… and other cool info culled from today’s NY Times Sunday Travel section.

Seemed like today’s issue was filled with Big City Fun tips and ideas I just had to share with my Lipstick Getaways girlfriends! New York City, Boston, Toronto, and other cities were all covered today.

NYC Boat Trips

Where River Views Are From the River by Seth Kugel. Fun ideas for seeing Manhattan and its waterfront (and the current installation “New York City Waterfalls” by Olafur Eliasson”) by boat — everything from a $150 trip on the Moet & Chandon America II (includes a Champagne toast, of course), to the free Staten Island Ferry.

Boston: Cool Fashion and Eats Near the new Institute of Contemporary Art

Foraging: Boston Achilles Project by David Kaufman. All about the artsy new fashion boutique Achilles Project, featuring modern men’s and women’s clothing … plus art shows, kung fu flicks, Wiis, xbox 360’s, W-Fi .. and a restaurant, Persephone, featuring modern American cuisine. I’m actually headed to Boston on Wednesday, will try to squeeze in a visit here.

Toronto: Travelers’ Favorites

Toronto: Readers’ Picks Culled from user comments on the Time’s travel section Web site. Where to stay, where to eat, what to do.

San Francisco: Valencia Street, new happenin’ area

Hipster Hunting Ground by Gregory Dicum clues us in on the hip shopping, eating, and lounge-ing on San Francisco’s Valencia Street, yet another formerly-gritty, now urban-cool destinations.

Hope you’re all having a terrific summer!

Go … Have fun!

Carol

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$20 for first checked bag, or free? Priority seat selection? $5, $20, $109, or free? Oversize bag? Meal charges? Beverage charges? And on and on …

The dizzying array of extra airline fees keeps growing and changing by the hour, it seems! Let me share a handy tool that just showed up in my inbox:

Airfare expert Rick Seany, one of the founders and CEO of FareCompare.com (an essential airfare comparison tool, check it out), recently posted a handy U.S. Domestic Airline Fee chart on his blog, RickSeany.com.

Rick compiles the fees charged by all the domestic carriers and displays them in one easy-to-read chart, updated frequently. Take a look at the chart, and while you’re there, browse thru Rick’s blog, and check out FareCompare, one of my favorite sites for at-a-glance airfare comparison, discount first-class tickets, and valuable insider travel tips.

And sign up for Rick’s newsletter, full of airline travel tips and insider info — it’s one of the few newsletters I actually read!

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Just back from a terrific week in Boston!

I drove there with my daughter, helped her get settled into her first apartment as she starts a summer internship there. Then left the car with her (do not try to drive in Boston proper!) for several more days on my own for Lipstick Getaways research.

I’m just about to dig in to writing some detailed Boston content (so keep checking back in the Plan A Trip section), but thought I’d post a few quick notes here first.

In no particular order:

• Excuse me while I gush: I discovered San Miguel shoes on Beacon Hill!

  These are the most amazing shoes I’ve ever worn! Incredibly comfortable (I wore mine right away, and every day the rest of the trip!) … genuinely stylish (I had several women ask me about them) … AND affordable (under $100).I had never heard of San Miguel shoes, but apparently they have a cult following, and … wait, you know what? I just realized I have way too much to say about these shoes. I’ll need to write a separate post about ‘em asap.
  
  For now, let me just say I found my San Miguel shoes at Core de Vie, a wellness movement studio at 40 Charles Street in Beacon Hill, which had just opened up a retail shop, selling a variety of “things we are passionate about” (said the owner): favorite yoga-type apparel, lovely body care products, candles, etc., as well as the glass art work of the owner’s husband.

  You can also order a wide range of San Miguel shoes online from Outersoul.com (I just ordered three more pairs!).

• The South End, just a few blocks south of the Back Bay, is my new favorite neighborhood.

  For a stroll, cobblestone streets (see “San Miguel shoes” below), beautiful, well-tended brownstones, excellent dining, a little fun shopping, great people-watching. Fun, hip area which is still very friendly and “neighborhood-y,” and way less crowded and hectic than Newbury Street (which I still like too!)

• The North End

  A lively, genuine Italian neighborhood, is definitely worth a visit at least for dinner, the bakeries, and gelato; plus a few cute shops.

• Boston Duck Tour

  You see ‘em all over, so I finally checked out this narrated historical tour of the city in WWII amphibious vehicles. I can report that yeah, it’s touristy, but still well worth doing! Not a must-do, but you won’t regret it either. (However, if the weather is fine and you are able to walk, I’d go for a guided Freedom Trail tour instead. A little more history, a little less show-biz.

• Faneuil Hall: Don’t bother.

  Mentioned in a recent MSN Travel article on “The World’s Worst Tourist Traps”, so I thought I should see for myself. (Times Square was listed in the same article, and I do think it’s fun to go there at least once at night, just to gawk.) Gotta say, they were right. It was awful. Faneuil Hall may be where the American Revolution was plotted, but now it’s just a crowded outdoor mall, food court, and tacky souvenir shop. I have no idea why everyone goes there.

• Harvard Square in Cambridge

  Spent a few hours there with my daughter on a Sunday afternoon. Easy to get to by subway, definitely worth a visit (but not a must-do) for some interesting shops and restaurants, or if you want to do a walking tour of Harvard.

• Beacon Hill

  Another great neighborhood for a stroll, a little shopping (that’s where I found those shoes!), and dining. Liked it last trip, still liked it this trip.

• Newbury Street

  Folks say it’s getting too crowded and expensive … and yes, I suppose it is … but still worth checking out, especially if you haven’t been.

More details on all the above, and more, coming soon. I will write them up and post them for you in the Plan A Trip section.

In fact, going to get started on that right away, after lunch!

Carol

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Wow, we are all thinking about gas prices now, aren’t we?

I hear more and more folks talking about consolidating our errands, carpooling, riding their bikes — and more than ever, I grit my teeth when I smugly park my Prius next to a Hummer (or just yesterday — two Hummers next to each other! What are these people thinking?)

So it looks like I was ahead of my time here at Lipstick Getaways!

As many of you know, I am all the public transportation on our Big City getaways.
Of course I was mostly coming at it from a stress-reduction point of view. Who needs the stress and buzzkill of trying to drive, and navigate around an unfamiliar city, while dealing with traffic and parking? I don’t know about you, but I do enough of that in my everyday suburban life!

That’s why you’ll see that pretty much every destination covered in Lipstick Getaways will be a city with decent mass transit.
And for each city, I’ll do my best to give you the info you need to use the subways, trains, and buses.

A confession: I am now pretty confident with subways, but still a little reluctant to ride the buses. For some reason, bus route maps seem a little more confusing; plus the bus goes so slow. But I’m getting over it — a bus ride came in real handy in Chicago and in Atlanta — and determined to do better. Just last night at dinner, my college daughter told me she rides the bus all the time in Boston – so I will check that out when I’m there next week.

Do you use public transportation when you visit a big city?

If not, tell me why not — do you feel subways and buses are unsafe? Is it just too confusing? Do you drive, or mostly take cabs?

I’d love to hear your comments and feedback — and any helpful tips and info you have on mass transit in your favorite city! Just use the Leave A Reply box below, or email me, carol@lipstickgetaways.com.

Thanks, and go have fun!
Carol

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Just back from a fun solo research trip to Atlanta, and am sitting down to update my Atlanta travel info pages.

Unlike my last trip (when I arrived during an unusual February cold snap), this time I had gorgeous April weather — and what a difference that makes! I was finally able to check out some (non-mall) walking/strolling shopping areas: Virginia-Highland, Decatur, and Buckhead’s West Village (all three are well worthwhile) as well as the little strip mall in Buckhead called The Shops Around Lenox (for non-driving visitors, this one is not really worth the trouble of getting there, unless you really want to check out Blue Genes, a terrific, popular, and trendy shop for women, men, and children.)

I also enjoyed a tour of the Fabulous Fox Theatre (thee-AY-ter in Atlanta-speak!). I’d have to say the tour is interesting if you like that sort of thing (as I do), but don’t put a tour at the top of your list. However, the restored landmark theatre itself is truly jaw-dropping, designed and built with over-the-top 1929 opulence to resemble an Arabian courtyard. So if you have a chance to see a show there, by all means do so. You won’t believe your eyes when you enter!

So let me get to work on updating those Plan A Trip pages! Take a look, and as always, please share your own Atlanta favorites! Just use the comment form you’ll see at the bottom of every page (note that your comments will not display right away — first they come to me, then I review and approve them) or email me at carol@lipstickgetaways.com.

Go Have Fun!

Carol

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Ready for The Reveal!

Things might have looked quiet here at Lipstick Getaways — but behind the scenes, we were busy busy busy with our makeover. We’ve vastly improved the navigation, simplified the home page, added a column here and a link there.

In the midst of all this, my PC crashed and I lost tons of data (yes, I did backup, but not quite enough — tough lesson learned) … now I’m a proud and happy Mac user, and looks like Lipstick Getaways is ready to roll again!

Thanks and kudos to Kristy Amy of OnMark Solutions, who helped guide me through this process,listened to my concerns (and they were many!), fielded all those back-and-forth phone calls and emails, stuck with me through a few test (and testy!) versions … and made it happen. Kristy, you rock!

Next up:
– I’m adding content for Atlanta and Boston, and planning to visit both cities in the next 6 weeks.
– Starting to re-tool the newsletter. (To be honest, it was too complicated for me to manage the first time around, which is why there is only one issue so far!)

Keep checking back for more content. And please — feel free to share your Big City Fun tips and resources.

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Yum … Check this out:

Recently posted on Zagat.com’s City Blogs: a Chicago Deep Dish pizza slideshow!

Featured pizza joints include Pizzeria Uno, Pizzeria Due, Edwardo’s, The Original Gino’s East, Giordano’s, and (dare I get in the middle of this? … here’ goes …) Lipstick Getaway’s favorite, Lou Malnati’s.

In addition to the slideshow, you can also find a link to Zagat’s list of other pizza places around Chicago.

Anybody want to share their favorites — thick crust or thin?

Carol

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Had to put the brakes on — temporarily — here at Lipstick Getaways, while I step back, review, and work out how to make it better.

Here’s what happened:

• A couple weeks ago my web designer told me she was giving up her freelance work. (She was offered a full-time, in-house position.) She’s been a terrific resource … best of luck, April!
• Which means I need to find another web person to help with the technical stuff.
• Then I realized, as long as I’m looking for help — what I really need is marketing help. Someone to help me reach as many of you as possible!
• Which means I’m gonna need to spend more money … before I’ve figured out how to make any money.
• So I freaked out for a few days …
• Then met with some wonderful local resources (more on those savvy women soon!) … have another promising meeting scheduled for next week.
• So should be back on track soon!

Stay tuned!Thanks,

Carol

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Just a quick note to share a recent NY Times Frugal Traveler article Sampling the Best of the Northwest’s Bounty (November 25, 2007). Author Matt Gross recounts his affordable weekend in Seattle, spending a total of $392.39 for accommodations, food and drink, taxi and bus fare. Matt says “The secret of a weekend on a budget: happy hour.”

Click on the link above to read the full article, including all the info on where Matt stayed, ate, drank, had fun, and shopped (he’s a guy, so only mentioned one store — the “garage” for discounted outdoor gear at REI’s flagship store).

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You may have noticed that Lipstick Getaways has several sections.

• Free Quickguide! (Up there in the top left corner)
  • If you sign up here, you’ll be able to download my freebie, How To Start Finding The Fun. You’ll also receive my newsletter, Big City Fun Times.
  • However, you do not have to sign up for anything. You can still help yourself to all the content here on Lipstick Getaways.
• Travel Planning Info
  • This is the “meat” of Lipstick Getaways. Think of it as a mini travel guide, specifically focused on helping women find the fun when traveling to a big city. I am spending most of my time on adding content here.
  • The organization for Travel Planning Info is pretty easy and straightforward – find the city, find the category (accommodations, dining, etc.) and see what I’ve put together so far.
  • If you don’t see the info you want, keep checking back. I’m adding as fast as I can!
  • And feel free to contact me to let me know what you need, and I’ll see what I can do.
• Notes from Carol (this is where you are now)
  • For those of you familiar with blogs, I guess this is the ‘bloggy’ part of Lipstick Getaways.
  • The content is organized into categories, and entries are displayed in reverse chronological order (most recent on top). The same entry (post) might be filed under several different categories. For example, a post on Best Boutiques in Chicago and Boston would appear under Shopping, Boston, and Chicago.
  • It’s a more informal way to communicate with you, and may include news on what’s going on here at Lipstick Getaways; interesting articles I want to share from other sources; links to cool sites; contributions and comments from my readers; and sometimes, random stuff that is completely unrelated to travel!
• Recently Posted
  The most recent several articles from any section are listed here. Handy way for frequent visitors to see what’s new.
• Management
  I’m not sure what this is yet. Guess I’d better ask the web guru. I don’t touch it.
• Search
  Doesn’t work right yet. Sorry. We’ll get to it.

Hope this helps you find your way around Lipstick Getaways! Go ahead, poke around, see what’s interesting … it’s all free, I don’t even have anything to sell yet!

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