Late August is a perfect time to take a drive along the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway and stay in Asheville, North Carolina. This city, with its folk music, Southern hospitality, and location in the gorgeous and romantic Blue Ridge Mountains is bound to enchant. In fact, go ahead and play some fiddle tunes while you read the rest of this post: music.
Times are tough all over. Everybody's looking for ways to make their dollars go further (or farther, depending on your grammatical bent). I have a suggestion: Get a motorcycle, and ride the wheels off it.
Motorcycles are less expensive to buy, less expensive to insure, less expensive to operate than cars. You don't believe me? Let's examine a few scenarios.
I've travelled a lot in my life and have been fortunate to see some pretty amazing things, but one place that gets me every time is Niagara Falls. As I stand in awe of its sheer beauty and power, I have this recurring thought: Who was the first person was to stumble upon it? (My second thought is usually that I hope they weren't in a boat!)
This past weekend was a mini vacation for our family and we had three things on the agenda; see the Falls (my son Ethan's first time), take in all that is Niagara Falls (minus the gambling) and pop across the border to check out some of the back-to-school deals.
The summer months are often full of great memories - pool parties, summer hikes, fun on the water (we all want to capture our first time up on a wakeboard!), beach sports and celebratory BBQs to name a few. Back in the day, the only option we had to share our memories was to develop photos and spend hours placing them in albums (Really...how annoying were those clear plastic adhesive pages. I could never get the air bubbles out of them!).
Today, there are a number of quick, easy and fun ways to share our best summer moments. These options are all relatively seamless to put together and very simple and enjoyable for the "viewer".
President Obama and his family traveled to Florida's Gulf Coast on August 16, 2010 to soak up some sun. The family trip is part of an effort to encourage people to visit those beaches that are free of oil.
Best Western is also encouraging travelers to proceed with their summer vacation plans in the Gulf states.
Beaches along the coast in all states are open for business, and popular inland destinations such as New Orleans and Orlando foresee no impact on visitors. It continues to be safe to travel to all states bordering the Gulf.
"From Sea to Sea" is our country's official motto and it fits. At nearly ten million square kilometres in size, Canada is the second largest country on the planet. Its land stretches from the Pacific Ocean in the west across to the Atlantic Ocean in the east and all the way up north to the Arctic Circle. In between, there's certainly no shortage of interesting things to do and see.
In previous blogs, I've highlighted many of those specifics. Today, I'd like to share several fun facts about our home that you may not have known:
Where did the summer go? I know that the official end of summer isn't until the autumnal equinox, September 23 at 3:09 am here in the Northern Hemisphere this year. But Labor Day is the emotional end of summer, when we put away our white shoes and belts and get back to the grindstone. Labor Day Weekend is also a great time for a motorcycle ride, a final getaway before the days get shorter, temperatures drop and the rush toward the end of the year fills our face shields.
As motorcyclists, we have a great advantage over other travelers. We don't need airline schedules, or freeways, or tons of planning in order to have a successful trip. All we need are a few back roads, some good road food and a change of scenery to have a great trip. The journey is the point, not the destination. Still, may I suggest a way to find unexpected destinations for this Labor Day?
My parents, Jeff and Silvia, love to travel. When I'm looking for a new place to visit I sometimes call them to get ideas. While staying with them this week we ended up talking about one of their favorite places in the U.S., an area they've been to three times in the last ten years: Williamsburg, Virginia. They tend to favor sites that are either historic or naturally beautiful and consider Williamsburg, in Tidewater Virginia to be both.
The number one attraction there is Colonial Williamsburg. Williamsburg was the original capital of the Virginia Colony and when the capital was moved to Richmond, it became a backwater that did not grow. Lots of original buildings remain such as the House of the Burgesses, taverns, old homes, stables, stores, and inns. Fortunately for us today, the lack of economic progress in the area left it unchanged, which in turn made preservation and restoration of historical sites easier.
Last week I attended the National Business Travel Association convention and exposition in Houston, an annual gathering of about 6,000 corporate travel buyers and sellers.
I had a great stay in a big, clean and comfy suite at the Best Western Downtown Inn & Suites, located about a mile from the convention center. (Stay tuned for one of my famous videos highlighting this property...)
Summertime is prime time for kicking back and enjoying the sunshine with good friends. Nothing enhances the mood or vibe at a summer outing like a kick-ass playlist does! I surveyed my music-loving and hip-music-snob friends (with iPods in hand, a fruity cool cocktail in the other hand, and a beautiful sunset before us) and came up with the suggestions below.
Looking for a great last minute summer vacation? Just head east!
The four smallest provinces--New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island--comprise the backbone of Canada's East Coast. This region, which is also referred to as Atlantic Canada, is home to just under 2.5 million people or approximately eight percent of our country's population. In this case, however, the adage that "good things come in small packages" is definitely appropriate.
When it comes to summer vacations, there aren't many that can beat a trip to the great state of Alaska. Sure its winters are cold enough to break records and it's really far away, but boy does it ever make for an amazing summer vacation!
Last summer my brother and I flew to Alaska for a week to visit our other brother who was living there. We had an adventure packed week with non-stop activities, dining, and picture taking (way too many to include here). The trip was one of a kind and I can't recommend it enough. Here are some of the things we did that I highly suggest you try when visiting "The Last Frontier" state.
Leave your guess below and if you guess correctly, you will have a chance to win a hat autographed by Michael Waltrip! Make your prediction now.
*Entries must be in before the start of the race on 08/22, and winner will be announced on 08/23.
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Remember last Christmas when the "underwear bomber" almost brought down a jumbo jet over Detroit?
That prompted the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to grab a big pile of federal stimulus money for about 150 more full body scanners -- you know, the ones that produce those controversial ghost-like images of travelers' bodies.
There are currently just over 100 of the so-called "advanced imaging units" in use at airports across the country, but TSA says that number will soar to around 500 by the end of this year-- with nearly 1,000 in place by the end of 2011. That means frequent travelers should expect to encounter more of them, and soon.
Here's what you need to know:
I live in Oakville, Ontario, a town 40 kilometres from Canada's biggest and busiest airport, Lester B. Pearson International (YYZ). A gateway to every corner of the globe, Pearson has three separate terminals and is centrally located in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).
Like any world-class airport though, its strengths end up being among its weaknesses. The time spent on parking, making your way through security and retrieving your bags upon arrival is unpredictable at best--and generally a frustrating and time-consuming exercise.
After tires and wheels, I would have to say that brakes are the most critical component on your motorcycle. So, we should spend a little bit of time understanding brakes so that we can get the most out of them.
Most modern motorcycles, in fact all current Harley-Davidson models, arrive from the factory equipped with disc brakes front and back. A few entry-level bikes and scooters still have drum brakes in the rear, but disc brakes are pretty ubiquitous. You may have a single disc up front, or you may have dual discs. It's a matter of function, design and cost. You'll get more stopping power from dual discs, but you get a clearer view of the front wheel (on one side, anyway) with a single disc. And a single disc brake is a less-expensive setup, obviously.
Summer is slowly dwindling and the kids are headed back to school, so most summer vacations are already in the books.
Where did you go? What did you do? Who were you with? What was the most awesome thing from your trip?
These are the questions we want you to answer...visually. Submit one picture (or more) from your summer vacation that is beautiful, funny, amazing or just sentimental. We want to get a great collection of photos from YOU "summer-izing" the 2010 summer.
One lucky photo will be selected as the winner of the Summer Reflection Photo Contest and win a $250 Travel Card from Best Western!
Submit your photo(s) by September 17, 2010 and be entered for a chance to win and let us help you extend your summer just a little longer with this grand prize. Enter today and share with your friends!
To enter the contest:
1. Submit an email with your photo attached.
2. Add "YMBT Summer Photo Contest" in the subject line.
3. Add your name and email address in the body, so we can notify you if your photo is selected as the winner!
Submitted photos will be featured on YMBT. Because of the large volume of submissions, please allow a few days for us to post all submitted pictures.
Enter now for a chance to win!
I've been whale watching several times and while I've seen whales on all occasions, I've never experienced what some would consider a "close encounter" or even an extraordinary sighting. I've certainly never experienced anything like this that happened recently off the coast of South Africa! (ABC News: Kaboom! Whale Crash-Lands on Boat)
Leave your guess below and if you guess correctly, you will have a chance to win a large die cast car from Michael Waltrip! Make your prediction now.
*Entries must be in before the start of the race on 08/15, and winner will be announced on 08/16.
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Limit only one entry per person. Must be 18 years of age or older and a resident of the US or Canada to be eligible to win. Winner will be randomly selected from all correct answers posted in the comments below.
While much of the media focus remains on frequent flyers, the fact of the matter is that there are a LOT more frequent drivers out there. This is especially true among Best Western's very best customers-- members of a select group called the Diamond 100 (BWD100)--who have stayed at a Best Western at least 250 nights over the last five years.
Here's some more interesting information about how BWD100 members feel about all those road trips:
Anytime I think about fishing, the radio in my head starts playing the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's, Fishing in the Dark, and my summers of working at the Lodge in Fish Lake, Utah come flying back. My friends and I took those song lyrics to heart. We DID go fishing in the dark ... a few times.
I haven't been back to Fish Lake in almost 20 years - despite the fact that I still think it's one of the most breathtaking mountain locations on the planet and one of Utah's best kept secrets. Fish Lake is a cold, deep (160 feet in places), glacier lake located in the Fish Lake National Forest. With an elevation of 8,850 feet above sea level, it's the perfect place to escape the summer heat.
Have you ever wondered who Harley was? And just who was Davidson, anyway?
William Sylvester Harley and Arthur Davidson sold their first motorcycle out of a shed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1903. The Harley-Davidson motorcycle grew out of Harley's efforts to fit an engine into a bicycle frame, and indeed, the first Harleys looked a lot like motorized bicycles. The first examples were single-cylinder models, with the first production V-Twins turning up around 1909.
(A neat piece of trivia: Henry Meyer, a childhood friend of William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson, was the first customer for the fledgling company, buying a 1903 model.)
For the third consecutive year, Banff National Park in Alberta has been selected as the favourite domestic attraction by travel agents across Canada. The Travel Agents Choice Awards, which began in 1999 by the Baxter Media Group via Travel Press and Travel Courier, received feedback from more than 4,000 travel professionals to come up with this year's winner.
Banff, named for the Scottish birthplace (Banffshire) of two original directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway, is a relatively small resort town population-wise with only 7,500 people who call it home. However, the park itself is massive, covering more than 6,600 square kilometres. More than four million people have visited Banff every year since 1996.
While much of the media focus remains on frequent flyers, the fact of the matter is that there are a LOT more frequent drivers out there. This is especially true among Best Western's very best customers--members of a select group called the Diamond 100 (BWD100)--who have stayed at a Best Western at least 250 nights over the last five years.
Leave your guess below and if you guess correctly, you will have a chance to win a $50 Travel Card from Best Western AND a signed hat from Michael Waltrip! Make your prediction now.
*Entries must be in before the start of the race on 08/08, and winner will be announced on 08/09.
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Limit only one entry per person. Must be 18 years of age or older and a resident of the US or Canada to be eligible to win. Winner will be randomly selected from all correct answers posted in the comments below.
We know it is a big world out there with lots of places to see and experience.
Best Western's You Must Be Trippin' travel blog offers travel tips, ideas and
feature destinations to make your next trip a success. We are also interested
in where you've been tirppin' and invite you to share your travel ideas, tips
and destinations with us. For your next trip, stay at Best Western, Stay with
people who care.SM
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