Photo of the Day (7.4.09) originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I was looking for YouTube footage of the 4th of July parade in Hannibal, Missouri, one of my most memorable 4th of July's ever, when I came across this marvelous effort that worked. Flippy Cat didn't set up the dominoes, but he makes a comment about them. Very cool.

Here are two other top 4th of July's.

Sitting in the car in the cemetery in Philipsburg, Montana with my husband and two kids watching fireworks go off from various parts of town. There wasn't an organized fireworks display, just random people doing their own thing. My son who was four at the time said, "This is a fireworks festival." About the cemetery. We aren't morbid. The cemetery is the highest point of the town, thus has the best views.

At Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts with my family and friends on a trip back through time to 1790-1840 for a reading of the Declaration of Independence in the town square. This historic village is one of the best I've been to and worth the trip.

Hope your 4th of July is swell. If you can swing it one day, there's nothing more fun than a small town parade where candy is thrown like confetti.

Happy 4th of July thanks to 7000 dominos originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Happy 4th of July a day early. This week we've welcomed another blogger Kendra Bailey Morris who will be enticing us with posts about food in her series The Accidental Chef Travels. Oh, how we love to eat at Gadling. We're hooked already.

Also Hotel Month has kicked off. Each day will bring a new angle to where to stay and helpful tips to make your slumber experiences good ones.

And here are five posts that offer insight into destinations. As always, I've had a hard time choosing.

• To find the best bar in the world, check out Scott's post on the best bar in the world. As Scott wrote, he wonders why this particular bar made the cut. He's been there.
• Tom found a hot dog fit for royalty and since he went on a hot dog hunt he knows a great hotdog when he eats it.
• The Appalachian Trail is one of those classic networks of hiking trails that everyone should do if possible. Not the whole thing, but part of it. Kraig has details about this historic gem intimately linked with nature.
• For an idea of what to do next June, check out Alison's post on Festa de São João in Caruaru, Brazil. She was there and gives it a hearty thumbs up.
• For a bizarre travel idea, read Aaron's post on pirate hunting. It reminds me a bit of the short story "The Most Dangerous Game."

Gadling Take FIVE: Week of June 27 to July 3 originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Do you want the lowdown on what's going on in Honduras right now? I know I do! I found a great explanation of the Honduran coup at the Moon blog, written by the Moon Honduras author, Amy E. Robertson.
• The Pamplona Bull Run begins in less than a week! Here's a great guide to this famous event if you're daring enough to attend.
• There's nothing more quintessentially New England than the lively town of Portland, Maine. The Associated Press has a great guide to Portland for budget travelers.
• You should be spending as much time outside this month, so make sure you cut down on wasteful materials and use some eco-friendly goods. Here's a cool list of biodegradable and landfill safe stuff to pack for your outdoor adventure.

Gadlinks for Wednesday 7.1.09 originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading The Accidental Chef Travels: An Introduction

The Accidental Chef Travels: An Introduction originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When in Caruaru, Brazil: celebrating Festa de São João originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With a week where we've added a new blogger to the Gadling fold, I didn't want to pass up the chance formally give Stephen Greenwood a hearty welcome. He's going to be dazzling us with posts from his current home in Hong Kong. Tune into his Dim Sum Dialogues.

This has been a busy weekend. With ComFEST, the mega community arts festival taking over Columbus's Goodale Park and terrific weather for each day of it, it does indeed feel like these are the days to enjoy oneself.

Here are five stories you might have missed:

• In Amsterdam, a branch of Russia's Hermitage Museum opened. Head there and you can see items that once belonged to the Russian court. As Kraig Sean mentioned, what isn't covered is how the Romanov's lost power. The thought of the family being lined up against a wall and shot by the Bolsheviks, still gives me pause.
• Willy's post on 10 things to do on Jost Van Dyke in the Virgin Islands has me wanting to head there for an eco-excursion.
• If you aren't feeling hungry, you will be after reading Jeremy's post on eating brunch in Kingston, Jamaica. Jeremy's adding posts on Jamaica to his lush series, Undiscovered New York.
• Catherine's post on Geographic Expeditions deals on travel caught my attention. I highly recommend guided tours. They are worth the money, particularly if your days off are a precious few.
• As a New Yorker who sizzles in the summer, Tom is on the lookout for ways out of Manhattan and chances to cool off. He's summarized the deals he's found in New England. You don't have to be a New Yorker to enjoy them.

Also, we're running a new series on airport layovers. There are a few more to come. Annie's post on Amsterdam this past week has one tip that did last December.

Gadling Take FIVE: Week of June 20-June 26 originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

June is the month of gay pride parades. Last Saturday, in Columbus, Ohio, High Street took on a festive vibration as a mixture of art groups, political organizations, churches and business made their way from the state house to Goodale Park in gay pride solidarity. Both people in the parade and those that lined the streets whooped it up in a joyous sound of shouts and applause.

Today that scene is being repeated in other parades in other cities. New York City is one of those where this weekend is filled with events. The parade is just one of them. It's a grand happening for good reason. The first such parade in New York took place on June 28 in 1971, one year after the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. The riots were caused after police raided the Stonewall Inn and people resisted arrest. If you saw the movie "Milk" this year, there's footage of both of the events.

In 1971, parades also happened in Chicago and San Francisco. Back then the message was mostly political, but over the years the tone has changed and the number of cities and countries that hold pride parades have increased.

Gallery: Gay pride

Continue reading Gay pride parades around the world

Gay pride parades around the world originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've written about Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic before. Recently, as Jeremy wrote, Gadling was on hand to join in a Virgin Atlantic's 25th anniversary party in New York City. While in the city, Sir Richard took the time to hang out with Jimmy Fallon on Late Night.

It's not that I was born on another planet, but I didn't catch who he was a first. Fallon was in a twitter though. The first thing I noticed before I caught Branson's name was how pleased he is with himself--and life. Very pleased, glowing in fact. Then I connected the dots and thought, well, that explains it.

The celebration Branson and Virgin Mobile is throwing is to help make the hard economic times a little easier for the everyday person. The Virgin Mobile Freefest, being held on August 30th at the Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland is free. That's right, free--if you can snag tickets. You need a ticket to get in. Start trying tomorrow, Saturday, June 27 at 10 a.m., you can try for tickets through Ticketmaster or call 1-800-551-SEAT.

There's more.

Gallery: Virgin America lands in Orange County

Continue reading Richard Branson explains Virgin Mobile FreeFest to Jimmy Fallon

Richard Branson explains Virgin Mobile FreeFest to Jimmy Fallon originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So you're at home this summer. Your vacation budget is bust. Sure, there are backyard barbeques with friends and family stretching out into summer, but that tropical vacation feels long gone.

Or perhaps, you have never been on a tropical vacation. Perhaps a tropical fruit to you is the canned version of Dole pineapple--the one that waits in your kitchen cabinet.

Hop to it. An exotic experience might be as close as your neighborhood grocery store. As you browse the fruit, section buy those that you haven't tried before.

Perhaps, they are the odd looking ones. Go head. Pick one up. If you're heading to a barbeque, bring some with you and give your friends a geography lesson with the bounty. If you're a parent, pull out a geography book and give your kids a taste of the world.

Here are suggestions and countries where such tastes can be had. I found them in local markets where I've lived and traveled, and some of them, in my own backyard.

Continue reading For summer, a banquet of exotic fresh fruits: Bring travel back home

For summer, a banquet of exotic fresh fruits: Bring travel back home originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's a museum in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky that is a reminder that if you have a passion about something, collect it. If the Baked Bean Museum of Excellence isn't proof enough, check out the Vent Haven Museum. Across the Ohio River from Cincinnati is collection of ventriloquist dolls that says if you have hundreds of a particular item, people will come. I found out about the museum in this New York Times article.

As a person who heads to northern Kentucky often, the museum is now on my places to see list. Someone in my mother's family had a Charlie McCarthy doll that looked similar to the real deal that Edgar Bergen used in his act. The museum pays tribute to Bergen and has Charlie McCarthy as part of the collection.

The collection also pays tribute to creativity and kitsch. Click through the museum's Featured Figures page on the Web site for a look-see into the breadth of the collection. To visit the museum, contact the curator, Lisa Sweasy. Click here for appointment information. As a note, the museum is only open from May 1 until September 30.

If you're interested in picking up some ventriloquist tips yourself, head to the Vent Haven ConVENTion July 15-19. Professional and amateurs come here every year to develop skills and share know-how.

Also, Roadside America has a wonderful write up that recounts a visit. One of these days, I'll have my own version. The lovely photo is of Jerry Mahoney, another dummy great.

Ventriloquist museum and convention pays tribute to dummies originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I admit it. I can't help it. I love "I Survived a Japanese Game Show." Some may say the show is an insult to intelligence. So be it. Insult away. Last year, I was drawn in by the frivolity, creativity and how wonderful people are when they are out of their element. [Here's last year's first episode review.]

It's popular culture look at Japan as well. Sure, Meaghan drove me a bit nuts with her confusion about what show she was on. I think she wished she was on "Survivor" with any excuse to prance around wearing next to nothing, but in general, I was drawn in and hoped the show would return this summer.

Happily, it has. Unfortunately I missed the kick-off last week since I was in NYC eating pizza at John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street, but I did catch up by watching the beginning of the episode on the show's Web site. I was curious how the show would handle the element of surprise when contestants had no idea that they were being set up to be on a Japanese game show. It was priceless and fresh reality show entertainment. This year's opening was just as funny.

Continue reading I Survived a Japanese Game Show: Cross-cultural fun perfect for summer

I Survived a Japanese Game Show: Cross-cultural fun perfect for summer originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Before I moved to Alaska, I assumed that solstice celebrations were for druids and/or hippies, and imagined long-haired folks with crowns of leaves preforming incantations and ceremonies on both the longest and shortest days of the year. While there are no doubt spiritual observances of the elliptical path of the sun going on in Alaska, up here you're just as likely to have a grocery store clerk wish you a "happy solstice." Daylight here is more than passive background lighting; it dictates our moods, energy, and productivity, to say the least. Even travelers here for less than a week find themselves affected, if only because they can't sleep at night for all the sunshine.

With nearly 24 hours of daylight in the summer, and nearly 24 hours of darkness in the winter, many Alaskans intently observe solstices. In summer, the day is both a celebration of all that fabulous daylight (better than any serotonin-enhancing drug, I assure you) and a bit of mourning for the fact that the day also marks the beginning of the sun's retreat. In winter, we wholeheartedly celebrate the days getting longer, even though we won't see normal daylight hours for months after either holiday.

A common way to ring in the longest day of the year is to climb a mountain and watch the sun circle the horizon rather than dip below it. If you're looking for something more formal, plenty of organized, non-Druid celebrations are held across the state for summer solstice; following are a few ways you can honor the longest day of the year.

Continue reading Only in Alaska: Celebrating solstice

Only in Alaska: Celebrating solstice originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Mermaid Parade at Coney Island originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beach party in Central Park! originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Four hundred years ago, when Henry Hudson first saw the river that was named after him, I imagine he felt inspired by its beauty. The river not only captivated Hudson's attention motivating him to take a look-see far up into its reaches, it has also inspired artists to capture its essence, literally and figuratively.

There are places along the Hudson River's shores where you can imagine painters who developed The Hudson River School sitting with their canvas creating their masterpieces. Unlike how it sounds, The Hudson River School is not a place at all, but an art movement that occurred during the 19th century, and the first to be deemed American.

With the festivities happening in the towns and cities along the Hudson this year to celebrate it's discovery, it seems fitting to give a nod to these artists who were inspired by the Hudson's beauty and used its images as a metaphor to express ideas about what the United States represents. What are the themes? Discovery, exploration and settlement. Head west, and you'll see these themes over and over again. These guys were onto something.

Continue reading Along the Hudson: The Hudson River School and top places to see the paintings

Along the Hudson: The Hudson River School and top places to see the paintings originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A few years ago, in the audience of the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center watching A Closer Walk, a wonderful documentary about the global struggle caused by AIDS, I felt tuned into something bigger than myself. Reading New York Times film critic Steven Holden's article about the Human Rights International Film Festival going on at the Walter Reade Theater through June 25, reminded me about that night, as well as, my day at the Cleveland International Film Festival this past March.

A film festival is an opportunity to view the world through a variety of lenses. In a summer of blockbusters where the popular theme seems to be horror and sci-fi---again, breaking up the fiction action with action that is real may give you that bigger than yourself feeling. If nothing else, seeing such films is an opportunity to see the work of passionate people who are like dogs with bones when it comes to getting a movie made about a cause they care about.

Besides, for people who are world travelers, heading to a film may shed light on some of the issues of the countries where one visits. Although one may visit a country, there may not be the opportunity to really find out what goes on behind closed doors, literally and figuratively.

Holden gave an overview of some of the films in his articlem and indicates that there is much worthwhile to see. You may have heard of some of the offerings. They are a mix of films that are new and others have been previously viewed elsewhere.

Continue reading Human Rights International Film Festival

Human Rights International Film Festival originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• The Perceptive Travel Blog put together a great guide to traveling green in Hawaii. I intend to put some of these tips into practice this summer!
• A trip through Eastern Europe is in my cards, and these money-saving, hassle-free tips on getting around Eastern Europe will definitely come in handy.
• I'm also planning a road trip from San Francisco to Vancouver later this summer, so I think these 10 essential items for backcountry travel will also be put to use.
• If you don't have a car, then hitchhike it this summer! Rolf Potts's Vagablogging network has a cool hitchhiking guide.
• In the meantime, I'll be stuck here in the big city of Honolulu, and these social spaces will hopefully provide some respite from my busy, chaotic, urban life.

Gadlinks for Friday 6.12.09 originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here on Oahu there will be a variety of events held in downtown and Waikiki today and Saturday. Events include a Kamehameha Day parade, arts and crafts displays and a lei draping ceremony.

Continue reading Kamehameha Day festivities in Hawaii

Kamehameha Day festivities in Hawaii originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This past Saturday, I walked out of my brother's apartment building near Stuyvesant Park in Manhattan to discover the 2nd Avenue Street Festival underway. Block after block, 2nd Avenue was closed to traffic and perfect for discovering those items I didn't know I had to have while brushing up on my Wolof.

New York City's street fair scene is one of the terrific pleasures of summer in Manhattan--if you're a pedestrian. The taxi driver who took me to Port Authority where I caught my Greyhound bus trip home made a quick turn off 6th Avenue on Sunday in order to avoid a street fair up ahead. He recounted a time of going blocks out of his way in order to get where he needed to go because he was thwarted by a street fair.

Although some street fairs seem to spring up spontaneously, there is a schedule of where to find them. I just happened upon two of them because they were where I happened to be. Each of them had their own feel. Some fairs have music, some give a nod to a particular ethnic group, and some are a mish mash of a variety of influences. Here's a guide to what to look for if you go and a brief Wolof lesson to add to the shopping pleasure.

Continue reading New York City's summer street fairs: A guide and suggestions

New York City's summer street fairs: A guide and suggestions originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.