… 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!

Filed under: Air Travel, Budget Travel, General, Travel Tips | No Comments »

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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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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The November 2007 issue of Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel highlighted five reasonably-priced hotels in San Francisco: Hotel Tomo, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Hotel Beresford, Orchard Garden Hotel, and Galleria Park Hotel. Rates range from $89 to $189. (You can find a link to the Budget Travel article by clicking here.)

Before sharing them here with you, I thought I should did a little deeper. So I checked out the traveler’s reviews for each hotel on TripAdvisor and Expedia. Here’s what I found out:

BEST BETS
Of the five budget hotels mentioned in the article, Orchard Garden Hotel and Hotel Tomo (now Best Western Hotel Tomo) garnered the most consistently positive reviews.

Orchard Garden Hotel is a new, eco-friendly 86-room boutique hotel right next to Chinatown, near Union Square and the Financial District. It’s actually the second most popular SF hotel rated in TripAdivsor.

Best Western Hotel Tomo is a 125-room boutique hotel in Japantown (close to the Fillmore Street chic boutique shopping area) with a fun Japanese pop-culture vibe. Reviewers noted that it’s much nicer than you might expect from the Best Western brand.

LOOKS PRETTY GOOD
Reviews were mixed — but mostly positive — for the Galleria Park Hotel, an Art Nouveau property conveniently located in the Financial District/Union Square. This historic 177 room hotel has been fully restored and all rooms recently renovated.

A BIT MORE IFFY
Hotel Beresford and Sir Francis Drake Hotel both got decidedly mixed reviews.
Sir Francis Drake Hotel is an historic hotel in Union Square. While many reviewers were delighted with it’s charm, location, and cleanliness, quite a few others complained of tiny rooms, noise, and poor service. (To the Drake’s credit, the manager David Watkins reads and responds to most reviews.)
As for the Hotel Beresford, my biggest concern is it’s location right next to the seedy Tenderloin district. Many reviewers were uncomfortable with the numbers of homeless people near the hotel. On the other hand, many others were pleased with the location, cleanliness, and especially the price (the Beresford is the cheapest of the five hotels).

I can’t wait to get out to San Francisco to do my own research!
In the meantime, please feel free to share your favorite San Francisco accommodations — budget, mid-level, or luxury. Just type your comments in the box below (comments get sent to me and I review them before posting) or email me at carol@lipstickgetaways.com.

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As another busy holiday air travel season approaches, seems like I can’t open a newspaper or magazine, turn on the TV or radio, or surf the web without running into dire warnings about how dreadful air travel will be, along with helpful tips for easing the stress caused by long lines, delayed and canceled flights, and lost luggage.

We’ve all seen most of these tips before, but I for one can always use reminding. In that spirit, I’ve culled some favorite air travel tips to share with you.

Avoiding and dealing with delayed or canceled flights:

• Try to book an early morning departure. Afternoon and evening flights are more likely to be delayed or canceled.
• If possible, avoid the following airports, which account for 70% of the nation’s delays: Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Houston, Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark, and Philadelphia.
• To check on-time records for specific flights:
  • Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Government site, official but confusing. Or instead, try:
  • FlightStats.com. Easier-to-find, easier-to-understand star ratings.
• Check in and get your seat assignment online before you leave home (less likely to get bumped).
• Before you leave for the airport, call the airline or check online to verify that your flight is on time.
• Program the airline reservations phone number into your cell phone (and your travel agent’s number if you used one). If your flight is canceled, you can call the airline right away to rebook — faster than standing in line. (Some airports also have phones for just that purpose.) Also program number of your hotel so you can notify them of the delay.
• Be prepared: have on hand snacks, bottled water (if it gets late, the airport concessions might close), books, diapers, feminine supplies, a toothbrush, etc.
• If problems arise, be nice to the gate agent. For one thing, it’s just right. Plus the nasty, yelling customers will (and should) will the worst service and the worst seats.

Avoiding and dealing with lost luggage

• Almost goes without saying — Pack light, use a carry-on, and don’t check you bags! But assuming you need to check ‘em:
• At least pack your essentials (medicines, valuables) in your carry-on, plus anything you really need the first day or so.
• When traveling with family members, “cross-pack” a little — i.e., don’t have each person have all their stuff in one bag. That way, if one bag gets lost, that person doesn’t lose everything.
• Get to the airport early. Late check-in is a major cause of lost luggage.
• Consider shipping your bags ahead, via services like FedEx, Luggage Concierge, or Sports Express. It can be costly ($50 per bag and up) but sometimes the convenience is well worth it.
• Put your name and address, and include a copy of your itinerary, on the inside of your bag.
  
• Tie a ribbon or something distinctive on your checked bags, to help avoid mix-ups at baggage claim.
• Take a digital-camera or cell-phone photo of the contents of your packed bag before you check it. When you claim your luggage at your destination, open the suitcase and compare what you see with your picture. If anything is missing, file a complaint immediately at the baggage claim office.
• If you do need to file a complaint for lost baggage or theft, get the phone number of that specific claim office (not just an 800 number) and the name of the agent who helped you … then follow up frequently.
• Remember to leave any gifts unwrapped.

Getting through security: Don’t be the clueless idiot who holds up the line for the rest of us! (ahem, my dear good friend who did this, you know who you are!)

• Check with tsa.gov or your airline’s website for the latest regulations. For now, the liquids thing is: 3-oz containers of liquids (yes, toothpaste and lipgloss counts, solid deoderant does not) packed (not crammed) into a 1-quart, zip-top plastic bag, one bag per customer. Liquid medications (inhalers, eye drops, etc.) do not count toward the maximum — put them in a separate 1-quart zip-top bag.
• Before you get in line, have handy all the stuff you need to remove. No last minute fumbling! Take out your zip-top bag of liquids, be ready to get at your laptop.
• Try to dress for quick screening – slip-on shoes, easy layers, no big metal buckles or jewelry, including body jewelry.
  
• Have your freakin’ ID and boarding pass handy (but secure, like in a handy zippered pocket) fer cryin’ out loud! Who doesn’t know this by now?

I’ll bet I missed some great air travel tips — please feel free to share yours! Just type in the comment box below (they go to me, I approve them, then they get posted) or email me, carol@lipstickgetaways.com.

Now … Go (try to) Have Fun!

Carol

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I just returned from a last-minute weekend getaway to Toronto with my friend Shirley. This was about my fifth trip to Toronto, although it has been several years since the last visit.

I’m sorry to say, both Shirley and I agreed that Toronto was not quite as lively and fun as we remembered from past visits. Partly it’s because we have changed (older and more well-traveled now); also we heard that the city is still recovering from the economic effects of the 2003 SARS epedemic. And of course, the spending was more fun back when we had a favorable exchange rate!

But not to worry — after several missteps, we did find some fun, and you can definitely have a great time in Toronto!

Here’s are my Toronto QuickNotes:
(I will provide details and links within the next week or so)

YES: FUN AND WORTHWHILE

1. Distillery Historic District.
2. Bata Shoe Museum.
3. College Street (Little Italy).
4. Art & Design District, or West Queen Street West (that’s not a typo: West Queen Street West (west of Bathurst) as opposed to Queen Street West (between University and Bathurst).
5. A few favorite restaurants:

• Holt Renfrew Cafe in Yorkville for lunch or cocktails.
• Fresh. Fast (and busy and noisy), nutritious, delicious, vegetarian eat-in or take-out. Three locations: on Bloor @ Spadina, Queen Street West @ Crawford, and spadina @ Richmond.
• Coco Lezzone on College Street in Little Italy. Sophisticated, fun Italian.
• Bistro 990 at 990 Bay Street (@ St. Joseph) about 3 blocks south of Bloor/Yorkville. Charming French bistro menu, gracious service.

NO: THESE WERE DISAPPOINTING:

1. Queen Street West
2 . Kensington Market.
3. The oft-mentioned view from the Roof Lounge at the Park Hyatt.
4. The Artisan Market at Yonge-Dundas Square.

MAYBE: IT DEPENDS … The following did not work out for us, but are still worth considering, depending on the weather, or what’s scheduled when you’re there, or what sort of fun you are looking for.

1. Yonge-Dundas Square.
2. Yorkville.
3. Eaton Center.
4. Live @ Courthouse for jazz.

FUN STUFF WE DIDN’T GET AROUND TO ON THIS TRIP:

1. Performing Arts. Toronto has a fabulous range of top-quality theatre, dance, comedy, and opera offerings, and I’ve usually taken in at least one show; just not this time. I will provide performing arts info for you as I develop the Toronto trip-planning section.
2. Major museums: Royal Ontario Museum (but we did get a street view peek at the stunning new Crystal gallery thrusting out on Bloor Street), Art Gallery of Ontario (also undergoing major renovations), and The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art.
3. Harbourfront Centre. Very popular; I’ve never been … almost went this trip but our concierge sort of made a face and recommended the Distillery Historic District instead (which we loved, see above). Have you been here and do you recommend it?
4. Casa Loma. I enjoyed this historic home on a past visit.

That’s it for now … next up are QuickNotes from the Chicago trip two weeks ago (I’m working backwards, I know) … then more detailed Trip Planning Info for both cities. Stay tuned, and thanks for visiting!

Go … Have Fun!
Carol

* What’s a QuickNote? I just now made it up. I thought it might be handy to give you a quick post-trip list of what was fun, what wasn’t, what I learned in a particular city. Sort of a “just the facts, ma’am” note, with details — addresses, subway directions, websites — to be provided later. That way, I can jot things down while they’re fresh, and you can have some quick, easy info.

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So I went to that Ladies Who Launch Live event on Saturday — wow, was that ever stimulating and inspiring! All these smart, curious, creative women buzzing with energy and ideas to launch. I’m reading the book, I’m all signed up for September’s incubator group, can’t wait!

One of the speakers was the hilarious author, speaker, and syndicated humor columnist Lisa Earle McLeod, whose new book is “Finding Grace When You Can’t Even Find Clean Underwear.” She had us all nodding in recognition and howling with laughter. One thing she talked about that really struck me was about the hormone oxytocin.

Oxytocin is a bonding, nurturing, calming, and all-around “feel-good”hormone, especially for women. Lisa talked about how oxytocin is released under three conditions: childbirth, nursing, and being in the presence of female friends.

It seems that our natural tendency to reach out and spend time with our girlfriends has a real physiological basis to it!

I was so intrigued that I researched this a little more on the internet. A landmark UCLA study published in 2000 looked at how women responded to stress, and suggested a “tend-and-befriend” response (instead of, or in addition to, the “fight-or-flight” response we’ve all heard about — and for which the research was all done on males!). It seems that women respond to stress with the release of oxytocin, which stimulates us to care for our young and to reach out to other females. Then when we are in the presence of other nuturing females, our oxytocin levels rise even more, stress is reduced, and we feel calmer.

So pick up the phone, call a girlfriend, get together for coffee, a walk (in the middle of typing this — I swear this is true — my BFF Shirley called and we scheduled a picnic and hike at the Arboretum tomorrow!) … or better yet, plan a big city getaway!

You know when you come back you’ll be calmer, happier, and ready to cope with life. The science is behind you on this one!

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