Is It Safe to Vacation in Cape Town Once the Water Runs Out?
Posted on 01/31/2018, 12:00 AM
We have never been here before. A major world city is about to run out of fresh water. On April 12, the drought-stricken city of Cape Town, on the southwestern tip of Africa, hits Day Zero. That's when the reservoir levels drop too low, taps run dry, and water must be trucked in. How we reached this point is important. While climate change dramatically reduced rainfall in the Mediterranean clim...
Arthur Frommer: For No Real Reason, Feds Attack the Legality of Cannabis Tourism
Posted on 01/12/2018, 1:00 AM
Because the current U.S. Attorney General is a fierce opponent of marijuana, we can expect a massive legal attack against travel to the states—mainly California and Colorado—that have recently legalized its use. What is startling about this prospect is that the alleged dangers of smoking marijuana have been denied by every respectable study. The key examination of marijuana was cond...
Want a Cannabis Vacation? Now There's a Whole Town for That
Posted on 01/03/2018, 12:00 AM
One day after California, America's most populous state, made recreational cannabis consumption legal, the Los Angeles Times reported on an entire town where getting stoned is the whole point of the joint. It's called Nipton—as in Nipton in the bud. The village was purchased last September by American Green, a publicly traded, Arizona-based cannabis company. Nipton is a speck of a century-old mi...
Hotel Earns Guinness Record for Whisky: 1,031 Varieties
Posted on 12/13/2017, 12:00 AM
Fans of the tipple might want to toddle off to Scotland for their next holiday. The Guinness Book of World Records has officially recognized one hotel there for having the most varieties of commercially available whiskies. With a collection numbering more than 2,500 bottles and 1,031 varieties, reports London's Daily Mail, the 38-room Glenesk Hotel, in the village of Edzell, Scotland, has taken th...
In Denver You Can Dine in a Former Air Traffic Control Tower
Posted on 12/05/2017, 4:30 PM
Although Denver's old Stapleton International Airport has been closed for more than 20 years, the air traffic control tower recently reopened. There won't be any flight coordinating going on inside, however. The tower, which is the only remaining structure of the city's primary airport from 1929 to 1995, has been converted to an "eatertainment" venue by Punch Bowl Social, a Denver-based chain tha...
You Can Finally Have Breakfast at Tiffany's—Lunch, Too
Posted on 11/09/2017, 9:30 PM
As Audrey Hepburn demonstrated with maximum glamour in 1961, you could technically always have breakfast at Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue in New York City, provided you brought your own coffee and croissant. But now, at long last, the iconic jewelry store is actually serving breakfast—as well as lunch and afternoon tea—in the newly opened Tiffany Blue Box Cafe, located on the freshly renovate...
Study: Booze Boosts Foreign Language Skills
Posted on 10/24/2017, 9:30 PM
Alcohol improves your ability to speak a foreign language, according to a new study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. Researchers from the University of Liverpool, Maastricht University, and King's College London devised an experiment in which 50 native German speakers who had recently learned Dutch were asked to down either booze or an alcohol-free control liquid. Participants were then inst...
Norwegian Cruise Line Drinks Package Now the Priciest at Sea
Posted on 10/05/2017, 10:00 PM
Norwegian Cruise Line has raised the price of its Ultimate Beverage package, covering all alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks that a passenger consumes while on board the ship (except drinks priced higher than $15, which have to be purchased separately). Up from a previous fee of $79 per day—and, as recently as 2014, $54 per day—the package now costs $89 per passenger, per day. But with a "serv...
Waterfront Entertainment Complex in D.C. Set to Open Oct. 12
Posted on 10/02/2017, 11:45 PM
A soon-to-open waterfront development in Washington, D.C. is set to offer visitors a bunch of new dining, entertainment, and outdoor recreation options just south of the National Mall. Scheduled to begin welcoming guests on October 12, The Wharf is an ambitious project combining more than 20 food and drink venues, three hotels, shops, a 6,000-seat concert hall, and a water taxi system along a mil...
The Shortest Flight in the U.S.
Posted on 09/29/2017, 12:30 AM
United Airlines has begun operating the shortest commercial flight in the United States. Zipping between San Francisco and Santa Rosa in California's Sonoma County wine region three times a week, the route covers about 60 miles and stays in the air for just 16 minutes. (Factor in taxiing and such and the one-way trip takes a still-speedy 45 minutes.) In addition to putting themselves through t...
Two New, And Quite Appetizing, Culinary Travel Books
Posted on 09/17/2017, 12:00 AM
The old cliché "I live to eat" has a new corollary: "I travel to eat." More vacationers are letting their taste buds decide where their feet (and wallets) will lead them. To aid with that decision, there's a new crop of travel books centered around cuisine. Super Sushi Ramen Express: A Culinary Adventure Through Japan is one of the most exuberant of the genre. Its writing began with a bet of sor...
A Major Battle is About to Erupt Over Marijuana Tourism
Posted on 09/15/2017, 6:00 PM
Last year, California, Nevada, Maine, and Massachusetts joined five other states in legalizing the recreational use and sale of marijuana. The action taken by California is especially significant. With its huge population, greater than that of several other large states combined, California will create the foundation for a giant industry of marijuana tourism, causing millions of travelers...
