I’m heading off to Antwerp today, for the opening of the Red Star Line Museum, which I’ve already written about and which I’ll be writing more about very soon.

But right now, I just wanted to get down the moment. The way it feels to get back to the melee that is travel, that is air travel in particular. that is being at the airport, and pulling out documents, and finding what you need, and making sure you get it back and don’t leave it somewhere, and then eventually making your way from the check in counter for the airline to join the masses coming from everywhere ad going to everywhere all funneling into one or two or three small points of checkability, security screening, first the gazing at the passport by men in navy uniforms wearing thin plastic gloves and undoubtedly trained to see things and find tells that you have no idea about. Standing there and waiting, as unbelievable jams of humanity wait and wait and shuffle and wait to get past the eyes of these men so they can unload all their possessions into big flat plastic bins and have them scanned for more who knows what in machines that may or may not actually help keep us safe.

But I stopped had to stop, at least  for a while —  a long while — at the passport scrutinizing lines at JFK and could do nothing but stand and since I am traveling and it is best when traveling to assume sponge mode, seize the moment mode, and be aware of everything right right right  now, that is what happened. And I noticed I didn’t understand a word anyone around me was saying. it was just syllables, just lilting sounds imbued, maybe because of some vestigial genetics thing, somewhere deep in my genes, with a note of exoticism. of faraway. of places too unlike my own place to every be fully grasped, understood, appreciated.

Everywhere I put my ears were sounds that  were completely impenetrable, untranslatable to my mind, my reality, my idea of the way things should sound. I could only give up. I stopped trying to make sense of it. I started just listening.

I waited. And let the unfamiliar, the beautiful unfamiliar, blow through the dam of the everyday.

I smiled. Hard.

On  Oct. 1,  2012,  Club ABC Tours disappeared. So did $1,033,245. So did the long-anticipated travel dreams of countless ABC customers.

Today NJ’s Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs filed suit against   the two brothers who ran the Bloomfield-based companies — Club ABC Tours for its  members,  and Club ABC Destinations for entities such as educational institutions, business groups, churches, etc.  The state alleges that Robert S. and Thomas H. Paris were selling packages and taking in money though they were well aware their business was insolvent.  

The State alleges that, for years, the Paris brothers allegedly kept the businesses functioning by accepting payment for future travel packages and using them to pay off already outstanding debts. Eventually the system began to fall apart.  The whole time, however, the brothers made sure they  paid themselves nice salaries.  Oct. 1, at 5 p.m., they locked their doors, and made their escape — stranding hundreds of customers, some quite literally. Continue reading →

Gee, I thought passengers were just holding up progress in the aisle because they were stuffing their stuff in the overhead bins.

Turns out they were wangling deals for better seats.

I had no idea passengers had started bribing other passengers for a little more legroom or a way out of the middle-seat hell. Apparently, as I read in a recent story by Dave Seminara, this sort of free-market scenario has taken wing in the dog-eat-dog (but not peanuts, or, come to think of it, much of anything) world of passenger flights.

I may have been stunned momentarily, but then realized it was another perfectly logical step in the evolution of air travel.   The airlines have already demonstrated that passengers are willing to pay extra for a little extra comfort — big money in the case of business or first class versus coach; or a less steep fee for new beasts such as “economy plus,” etc.

Passenger-to-passenger bribes aren’t illegal. And this sort of action does make sense — at this point, anyway. Passengers are just getting their piece of the upgrade action long monopolized by the airlines. Continue reading →

I’ve attended blessings of animals, blessings of fleets, blessings of new buildings.

I was always going to other people’s blessings. Today, though, I came upon the perfect blessing event: Blessing of the automobiles and travelers!

I was looking for monasteries in upstate New York that were open for travelers — retreats, spiritual recharging, etc. My editor pointed out St. Anne’s Shrine.on Isle La Motte, in  Vermont, actually. In the course of checking out its Web site  I discovered, on its Events page, this blessing of the cars and travelers. Unfortunately it’s today and tomorrow, and I can’t get up there that fast. Well, I could, but  I’d definitely need the blessing before I started out,  to keep me safe from the risk of tickets and accidents I’d be taking driving at 120 mph).

Turns out this car-blessing thing isn’t an isolated incident (what is these days?) Continue reading →

I figured sequestration would only mean disaster for air passengers. Like, OK, let’s put even more stress on the shaky, badly understaffed air traffic control system by REDUCING THEIR HOURS could even be considered simply boggles my mind.

Apparently, I overthink these things. I can be pessimistic when it comes to air travel, I admit it.

Not only have there been no mid-air collisions so far, but apparently the widespread airport delays have been advantageous to at least some passengers — the garrulous single traveler.

MeetAtTheAirport.com, launched in May 2011 as the first dating web site for air travelers, has seen an 800 percent increase in visits to the site since the reality of sequestration began hitting airports earlier this week. Continue reading →

My cabin at the Pine Cone Resort. Since it is on wheels, you could think of it as a wooden cabin RV.

A band I knew had a song that spoke to my personal cultural experience: “Jews Don’t Camp.”

But  they do “cabin.” I snagged  a cabin at a Jersey Shore campground last night, and now have been able to enjoy the whole camping experience, minus the hard dirt floor, the bathroom down the road apiece and the snake in the tent.

OK, well, I could have come in with my recreational vehicle. Which would have been about the same comfortable. But I don’t have an RV (just yet). Also, as I found out today from the owner of the Pine Cone Resort in Freehold, Roxane D’Ambrosa, my cabin is actually on wheels! Continue reading →

I’m headed down the Shore today,  listening to “The  Accursed” by Joyce Carol Oates (just released) on CD. It’s set in  Princeton early 1900s, with hysteria and eerieness very akin to Salem ramping up for the witch trials. So I’m totally  engrossed, at a part where  this dark and sinister stranger arrives and flowers start wilting,
and dying.  Mushily, weepily and, most of all, stinkingly.
And all of a sudden I  smell dead flowers in my car. Not kidding.
Heading toward Princeton, and smelling the podited smells — creepy!

Also disorienting because, tho I’m heading south thinking of beaches,  it’s snowing!
BTW, I’m a big fan of books on tape. They keep me awake and edified. When I can find one that dovetails with my destination, even better. 
So along with “The Accused,” I’ve brought along “Six Years, ” the latest mystery from NJ’s prolific literary star Harlan Coben. Also “Ghost Man,” by Roger Hobbs,with a wondefully breathless account of a heist involving an armored car coming from an Atlantic City casino.

In mid-February I spent a week down the Jersey Shore. Of course I saw signs of Hurricane Sandy’s devastation. I also saw signs of hope, determination and the amazing resilience of the human spirit.

Some of those signs were quite literal: people or whole towns writing out messages and putting them up for anyone passing by to see. Here are a few that caught my eye.

[Show as slideshow]

US News & World Report has just released its lists of Top US and Top Caribbean hotels for 2013. I’ve often looked to USNWR as a reliable source of information on a variety of both travel- and non-travel-related subjects. But still, who needs yet another  best-of list?  If  the original purpose of such lists was to help us separate the accommodation wheat from the fleabag chaff,  the profusion of  lists nowadays means even finding a good list is like lookng for  a needle in a haystack. (Was that a full mixed metaphor, or just a semi-mixed?)

Yes, a good list is hard to find (though they’re available; check out my story on just how to find them). So, though the USNWR lists are relatively new to the field, I think they’re good ones to consider — and to keep watching, as they grow to include more destinations and more types of lodging.

On its Web site, USNWR offers its list-making rationale, as well as specifics of  what goes into its  ratings.  All very well put, so let me quote them here:

“Guidebooks, magazines, websites, apps… There are legions of travel resources out there, all aimed at helping you find the best hotel. Some rely on in-house experts to provide first-hand accounts of cleanliness and customer service, while others gather guest reviews, seeking the truth from the masses. But with so many opinions cluttering the bookshelves and the Internet, researching accommodations can gobble up a large chunk of time. And even after you’ve put in the legwork, how do you know who to trust?

“The U.S. News & World Report travel rankings are based on an analysis of expert and user opinions. We believe this unbiased approach makes our rankings more useful than simply providing our editors’ personal opinions.”

East Tanaka Home, one of the lodging options at Amagani in Jackson Hole. PHOTO COURTESY AMAN RESORTS

Currently the rankings come from a pool of about 2,000 hotels in the US and Caribbean –  all of which fall into the “luxury” category. No doubt this is because of the USNWR demographic, but the editors also note that  “When people ask for guidance about the ‘best’ hotels in a given place, they are typically looking for upscale options.”

They define “luxury hotels” as those that consistently receive a four- or five-star “hotel class” rating — those stars or, in some cases, diamonds awarded by various ratings institutions. The editors add that they hope, in the future  to rank a wider variety of hotels and other accommodations.

Three elements go into the “hotel score” used for rankings — elements you might already look for (if you can find them, if you have the time) when deciding  on accommodations:

• Awards & Recognition (the more prestigious the competition,  the more points added to the USNWR hotel score);
• Hotel Class:  Because star and other types of ratings vary, depending on who’s doing the rating, USNWR checks multiple sources
• Guest Rating:  These are provided by (surprise) TripAdvisor.com. Ratings are weighted by the number of guests reviewing the property in the first place (more on this in a future post).

USNWR points out that the Best Hotels listings are not, at this early stage, comprehensive.   The US hotel list is in its third year; the Caribbean list its first.  The editors expect to expand in he coming months, to include top hotels in international destinations as well as covering more types of accommodations, as already mentioned.

Many hotels on the lists are the usual stars of the hospitality stay:  Four Seasons hotels, for example. And several  properties listed here show up on TripAdvisor’s own Travelers’ Choice luxury hotel lists,  though TA has all sorts of categories for hotel best-ofs.

Still, the USNWR lists manage a nice variety of accmmodations: properties big and small, urbane and cozy. And a few new names. For instance, I’d never heard of the hotel in the  No. 1 spot:   Amangani. After looking into this  little resort atop a butte near Jackson Hole, Wyo.,  and learning its name means “peaceful home” in Shoshone, I’m definitely intrigued).

Along with the best in the country (and Caribbean) are listings of bests for each state; I’ve included the top 10 in the Garden State  for all you NJ readers in search of a quick getaway.

A few final thoughts:

Just because it’s called “luxury,” doesn’t mean it’s out of your budget ballpark.  A room might not be any more expensive than other properties in the area with a similar class rating.  Especially in the off-season, deals can make upscale affordable.

Also, browsing lists  — dependable lists –  winds up  lodging (so to speak) the names of the chosen properties in your mind.   They can provide  reference points in the future. If a place keeps coming up in best-of lists, you can be more certain it’s worth  booking when you plan your trip. And ifyou’re in the midst of a trip and find you’ve got several choices for lodging that night,  any option you recognize from those “best of “ lists can help you decide.

Finally, some bottom-line advice, again from USNWR:  “…even though our rankings of hotels, vacations and things to do are based on a wide collection of independent opinions, the best options for you may not be those ranked #1 or #2. Travel experiences are personal ones. Nonetheless, we hope that our rankings can serve as helpful guideposts as you plan your next trip.”

NOW FOR THE LISTS:

Continue reading →

Shore towns are coming back from Sandy at their own pace — a lot, of course, havin gto do with the amount of damage. Holgate,  Seaside Heights, Belmar, all are still obviously hurting — as far as beaches, boardwalks and ravaged homes are concerned.

In Belmar, where the roads to the beach are still closed, local artists have turned traffic barricades into street art and a declaration of determination and spirit.

It is awful to see, the boards over windows, rows of little homes listing to one side. In Holgate, the road is lined with once-beautiful homes whose two-car garages were swept away in an instant.  They stand now like  ungainly storks staring vacantly seaward, waiting to be put out of their misery by demolition crews.

Yet it seems that the more extensive the damage, the more determined the “victims.”  I hesitate to even use that word. Because all I can think of now is … well, how much I admire these people, many of whom lost everything — homes, businesses, priceless memories and irreplaceable possessions.  Whoe ver is here and working on renovation has a story to tell. Has a plan to survive and thrive and be here because they can’t imagine being anywhere else.

On my first day at the shore, I met a woman out walking her dog in Surf City. Her house suffered major damage, and still needs work to get her CO (I know what that is now: Certificate of Occupancy). It was cold but sunny out,and the water on the bay was flat and twinkling, and ducks were floating placidly — though the bottom of the bay was filled with cars and refrigerators and other swept-away wreckage, she explained.

It has cost $70,000 to get her house in some sort of shape, and she’s still not finished. The new flood lplain maps and regs  will cost her even more to comply.  But she and her family love it here, she shrugs, gazing at the once-dastardly bay. They bought the house for their children to enjoy and inherit. They’re staying.

She’d told me that she was taking a walk with her dog  because it’s depressing in her house. I kept thinking about that, as I walked around beaches and boardwalks and non-boardwalks. A lot of people were out walking. Were all of them too depressed by their houses? Probably not. It’s simply edifying to be outside at the Jersey Shore.

Sandy was a natural disaster, an episode in which nature unleashed her immense power. The environment got rearranged — water and sand went here or there, hugely, and manmade structures had to accommodate it all. Like the forest fires in Yellowstone many years ago, nature pressed its reset button. Walking around today, we can actually see nature at work — destruction as well as creation.

Town officials are adapting, reconstructing with nature in mind, too.

The landscape isn’t what it was. But there is still beauty in nature. The beaches still stretch to the horizon, the sun still shines, the  waves still come and go.   I understand why people stay. And are staying strong.