Ensemble member Alana Arenas (center) and the cast of Steppenwolf’s The Brother/Sister Plays (In the Red and Brown Water) by Tarell Alvin McCraney, directed by ensemble member Tina Landau. Photo by Michael Brosilow / courtesy Steppenwolf Theatre


With more than 250 theatre companies calling Chicago home, at sites ranging from storefront lofts to larger, more plush venues, visitors to the Windy City have a wide range of entertainment choices at ticket prices that often run far less than New York’s. Combined with less-expensive hotels and restaurants, theatre aficionados would do well to plan a Midwest trip to take in some shows.

Your theatre vacation should include the city’s bigger and better known companies, such as Steppenwolf, Goodman and Victory Gardens. Steppenwolf and Goodman often have productions that move on to New York. Their ensembles include some of the finest actors currently on the American stage, along with film/television stars who’ve returned to their live theatre roots, such as John Mahoney and Brian Dennehy.

This past weekend, for example, I was blown away by “The Brother/Sister Plays” in Steppenwolf’s upstairs theatre. The three-play series was written by award-winning Tarell McCraney, 29 – an American writer in residence at London’s Royal Shakespeare Company. While McCraney’s plays, featuring a nearly-all African-American cast, were astonishing the audience upstairs, Steppenwolf’s downstairs theatre featured David Mamet’s “American Buffalo,” co-starring Pulitzer Prize and Tony-award winner Tracy Letts.

  • Chicago Shakespeare Theatre is also not to be missed. It’s located at Navy Pier, one of the most popular tourist site in the city, home to numerous restaurants, museums, shops and sight-seeing boats. Noel Coward’s “Private Lives” and “Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors” are currently in production.
  • If it’s Broadway you’re after, Broadway in Chicago stages productions that have either just come from Broadway or are on their way. Productions are staged in the downtown theatre district, at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts/Oriental Theatre, the Cadillac Palace Theatre, Bank of America Theatre, Auditorium Theatre, and Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place.
  • For a complete listing of what’s playing in Chicago, along with links to half price tickets and theatre Web sites, go to: www.chicagoplays.com. Just click on the date you’d like for a complete list of what’s showing throughout the city. Most theatre companies offer discounted tickets, especially day-of-show. For other ticket deals, go to HotTix, where the League of Chicago Theatres offers great ticket deals each day to some of the city’s hottest productions.

By Anne Stein

The teams are set and the date’s coming up fast. On Feb. 7, tens of thousands of football fans will descend on Miami’s Sun Life Stadium to watch the New Orleans Saints battle the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. While Super Bowl parties are plenty of fun, you may be seriously tempted to find tickets, a flight and accommodations to enjoy the game live.

There are numerous on-line sites offering tickets and Super Bowl packages, but be aware at this late date that costs can be high — though there are a few bargain-hunting tricks.

If it’s convenience you’re after, go to the NFL directly for a selection of eight Super Bowl packages including tickets, hotels and amenities. The NFL site also offers packages including flights, tickets and/or hotels.

The Miami Dolphins, whose home stadium is hosting the event, also offer travel packages.

If you’d rather put your own trip together, check out flights going to both Miami and nearby Fort Lauderdale; budget carriers often fly to smaller hubs. Be flexible with arrival and departure times and dates. Check out the travel sites (such as Orbitz or Expedia) you usually use to book flights and hotels; several are offering Super Bowl packages, as well as discounts on flights and hotels.

Be sure to enjoy other events going on during Super Bowl week. For a list of what’s happening, go to the South Florida Super Bowl site, which also has detailed info on accommodations in the area.

If tickets and travel costs are over your budget at this point, your best bet is to plan ahead for next time. In fact, the National Football League’s announced where the next three Super Bowls will be held:
Super Bowl XLV, Feb. 6, 2011, Dallas
Super Bowl XLVI, Feb. 5, 2012, Indianapolis
Super Bowl XLVII, Feb. 3, 2013, New Orleans
-By Anne Stein

Enterprise keys

by cogdogblog

For the second year in a row, Enterprise, with its fleet of nearly 1 million vehicles, has taken the top honors in the J.D. Power Rental Car Satisfaction Study. The Missouri-based company scored well across the board in six categories: costs and fees, pick-up process, cars, return process, reservation process, and shuttle bus/van availability.

Coming in second place was National, and ranked third was Hertz, which was followed by Alamo, Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Dollar, and Payless.

The survey, released this week, is based on nearly 13,000 responses from leisure and business travelers who rented vehicles at airport facilities from October 2008 to this October.—Hilary Solan

No Tresspassing in Glacier National Park

No Tresspassing in Glacier National Park by Seattle Miles (offline)

Want to submit a shot from your U.S. or Canada travels for consideration as a Picture of the Week selection? Please put a Creative Commons license on it, and add it to our Flickr pool, drop us a line, or post a link to it in the comments.

Vicksburg National Military Park

Vicksburg National Military Park by Brett Gover

It’s 8:30 a.m. and I’m sitting in the pleasant, window-lined breakfast room of Anchuca, a pre-Civil War mansion in Vicksburg that is now an elegant B&B. I’m enjoying a great breakfast—Vidalia onion and ham quiche, cheese grits, thick-sliced country bacon, and a cup of fresh fruit—but there’s a piece of paper in front of me that’s making me a bit anxious.

It’s a list of all of the things I’d to see and do today in Vicksburg, and it runs to some 30 items. There is, of course, Vicksburg National Military Park, the city’s biggest draw. Then there are historic homes—more than a dozen of them. There are galleries, shops, and museums. There are parks and restaurants.

There’s no way I’ll be able to get to all of these places, but could I get to most of them?

Here goes.

* * *

9:15 a.m.: I arrive at the visitor center of Vicksburg National Military Park, which commemorates the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg, a turning point in the Civil War. The Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau has arranged for me to have a two-hour guided tour of the park. I’m greeted by Gary Millett, who will be my guide.

(more…)

Closed rest stop

by _rockinfree

It came as no surprise when the Associated Press reported this week that a growing number of rest areas are closing along some of the country’s busiest roads. As state budgets are getting squeezed at the same time there’s an influx of other roadside stops, from fast food joints to gas stations, the rest area is getting closer to becoming an endangered species. Since you don’t want to get stuck between stops during your holiday travels, this is the perfect time to plan ahead.

  • Visit the websites of the department of transportation for the states you’ll be driving through. The state should have a detailed listing of what rest stops are open. If the information isn’t clear, find an (800) number to call and detail your route to find out the best stopping options. For a list of all state DOTs, click here.
  • If you have an iPod touch or iPhone, consider downloading one of the rest stop apps. There are a few options out there, including a free one, and the data found should be up-to-date. You may want to cross-check this information online. Some popular rest stop apps are Rest Area and Rest Area Finder.
  • Look for the blue hut icons in your 2010 Road Atlas to find rest stops—usually with running water, public bathrooms, telephones, and area information—along your route. Additional information is available at RandMcNally.com.

This is also a good time to make sure the roads you plan on taking will be open. Rand McNally’s road construction page has the latest information and provides alternative routes if necessary.—Hilary Solan

babymoon

by futurestreet

And in the latest addition to travel lexicon, I present to you, blog reader, babymoon.

Babymoon (bā-bē-mün) n. vacation taken before birth of a child.

Looking to take one of your own? Here are some resources:

Colonial Williamsburg

Street scene at Colonial Williamsburg by humbertomoreno

Taking in all the sights and sounds of Colonial Williamsburg is not for the faint of heart, or the under-caffeinated. On my first visit, I was overwhelmed by just how much there was to see. Two museums, dozens of picturesque historic buildings, manicured lawn after manicured lawn—I got pretty tired early on. Thanks to a $5 million gift from the Mars Foundation, opening next Friday will be the R. Charlton’s Coffeehouse, serving complimentary coffee, hot chocolate, and tea to visitors. Not to miss the educational opportunity, costumed interpreters will explain the 18th-century recipes and their place in colonial society to people as they sip from antique cups and sit on period furnishings.

Want to do Williamsburg better than I did? I suggest following one of the itineraries on the living history museum’s website. Itinerary themes include must-sees for first-time visitors and family fun.—Hilary Solan

Reflecting Lake at Luray Caverns

Reflecting Lake at Luray Caverns by cloudsoup

Want to submit a shot from your U.S. or Canada travels for consideration as a Picture of the Week selection? Please put a Creative Commons license on it, and add it to our Flickr pool, drop us a line, or post a link to it in the comments.

cash

by laser2k

One of the most exciting things about travel is all the things you haven’t planned for. From an unexpected roadside cafe to a museum exhibit featuring your favorite artist or a shop with the perfect pair of shoes, there’s just so much you can’t know before leaving home. But not all of these things are so pleasant, but, as seasoned travelers will tell you, that’s to be expected. For those compulsive types like me, who want to control as much as possible, there’s a new website to ease at least one of your travel concerns: bad cell phone service. At DeadCellZones.com, users submit data about spots across the country with bad cell service. Before you book that week-long stay at a certain hotel, it could be worth the time to check that you’ll be able to use whatever mobile devices you’re attached to.—Hilary Solan

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