The Travel Snob

Savor a Scrumptious Easter Brunch in Nova Scotia at the Luxurious Halifax Marriott Harbourfront. TRAVEL SNOB TRAVEL BLOG

Fresh from a $10 million facelift, the charming Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel is serving up traditional fare and inventive dishes for the springtime holiday.

Hop in Sunday morning or afternoon to the hotel's 44 North restaurant to indulge in tempting tastes at the made-to-order waffle bar or omelet station. Or, come in later for Easter Entrees such as fresh Scotch Barley Broth, international cheeses, smoked and cured meat platters, Planked Maple Salmon, Braised Lamb Shanks with Spring Vegetables and Rosemary Oil, Baked Scalloped Potatoes and Leeks, Roast Bone-in Ham, and Steamed Mussels with Dill Butter and Peppered Salmon, and assorted Stone Ground Mustards and Chutneys. If you still have room, the dessert spread includes Warm Apple Crisp, Bread-n-Butter Pudding, Sacher Torte, fresh Strawberry Shortcake, Gateau Saint-Honoré, and a Chocolate Fountain!

For Easter Sunday, reservations are required. Call 1.902.428.7852 or visit HalifaxMarriott.com.

- The Travel Snob

Spamalot Opens in Vegas, and Monty Python Original Eric Idle Gives it about a 50% Chance of Success. TRAVEL SNOB TRAVEL BLOG

"I'd only put 50 percent of my money on Spamalot working here," said Eric Idle on the March 8 episode of The Strip, a Vegas-centric celeb interview Podshow podcast co-hosted by NBC producer Miles Smith and national freelance writer Steve Friess. "I think it's a mixed bet."

The British comic and writer of the 2005 winner of the Best Musical Tony Award was also dismissive of the stunt casting of Tony winner Harvey Fierstein in the Las Vegas version of Hairspray, which closed after just five months last year.  "Harvey Fierstein is a New York phenomenon," Idle said. "Out here, he means zilch. He's not even on TV." He is however hopeful that the fame of Dancing With The Stars star John O'Hurley will help Spamalot enjoy a better fate, but acknowledged that Broadway musicals have had a rough time in Las Vegas in recent years.

To purchase tickets, visit MontyPythonsSpamalot.com.

- The Travel Snob

Saddle up, Pilgrim, for "Ten Decades of the Duke: the Official John Wayne Celebration" in Newport Beach, California. TRAVEL SNOB TRAVEL BLOG

(photo: Newscom.com)

Considering his last film was released in 1976, it's incredible that Hollywood legend John Wayne was voted #3 in the 2007 annual Harris Poll of America's favorite film stars. In fact,Wayne has never been out of the top ten since the poll began in 1994 and has placed in the top three slots eight times. On average, his films are shown 3-4 times daily on national broadcast/cable outlets.

May 26 marks the 100th anniversary of John Wayne's birth and in salute to his life and impressive 50-year film career - which spanned half a century, more than 175 films (including a record-breaking 142 leading roles), a Best Actor Academy Award (1969), three Golden Globe Awards, four People's Choice Awards and both the Congressional Gold Medal (1979) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1980) - the city of Newport Beach (Wayne's longtime home town in Southern California) is commemorating Ten Decades of 'The Duke': The Official John Wayne Centennial Celebration from April 21 - 28.    "There has never been a bigger internationally recognized movie icon than John Wayne and the fact that he called Newport Beach home for nearly two decades is a cherished part of our city's history," notes Gary C. Sherwin, president and CEO, Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau. "It's appropriate that Newport Beach be the host city for this extraordinary celebration -- this is where John Wayne came to relax, recharge, enjoy good times, and not play a role other than  friend, husband, and father."

Produced in collaboration with the Wayne family and the Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau, the celebration will be a featured part of the 2007 Newport Beach Film Festival (April 19 - 29) which is expected to attract more than 35,000 people. The event will launch with the first-ever presentation of the newly established John Wayne Courage Award, created specifically to honor noted individuals who have blazed their own trails in the field of motion pictures and the arts. "Though my dad's movie projects took him to many different locations around the world, he always loved returning home to his family and friends in Newport Beach," says Ethan Wayne, Wayne's youngest son and president of Wayne Enterprises. "We are thrilled to be celebrating his 100th birthday in connection with this year's Newport Beach Film Festival. It is a fitting and appropriate venue to honor and remember his legacy." 

The celebration will be highlighted by screenings of many of Wayne's most memorable films, along with rarely seen footage, photos and personal appearances by notable co-stars, filmmakers & contemporaries. Other festivities include an art unveiling, original prop and costume displays, a scholarly film symposium, and a fundraiser  in support of the John Wayne Cancer Foundation at The Balboa Club & Resort, themed around the Wayne comedy Donovan's Reef. "We are truly proud to honor two things John Wayne loved: Cinematic excellence and the community of Newport Beach," comments Gregg Schwenk, executive director, Newport Beach Film Festival. "The festival is excited to host the many special screenings and events during the Centennial Celebration. The 2007 Festival line-up will offer a unique view of classic and contemporary filmmaking at its finest."

Ten Decades of 'The Duke': The Official John Wayne Centennial Celebration - April 21-28, 2007

• Saturday, April 21 Opening night presentation of the John Wayne Courage Award at a gala at The Island Hotel Newport Beach.

• Wayne movies to be shown: True Grit (1969; his Academy Award-winning performance); Rio Bravo (1959; a Howard Hawks classic Western); Stagecoach (1939); The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949); The Quiet Man (1952); The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962); The Shootist (1976)

• 350 other films: As part of the 8th annual Newport Beach Film Festival, an ambitious and international selection will be on offer, including features, shorts, documentaries, and animation that will compete for both jury and audience awards.

• More info: VisitNewportBeach.com; NewportBeachFilmFest.com; JohnWayne.com

• Saturday, April 28 An elegantly casual fund raiser for The John Wayne Foundation at The Balboa Club & Resort will close the celebrations.

Soak up Unspoiled Wilderness in Canada's Yukon Territory on a New Tour from Sea to Sky Expeditions. TRAVEL SNOB TRAVEL BLOG

The Tombstone Mountains along the Dempster Highway

Combining hotels, rustic cabins, and tenting, Sea to Sky Expeditions’s newest tour for the 2007 season delivers scenery, history and serenity. Ideal for photographers, history buffs, or anyone with an urge to check out Canada’s great north, it's a great opportunity to camp by majestic mountains, enjoy outdoor activities in rustic cabins, and explore the North’s historic areas. The tour departs in August, which means good weather and few annoying bugs.

Some highlights:

• three day stay at a rustic cabin on Lake Laberge - ideal for fishing, canoeing, hiking, photography...or just basking in the wilderness
• a boat tour to Fort Selkirk on the Yukon River. Restored buildings demonstrate the Fort’s one-time role as a Hudson Bay trading post and community, established to supply sternwheelers and local settlers
• camping in the shadow of the Tombstone Range - often referred to as the Patagonia of the North - & a visit to Dawson City, center of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98

For more info, visit CanadianExpeditions.com.

- The Travel Snob

Fly Fishing in Baja, Mexico? Si, Si, Si. TRAVEL SNOB TRAVEL BLOG

Fishing in the Sea of Cortez has been recognized as some of the best sport fishing in the world, and now that AmericanFlyFishingTravel.com has teamed up with Baja Fly Fishing Co., a premiere Baja guide service, finding the prime fishing spots just got easier. "I just love the action when I'm on the Sea of Cortez," says AmericanFlyFishing.com co-owner Gary Eblen, about the fishing at the East Cape region, where prize Marlin, Sailfish, Tuna, Dorado, Roosterfish and Wahoo move north in the spring and back south in the fall migration.

Only a short trip from nearby North America & featuring relatively inexpensive airline connections, Mike Riesser of Baja Fly Fishing Co. thinks the time market for sport fishing in Baja is on the up-swing. "Fly fishing in Baja has never been better and more accessible."

For more info, visit AmericanFlyFishingTravel.com.
 

- The Travel Snob

(photo: flyfishtravel.com)

Find a Travel Needle in a Haystack with Lonely Planet's Newest Accommodation Booking Website. TRAVEL SNOB TRAVEL BLOG

If you're the adventurous sort who enjoys your travel off the beaten path, but still digs excellent accomodation, Lonely Planet's Haystack is serving up a unique 'invitation only' booking service that features only properties that have been chosen, visited, reviewed and recommended by a Lonely Planet author.

"Whenever you go checking places out grumpy hotel owners say "Why do you guys come at such difficult times?" and that's exactly why we do it. We want to see places at their best and worst," explains one of Lonely Planet's intrepid authors. "First thing in the morning when people are checking out is always a good time to see how people handle being busy, plus there's always a helpful cleaner who might let you see a room that you might not otherwise have caught on the grand tour. The most important thing is to avoid the "official tour," where the people at the desk get the manager and you get shown how light switches work or invited for a cup of tea. Sometimes this can mean sneaking around the front desk or talking to people who are staying there or even just breaking up that tour by saying "What about these rooms?" You have to review against what you're being shown, which often means being pretty annoying to hotel staff." Adds another of their authors: "I don't really jump on beds, but I do look closely to see that the bedspreads are clean (I hate gunky-looking patterned bedspreads), suss out the bathrooms for water pressure and mould, test the windows to see if they can be opened and open wardrobes to look for wire coat hangers (yuck!). I often check minibar prices to see if they're extortionate, and I like to look at communal areas to see how guests and guests of guests are treated. I like to say hello to the people who clean the rooms to, you can tell a lot about a place by the greeting that's returned - and I think everyone in a hotel/motel or wherever should be happy to be there, even if it's for work."

In fact, many of their properties were not previously bookable online through any other service. "We are inviting our favorite properties from around the globe to join the service -- whether it's a backpackers in Sydney, an eco-resort in Yap, or a boutique hotel in Rome," says Dan Christian, Lonely Planet's Haystack Product Manager. "Haystack is a unique service in that every property listed is recommended as a great place to stay. Every property review is 100% independent and written by an experienced travel writer." Currently, Haystack boasts over 1000 properties in more than 58 countries, and more are being added all the time. "Haystack will continue to grow daily as more destinations and properties are added to the site throughout 2007 and beyond."

For more info, visit Haystack.LonelyPlanet.com.

- The Travel Snob

Bon Appetit et Salut! Wine & Culinary Adventures await in the Walla Walla Valley. TRAVEL SNOB TRAVEL BLOG

If your personal holy trinity involves great wine, food & scenery, it's time to add Walla Walla to your travel plans. Extending from eastern Washington State to the south, and across the Oregon border (one-third of Walla Walla's vineyard land is actually in Oregon), the Walla Walla Valley increasingly the talk of wine & foodie circles.  "We surveyed the most intriguing wine producing regions of the world, looking for the perfect launch destination for Inspired Travel," explains Steve Woodward, managing director of HinsdaleCellars.com, about their boutique travel service which specializes in small group experiences, private tours and custom dining."The choice soon became obvious -- Washington's incomparable Walla Walla Valley."

In addition to connoisseurs, the region has been luring winemakers from tradition-bound parts of the world such as Christophe Baron of the acclaimed Cayuse Vineyards, who uprooted from his native France more than a decade ago - drawn by the rocky soils of Walla Walla. "The best wines made in Washington rank among the best wines produced anywhere in the world," notes author and Washington native John Doerper. "(Yet) much of Washington's Wine Country and many of its wines are still little known, making this a perfect region to explore."

For more info, visit HinsdaleCellars.com.

- The Travel Snob

(photo: whitman.edu)

The Envelope, Please. And the Winner is...the Traveler! Movie-Themed Tours in Los Angeles & the East Coast. TRAVEL SHOB TRAVEL BLOG

Even if you don't plan to get up close & personal with a gold statuette on Oscar night (Feb. 25), there are plenty of blockbuster tours in, around, above & below Tinsel Town to feel "on location" and fabulous. Viator.com has more than 100 tours with a Hollywood theme - backstage tours, location visits, shopping excursions and private soirées - that you may even start preparing a weepy thankyou speech.

Some Red Carpet worthy tours:

• That’s a Wrap Visit the studio that produced two of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture: The Departed and Letters from Iwo Jima. The Warner Bros. & Santa Monica Tour includes full VIP access to the studio back lot, movie and production facilities, a visit to the prop warehouse, front-of-the-line and reserved seating for theme park attractions and shows, and access to a relaxing VIP loungeAfterward, enjoy lunch in Beverly Hills and shopping on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. ($179)

• Be Seen at the Scene Become part of the L.A. scene with their Los Angeles Soiree Tour. You are picked up at your hotel by your personal guide for a night out in West Hollywood & Beverly Hill, with dining at a celeb-studded spot like the Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel or Massimo Beverly Hills just off Rodeo Drive. ($141) Alternatively, soak up some culture along with your celebs on the Private Luxury Los Angeles Tour ($123) which includes a visit to The J. Paul Getty Museum, followed by lunch at "Bon Appetit" Restaurant, and shopping on ritzy Rodeo Drive.

• Getting Above it All The Hollywood Skies Helicopter Tour, starting at $167, hovers high above the City of Angels and soars over Marina del Rey, Venice and Santa Monica beaches, the mansions of Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Pacific Palisades, as well as the rock & roll glamour of the Sunset Strip and the glitter of Hollywood Boulevard.

• Dig Deep To get below the surface, the Director of Undertakings narrates travelers through decades of death, murder, and just plain fun during the Dearly Departed Tour, starting at $35. Scenes frequented by the famous and infamous are explored, as well as the final scene of Frank Sinatra, River Phoenix, Bela Lugosi and Mae West. On the Movie Stars' Homes and Celebrity Grave Site Tour ($47), visit he final resting places of many of Hollywood’s legends - Hollywood Forever and Westwood Memorial - as well as resting places of the living, including the homes of Nicolas Cage, Harrison Ford, Eddie Murphy, and the Playboy Mansion. 

• Hollywood on Location On the other coast, the Washington DC TV and Movie Sites tour ($34) includes locations from The Exorcist, the bar from St. Elmo’s Fire, Wedding Crashers, Forrest Gump and All the Presidents Men. On Location Tours: New York TV and Movie Sites tour ($47) includes the TV "homes" of Will and Grace, Ross and Rachel (Friends), and Jerry and George (Seinfeld).

More info at Viator.com.

- The Travel Snob

(photo: hellolosangeles.com)

Instead of a Day of Love, Make it a Month of Amour & Escape a la Deux to Edmonton, Canada. TRAVEL SNOB TRAVEL BLOG

From dancing the night away at the Muttart Conservatory to an elegant evening spent at a cozy hotel, Edmonton offers all the elements needed in a wonderful getaway involving love and leisure. Enjoy world class dining and wine pairings, cultural activities, train excursions, hot stone massages and couples' pedis, dancing, moonlight & jazz, and, of course, oodles of champagne!

Your Edmonton getaway awaits at Edmonton.com.

- The Travel Snob

Leaving Brooklyn? Fugheddaboudit! Check Out the Local Color Like a Trash-Talkin' Native with EscapeMaker.com's BK Getaway Guide. TRAVEL SNOB TRAVEL BLOG

A tree grows....

With detailed information on 43 separate neighborhoods, EscapeMaker.com has created one of the most comprehensive guides to many a New Yorker's fave nabe. "Brooklyn's renaissance started more than ten years ago, and shows no signs of slowing," says EscapeMaker.com President Caylin Sanders, "and as a Brooklyn-based business ourselves, we're thrilled to be highlighting all the incredible things to do and see here!"

EscapeMaker.com's Brooklyn profile covers a complete range of attractions, from cultural touchstones like the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Brooklyn Museum of Art, to the Coney Island boardwalk, and even where to find the best discount shopping. Special emphasis is given to the remarkable variety of good eatin' available in the borough - from high-end French bistros and Latin fusion, to the beloved Nathan's hot dog at Coney Island. Each of the neigborhoods profiled includes easy-to-follow instructions on getting there by subway or bus. "Obviously there's more to experience in Brooklyn than any one summary can do justice to, so we hope our guide will inspire people not just to visit once, but to keep coming back."

To get on board, check out EscapeMaker.com.

- The Travel Snob

(photo: radio.weblogs.com)

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