN)
3. Hong Kong (HKG)
4. Beijing (PEK)
5. Hyderabad (HYD)

BEST AIRPORT BY REGION

Africa

1. George (GRJ)
2. Johannesburg (JNB)
3. Cairo (CAI)
4 Port Elizabeth (PLZ)
5 Durban (DUR)

Asia-Pacific

1. Incheon (ICN)
2. Singapore (SIN)
3. Hong Kong (HKG)
4. Beijing (PEK)
5. Hyderabad (HYD)

Europe

1. Keflavik (KEF)
2. Zurich (ZRH)
3. Porto (OPO)
4. Malta (MLA)
5. Southampton (SOU)

Latin America & Caribbean

1. Cancun (CUN)
2. Guayaquil (GYE)
3. Barbados(BGI)
4. Mexico City (MEX)
5. Montego Bay (MBJ)

Middle East

1. Tel Aviv (TLV)
2. Dubai (DXB)
3. Abu Dhabi (AUH)
4. Doha (DOH)
5. Muscat (MCT)

North America

1. Austin (AUS)
2. Halifax (YHZ)
3. Ottawa (YOW)
4. Jacksonville (JAX)
5. Portland (PWM)

Thoughts, anyone?

Season's First Turns in Telluride

My 2008-09 ski season has begun in brilliant sunshine and on well-groomed snow

Telluride is one of my favorite places in Colorado -- not just one of my favorite places to ski but one of my favorite places. Period. The downtown, a National Historic District, is an immaculately preserved jewel. Boutiques, restaurants, nightspots and way too many real estate office line the broad main drag of what was once a gritty mining town, but the beauty of the box canyon still eclipses the glitter of the businesses. The lifts serving the original ski terrain were strung right on the outskirts of town. Further ski terrain expansion began in a stellar glacier-carved basin where the new resort development called Mountain Village has taken shape.

A handful of runs above Mountain Village are currently open -- a very limited percentage of Telluride's expansive 2,000 acres of terrain. I don't usually travel this far to ski for a weekend, but I am happy to be here -- really happy. I know that resorts closer to Denver/Boulder have more terrain open and a deeper base, but I also know that weekend traffic along I-70 is horrific as snow-starved Coloradans head for the high country -- and back again.

This morning, I made my first turns of the 2008-09 ski season on Telluride's immaculately groomed runs under the big blue dome of the Colorado sky. The resort is making snow like crazy, and a storm is forecast early this coming week. During the first part of any winter, a few perfect runs that invite setting skis on snow are all I ask for. Later, I'll be looking for morem terrain -- and Telluride will soon offer it.

British Airways Cabin Crew Stages Three-Day Strike

If you're flying British Airways in the next couple of days, be prepared for chaos, and even if you're flying another carrier on BA-served routes or airport, it might not be much better.So far, the airline has reportedly canceled more than 1,000 flights out of the nearly 2,000 scheduled during the strike period that began earlier today. There is also a possibility of an additional four-day strike beginning on March 27. This might mean a protracted period of flight cancellations, delays and crowded terminals and aircraft that could extend to the busy pre-Easter travel time.

The union workers are striking against cost-cutting changes to working conditions that the union says result in a "second-tier workforce on poorer pay and conditions." BA plans to keep "at least 60 percent of passengers flying," with planes crewed by people who are not striking (whoever they might be) and also leasing, 22 crewed planes from as many as eight other European airlines.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the strike "a disaster," and not to get too much into British  politics here, members of the Conservative party believe that the Labour prime minister himself is a disaster. Meanwhile, the phrase "second-tier workforce" might be code for contract workers rather than BA employees. This has already happened in the US. I have checked in for international flights at New York's JFK at counters staffed by airline service contractors, and James Van Dellen, who blogs as Future Gringo, recently posted a report called "Airserv: Does My Shirt Say United?" on just how negatively contractors can impact on the travel experience. Bottom line, IMHO, is that every time airlines seek to cut costs, the passenger pays in one way or another, whether it's via add-on fees or the quality of traveling.

29 Lights is 28 Too Many

Hotels' excessive lighting isn't luxury -- it's wasteful



I am currently in a lovely small suite at the Inn at Lost Creek in Telluride's Mountain Village. Getting here (where it hasn't been snowing) from the Front Range (where it snowed a storm) was an odyssey that I might blog about some other time. Unfortunately, despite my constant asking about it after I had been reticketed to Cortez instead of Telluride, my checked bag is still in Denver and will (hopefully) join me tomorrow.



The folks at the inn could not have been nicer, more sympathetic and more dismayed at my luggagelessness, but when I opened the door to my room, I got annoyed. Really annoyed. The foyer, the living area, the kitchenette and bathroom have, among them, twenty-nine (29) light bulbs, and every single one of them was on -- and had been for who knows how long. Twenty-eight of these bulbs are incandescent, including five on a table lamp. Only one, above the kitchenette, is fluorescent. And the TV is turned on to an audio station.



The inn is a congenial boutique property with 29 suites. If every one is occupied, 29 x 29 = 841 light bulbs burning for countless hours when no one is in the rooms in this property alone -- and that doesn't count lights in the lobby, hallways, underground parking garage, restaurant, spa and elsewhere --to say nothing of Christmas lights that will doubtless appear soon . IMO, it is a misplaced notion of luxury. And the little refrigerator, which the inn had thoughtfully stocked to tide me over, was cranked down so far that the half-and-half and eggs were frozen, and the appl

and pear had the consistency of popsicles.




This is not the first time I've been appalled at excessive use of electricity -- and it's not the first time I have complained about it. I have been told that hotel rating services require some of this nonsense in order for properties to earn that extra star or diamond. This is a wasteful and outdated practice. I have a sign on my mantlepiece asking me to opt in or out of fresh linens every day in the interest of environmentalism. There should be something comparable when it comes to lights. I'm calling housekeeping tomorrow to ask them to restrain themselves.

Easy Hotel's a la Carte Pricing

Low room rate and all sorts of add-ons: good idea or not?

I am of two minds when it comes to a la carte travel pricing. On the one hand, I appreciate budget-friendly prices, but I hate being charged extra for anything more than the air I breathe. So I'm also of two minds about EasyHotel, a fast-growing European chain from the creators of EasyJet, EasyCar and EasyCruise. The lowest promised rates are for early booking, though there might also be some last-minute price breaks.

The 12th EasyHotel recently opened in Berlin. Others are in  notably expensive places (London with six EasyHotels, Basel, Zurich) and Eastern European or Mediterranean ones (Budapest, Larnaka, Sofia). A very small, very spartan and very orange room with a very small bathroom -- shown above in a very fuzzy image. Prices seem to start at €25 per night (the new Berlin hotel had a rockbottom pre-opening booking rate of just €10. But the add-ons can add up: television access €5; a second towel, €1 per guest; WiFi access, €3. Even housekeeping is additional -- except between check-out and the next check-in. I don't know whether even a continental breakfast is included in the room, though at least that (and often much more) is in the vast majority of European accommodations.

Once upon a very long time ago, budget-conscience Yanks traveling to Europe and staying in modest guest houses, hostels or one-star hotels had to bring their own soap and washcloths. Many chose to bring toilet paper, because in those days, European TP either was total absorbent or had the texture of crepe paper. Some even brought their own towels or pillow cases -- just in case. Will the desire to save money bring travelers back to the future? Or will it appeal to thrifty young travelers who have no recollection of the way things were?

Villa Trapp Derailed in Salzburg

Salzburg turns down plan to open the Von Trapp family's former Austrian residence as a hotel

After the 1965 "Sound of Music" film became a hit, so many visitors to Stowe, VT, came looking for the mountain property where the Trapp Family Lodge was located that local youngsters began sporting T-shirts reading, "I Live in Stowe and I don't Know the Way to Trapps." Perhaps taking a cue from the Vermont experience, the Austrian city of Salzburg denied permission for the former Trapp family residence to open as a small, 14-room hotel to be called Villa Trapp in what the Associated Press described as "a quiet, upscale Salzburg neighborhood."

Residents reportedly were concerned that tourists would cause traffic jams and become a neighborhood nuisance, which is quite astonishing considering that they film came out more than 43 years ago. Then again, Salzburgers are very away of the film's enduring appeal. Sound of Music tours to the sites where scenes were filmed remain among the most popular in Salzburg.

Reuters added another layer to the tale, reporting, "In Austria, visitors can get married at the villa, which was home to the real von Trapps from 1923 to 1938 before they fled the Nazi takeover of Austria. Nazi Germany's security chief Heinrich Himmler used the villa, just outside Salzburg, as a home close to the Austrian Alps until 1945. Some opponents of the hotel have accused the developers of wanting to build a memorial to Nazism." The developers reportedly plan to mitigate the traffic impact but have seemingly not addressed the concern about Nazi era glorification.

Winter is High Season for Stormwatching

Tofino is the best place for observing mammoth Pacific Coast storms in luxury and comfort

Here’s a wet and wild winter option to languishing on a tropical beach, swatting golf balls on a palm-studded course, cruising calm seas on a big ship or even skiing through down-soft powder snow. If you lust for a combination of excitement and raw natural beauty, think about heading into the teeth of wild winter weather. For a growing cadre of stormwatchers, nothing but nothing beats the Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island off mainland British Columbia's coast.

There you will find the only stretch of the island’s central coastline with a year-round paved road. Between forested mountains and lakes to the northeast and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest stretches a sliver of Pacific Rim National Park Preserve, known for its fine-sand beaches, rocky headlands embracing scenic bays and coves, and rainforest hiking trails cut through thick old-growth red cedar and Western hemlock.

The Pacific Rim Highway, a two-laner flanked by these towering, moss-draped trees, runs right through the park with Tofino on one end and Ucluelet on the other. These funky hamlets just 25 miles apart enjoy some of western Canada’s mildest winter temperatures and experience some of its heaviest rainfalls and most potent storms. What the 3,000 or so locals endure has made these towns meccas for winter stormwatchers, who treasure this dramatic and remote area to watch Pacific storms roll in with power, fury and wild beauty.


More than 130 inches of average annual rain falls on this part of Vancouver Island, which is nicknamed the Rain Coast. Of that, 20 inches can pour from the skies in a single storm. Even in relatively tranquil periods between storms, impressive swells roll onto shore, crashing against rocky headlands, sliding over the wide beaches, littering the white sand with whiter oyster and clam shells, fringing the tideline with seaweed and rearranging the driftwood.

Eight-foot waves are not uncommon. Add wind and rising tides, and when all the elements of waves and weather converge to create the proverbial perfect storm, waves have been known to crest to 30 or 40 feet, occasionally more. Driftwood isn’t limited diminutive sticks and ordinary-size logs, but includes enormous tree trunks cast upon the beaches and piled into bayheads like spilled toothpicks. Beneath the turbulent waves lie nearly 250 shipwrecks, sunk over two centuries, in the so-called "Graveyard of the Pacific."

A dozen significant tempests, give or take, hit this coastline each month during storm season, which kicks off in late October or early November and shifts into high gear in January and February. In midwinter, you’ll see curtains of rain, buckets of rain, horizontal sheets of rain, sprays of rain shooting through the salt-kissed air – but rarely snow. It is improbably romantic, whether you prefer to share the raw and invigorating experience of the outdoors, protected by fetching fishermen’s slickers that lodges lend to guests, or to snuggle in the warm, dry coziness of one of the handful of inns and lodges that remain open. Even from indoor comfort, you will be mesmerized as wave after wave washes up on the beach below, crashes onto a nearby cliff, and sprays your double-paned window. You might also luck upon nature’s light show from a winter electrical storm.

During low tides and calm periods, there’s nothing finer than an invigorating walk, either on a trail or directly along the shore. Step onto a beach as the tide goes out and gaze out at the restless sea and down by your feet to examine what the water has deposited on the sand. Still, it is imperative to keep a cautious eye for changing weather, and retreat when the ride begins to change. Beaches can be especially hazardous during a true winter storm, when massive drift logs ride the waves and jumble onto land and pile up like Brobdinagian Pick-Up Sticks. Except during the most potent storms, when hoteliers and innkeepers caution guests to stay inside, you can don heavy-duty raingear and venture out into the weather, staying on marked trails and staying off wet rocks.

The best stormwatching spots include designated safe areas along the well-named Wild Pacific Trail that snakes along the top of sea cliffs and Big Beach, a relatively sheltered, horseshoe-shaped strand near Ucluelet. Radar Hill, crowned by remnants of a long-abandoned World War II installation at nearly 500 feet above sea level, provides a stunning panorama of coves, bays, breakers and clouds but can be terribly windy during a howling storm. Perhaps best of all is the Amphitrite Point Lighthouse overlooking with views of Barkley Sound, Broken Group Islands and the open sea. The operating Canadian Coast Guard Station (below), a squat, square signal structure, is a coastal a landmark at the tip of the peninsula below Ucluelet.

In late February and early March, gray whales begin migrating northward along the coast, and stormwatchers begin to give way to whale watchers. An estimated 20,000 gray whales – the entire North American population of this awesome species – pass close by on their 5,000-nautical-mile journey from mating and calving lagoons of the Sea of Cortes between the Mexican mainland and Baja California, to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. That’s one heck of a commute – and it happens just off-shore of Vancouver Island. Most grays are gone by May, but some spend the entire in Clayoquot Sound, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve just northwest of Tofino.

The rocky headlands jutting out toward the sea offer fine vantage points for spotting these splendid marine mammals, and during the Pacific Rim Whale Festival (Mar. 14-22, 2009), free public viewing stations are set up at Amphitrite Point Lighthouse, and charter boat and floatplane operators from Ucluelet and Tofino begin their season. The festival features 70 events, ranging from a seafood chowder cook-off to an art show.

Wildlife viewing is not restricted to whales. Bald eagles overwintering in this area can often be spotted in sheltered harbors, where they perch on trees or pier pilings in the harbor. The region’s black bears do not go into deep hibernation, so it is not uncommon to see bears even in the wettest weather. By March, you can often spot a bruin or two on skunk cabbage growing in roadside ditches or marshy areas.

Tofino was a fishing town, while Ucluelet’s economy was once based on logging. First Vietnam-era war protestors and later eco-activists added a layer of idealism to the pragmatic working-class popular, which still is only about 3,000 people spread between the two towns. Local business signs now indicate such enterprises as “Massage therapy,” “art gallery,” “fishing charters” and “whale watching trips” now form the base of the local economy.

These days, the economy is tourism-based. Of the several properties that stay open in winter especially for storm-watching and whale-migration season, the first among equals is the Wickaninnish Inn (above), an upscale Relais & Chateaux property that offers a polished version of down-home hospitality. In December, rooms starting at $200 a night -- less than half of summer season rates when there's much less excitement. With a first-rate restaurant and on-site spa, the inn's early storm-season pricing fits into the "affordable luxury" category. It closes Jan. 2-8 before reopening for high storm-watching season, when room rates are $100 or more higher per night. The reservations number is 800-333-4604.

Continental to Discontinue Free Inflight Food

to One more airline chops one more service -- but there is a bright side

Continental Airlines announced that it is going to discontinue serving "free" food in economy class on most domestic flights, including both the United States and Canada, some destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean. What free food? I've flown Continental between Denver and Newark, Denver and Houston and Houston and assorted south-of-the border destinations. If there was free food  back in steerage, I don't recall getting any -- at least nothing more than perhaps some pretzels.
Of course, the airline will be happy to sell passengers what it describes as "a variety of high quality, healthy food choices." Factor that into flights on routes in the US and Canada, and to Mexico and the Caribbean. the food-for-purchase program will apply to what it calls "leisure destinations" such as Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, but passengers to such "business destinations" as Mexico City will still be able to eat without shelling out bucks or pesos. As of right now, back-cabin flyers will still get free food on trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific and South American flights of six hours of longer -- and of course, first and business-class will still eat for free.

The only upside that I can see is that less food service means less trash and food waste going into landfills. I recently wrote a post indicting airlines for their miserable environmental scorecard when it comes to recycling -- just 20 percent, according to a recent study. Perhaps with little other than soda and beer cans, plastic glasses and cocktail napkins, Continental will improve its recycling performance -- and also help passengers control their weight.

Oddball Tours Highlight 2010 "Obscura Day"

Quirky "holiday" spotlights off-the-radar local attractions

Obscura Day is a day for special tours and visits to places around the corner, around the country or around the world that you might never even have heard of, and it falls on Saturday, March 20, this year. It was organized by the folks behind Atlas Obscura, which describes itself as "a compendium of of the world's wonders, curiosities and esoterica." It's a bit like Ripley's Believe It or Not meets the Guinness World Records meets Wikipedia. Oddities around the world are posted, and site visitors are encouraged to enhance, correct or illustrate the posting with additional images.

But back to Obscura Day. Twenty-five places in the US and 29 in other countries are offering special tours to unusual places. The tours and visits tend to be cheap or free, and space is often limited, but they are places most people are likely to miss. In fact, some are sold out and have waiting lists. There are a lot of skeletons and such, including The Bone Room in Berkeley, National Museum of Health and Medicine's collection of medical specimens dating back to the Civil War  in Washington, D.C.; and the Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. There are the mysterious stone ruins of Gungywamp Hill near Groton in my native Connecticut, and there are eerie streets of never-built housing developments, such as Everglades Unit 11 near West Palm Beach, now teeming with wildlife species, and California City, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles with streets in the desert that resemble the Nazca Lines from the air.

And there are just plain  (OK, not plain) curiosities. They include the world's tallest treehouse in Crossville, Tennessee, the wild, whimsical Cathedral of Junk in Austin, Texas, the Newnes Glow Worm Tunnel in Australia; the Iceland Phallological Museum boasting "probably the only museum in the world to contain a collection of phallic specimens belonging to all the various types of mammal found in a single country." Probably?!?!.

Thanks to Harriet Baskas, travel journalist and Stuck at the Airport blogger, for alerting me to this, well, obscure holiday.

Skiers Thankful for Thanksgiving Weekend's Big Snows

Serious storms begin rolling through Western mountains

Just a few days ago, I expressed cautious concern about early-season snow conditions, happy that snow was beginning to fall and hoping for more. This weekend, my wishes were fulfilled, and while Boulder received just a dusting of snow on Friday night and Denver a few more inches, some ot the Colorado mountains have been slammed. Other than the miserable Sunday night drive that home-bound skiers endured, the heavy snowfall, mostly in the central mountains, is putting a smile on skiers' faces.

Here are the 48-hour snow totals for Colorado ski areas that are currently open:

• Arapahoe Basin, 21 inches
• Aspen Mountain, 17 inches
• Beaver Creek, 11 inches
• Breckenridge, 8 inches
• Copper Mountain, 14 inches
• Crested Butte, 13 inches
• Keystone, 6 inches
• Loveland, 32 1/2 inches
• Telluride, 8 inches (right, Nov 28)
• Vail, 13 inches
• Winter Park, 9 inches

Utah had gotten those storms a day or so earlier, and Alta, a powder capital, has all seven of its lifts running and 74 or its 116 runs open. But the unrivaled US snowfall leader is way up north. Alyeska Resort, AK, measured more than 117 inches of new snow over the past week, pushing the snowfall total for the season over 200 inches. The mountain reports almost spring-like conditions that it says "are more reminiscent of early spring than they are in December, with several feet of deep soft snow covering all elevations of the mountain."

Note: A day after I wrote this post, Alta retreated and now has four lifts and 55 runs available. The operational rollback might be weather related -- or perhaps only because midweek traffic tends to be slow between Thanksgiving and the Christmas-New Year's holiday period.

Luxury No Longer Means Security

Upscale hotels in unstable places and luxury cruise ships at sea are obvious targets for attacks
There isn't a day that goes by without press releases appearing in my inbox about yet another luxurious, deluxe, multi-star hotel or resort in some picturesque and/or exotic place. The recent attacks in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, were just the latest high-profile targets that appeal to first-world travelers to developing nations. Reporter Keith Bradsher's New York Times feature called "Analysts Say It Will Be Difficult to Shield Luxury Hotels From Terrorist Attacks" began:

"For decades, luxury hotels have been oases for travelers in developing
countries, places to mingle with the local elite, enjoy a lavish meal or a dip
in the pool and sleep in a clean, safe room. But last week’s lethal attacks
on two of India’s most famous hotels — coming just two months after a huge truck
bomb devastated the Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan — have underlined the extent
to which these hotels are becoming magnets for terrorists."

Left to my own devices, I'm more of a three-star traveler (OK, maybe four-star in third-world nations) than a five-star traveler. However, when I attend a Society of American Travel Writers convention or am on other tourism-related assignment or trip, I do find myself in unaccustomed luxury. A small part of me enjoys being treated like visiting nobility, but mostly, I am embarrassed by the ritzy glitz in places where so many people have so little. I know that tourism brings jobs (including jobs as security guards) and money into developing countries, but still, such opulence and extravagance are clearly an affront to many. When clashing political ideology or religious zeal are added to the volatile socio-economic mix, the result in these mean times is predictable violence. People die, property is destroyed and another door to international understanding and peace on the planet is slammed shut.

The Times piece discussed security precautions that hotels are taking, which should be of interest and some comfort to travelers heading for potentially dangerous places. Meanwhile, CNN reported that the 'Nautica,' an Oceania Cruises ship (left) en route from Rome to Singapore, outran pirates off the coast of Yemen over the weekend while in an area patrolled by anti-piracy craft. The cargo ships and oil tanker that have recently been seized by pirates were off the coast of Somalia. Smaller private yachts have also been seized.

"The 'Nautica' was in an area patrolled by international anti-piracy task forces when two small skiffs appeared to try to intercept it, Oceania spokesman Tim Rubacky said. The ship took evasive maneuvers and accelerated to its full speed of 23 knots or 27 mph. One of the smaller craft closed to within 300 yards and fired eight rifle shots at the cruise ship, he said, but the ship was able to pull away. . .'The 'Nautica' escaped without damage or injury to its 684 passengers and 400 crew, and arrived safely on schedule in Salalah, Oman early on Monday morning,' Rubacky said."

As disturbing as these reports are, personally, I don't want to stop traveling because "something" might happen. Last June, I visited Oklahoma City, the mid-America capital of Oklahoma where Timothy McVeigh, a US Army veteran and security guard, masterminded the massive explosion that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 2000. Also that month, my car was broadsided by a speeding motorcyclist on a rural highway in western Colorado. I just hope, in the interest of global sanity, that the attacks will stop and efforts to build a more peaceful, more tolerant world will recommence.

United Brings Paperless Boarding Passes to DIA

A SmartPhone and other smart phone is required

I don't have a SmartPhone or iPhone or PDA. I have a SimplePhone, also known as CheapPhone with a CheapCallingPlan, so this news doesn't apply to me. But for others, United's introduction of paperless boarding passes at Denver International Airport is relevant. United isn't the only airline and DIA isn't the only airport, but DIA is my airport and I fly United a lot.

It works like this: Passengers can check in at an electronic kiosk that rather than spewing out a paper boarding pass, sends a message to the one will be sent to Internet-enabled cell phones. The message includes a bar code that security screeners and gate attendants are able to scan -- in theory anyway, unless or until there's a bug.

This system doesn't get around the Transportation Security Agency requirement of showing an actual government-issued photo ID to the screener. United intentionally introduced this innovation at spring break time, when many young people who live and breathe by their cell phones are traveling. Click here for a list of 43 other US airports (plus Frankfurt, Germany) where paperless boarding passes were being used before they came to DIA; others will surely follow. Alaska Airlines, Continental, Delta and others offer paperless boarding passes too. Some see it as a convenience or at least an inevitable technological advance, but I see it as substituting one impersonal boarding-pass procedure for another. And unless they're working while flying, passengers will probably pull out their Kindlesor other paperless books and do some inflight reading.

Travel Blogger Explores Bereavement Fares

Ability to travel affordably to a death or other family emergency depends on the airline

Mark Ashley, a writer and frequent traveler whose Upgrade: Travel Better blog follows the in's and out's of the fickle air travel industry, recently had to fly to Germany for his 99-year-old grandmother's last days. He explored airlines' bereavement fares and wrote a lengthy post called "Bereavement and Compassion Fares: Firsthand Experience" about his findings. Among them: international compassion fares are easier to obtain than domestic ones; most such fares (Continental excepted) must be booked over the phone; and airlines have different policies regarding required documentation. His column on this topic is worth bookmarking, should the need arise.

Slides -- Snow, Then Rocks -- Wreak Havoc on Colorado Roads

Traffic from the Front Range to and from Aspen and Utah forced to take long detour

An avalanche on Friday night caused the closure of U.S. 40 over Berthoud Pass. The snow was cleared off the road by Saturday morning, so it was business as usual for skiers and riders heading for Winter Park. A rockslide in Glenwood Canyon around midnight on Monday morning was far more severe and will take longer to clean up -- to say nothing of road and bridge repairs.

Some 20 boulders ranging from 3 feet to 10 feet in diameter and tons of additional debris fell onto Interstate 70, created eight craters and dips, exposing the highway's underwiring, taking out a bridge and destroying guardails. Both sides of the highway were affected. In 1995, Aspen writer Kathleen Krieger Daily and her two young sons were killed in a Glenwood Canyon slide. Fortunately, at this late hour, none none came down vehicles this time, but drivers were forced to make a 200-mile detour between Glenwood Springs and Denver or elsewhere on the Front Range and will be for weeks.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, the massive slide occurred on the west side of the Hanging Lake Tunnels,  where two bridges cross the Colorado River and Union Pacific Railroad tracks just west of the Shoshone Dam and the Hanging Lake trail parking area. CDOT says an average of 19,800 use Glenwood Canyon on an average day.

Other than traffic to/from Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction and points between, the biggest affect will be on skiers heading to or from Aspen from the Front Range. In summer, traffic can use Highway 82 over Independence Pass between Leadville and Aspen, but that road is not plowed out until May, and traffic must use 82 from Glenwood Springs that dead-ends in Aspen in winter. In addition, as slickrock season begins in Moab, cyclists headed to and from Utah will have to adjust their routes.

P.S. On March 9, the Aspen Skiing Company reminded visitors about access options to making the long detour, which both Gray Line Aspen/Snowmass and Colorado Mountain Express are doing. The trip is currently six hours from Eagle (287 miles) and seven and a half hours form Denver (379 miles) -- but at least someone else is doing the driving. It is also possible to fly directly to Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, or to Vail/Eagle County, Grand Junction or Montrose/Delta County.

Amtrak's daily service is scheduled to depart Denver’s Union Station to Glenwood Springs (only 45 minutes from Aspen/Snowmass) at 8:05 a.m. and arrive in Glenwood at 1:53 p.m. The return from Glenwood to Denver departs at 12:50 p.m. and arrives in Denver at 7:18 p.m. As a bonus, it's a simply gorgeous ride. Shuttle services, taxi, rental cars and RFTA public bus are options  for the 40-mile trip between Glenwood Springs and Aspen/Snowmass. Shuttle services and taxis are from Denver International Airport to Union Station, RTD's SkyRide (Route AF) goes to the nearby Market Street Station. The Amtrak schedule is such that most visitors will be spending a night in Denver before and another after their ski vacation in Aspen/Snowmass.

Frontier Airlines' Endangered Species

Lovable talking critters on airliners' tails threatened with extinction

When Cincinnati-based Republic Aviation took over Frontier Airlines last summer, it promised financial health without changing the name or doing away with the talking animals painted on aircraft tails that inspired one of the better advertising campaigns on television. First, Republic RIFfed the Frontier office in Denver, and more recently, rumors developed that Frontier's name and mascots would go away too.

The endangered animals are Grizwald the grizzly bear, Benny the other grizzly bear, Montana the elk, Stu the Eastern cottontail, Trixie the red fox, Rudy the other red fox, Mo and Jo the red fox cubs, Ollie the great gray owl, Humphrey the bison, Grace the swan, Woody the wood duck, Sherman the sea lion, Andy the pronghorn, Holly the great blue heron, Sal the cougar, Stretch the egret, Larry the lynx, Flip the bottlenose dolphin and others in menagerie.

Concerned Frontier employees rallied to save the animals and even launched a Facebook page called "Save the Frontier Airlines Brand and Animals." Nearly 400 people have joined the "Save Frontier" page on Facebook.

Thanksgiving is Over; Let Winter Begin

After a mild fall, Colorado ski resorts are welcoming winter

This evening, the live telecast by Denver's "9News" of the lighting of the City and County Building finished off with light, wet snow falling on the streets of Denver. News anchors rejoiced about the perfect time, and skiers and snowboarders are rejoicing after a long, mild, dry autumn.

Snow or no, the City and County Building and other locatations in downtown Denver will be aglow until the middle of January. This glorious, gaudy display that has been a Denver tradition since 1932. Also, Union Station, nearby Larimer Square and the entire 16th Street Mall are festively illuminated for the holidays.

Colorado Mountains Cooling Off and Getting White

Current Colorado snow reports are finally somewhat encouraging too. Vail Resorts Inc.'s Colorado ski resorts (Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail Beaver Creek) reported 3 to 6 inches of snow in the last 48 hours. Moving southward and westward, accumulations have been greater. Aspen Mountain, hosting the Winternational ski races this weekend, and Snowmass (skiers loading onto the six-passenger chairlift shown at right) reported 7 and 8 inches respectively. They are two of the four areas operated by the Aspen Skiing Co. Wolf Creek, located in southern Colorado, was the state's snowfall leader with 13 inches in the last 48 hours. I am writing this on Friday evening, and Saturday morning's snow reports will show greater totals.

Great Snow Conditions in Europe

So far, this is shaping up to be a season of big snows in the Alps. Resorts in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland have reported up to a meter (39 inches) of new snow in the past five days. Although Europeans have no Thanksgiving to provide a psychological kick-off to the season, more than 200 ski areas across Europe have already opened or are opening this weekend, including Zermatt, Switzerland, with 100 miles of pistes and Espace Killy, France with 187 miles of pistes in neighboring Tignes and Val d'Isere. When Americans think of European winter resorts, the Alps come to mind, but the Pyrenees and Scandinavia, especially Norway, also offer downhill skiing. There too, resorts are starting off with abundant snow.

Henry Moore Sculptures and King Tut Treasures Coming to Denver

Botanic garden and art museum hosting two blockbuster exhibitions this year

Henry Moore was a 20th century British sculpture who is best known for his large, abstract bronzes found in important public spaces around the world, including opposite the British Parliament in London, the plaza in front of Toronto's City Hall, in front of Berlin's Kongresshalle, outside of Australia's National Gallery in Melbourne and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Tutankhamen was a youthful 18th dynasty Egyptian pharaoh who ruled in the 14th century B.C. and inspired some of the most exquisite, intricate bejeweled pieces that the anonymous craftsmen of the Nile ever produced. Both are coming to Denver -- the Moore exhibition this week, King Tut's treasures this summer. I'm excited about both and hope the both locals and visitors to Colorado will see them.

Moore in the Gardens

The Denver Botanic Gardens' landmark outdoor exhibition of 20 monumental Moore works opens on Monday, March 8, and runs through January 11, 2011 enabling art lovers to see these pieces in all seasons and in diverse environments, Discover sculptures in the Gardens’ diverse landscapes including dormant winter gardens, prairie wildflowers, serene reflecting pools and the rugged rock alpine garden.. Moore found inspiration in natural environments, and the Botanic Gardens is (are?) dedicated to bringing and displaying nature in the heart of Denver and also at the Botanic Gardens at Chatfield in Littleton, south of the city.

If you need to understand more about Moore, join a free tour (with the price of admission on weekends at 1:00 p.m. through the run of the show) or special curator-led walks from May through October, $15 (check schedule later). For non-members, admission through May 9 and after September 12 is $11.50 for adults; $8.50 for 65+  and military; $8 for ages 4-15 and students, and free for children 3 and under. In summer, admission for all is $1 more. The main Gardens are at 1005 York Street, Denver; 720-865-3500.

Tut at the Museum

Denver is immensely fortunate, and honored, to be one of the five North American cities hosting Tutankhamun - The Golden King and The Great Pharaohs. Atlanta, San Francisco, Toronto, New York and Denver. It will be at the Denver Art Museum for six months beginning July 1 and closing January 2, 2011.

The art museum is devoting two large galleries in the Hamilton Building to this touring exhibition featuring more than 100 treasures from Tut's tomb and other sites. Not quite as large as most of Moore's sculptures but imposing nevertheless is a 10-foot statue, the largest depiction of of King Tut ever unearthed.  It was found in the remains of the funerary temple of two of his high officials and still retains much of its original paint. Other artifacts in this remarkable exhibition come from the reigns of other important rulers throughout 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, from about 2600 B.C. to 660 B.C.

The exhibition is the product of heavy hitters in the realm of culture and antiquity. It was organized by National Geographic, Arts and Exhibitions International and AEG Exhibitions, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. A portion of the proceeds from the tour will go toward antiquities preservation and conservation efforts in Egypt, including the construction of a new grand museum at Giza near Cairo.

I visited Egypt a year ago and was captivated. The tombs in the Valley of Kings are open by rotation to try to protect them, and Tut's tomb was not open while I was there. The tomb was discovered in 1922 by by Howard Carter, and while many ancient tombs had been looted of their treasure, Tutankhamun's was intact. This is not the first time that priceless artifacts from the tomb have been on tour, but it is the first time they have been to Denver. The Treasures of Tutankhamun tour lasted from 1972 to 1979, visiting the British Museum, museums in the USSR, Japan, France, Canada, West Germany and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Tut tickets are now on sale to Denver Art Museum members and go on sale to the general public on May 14. Click here for the complicated pricing schedule. The museum is at 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway (just south of Civic Center Park and on 13th Avenue between Broadway and Bannock) Denver: 720-865-5000.

Hawaii Promotes the Obama Connection

Visitors are reminded of President-Elect Barack Obama's Hawaiian heritage

In June 2007, when Barack Obama was a fast-rising star on the US political landscape, I was in Hawaii and took a fabulous, fascinating Hole in the Wall Food Tour that led to the real, multi-cultural mosaic of Honolulu. You can read about the tour here. In that post, I didn't mention that as we were driving back to the the highrises of Waikiki, Matthew pointed to a Baskin-Robbins dipping store and said that Obama had worked there as a teenager. Then, we didn't stop to take a picture. Now, perhaps the Hole in the Wall tour includes a pilgrimage to that dipping store too.

Mainlanders have made much of of his African-American roots, but in Honolulu, he's still considered a local. Now, Hawaii Convention & Visitors Bureau, which promotes the state's tourist interests, is pointing out just how Hawaiian the former senator from Illinois and soon-to-be president of the United States is -- and the information the bureau is disseminating even references the Baskin-Robbins that Matthew pointed out. The CVB writes:

BARACK OBAMA’S HAWAII

“You can’t really understand Barack until you understand Hawaii.” ~
Michelle Obama

Hawaii will always be home for President-elect Barack Obama. There can
be no doubt that growing up in this idyllic, multicultural setting was a major
influence in shaping who Obama is today.

KAMAAINA: LOCAL AT HEART
The Hawaiian word kamaaina means someone
who is native born or who has lived in Hawaii for some time. When Barack Obama
returns to Hawaii with his family, he comes as a kamaaina, a local who knows
where to go, where to eat and what to do. Here are a few places Obama has
visited on his trips back to Oahu:

ACTIVITIES:
• Pearl Harbor - Chief historian Daniel A. Martinez gave the Obama family a tour of the USS Arizona Memorial.
• Hanauma Bay – Located on the southeast coast of Oahu, this is Oahu’s most popular snorkeling destination. This is also near Sandy Beach, one of Obama’s favorite beaches growing up, as well as the Halona Blowhole, near the area where his
mother’s ashes were scattered.
• Nuuanu Pali Lookout – This scenic spot atop Oahu’s Windward peaks was the site of a fierce battle lead by King Kamehameha I.
• Golf – Obama has played rounds at Olomana Golf Links and Luana Hills
Country Club.
• National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl – One of the country’s most prominent national cemeteries for the armed forces. Obama’s grandfather is buried here.

FOOD:
• Plate lunch - Like most locals, Obama frequents the restaurants of Kapahulu on the outskirts of Waikiki. He’s been known to get a local style plate lunch from the Rainbow Drive-In and the 24-hour Oahu mainstay, Zippy’s.
• Shave Ice – The Obama family likes to cool off with a shave ice, the local version
of a snow cone. Matsumoto Shave Ice on the North Shore is a famous shop and spots like Waiola Shave Ice in Kapahulu are popular with locals.

New York Times: The Hawaiian Plate Lunch
SF Gate: Where Would Obama eat?

OHANA: BARACK OBAMA’S FAMILY
Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961
at the Kapiolani Hospital for Women & Children in the city of Honolulu on
the island of Oahu. Honolulu is home to the majority of Hawaii’s diverse population and it was here at the University of Hawaii that Barack’s father and mother, Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham, met.

Raised in Hawaii until he was six, Obama spent four years in Indonesia
after his mother remarried. Obama returned to Hawaii at age ten to attend the
prestigious Punahou School, where Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, and golf phenom
Michelle Wie also attended. Far from a Presidential hopeful, Obama dreamed of
becoming a pro basketball player, playing on the state championship basketball
team.

Obama lived with his maternal grandfather and grandmother, Stanley and
Madelyn Dunham, a few blocks from school in the neighborhood of Makiki, just ten
minutes away from Waikiki. He spent his youth enjoying picnics at the scenic Puu Ualakaa State Park near his home and Kapiolani Park in Waikiki as well as body surfing at Sandy Beach on the eastern tip of Oahu. He even worked at a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream on South King Street that still exists today.

Obama continued on to Columbia and Harvard Law but made frequent visits
back to see his ohana, or family, in Hawaii. His mother, who earned a Ph.D. in
anthropology at the University of Hawaii, died of cancer in 1995. More recently,
Obama’s grandmother “Toot,” short for tutu (Hawaiian for grandmother), passed
away in Hawaii just one day before Obama was elected the 44th President of the
United States.

Honolulu Advertiser: Barack Obama: The Making of a Presidential Candidate

ALOHA: THE SPIRIT OF OBAMA

Beyond Hawaii’s natural beauty, the islands are a place of incredible
diversity. Dating back to plantation days, Hawaii has been home to a multicultural mix of people. It is this culture of acceptance and aloha that has had a profound affect on Barack Obama and will continue to influence him in the future.

“What’s best in me, and what’s best in my message, is consistent with
the tradition of Hawaii.” ~ Barack Obama

Time: My Chance Encounter With Obama in Hawaii

JFK Airport is Constipation International

Airport's longest runway closed for repaving

New York's already congested John F. Kennedy International Airport has gotten that much worse with the shutdown of the longest of its four runways for repaving. The Bay Runway, which pilots know as 13R-31L, sticks out into Jamaica Bay. The repaving project started on March 1 and is expected to be out of service for four months. Color me skeptical, but I'd put my money on construction delays. Why should repaving be completed on time when hardly anything else at the airport ever seems to be?

According to reports, one-third of JFK's traffic, including something like half of the departures, are using the three smaller runways. If you've ever flown in or out of JFK, you have seen (and waited in) long conga lines, even under the best of circumstances, and I'm afraid that New York rarely enjoys the best of circumstances. When I fly to Europe, I already try to avoid Chicago's O'Hare, especially in winter. I was beginning to feel more tolerant of JFK since the installation of a monorail connecting terminals, making plane changes a more efficient and pleasant process. But now....

International carriers using JFK must endure the construction delays, but domestic carriers have more flexibility. JetBlue, American and Delta and perhaps others have cut their schedules while the main runway is being repaved. That means those of us who connect to international flights at JFK might now be forced to us LaGuardia, another miserable, delay-plagues airport, or if they do manage a domestic flight to JFK, the fares might well have increased.

Even before 14,572-foot Bay Runway was closed, the US Department of Transportation ranked JFK a pathetic 28th out of 31 major airports in terms of delays, which the Federal Aviation Administration expects to be the Federal Aviation Administration expects delays to be about 50 minutes during peak times and 29 minutes off-peak. Fifty minutes sounds better than an hour, and 29 minutes better than half-an hour, which is bad enough. In order to make the next numbers sound better, airlines have begun padding their schedules by adding expected waiting times into their flight times so that they won't go on record as "delayed" or "late." If you're flying via JFK, bring a good book.

Iberia Adds 10 US Code Shares

Connections via Chicago make travel to Madrid and beyond more seamless

Code shares between domestic and international flag carriers take some of the stress out of travel that requires changing planes to a US gateway. Code shares assure legal connections, especially important when checked baggage is involved. I just flew between Denver and Huatulco, Mexico, on code-shared flights between American and Mexicana, which netted mileage added to my American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer account for all flights.

Iberia, the airline of Spain, has just added 10 new US destinations to its network with the extension of its code-sharing arrangements with American Airlines. Iberia passengers can now fly from Albuquerque, Buffalo, Baltimore, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Rochester and San Antonio to Madrid connecting via Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

With these new destinations, Iberia now operates from 48 cities in the United States, with direct service from Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York and Washington D.C., to Madrid, and connecting flights via American Airlines from the rest. From Madrid, Iberia passengers can fly on to 34 airports in Spain, 42 European cities and 10 destinations in Africa and the Middle East.