Some Hawaii Specials for the coming months

Travel Weekly has a couple of fun things to do in Hawaii over the next couple of months. The first is aimed at golfers, the second is for the coffee lovers.

From Travel Weekly:

TURTLE BAY RESORT on the North Shore of Oahu will host the Champions Tour Turtle Bay Championship of Golf, Jan. 23 to 29. The tourney includes a 36-hole professional-amateur competition and a separate 54-hole pro tourney, both on the Palmer Course. Each will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel. The total purse for the event is $1.5 million, and the resort has signed a four-year agreement with the Professional Golf Association to host the tournament until 2008. Go to www.turtlebayresort.com for more information.

THE KONA COFFEE CULINARY INVITATIONAL will take place on the Big Island at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort on Nov. 9. Wine and beer are paired with dishes created with the coffee bean by local chefs, including Outrigger executive chef Jason Koppinger, who oversees the event. The invitational will take place in the Royal Gardens from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Call the hotel at (808) 324-2554 or visit www.konacoffeefest.com for more information.

I think I would go to both!

golf tips activities tours oahu fun tour hawaii coffee

Posted on October 10, 2005 by The Travel Blogger

Filed under Hotel, Hawaii, Golf, Pacific, Travel | | No Comments »

Hooters Air - From Small Start Up to Serving 15 Cities (More Than a Mouthful)

HootersairSo you are off for a boys weekend to play golf in Myrtle Beach. You are not thrilled to be flying down, expecting the change in Atlanta, and typical flying headaches. Well, over the last couple of years, a new airline, Hooters Air, has positioned itself as the low price carrier between 15 cities throughout the country, and they are looking to expand off of that. With the same safety and flight attendant requirements as other airlines, Hooters Air also adds two “Hooters Girls” to the flight crew, to serve and er, em entertain the passengers.

To travel on Hooters Air, you do not go through a travel agent, but through their web site, or by calling 1–888–FLY-HOOT.  By not dealing with the travel agents, Hooters Air is technically a charter airline and can provide lower costs to the consumer.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has an article about this Atlanta based company.

It seemed like a joke when Hooters Air launched 2 1/2 years ago.

“A restaurant getting into the airline business?” one traveler at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Kary LeBlanc, said at the time.

To make matters worse, the defiantly tacky Atlanta-based restaurant chain — best known for its “Hooters Girls,” in snug tank tops and orange hot pants — couldn’t have picked a worse time to get into the business than the post-9/11 travel slump.

“I thought it was a gag, that it would never last,” said New York-based airline industry consultant Robert Mann.

Hooters Air has not only lasted, it’s grown. The carrier quietly keeps adding flights, linking such places as Gary, Ind., and Allentown, Pa., with Orlando and Myrtle Beach, S.C., hometown of company founder Bob Brooks.

Posted on October 5, 2005 by The Travel Blogger

Filed under Hooters, Golf, United States, Airline, Travel | | No Comments »

Vail in the Off Season

During the winter months, Vail is the place for the glitterati, where Kate Moss and Tom Cruise rub shoulders, as Donald Trump and Martha Stewart make deals in the chalets. However, there are many things to do in this mountain side city, beyond pounding down the slopes dodging snowboarders.

The Los Angeles Times has 5 things to do in Vail in the off season:

1 Shop. The village teems with galleries, jewelry shops and specialty stores such as the Swedish Clog Cabin and Scotch of the Rockies, which features dog-themed gifts and jewelry. On the final weekend in October, the Vail Ski and Snowboard Club holds its annual Ski Swap sale of new and used equipment from individuals and vendors looking to pare down last year’s inventory.

2 Park it. No cars are allowed in the center of quaint Bavarian-style Vail, but there’s free parking in a massive garage. Detractors call the village more a theme park than a civic center, but hey, parking at Disneyland costs $10.

(more…)

Posted on September 25, 2005 by The Travel Blogger

Filed under Skiing, Hotels, Golf, Fall, Winter, Travel | | No Comments »

Best places to vacation this winter

From Money Magazine comes the some of the top places to vacation that have everything but the crowds.

NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) - If you go skiing in Vail this winter, you’ll find more than 100 trails of deep white powder and cozy mountainside lodges. If you go skiing in Big Sky, Mont., you’ll also find more than 100 trails of deep white powder and cozy mountainside lodges.

The difference? Vail gets roughly 1.5 million visitors a year. Big Sky? Around a fifth of that.

For every popular locale that attracts tourists in droves, there’s another location that has much of the same, minus the maddening crowds (and the higher prices that popular destinations charge during their peak season).

The destination highlighted are as follows:

Instead of Vail…try skiing Big Sky, Montana
Instead of Pebble Beach…golf Kiawah Island, S.C.
Instead of St. Thomas…sunbathe in Mustique
Instead of Las Vegas…visit Las Vegas in the off-season

Posted on September 20, 2005 by The Travel Blogger

Filed under Las Vegas, Skiing, Golf, Winter, Travel | | No Comments »