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Rundown
for the Week of July 4, 2003
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to the Whole Show
 Slideshow
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Tennessee's Real Music Highway by Hal Humphreys 
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in RealAudio
Summer is a perfect time to pack up the car, get in and just drive. Hal Humphreys had this in mind when he and his wife, Kim Green, decided to forgo the interstate for smaller roads -- the backroads of "rural nowhere" -- to search for Tennessee's real "Music Highway." While a state mandate made Tennessee's Interstate 40 the official Music Highway, Hal found that to hear the real blues seeping through the walls of the old buildings and spilling on to the sidewalk, you have to get off the Interstate. And, if you search for America's cultural and musical watershed, you'll find that all roads lead to Memphis.
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Slideshow
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Musical Tour of Seldom-Seen Ethiopia, with Anne Marie Ruff
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in RealAudio
Contributor Ann Marie Ruff doesn't just visit different countries -- she sinks waist-deep into the culture around her. During a 3-week trip through Ethiopia, Anne Marie Ruff recorded sounds of various festivals and celebrations she discovered along her journey. As she plays the unique sounds with host Diana Nyad, she explores a side of Ethiopia many of us will never see. Ann Marie shares rich sound portraits of the colorful people she met and their fascinating traditions.
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"Gullible's Travels," an interview with Cash Peters
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in RealAudio
Sure, Savvy Traveler correspondent Cash Peters has new book out called "Gullible's Travels." But don't be fooled by the cover that features a somewhat idyllic, if not creepy, Vaseline-lensed scene of a man in a bunny suit sitting on a dock over a tree-lined creek: inside, you'll find the outrageous and hilarious behind-the-scenes adventures of his Bad Taste Tour stories, where he journeys to some of the worst and most tacky tourist destinations in the world. Cash talks with host Diana Nyad about what it's like to travel to very remote locations -- even though, sometimes, he'd rather not leave the house.
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Checking in on the Cross-Country Road Trip
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Several weeks ago host Diana Nyad interviewed Dr. Peter Crawford Kesling and Charlie Wake, who were about to re-enact the first road trip across the U.S., accomplished 100 years ago by Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson and Sewall Crocker. As Peter and Charlie reach the halfway point of their exhaustive 3,720-mile journey, Diana checks in with them to see how they, and their 1903 Winton Touring Car, are holding up.
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Bus Coaches Get Popular, an interview with Steve Klika from the International Motorcoach Group
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One area of the travel business that doesn't seem to be hurting is bus travel - especially in the Heartland of the U.S. Americans are beginning to discover the convenience of taking trips on these modern, air-conditioned, Internet-ready buses. Host Diana Nyad talks about the rise in popularity of bus coaches in the Midwest with Steve Klika from the International Motorcoach Group.
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Sound Travels Summer in San Francisco
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in RealAudio
On "Sound Travels," where we travel with just our ears as our guide, we're starting a summer series of audio adventures this week. We've asked some of the top producers and sound artists from around the country to give us tours of their hometowns. Over the coming weeks, we'll visit Chicago, LA, New York and Seattle. Today, we're starting off with Aaron Ximm's 2-minute tour of the "City by the Bay," San Francisco.
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Traveler's Aid Insight on the Summer Travel Season
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in RealAudio
For this week's Traveler's Aid, we bring back Joe Sharkey, the business travel columnist for "The New York Times." Since Joe just happens to be one of the most "traveled" people we know, he shares his thoughts on how the recent Transportation Security Administration cutbacks are affecting small and large airports; how, despite long lines at the ticket counters, the big summer travel season is a bust this year; and with Northwest expanding its on-board "food for sale" program, that this really could be the end of airline food as we know it.
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Online resource
 www.nytimes.com: Archive of Joe's articles on The New York Times Web site (registration required)
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Deal of the Week Rocky Mountain Summer Getaway
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in RealAudio
It's getting very hot in most of the country, so it's the perfect time for to take in some cool, crisp mountain air. Good thing our Travel-Expert-in-Residence, Rudy Maxa, is here with this week's deal: Vail's amazing "Wildflower Gotta Getaway Special."
Vail is, of course, best known as a ski destination, but if you've never seen the mountains of Colorado in the summer ablaze with wildflowers, you're missing one of the best seasons in the Rockies. Hiking, biking and rafting are favorite sports. And, the resort towns host an endless array festivals and celebrations to attract visitors. In fact, Vail's Summer Arts Festival is next weekend, and the New York Philharmonic will be in town the weekend after that.
THE DEAL: Vail is offering what it calls a "Wildflower Gotta Getaway Special" through October. It's a package that includes airfare, 4 nights lodging at a Vail condo or hotel, and car rental. The cost from many cities: $555 per person. Now, the price will vary according to your city of departure, but this price includes flights from cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Cincinnati and Chicago.
So, you get round trip airfare to Denver, a rental car -- so you can drive to Vail -- and lodging. As usual, this special price is based on two people traveling together. And, yes, you can increase your length of stay.
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Deal info.
For details and pricing on the "Vail Wildflower Gotta Getaway Special," call 877-750-8245 or visit vailsummer.net.
"Rudy Maxa's Traveler" newsletter at www.rudymaxa.com
Deal of the Week sponsor
Orbitz.com - The travel Web site where your travel missions are accomplished.
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