NORTHEAST OHIO TRAVEL NEWS

Latest Local & International Travel News, Guides, Information & Planning Tips

Cities everywhere are staging cultural festivals to attract visitors, to boost local economies and to marinate in fresh ideas from elsewhere. Pittsburgh is very much in the game.

On Oct. 10, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will kick off the second Festival of Firsts, a two-week exploration of the latest and most innovative efforts of nontraditional performers from around the world.

A festival brochure describes the offerings as world premieres for eight events "you can't see anywhere else." They include a behind-the-scenes tour of the Carnegie Museum of Art and Museum of Natural History with British performance artist Peter Reder; and a dance version of "Radio and Juliet," performed to the music of Radiohead by Ballet Maribor of Slovenia.

Organized by the cultural trust, the festival is conceived as an accompaniment to the Carnegie Museum of Art's quadrennial survey of global contemporary art, the Carnegie International. The show is now on view through Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009.

The cultural trust hopes, of course, that the luster of innovation will rub off on the city.

Continue reading "Pittsburgh's Festival of Firsts presents two weeks of unique cultural offerings" »

The smells of basil, Chinese food, fish and baked goods linger in the humid air along Penn Avenue, mixing with the sweat and grime of packed sidewalks and outdoor vendors. Children cling to their parents' hands, and young couples stroll leisurely while elderly people zip in and out of stores they have known for generations.

It's Saturday at Pittsburgh's historic Strip District, an area stuffed with mom-and-pop businesses, gourmet food stores and offbeat gift shops. The outdoor seating, international foods, homemade clothing and artifacts, and even high-end, imported spices and cheeses lend this neighborhood an almost European feel.

"It's just a wonderful, gritty environment ... there's a sense of discovery," said Becky Rodgers, executive director of Neighbors in the Strip, a nonprofit group that promotes the area. "It's Pittsburgh's favorite neighborhood."

Pittsburgh is a city of nearly 90 neighborhoods, each with its own story. But the Strip District is one of the oldest, sporting a history that combines the industrial past with the hip image Pittsburgh is trying to portray today.

Continue reading "Pittsburgh's eclectic Strip District boasts unique shops, fare" »

Single women (and even some who are married) are increasingly hitting the road on their own, exploring Mother Earth either by themselves or with like-minded female globe-trotters. The Travel Industry Association of America, a tourism trade group, doesn't keep track of the number of women traveling alone, but if the bumper crop of travel professionals catering to single women travelers is any indication, the group is large -- and growing.

Read more of Plain Dealer Reporter Susan Glaser's story in this pdf file (5 mb).

And you thought the political season was scary. Travel back to an even spookier time during this month's Haunted Statehouse Tours in Columbus.

Billed as a "haunted and historical experience," lantern-led tours through the building's limestone halls will feature ghostly snippets from Ohio's past: president Lincoln lying in state; Lincoln in an unfinished dance with Kate Chase (daughter of U.S. Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase); and a weeping lady in gray.

The tours, recommended for adults and kids over age 10, are offered on the half-hour from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17-18 and 24-25.

Tickets -- $8 for adults, $4 for kids under 16 -- must be purchased in advance. Some have already sold out. Call 614-728-9234 or go to www.statehouseshop.com and click "holiday."

Here's a list of other haunted happenings this month throughout the state:

Continue reading "Lookin' to get spooked? Try HalloWeekends or the Haunted Statehouse Tour" »

Southeast Ohio's new treetop adventure is extending its season to accommodate additional thrill-seekers. Hocking Hills Canopy Tours, initially scheduled to end the season on Saturday, Nov. 1, will operate through November.

The company, in its first year, is open daily through Oct. 31, and will stay open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Nov. 1 through Nov. 30.

The canopy tour includes 10 ziplines, where riders travel up to 70 feet aloft at speeds of up to 60 mph. Platforms and sky bridges offer guests a bird's-eye view of the scenery below.

Reservations are required for the three-hour ride, which costs $75 (children must be 10 and up). For more information, call 740-385-9477 or go to www.hockinghillscanopytours.com.

We don't need no education, but we sure could use a learning vacation. While the kids settle into another school year, those who tossed their protractors long ago can feed their brains on a scholarly holiday. Jot this down in your notebook: Travel plus classes equals one smart trip.

"During the vacation, your mind is engaged in learning," Dorlene Kaplan, editor of ShawGuides (www.shawguides.com), an online source of information about educational vacations, said by e-mail. "And you return home with new knowledge that has lasting value."

Interest in vacations with an academic streak is gaining in popularity. According to a 2006 survey by the Travel Industry Association, 56 percent of travelers said they were interested in taking an educational trip, and nearly 22 percent said their interest was much higher than it was five years previously.

Kaplan defines such excursions as "a vacation in which a credentialed expert provides lectures and/or instruction." That translates to daily classes or hands-on workshops in the subject of your choice (e.g., foreign language, classical music, art, cooking) held in a select destination (Paris, Shanghai, Santa Fe, etc.). Many programs also pair course work with field trips to food markets, museums, ruins, restaurants and other attractions that provide further illumination.

Continue reading "Learning vacations expand your horizons" »

It isn't exactly common to make a house two-thirds smaller or to remove the indoor plumbing. But that's been done at Montpelier, the plantation mansion of President James Madison.

The brick Georgian home at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains has undergone a $24 million restoration with a goal of returning the structure to the way it was between 1809, when Madison was elected the nation's fourth president, and 1836, the year he died. Historians view Madison as the architect of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

"We determined at the outset that it would not be a made-up restoration," said Michael Quinn, president of the Montpelier Foundation, which operates the 2,650-acre estate. "Every part of it would be accurate and would be authentic, and we would restore every room in the house, the cellars where the slaves worked and lived, as well as the dining room and all the bedrooms."

The mansion, built by Madison's father in 1760, remained open for guided tours during the project, and the completion of the massive, five-year effort was celebrated Sept. 17, the 221st anniversary of the signing of the Constitution.

Continue reading "Montpelier restoration gives Founding Father James Madison overdue recognition" »

This land is your land, this land is my land -- from the Hocking Hills to Kelleys Island. Ohioans own 170,000 acres of state parkland spread out over 60 counties, and there's no better time to enjoy it than right now, while the sun is still bright and the leaves begin to change.

So, pick a park -- any park -- and take a hike. Or, if you like your outdoor adventure with more people and more structure, choose one of dozens of activities planned for state parkland in October.

Continue reading "October is a busy month for Ohio's state parks" »