Roadtripping

A $442 ride in a pedicab?

OK, maybe it is a little hokey, but why not take a tour of New York’s Central Park by pedicab? Here’s why not: because some drivers apparently use their own math rules to calculate the fare. That’s how a family of four — two kids sitting on their parents’ laps — got charged $442 for a 12-minute ride through Central Manhattan. It was the most outrageous example of what one councilman called the “predatory, deceptive practices” of some pedicab drivers — and it’s why the city is now looking at cracking down on the drivers. Read the full story here.

Photo credit: Mary Altaffer/Associated Press

Florida's ghost tours

From St. Augustine, oldest city in the United States, to Key West, one of the most youthful, Florida has ghosts -- or at least it has ghost tours. As you're making your Halloween plans, keep them in mind. Florida Travel + Life has rounded up five ghost tours from around the state. Check them out here.

Help in choosing a cruise

How do you choose a cruise — especially if you’re a first-timer? The lines that cater to Americans offer about 150 ocean-going ships, and on top of that, dozens of ships ply the rivers of Europe. The choices can be overwhelming. This guide from Fodor’s will help you narrow down the list as well as give you an idea of what to expect. Bon voyage!

GPS maps: Apple vs. Google

The reaction we hear most to the new Apple maps that replaced Google maps on the iPhone 5 is negative. The Apple maps, it would seem, are less accurate that Google maps. But here’s a voice with a different point of view: Anick Jesdanun, technology writer for Associated Press. Jesdanun argues that the benefits of turn-by-turn voice direction and re-routing that come with the new Apple maps outweigh the errors on the maps. I had been hesitant to download the Apple maps on my iPhone 4s until I read his article. I should add that I rely on my Garmin GPS unit, which does have voice directions and recalculates if I (intentionally or not) make a “wrong” turn. But as I learned on my last road trip, GPS units don’t live forever – or behave consistently well – and I need to have a back-up on my iPhone. So I’ll be downloading Apple’s new maps. Read Jesdanun’s story here and see what you think.

27 places designated as U.S. historic landmarks

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday that it had designated 27 new sites as National Historic Landmarks, (including the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, above) bringing the total to about 2,500. The National Park Service, which administers the landmarks, defines them as “a historic building, site, structure, object or district that represents an outstanding aspect of American history and culture.”

I have to admit that I’m not clear on how significant it is to be granted landmark status. The vast majority of National Historic Landmarks are in private hands — less than 400 of the 2,500 are owned by the federal government. The main benefit is that it gives the owner access to grants, loans and tax incentives. The designation doesn't require that the landmark be open to the public, although some grants may. 

The states with the most landmark sites are New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts — New York alone has 266, more than 10 percent of the total. Florida, by contrast, has 43. The “landmark” designation also includes ships, shipwrecks and shipyards — about 135 of them.

There are also national monuments, historic parks, historic landmark districts, memorials, and several categories of battlefields — and then, of course, the National Register of Historic Places, which has more than 85,000 sites. The landmarks are included on the National Register, but the key difference is that the landmarks are of national significance, while most sites on the register are of state or local significance.

Here’s a story on the newly designated sites. If you’re interested in visiting historic sites, check out the National Park Service’s “Discover Our Shared Heritage: Online Travel Itineraries,” which suggest self-guided tours of historic places.

Photo credit: Deborah M. Baker/AP

Ski season has opened in Colorado

Is it ski season already? At Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, it is. After 12 days of snowmaking, Arapahoe opened one lift and one trail Wednesday morning and reported that hundreds of skiers lined up to take to the slope.

We’re getting scattered reports of snow and snowmaking from around the country. Loveland Ski Area, also in Colorado, expects to open shortly. In Maine, Sunday River Ski Resort has started making snow and hopes to open before Halloween. And Heavenly Mountain Resort at Lake Tahoe got its first snow of the season last week, although not enough for skiing. Opening day at Heavenly is scheduled for Nov. 16.

Top photo: Skier at Arapahoe on Wednesday. Credit: Jack Dempsey/Arapahoe Basin

Bottom photo: Season's first snowman at Heavenly. Credit: Heavenly Mountain Resorts

On the road: bike-sharing programs

If you like to include bicycling in your travels, there’s a way to do that without bringing along your bike. A growing number of cities around the world have established bike-sharing programs, where people pay a membership fee, an hourly fee or both to use bicycles set up at stations around town. In many cases, you can take the bike from one station and leave it at another, so you’re not constantly circling back on your explorations. Fodor’s reports that there are more than 300 organized bike rental programs worldwide with a fleet of over 250,000 bikes.  The largest in North America? Washington D.C. Read the full report here.

Road trip in a micro-car (twice)

I reported earlier on this blog that I was trying out a couple micro-cars — the Smart Fortwo and the Scion iQ — to see whether I could recommend them for road trips. The answer: Yes, as long as they are short trips. Read the full story here. But first, here are a couple anecdotes:

The Smart Fortwo parked under a tree at Sebring International Raceway.

The Smart Fortwo is slow with a clunky automatic transmission. I wanted to know just what it would do. I was at Sebring International Raceway on a weekday when the track had no events scheduled. A gate blocked access to the track, but a long, wide stretch of tarmac runs behind the grandstands — the racetrack started life as an air field — and I couldn't resist. I stomped on the accelerator and hoped no one in the track offices would notice.

The car slowly chugged along, hesitating each time it changed gears. It accelerated so slowly that I'm not even sure accelerating is the correct verb. By the time the car hit 45 mph, I was halfway to the exit and knew that no one was going to flag me down and tell me I couldn't race there because I still wasn't going fast enough for anyone to notice.

The Scion iQ, parked at the Miami Herald. 

The Scion iQ, by contrast, is zippy. Not that I could roar away from a stop and pass a car that was accelerating. But it's also noisy -- so much so that Siri, the assistant in my iPhone, couldn't understand me over the constant buzz of the engine. It took three attempts before she understood I wanted her to send me a reminder that evening. Finally she got it and asked, "What should the reminder say?"

"I need to take my camera to work tomorrow."

" 'I hate to go to work tomorrow.' OK, I'll remind you."

Hmmm. Better not ask Siri to send a message to the boss when I'm in the iQ.

Road trip attraction: A play about Zelda Fitzgerald

One of the highlights of my road trip to the Carolinas was a performance of “Zelda: An American Love Story,” a big, Broadway-style musical based on the life of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald and set in Asheville, N.C. The production was at the Flat Rock Playhouse near Asheville, where Zelda, diagnosed with what is now known as bipolar disorder, lived the last years of her life in a sanatorium and died in a hospital fire in 1948.

I enjoy seeing theatrical productions when I travel, and watching this play performed in the community where the story was set was a bonus. The lead actors were Broadway veterans — one was a Tony winner — with voices that could belt out the big songs.

I thought “Zelda” should have been Broadway bound. My friends and I were totally absorbed. Afterwards, I was surprised to learn that the play has been in development for seven years — an earlier version of the play was produced in 2005 and aimed at Broadway — but that it had not yet gotten close to the Great White Way. The “Zelda” team is still shooting for a Broadway production, and I hope the show makes it.

The moral of the story: Don’t limit yourself to Broadway shows, especially when you travel. It’s a great time to take a chance on regional theater. If you’re interested in “Zelda,” click here; the show runs through Oct. 28.  

 

Halloween events around the country

What’s up for Halloween around the country? Parades (like last year's Village Halloween Parade in New York, pictured above), haunted houses, zombie walks, and pumpkin-tossing contests, as well as the usual costume parties and trick-or-treating. Some events, like theme park parties, are not for the squeamish-of-wallet. Others, like many parades and zombie walks, are free. Here is a sampling of Halloween-themed events across the USA. And if you’re thinking about marking the haunted time of year at one of Florida’s theme parks, be sure to read Hannah Sampson’s review of the scariest events here, and check details of all the theme park parties here.

Photo: Tina Fineberg, AP