Courtesy of Virtue Feed Grain

Load up on brunch at Virtue Feed Grain in Washington, D.C.

“Brunch caters to everybody’s needs,” says chef Jeffrey Mauro of Chicago breakfast specialist Jam. Originally just open in the mornings, Mauro’s restaurant found so much success with brunch crowds that it recently moved to a new, bigger space and expanded into dinner.

Slideshow: See which cities serve the best brunch

The brunch expert has firm beliefs when it comes to what makes a great mid-morning menu: a smoked salmon dish, a breakfast sandwich and a variation on eggs Benedict; Jam changes theirs monthly using seasonal vegetables like the version with English muffins, poached eggs, pork belly and beet hollandaise.

Mauro considers his city’s brunch obsession a long time coming: “I thought for sure our business would get hit with this explosion of brunch restaurants, but we haven’t been affected. It just keeps getting better.” 

While Chicago’s brunch scene is taking off, New York still rules when it comes to brunch-crazed populations. Immortalized by Carrie and friends in “Sex and the City,” brunch in New York often requires patience. Cult favorites like Gabrielle Hamilton’s Prune and Clinton Street Baking Co. doesn’t take reservations, and diners loiter on the sidewalk for hours waiting for a table.

Washington, D.C., may be the next place to get swept up in the obsession. Local restaurants have recently introduced gimmicks such as Virtue Grain and Feed’s monthly pajama brunch party and The Passenger’s late-riser brunch, which doesn’t start until 2 p.m. and goes well into the evening.

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Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/18/11600578-best-brunch-cities-in-the-us?lite

NEW YORK — They were promised a place to mourn their loved ones, display their photographs and educate their children and the children of strangers about exactly what was lost on 9/11. But today, family members of those killed have no completion date for the museum that is to be built alongside the Sept. 11 memorial at ground zero — and many are upset.

“The memorial is open, but that’s only half the tribute to those who were killed,” said Patricia Reilly, who lost her sister in the attacks. “The museum is the place where they’re going to tell the story about the people — who they were, where they were, what they were doing and what happened to them that day.”

Construction of the museum — originally scheduled to open on the 11th anniversary of the attacks — has largely ground to a halt amid a financial dispute between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, and the foundation that controls the memorial and museum. After months of little obvious progress, some family members are increasingly worried that the powers that share control of the area are backsliding into the kind of politically driven dysfunction that once paralyzed the site.

“They shouldn’t allow disagreement to get in the way,” said Reilly, who especially wants the museum to be completed so she can go there to visit the thousands of fragments of human remains too damaged to identify with DNA testing. No trace of her sister, Lorraine Lee, who worked on the 101st floor of the World Trade Center’s south tower, has been identified.

Related: PhotoBlog: Newseum exhibit marks 10th anniversary of Sept. 11

“We were supposed to get a contemplative area nearby where we could sit and pray, visit,” she said. “I’m waiting for the remains to find their final resting place.”

Work has been slowed since late last year, when the subcontractors at the site stopped getting paid. The Port Authority claimed the Sept. 11 memorial foundation owed it $300 million for infrastructure and revised project costs, while the foundation argued the port instead owed it money because of project delays. Three powerful political figures have been entangled in the dispute: The governors of New York and New Jersey control the port, while New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the foundation’s chairman.

Last month, Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye said there had been “significant progress” toward a resolution, but any deal has yet to materialize. On Thursday, a spokesman for the port would say only that discussions were continuing. A spokesman for the foundation declined to comment about the families’ concerns.

Officials have said publicly there is no way to complete the museum by this year’s anniversary of the attacks, but no formal communication has gone out to the families to inform them of the delays and keep them apprised, some family members said.

Related: Sept. 11 exhibits go beyond Ground Zero

In the meantime, personal items and mementos that families have donated to the museum are in a sort of limbo, with many wrapped and packed away in storage spaces that hold everything from damaged fire engines to children’s drawings.

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“There are people out there … who hold these items as very, very precious,” said Debra Burlingame, a foundation board member whose own family’s donation has been put on hold until the dispute is resolved. They will donate a prayer card that her brother was carrying when his plane flew into the Pentagon. Somehow, the small card survived the fire, inscribed with the words “Blessed are those who mourn.”

Burlingame wants to make sure her brother’s story survives.

“You have children who were very young on 9/11 or maybe not even born yet who have no idea what actually happened that day,” she said. “That story needs to be told, and it needs to be preserved for future generations.”

The subcontractors at the site were recently paid $15 million that had been owed to them, but they won’t return to the job until there’s an agreement on future payment and a new schedule is adopted, said Ron Berger, the executive director of the Subcontractors Trade Association. Berger said this week his union is meeting with officials about future plans and he’s expecting a new completion date of June or July 2013 — a decision that would raise project costs further because of the overtime required. But no deal can be made until the port and the foundation come to an agreement.

For some family members, the problems at the 16-acre site feel like an unpleasant flashback. In 2005 and 2006, bitter negotiations between the Port Authority and private developer Larry Silverstein stalled construction on all the office towers planned for the site, with port officials calling Silverstein greedy for demanding givebacks on the rent he paid, and Silverstein saying the agency had never turned over buildable land for his office towers. In 2006, the memorial was redesigned after its projected cost rocketed and some began to question whether the project could move forward.

“It’s all politics, and it’s ridiculous,” said Jim Riches, whose firefighter son died in the trade center. “They should put politics aside and get down to business.”

Riches has given the museum the crushed helmet found next to his son’s body when it was unearthed six months after the attacks. He can ask for it back at any time, he notes, but he won’t — despite his frustration with the delays.

“Maybe 20 years from now, 50 years from now — they won’t know who I am, they won’t know who my son is,” Riches said. “But you know what? Some little kid is going to go in there and say, ‘Look at this, this fireman went in there to help people, and then he was crushed to death by these terrorists.’ … It’s a powerful message.”

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47475157/ns/us_news-life/

Reuters file

A “ring of fire” glows around the dark moon on Jan. 26, 2009, as seen from Bandar Lampung in Indonesia during an annular solar eclipse. A similar site will greet skywatchers in the southwestern U.S. on Sunday.

Visitors to America’s national parks are used to seeing impressive displays of nature, but this weekend, some may be in for a special treat.

On Sunday, weather permitting, visitors to select parks from Northern California to central New Mexico will be able to see the moon pass in front of the sun in such a way that it creates an annular, or ring-shaped, eclipse. It’s the first time in 18 years that this type of eclipse has been seen in the continental U.S.

“It’s uncommon to have a total or annular eclipse cross your favorite continent,” said Chad Moore, manager of the Night Skies Program for the National Park Service (NPS). “With this one, there are 33 parks in the path of the annularity, six of which are smack dab in the middle of it.”

For those six — Canyon de Chelly, Glen Canyon, Lassen, Petroglyph, Redwood and Zion — the moon will be centered on and cover roughly 95 percent of the sun, creating a perfect “ring of fire.” The other 27 will also experience annularity but the ring will be slightly lopsided.

Another 125 parks from Alaska to Michigan may experience a partial eclipse based on weather and their distance from the event path. (For more information, including maps and events, visit the National Park Service’s eclipse page.)

Nearly 400 national parks can be found all across America, and feature breathtaking vistas, rock formations millions of years old, and more.

Launch slideshow

Wherever you choose to view it, experts advise against looking at or taking photos of the eclipse directly as it can damage both eyes and cameras. Many parks within the path of the annularity will be selling disposable eclipse glasses for $2–$3; solar filters for optical gear are available online and in camera stores.

By all accounts, this event should be one for the ages, especially for those experiencing the full annularity.

“It’s the whole earth-sun connection,” said Tyler Nordgren, a physics professor at the University of Redlands. “We’re all solar-powered. We depend on the sun for life and energy so it’s important to pay attention to it.”

Related: Where and how to see the solar eclipse

If that sounds appealing, here are five parks that are hosting events where you can do just that:

Lassen Volcanic National Park
With Redwood National Park prone to fog, this park in Northern California may be the first NPS unit to experience a perfect ring of fire as the eclipse races across the western U.S. A special astronomy program will be held at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center from 3 to 4 p.m., followed by ranger-led viewing of the eclipse at the Devastated Area and Bumpass Hell areas of the park.

Bryce Canyon National Park
The ring may look slightly off-kilter — Bryce is just off the centerline — but the eclipse is still expected to draw thousands of visitors as it coincides with the park’s 12th Annual Astronomy Festival (May 17–20). In addition to eclipse viewing on Sunday, there will be daily and evening programs dedicated to stargazing, rocket building and the science, history and mythology of astronomy.

Grand Canyon National Park
As at Bryce, the ring will be somewhat lopsided but Grand Canyon is still a worthwhile option as it has the space and facilities to handle larger crowds. The center of activities in the park will be the more-accessible South Rim, where visitors can attend presentations by NASA scientists before the eclipse and a public star party with free telescope viewing afterward.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Like Lassen, Glen Canyon sits smack dab on the eclipse centerline although the event won’t last as long as the sun will be closer to setting. Perhaps to compensate, the park is holding a four-day festival featuring stargazing sessions and presentations by astronomers. For the eclipse itself, the best viewing will be from the Wahweap Overlook.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Sitting on the centerline of the eclipse, this small park in northwestern New Mexico was also a center of ancestral Pueblan (Anasazi) culture between 850 and 1250 A.D., a culture, says Nordgren, that paid intense attention to the movement of the sun.

In fact, that’s where he intends to watch the eclipse, participating in an event at the park’s Pueblo Bonito ruin. “To be in the middle of one of those buildings during the eclipse,” he told msnbc.com, “should be just awe-inspiring.”

Where do you plan to watch the solar eclipse? Tell us on Facebook.

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

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Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/18/11748132-see-the-solar-eclipse-at-a-national-park?lite

Woods Pierce

Staunton, Va. is blessed with the backdrop of the Shenandoah Valley and the main artery of Beverley Street, whose brick buildings amount to one of the highest concentrations of showy late-19th-century architecture in any U.S. town.

Driving across America, it’s all too easy to lose your mooring amid the commercial thicket of the same old fast-food outlets and big-box stores.  

Slideshow: See the greatest Main Streets in the U.S.A.

But push on a mile or two beyond the interstate exit, and you may discover a town that’s anchored by a distinctive Main Street — one with grand architecture, eclectic small businesses and community-oriented features such as a park or theater. Often it thrives thanks to locals who have made a conscientious effort to fight the general decline of Main Street.

The work of such activists and preservationists is acknowledged each year by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Great American Main Streets Awards and by the American Planning Association’s Great Places in America: Streets. We scoured their recent designations to select the most vibrant, distinctive downtowns worth the trip.

You’ll find these great Main Streets across the U.S., from mining towns such as Silver City, N.M., to stately, red-brick Staunton, Va. Yet our list does skew east of the Mississippi, favoring towns that were established before the age of the automobile — and so display the DNA of a pedestrian and bike-friendly environment.

Not that a walkable layout can guarantee a thriving Main Street. Take York, Penn., where the 1978 shuttering of the last of four downtown department stores triggered a period of decay. The turnaround was slow going, as landowners aided by various programs renovated nearly every Victorian and Classical Revival façade. Now, on the first Friday of each month, local businesses stay open late, with special events and discounts.

Port Townsend, Wash., went through its own reinvention. Expecting a shipping boom, 19th-century residents built out the town in high Victorian style — only to find themselves on the wrong side of Puget Sound when the railroads connected to Seattle. It’s been reborn as an arts center around the main drag, Water Street.  

Second chances are just as American as a homespun Main Street, and with the recent economic downturn have come do-it-yourselfers seeing opportunity in cheap abandoned storefronts and converting them into bakeries or boutiques.

So it’s well worth driving a extra few miles to see what Main Street lies ahead.

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Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/24/11372268-americas-greatest-main-streets?lite

Chris Helgren / Reuters

Passengers wearing period costume queue to board the Titanic Memorial Cruise in Southampton, England, on Sunday.

Updated April 8 – The first of two Titanic-themed cruises set sail from Southampton Sunday on a 12-night cruise that will follow the Titanic’s original itinerary.

The vessel, the MS Balmoral, is operated by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines — whose parent company, Harland and Wolff, built the Titanic. The ship has a 1,350-passenger capacity, but will carry 1,309 paying passengers on the Titanic Memorial Cruise, “the same number that sailed on the fateful Titanic voyage,” the company said on its website.

The cruise sold out nearly two years ago, so a second ship, the Azamara Journey, part of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., was added during the summer of 2011. That ship departs New York on April 10, “exactly 100 years to the day the Titanic departed Southampton” the company said, for an 8-night voyage.

As of January, when about one-third of the spots on the Azamara Journey were still available, interior staterooms were selling for $4,900. The top cabin, the Club World Owners Suite, cost nearly $15,000.

The Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg. More than 1,500 people lost their lives.

David Moir / Reuters

The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new visitor attraction location in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter, on the original site of the Harland and Wolff shipyard -  birthplace of RMS Titanic.

Launch slideshow

The cruises were designed to replicate food, entertainment and dress of the era. “Passengers will have the opportunity to dress up in period clothing on some nights,” said Miles Morgan, founder of Miles Morgan Travel, the company that organized the Titanic Memorial Cruises.

Expert lecturers will be on board to discuss Titanic-focused topics, including Philip Littlejohn, grandson of Titanic survivor Alexander James Littlejohn, and author of “Titanic — Waiting for Orders” which tells the story of his grandfather, who was a 1st Class Steward on the ship. Dana McCauley, co-author of “Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner,” is the food consultant, and will help create menus based on meals eaten during the Titanic’s inaugural voyage.

“It’s been an interesting journey,” said Morgan. The inspiration began about five years ago when a gentleman walked in off the street to one of his 12 travel agencies in England and suggested the idea.

The ships will make stops at cemeteries in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to visit the final resting places for many unclaimed victims, and atop the Titanic grave site on April 15, when a memorial service will be held at 2:20 a.m., “to pay tribute to all the brave passengers and crew on board that fateful night,” according to the company site.

“We are not releasing what will take place in advance,” Morgan said, regarding the details about the service. “Because it is a very unusual occasion, many passengers will also find their own way to remember the moment.”

AP Photo/File

The Titanic sails out of Southampton, England, in April 1912 at the start of its doomed voyage.

Among the passengers will be Titanic fans, but also some descendants of survivors and those who perished.

“I want to be outside on the deck, to feel how cold it would have been,” said Jill Kirby, great-niece of a ship worker, to experience “the personal feeling of actually being there and reliving a moment that occurred  100 years ago, to just have a feeling of how people must have felt.” Kirby, originally from Southampton, England, but now of Los Angeles, said her great-uncle, Alfred Albert White, was a crewman in the engine room, and was the only one from his department who survived the tragedy.

Often it is the famous passengers who are remembered, she said, but “many unknown lives were lost. The cruises are excellent ways to memorialize those victims that may not be as famous. All lives are important,” she said. “The lives of these people meant something and were cut short because of this terrible tragedy.”

Tim Wallis, of Waterloo, Ontario, is taking the voyage to honor his great-grandmother, Catherine Jane Wallis, who died in the sinking but whose body was never recovered. “I just kind of felt an obligation to complete the journey,” he said.

“She made it to the rail and was about to get on a life boat, but realized that she forgot her paperwork,” said Wallis, who recounted the story based on eyewitness accounts. She went to retrieve her papers, “but she never made it back,” he said. His great-grandmother was on the ship to work, as her husband drowned eight months earlier and she had to support her three small children.

Wallis also said he was taking the cruise to honor his aunt, who spearheaded efforts in DNA testing for Titanic victims, and who died on April 15, 2006. Wallis has a few other uncanny connections to the Titanic: his own birthday is April 15, and he and James Cameron, the “Titanic” film director, share the same hometown.

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Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/09/9799105-cruise-ships-to-set-sail-commemorate-titanics-voyage

Courtesy Spa at Trump SoHo

The Spa at Trump SoHo features Turkish décor, spacious treatment rooms and in this instance, bubbles.

If you’ve been plugging away on your taxes and feeling stressed out and cash-strapped, Wellness Week 2012 may offer a getaway reward you can afford. 

From March 19-25, hundreds of spas, yoga studios, gyms and other wellness businesses around the country will be offering massages, facials, yoga and Pilates classes, and nutrition counseling, fitness assessment and other wellness services for half price or just $50.

Organized by SpaFinder.com, which has posted the week’s free events and deals (searchable by zip code) on its website, Wellness Week offers cost-conscious travelers a chance to add a discounted spa treatment to a weekend getaway or an excuse to turn an afternoon off into a blissed out — we have to say it — staycation. 

“It’s a great opportunity for travelers to experience the nation’s best destination spas and resorts at a deep discount, whether it’s a weekend getaway or an afternoon escape to a hotel spa in your city,” said Sallie Fraenkel, spokesperson for SpaFinder.com.

During Wellness Week, the Salish Lodge Spa, which overlooks Snoqualmie Falls and is just a half-hour from Seattle, is offering its Honey Oatmeal Body Scrub for half off the regular $115 price.

“With the economy the way it is, we know everyone is looking for extra value for their money,” said Melanie Silver, director of rooms and spa at Salish Lodge Spa. The lodge recently added bees and beehives to the property, “so we decided to offer a discount on a new service that pampers people in an unusual way: with honey straight from our hives,” said Silver, who hopes the sweet deal nets some return customers. 

In New York City, the Wellness Week deals at the Spa at Trump Soho, include an organic spray tan for $47.50 and a 45-minute Moroccan mint tea-Vichy body polish treatment for $80, each 50 percent off.  Lapis, the Spa at Fontainebleau in Miami Beach is offering a facial, soak, express pedicure and a day spa pass for $99 (regular price: $198) and, for something a little different, Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E. Health Center Spa in Virginia Beach, Va., is discounting a colon hydrotherapy session to $50, down from $80. 

Some room packages are also on the Wellness Week menu. For example, Deerfield Spa, in East Stroudsburg, Pa., is offering a Stay Package for $137.50 (down from $275) that includes half-off a massage sampler.

While the more than 700 Wellness Week specials listed on the SpaFinder website are certainly good deals, keep in mind that many hotels and resorts with on-site spas will offer complimentary treatment and discounts on services as part of room packages year-round.

“Wellness Week is great for deals at many day spas, where facials and massages can be 50 percent off,” said Stephanie Durst, a spa specialist with Protravel International in Syosset, N.Y. “But keep in mind that, year-round, many destination resorts offer promotions that not only include many spa treatments, but free nights and discounts for your friends as well.”  

Find more by Harriet Baskas on Stuck at The Airport.com and follow her on Twitter. 

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Article source: http://todaytravel.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/16/10718662-spa-travel-discounts-ah

Susan L. Eckert / AdventureWomen Inc.

Helicopter hiking in northern British Columbia makes for great memories.

Gather up those college roommates or far-flung female family members for a long-overdue girlfriend getaway. From renting a farmhouse in Tuscany to taking cooking classes in Florida’s Amelia Island, each of these trips is ideal for bonding, relaxing and learning something new.

Slideshow: See all 15 great girlfriend getaways

Spa vacations

Where: Scottsdale, Ariz.

The details: Every hotel worth its salt has a spa these days, but Scottsdale has long been synonymous with spa resorts. In fact, Scottsdale is believed to have more spas per capita than any other place in the U.S. Unwind at the Willow Stream Spa in the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, where the open-air rooftop pool is a huge draw.

Even if you’re not a guest at the Camelback Inn, you can hang out and use its facilities all day just by booking a treatment at the Spa at Camelback Inn.

At the Sanctuary Spa and Resort in nearby Paradise Valley, carve out some down time in the meditation garden or by the reflecting pond.

Party vacations

Where: Las Vegas

The details: We all know that Vegas is a party destination — lots of pre-wedding celebrations take place here for a reason. Bachelorette antics and blackjack games aside, Vegas also has top restaurants from revered chefs such as Joël Robuchon and Charlie Palmer, more shopping than anyone’s credit card should handle, and affordable hotels both on and off the Strip.

Love everything about Italy except the long flight? Grab the gals for a gondola ride at the Venetian (rooms from $199). Thrill-seekers will love the waterslide-in-a-shark-tank at the recently renovated Golden Nugget (rooms from $59). Now that should get your adrenaline going for some late-night partying.

Culinary Boot Camp

Where: Culinary Institute of America campuses in New York, California and Texas

The details: If you’re serious about food, this Culinary Boot Camp can get your cooking skills up to speed. Admittedly, the boot camp is more of a skills-related immersion experience than a by-the-books vacation, but you and your friends can reap the rewards at dinner parties to come.

Twenty boot camps run year-round for two, three, four, or five days (from $795 to $2,195 depending on the length and curriculum). If you can’t spare that much time or cash, the Culinary Institute of America runs themed Saturday workshops throughout the year (from $250 to $325).

Beach vacations

There’s no shortage of all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean or Mexico, where cocktail umbrellas are basically part of the landscape. Luckily, there are also some upscale hotels and resorts to choose from.

Where: Bermuda

In Bermuda, The Reefs (tel. 800/742-2008; www.thereefs.com) offers ocean views from every hotel room, including the bathrooms. At this luxury hotel, lounging on the private pink-sand beach is all but required. Girlfriend getaway-themed packages may include spa credits or a special three-course dinner.

Yoga vacations

Where: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 

The Prana del Mar in Cabo San Lucas manages to help you unplug — there isn’t even a phone in your room. The eco-friendly retreat center offers yoga and Pilates classes, plus more active diversions such as hiking, surfing, and horseback riding. Weekly rates (from $1,450-$1,900 per person) include seven nights’ lodging, airport transfers, three meals a day and daily yoga classes.

Adventure vacations

There are scores of companies that lead women-only trips around the world. Extremely popular for booking multigenerational travel, these companies can help you plan big adventures.

Adventure Women (tel. 800/804-8686) has been in the game since 1982 and its new itineraries include a 10-day trip called Hiking in the Alps and a 13-day trip exploring the Treasures of Turkey and Istanbul.

Wine vacations

Where: Willamette Valley and Columbia Gorge, Ore.

The details: Wine lovers already know about California’s Napa and Sonoma. For a new type of wine vacation, head up to Oregon’s Willamette Valley for award-winning wines or the up-and-coming Columbia Gorge region for wine tasting among some of the state’s most waterfall-laden geography.

A stay at the Allison Inn puts you close to the 200 vineyards in Willamette Valley, whereas the historic Columbia Gorge Hotel is an hour’s drive from Mt. Hood — still within sipping distance of what wine lovers call “a world of wines in 40 miles.”

Travel Oregon has many suggested routes for both the Willamette Valley and Columbia Gorge regions.

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Article source: http://todaytravel.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/20/10602255-great-girlfriend-getaways

Courtesy of The Equinox

The Equinox in Manchester Village, Vt., was a meeting place for the fathers of the American Revolution and has been offering others comfort ever since.

Ma Bailey couldn’t have been more right in “It’s a Wonderful Life” when he said, “It’s deep in the race for a man to want his own roof and walls and fireplace.” It’s no different when you’re at the mountaintops for ski season or just enjoying time away from home during the chilly months. Curling up next to a classic stone fireplace can be the perfect antidote for a long day of shopping, skiing and sightseeing. And let’s face it: Sometimes spending a lazy afternoon fireside with a good book and a cup of cocoa is the most anticipated part of a traveler’s itinerary.

Slideshow: See these and more hot fireplaces

Departures.com scoured the country to find hotels that offer not just a roof and walls, but also decadent fireplaces to fend off the cold. Park City, Utah’s hillside Washington School House hearth is filled with 18th-century charm, while The Little Nell in Aspen, Colo., features a double-sided fireplace built with local stone. The crackling blaze of The Equinox in Manchester Village, Vt., is the fabled meeting place of the state’s Green Mountain Boys, and over in New York City’s East Village, an urban oasis awaits in the lobby of The Bowery Hotel. And for a change of pace, soak up some southwestern warmth in front of an ornate adobe-beehive fireplace at Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Ariz., or next to the buffalo-adorned one at the Gage Hotel in Marathon, Texas. Here, a menagerie of glowing hearths that would make Pa Bailey blush, from modern architectural marvels to bastions of old-world glamour.

The Bowery Hotel, New York City

Travelers looking to escape the city’s chaos can seek shelter in this hotel’s lobby, which is soothingly lit by a vaulted Gothic fireplace. A mural depicting 19th-century New York wraps around the room, surrounding oversized chairs, sofas and antique wooden newspaper racks alongside the cozy wood-burning fireplace. The atmosphere is casual and unhurried, perfect for lingering guests. Rooms, from $425; 212-505-9100; theboweryhotel.com.

Camelback Inn, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Visitors to the West’s most Western town can kick off their boots and unwind by the fire at this homey oasis in the Sonora Desert. The original adobe-beehive fireplace (installed in 1936, the same year the resort was built) is flanked by vibrant Navajo rugs and plush leather couches — perfect for travel-weary cowboys to sink into at the end of a long day. Rooms, from $160; 480-948-1700; camelbackinn.com.

The Equinox, Manchester Village, Vt.

This legendary meeting place for the fathers of the American Revolution has been serving up comfort by the fireplace’s warm glow since 1769. The original stone hearth from the tavern where Ethan Allen and the militia group Green Mountain Boys once regularly gathered now sits amid the browns, burgundies and old hardwood floors of the resort’s upscale restaurant. Oversized tables and cream leather banquettes make it the ideal spot for guests to connect over a leisurely meal. Rooms, from $200; 800-362-4747; equinoxresort.com.

Hotel Burnham, Chicago

The landmark building, designed by legendary Chicago architects Daniel Burnham, John Root and Charles Atwood, offers an intimate, one-of-a-kind architectural setting. The living-room-style lobby, washed in burgundy and gold, has modern, cozy touches that make snuggling up to the marble-framed hearth an easy segue to happy hour. Rooms, from $160; 312-782-1111; burnhamhotel.com.

The Little Nell, Aspen, Colo.

After a day on the slopes, guests — and their dogs — can enjoy a cocktail around the lobby’s double-sided-wood-burning hearth, crafted using local buff sandstone. Guests seeking a little more privacy are in luck: Each of the 92 Holly Hunt–designed guest rooms at The Little Nell — the only ski-in and -out hotel in the city — have an electric stone fireplace. Rooms, from $265; 888-843-6355; thelittlenell.com.

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Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/08/10613513-fabulous-hotel-fireplaces-to-warm-up-to

Courtesy of Hastings House

Hastings House stands on 22 acres by Ganges Harbor, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.

At these top hotels, fine dining is delivered right to your room.

Sumptuous restaurant meals are one of the decadent pleasures of traveling. But there are times — say, after a long day of exploring or business meetings — when the idea of eating dinner in a bathrobe seems equally compelling. Happily, now that many of the world’s top hotels offer five-star room service, there’s no need to sacrifice haute cuisine for comfort.

Slideshow: See these and more hotels with top room service

Once considered the last resort of weary business travelers (and the subject of Marx Brothers’ comedy), room-service dining has finally come into its own. Gone are the days when hotel guests could expect only defrosted seafood and soggy breakfast pastries on their trays; now, sophisticated dishes made with artisanal ingredients are making their way upstairs. Some are even whipped up by superstar chefs; at New York City’s Chambers Hotel, for instance, guests can order sublime French-Asian dishes from Má Pêche, the ground-floor restaurant run by David Chang (of Momofuku fame).

Among the many other room-service treats you won’t need to lift a finger to enjoy (unless that finger is helping to hold a fork) are lunchtime specialties like Wagyu-pastrami sandwiches (at the Little Nell in Aspen) and custom-mixed cocktails (at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel). The delivery is as memorable as the food at Twin Farms in Vermont, where servers light candles, uncork wine and dim the lights for a private romantic dinner. The pièce de résistance, though, may well be at Le Taha’a, a French Polynesian getaway, where ukulele-strumming canoeists deliver breakfast to guests’ overwater bungalows.

Chambers Hotel, New York City
Known for its in-house art collection (more than 500 works are displayed in the guest rooms and common areas), the Chambers is similarly famous for the culinary artistry whipped up by its resident chef, David Chang. Má Pêche, on the ground floor of the hotel, is the only midtown outpost of Chang’s Manhattan restaurant empire. Order a plate of steamed buns — filled either with lobster; maitake mushrooms and chicarrón (pork rinds); or black-bass tartare and gooseberries — and you’ll understand why Chang’s wizardry has won multiple James Beard awards in recent years. Rooms, from $325; 212-974-5656; chambershotel.com.

Waldorf Astoria Chicago
Set in Chicago’s historic Gold Coast neighborhood, the Waldorf Astoria, designed by renowned local architect Lucien Lagrange, is one of the city’s most sophisticated lodgings. Every guest room here has a proper dining-room table, where staffers arrange flowers, pull out chairs and serve in-room meals on elegant china. The room-service selections from in-house Balsan restaurant include sustainably sourced Alaskan king crab legs, poached lobster on the half shell and platters of house-made charcuterie and artisanal cheeses. Rooms, from $395; 312-646-1300; wachicago.com.

Hastings House, British Columbia, Canada
Set on an island just west of Vancouver, this seaside country resort has suites with private balconies overlooking Ganges Harbour. The view makes a perfect backdrop for an alfresco dinner; among the ever-changing menu items offered by the hotel’s chef, Marcel Kauer, is Champagne-poached British Columbia halibut with green peppercorn and spinach risotto. Rooms, from $295; 800-661-9255; hastingshouse.com.

Le Taha’a Island Resort and Spa, Taha’a, French Polynesia
Like most of French Polynesia’s luxury resorts, Le Taha’a occupies a private islet (or motu), where most guests stay in individual overwater bungalows. As if waking up each morning surrounded by the turquoise water of Taha’a Lagoon weren’t stunning enough, having your breakfast pancakes and tropical fruit delivered to your private deck — by a strumming ukulele player in a canoe — is sheer heaven. Rooms, from $850; 689/507-601; letahaa.com.

Liberty Hotel, Boston
Though originally built in 1851 as a prison, this stately building (converted to a hotel in 2007) is now a place where guests feel grateful to do time. In particular, they’re appreciative of the Liberty’s sleek guest rooms, many with sweeping views of downtown Boston and the Charles River. They’re a lovely setting for enjoying in-house chef Lydia Shire’s New England–style dishes, like crab-cake eggs Benedict, lobster-topped pizza or sumptuous Boston cream cake for dessert. Rooms, from $199; 617-224-4000; libertyhotel.com.

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• Top 25 travel apps
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Article source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/08/10613266-where-to-find-tip-top-hotel-room-service

Gary Arndt / everything-everywhere.com

Kluane National Park, Canada

In the summer of 2011 I took a trip to the Canadian Yukon and visited Kluane National Park. A little known Canadian national park, Kluane is in the southwestern corner of the territory and borders Alaska and British Columbia. The highlight of my trip was an aerial photography tour of the ice fields of Kluane. It was one of the most breathtaking things I have ever seen in all my travels. 

Kluane is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Wrangell-St Elias and Glacier Bay National Parks in Alaska and Tatshenshini-Alsek Park in British Columbia.  

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• Photo essay: The glacier fields of Kluane National Park 
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Article source: http://todaytravel.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/02/10561276-travel-photo-of-the-day-glimpse-of-the-yukon-wilderness