Sky Bites offers a la carte items for $1 to $4 or combo packages from $4 to $6 in price. Snacks, cookies, crackers, almonds, cheese, vegetables, raisins and more will be sold. The combo meals include a snack and a beverage.

Pay with credit or debit cards.

South off the border
Cancun Hotels
AQUA Cancun and Fiesta Americana Grand are extending their $200 resort credit and lower nightly rates.

The AQUA Cancun offers a rate of $215 for a minimum of three nights. The price is valid through May 31, but must be booked before March 15. The facility includes two celebrity chef restaurants; tastings from the region’s largest selection of wine, tequila and mezcal; and relaxing spa treatments. Call (866) 513-9913 or visit www.feel-aqua.com/credit.

Fiesta Americana Grand, Mexico’s premier luxury hotel brand, is offering reduced rates of $199 at the Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach Cancun and $217 at the Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos.

The $200 resort credit is available with a three-night minimum stay and may be used for dining, beverage and spa services. Call (866) 513-9913 or visit www.fiestamericanagrand.com/loscaboscredit.

New York on budget

The Buckingham Hotel in Manhattan will double your room space from competing hotels starting at $179 a night. Hotel spokesmen note visitors pay $1.28 per square foot at some of New York City’s most popular hotels. The cost is as low as 26 cents at The Buckingham. Nearly four of five rooms at the hotel are 700-800 square feet. They include a living room with pullout sofa, separate bedroom and well-stocked kitchen. Four people can stay comfortably.

Visit www.buckinghamhotel.com or call (888) 511-1900.

Get sappy

Folks in Sunapee, N.H., celebrate New Hampshire Maple Producers Weekend on March 28 and 29. Five inns take part by offering Maple Madness packages that include two night’s lodging, country breakfasts with maple syrup sugar house tours, demonstrations, tastings and more. The Sunapee region is 90 minutes from Boston. Bring your skis. The area has three downhill skiing areas, cross-country ski parks and snowshoe trails. Visit www.newhampshire.com.

While you’re in the neighborhood, you might want to check out North Conway, which was named one of the top 100 vacation towns in the country in a new guidebook, “The Great Towns of America,” by David and Joan Vokac. (Galena was the only Illinois town to make the list.) Price is $23.95. Visit www.greattowns.com.

Indiana wants me

Looking for a place nearer to home? Indiana tourism officials are touting attractions of Illinois’ neighbor to the east.

Fort Wayne is adding an African Journey at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo. Opening this summer, the area will let visitors feed giraffes and sea lions. Hyenas are joining the zoo for the first time. The zoo also has zebras, ostriches, wildebeests and more.

In nearby French Lick, check out Big Splash Mountain indoor water park. Visit southern Indiana where Abraham Lincoln lived before his family moved to Illinois. The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City boasts the farm where Lincoln lived for 14 years. His mom died there.

Take a zipline in Switzerland County along the Ohio River at Dagaz Acres Zipline Adventures, or visit Conner Prairie, a pioneer village and living history museum north of Indianapolis.

Beginning Memorial Day Weekend, the Indianapolis Zoo Memorial Day features 10-foot long Komodo dragons while the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis features 130 treasures of King Tut from June through October.

Visit www.VisitIndiana.com for news on discount travel packages, lodging and more, or call (800….

To see more of The Pantagraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pantagraph.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800… or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2188731/

Sky Bites offers a la carte items for $1 to $4 or combo packages from $4 to $6 in price. Snacks, cookies, crackers, almonds, cheese, vegetables, raisins and more will be sold. The combo meals include a snack and a beverage.

Pay with credit or debit cards.

South off the border
Cancun Hotels
AQUA Cancun and Fiesta Americana Grand are extending their $200 resort credit and lower nightly rates.

The AQUA Cancun offers a rate of $215 for a minimum of three nights. The price is valid through May 31, but must be booked before March 15. The facility includes two celebrity chef restaurants; tastings from the region’s largest selection of wine, tequila and mezcal; and relaxing spa treatments. Call (866) 513-9913 or visit www.feel-aqua.com/credit.

Fiesta Americana Grand, Mexico’s premier luxury hotel brand, is offering reduced rates of $199 at the Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach Cancun and $217 at the Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos.

The $200 resort credit is available with a three-night minimum stay and may be used for dining, beverage and spa services. Call (866) 513-9913 or visit www.fiestamericanagrand.com/loscaboscredit.

New York on budget

The Buckingham Hotel in Manhattan will double your room space from competing hotels starting at $179 a night. Hotel spokesmen note visitors pay $1.28 per square foot at some of New York City’s most popular hotels. The cost is as low as 26 cents at The Buckingham. Nearly four of five rooms at the hotel are 700-800 square feet. They include a living room with pullout sofa, separate bedroom and well-stocked kitchen. Four people can stay comfortably.

Visit www.buckinghamhotel.com or call (888) 511-1900.

Get sappy

Folks in Sunapee, N.H., celebrate New Hampshire Maple Producers Weekend on March 28 and 29. Five inns take part by offering Maple Madness packages that include two night’s lodging, country breakfasts with maple syrup sugar house tours, demonstrations, tastings and more. The Sunapee region is 90 minutes from Boston. Bring your skis. The area has three downhill skiing areas, cross-country ski parks and snowshoe trails. Visit www.newhampshire.com.

While you’re in the neighborhood, you might want to check out North Conway, which was named one of the top 100 vacation towns in the country in a new guidebook, “The Great Towns of America,” by David and Joan Vokac. (Galena was the only Illinois town to make the list.) Price is $23.95. Visit www.greattowns.com.

Indiana wants me

Looking for a place nearer to home? Indiana tourism officials are touting attractions of Illinois’ neighbor to the east.

Fort Wayne is adding an African Journey at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo. Opening this summer, the area will let visitors feed giraffes and sea lions. Hyenas are joining the zoo for the first time. The zoo also has zebras, ostriches, wildebeests and more.

In nearby French Lick, check out Big Splash Mountain indoor water park. Visit southern Indiana where Abraham Lincoln lived before his family moved to Illinois. The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City boasts the farm where Lincoln lived for 14 years. His mom died there.

Take a zipline in Switzerland County along the Ohio River at Dagaz Acres Zipline Adventures, or visit Conner Prairie, a pioneer village and living history museum north of Indianapolis.

Beginning Memorial Day Weekend, the Indianapolis Zoo Memorial Day features 10-foot long Komodo dragons while the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis features 130 treasures of King Tut from June through October.

Visit www.VisitIndiana.com for news on discount travel packages, lodging and more, or call (800….

To see more of The Pantagraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pantagraph.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800… or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2188731/

NEW YORK — New York City has issued an open challenge to Las Vegas, seeking to become a premier destination for people to get married in what officials hope will boost tourism during uncertain economic times.

The new Manhattan Marriage Bureau opened to the public this week following a $12.3-million renovation, and the 2,230-square metre space has won enthusiastic reviews from newlyweds.

“We’re taking Las Vegas on,” said First Deputy City Clerk Michael McSweeney. “The city hopes to advance New York not just as a tourist destination, but as a marriage destination.”

But will it be enough to unseat Las Vegas — known for quick weddings presided over by Elvis impersonators — as the U.S. wedding destination capital?

In 2007, New York City issued about 66,000 marriage licenses, including more than 21,000 licenses in the borough of Manhattan, city records show. Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, issued 108,963 licenses in 2007, a spokeswoman at the city’s tourism office said.

Applying for a marriage license in Las Vegas, where there is no required waiting period, is still less cumbersome than in New York, where couples must wait 24 hours after filing a marriage application before holding their wedding ceremony.

NYC & Company, the city’s tourism agency, said the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park hotel has already created a wedding reception package tied to the new location, and the agency said it plans to market New York as a wedding destination abroad.

It has been something of a pet project for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a mayoral spokesman said. Jamie Drake, who decorated the mayor’s Upper East Side townhouse, was hired to oversee the design.

The former location, where couples have obtained marriage licenses and held civil ceremonies for almost a century, was long derided as cramped and unromantic.

Women, some dressed in elaborate bridal gowns, were obliged to pass through metal detectors and freshen up in an ordinary public restroom. There was no place to buy flowers.

Still, thousands of New Yorkers were married there over the years, including famous couples like Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft in 1964 and, in 2005, the actor Matt Damon and Luciana Bozan.

The new space, which is the length of a city block, features the building’s original marble with brightly colored furniture and ornate chandeliers.

“We thought it would be like an office. But we came and it’s actually really nice,” said Michelle Tablada, 35, who works in the medical field. “We had perfect timing.”

Unlike the previous location, where couples waited in multiple lines, couples now fill out forms at computer terminals and proceed to a clerk, where a system offers help in 170 languages. They wait on plush green sofas.

Couples are invited to bring music on iPods or CDs to personalize the ceremony.

A gift shop sells flower arrangements, costume weddings bands for $9 and New York City memorabilia, like Empire State Building salt and pepper shakers.

The metal detectors are gone and the women’s restroom is outfitted with full-length mirrors and a vanity table.

“It’s more classy, more elegant,” said Kim Ashley, who waited with her girlfriend, Bessie Haile, to get a domestic partnership certificate, though they are barred from a ceremony as a same-sex couple. “It’s better for the occasion.”º

http://www.canada.com/Travel/story.html?id=1172682

By now you’ve probably seen dozens of tips about how to save money on travel. Given the lousy economy, that’s an appropriate focus this year. I know of only three basic strategies to keeping travel costs down:

1. Shop wisely. This one is a no-brainer: If you shop wisely, you may not have to make any other compromises. Fortunately, you can find plenty of guidance. Start with the many free Web sites, bulletins and e-letters about available deals as they arise. These sources keep you informed about current promotions quickly enough to take advantage of short purchase windows. Use online tools that help you decide when to buy, such as Hotwire’s TripStarter ( www.hotwire.com/tripstarter), FareCompare (deals.farecompare.com) and DealBase ( www.dealbase.com). Consider opaque buying through Hotwire or Priceline – if you’re sure you won’t change your plans.

2. Go down market. If you’ve decided where and when to go, stay in two-star rather than three-star hotels, for example, or stay in a vacation rental rather than a resort; eat in neighborhood or ethnic cafes rather than restaurants on everyone’s “best” lists; use public transportation rather than taxis.

3. Lower your sights. If nothing else works, you’ll have to make serious compromises with what you really want to do. Examples: Head somewhere closer than you’d hoped; stay fewer days at your destination; stay in the countryside instead of big cities; travel during low or shoulder season; fly on low-fare midweek days; golf at public courses instead of Pebble Beach or Pinehurst. Although all of those techniques work, they involve serious compromises. For example, Scottsdale, Ariz., may be cheaper in August than in February, but it’s a very different product in August, and flying midweek may be cheaper than escaping Friday afternoon, but you could lose several days of vacation time.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/13/TRNO15R3P3.DTL

“Vacationing along Mexico’s shorelines is an increasingly popular choice with travelers from around the world,” said Mike Dobson, President of ThereArePlaces.  “The coastal areas of Mexico feature great weather, fantastic beaches, good diving, almost unlimited water sports, game fishing, interesting sightseeing and lodging to suit the needs of those looking for luxury or an eco-friendly approach to vacationing.”

About ThereArePlaces

ThereArePlaces  is a fast growing website that offers two distinctive sections: Vacation Destination Guides and a section on travel advice called “Things Travelers Need To Know.”  The Destination Guide section covers top destinations in forty of the world’s most popular countries for vacation travel. As put by the Company president Mike Dobson, “Our commitment is to provide travel advice that might help you take the journey of a lifetime.”

ThereArePlaces is a property of TeleMapics, LLC, a business focused on Geospatial Information, including travel, tourism, and other location based services (www.TeleMapics.com).

http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=76263&cat=1

UNDATED – The best getaway this spring break may be the ability to get away with a deal.

While consumers are cutting back on their spending, hotels and airlines have been cutting back their prices, hoping to to stimulate what is otherwise known as a slow travel season. The deals that are usually reserved for January through March are being extended as late as May.

Travel agents and farewatchers say the best deals won’t be the typical spring break destinations, such as Cancun or Miami Beach. Agents say Europe would be a good choice, since the economy has hit international flights harder and the dollar is stronger than it was a few months ago.

Another good way to save money on travel is to let search engines such as TravelZoo.com or AirfareWatchdog.com bring the deals to you.

If you are a student, sites, such as STATravel.com and StudentUniverse.com negotiate discounts with airlines for students. All that is needed is a valid school-issued e-mail address.

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1597436

From coast to coast

Since the “Last Spike” completed the transcontinental railway in November 1885, travelling by train has been the favourite way to see Canada. Thanks to panoramic windows and dome cars, the big country rolls by while you sit back and relax. Page & Moy’s Trans-Canadian Railroad Adventure (0870 833 4012; www.pageandmoy.com) starts in Toronto, takes in Jasper and Banff, then continues to Vancouver aboard the Rocky Mountaineer train. This 15-day escorted tour includes some meals, excursions in Toronto and Vancouver, a side trip to Niagara Falls and more, from £2,199.

* Canada: introduction and basics
* Wildlife and activity holidays
* City breaks and resorts

For the budget conscious, Travelsphere (0870 240 2426; www.travelsphere.co.uk) has a 17-day Across Canada escorted trip that also begins with Toronto and Niagara Falls, but goes on to Montréal and Québec City, followed by Calgary and the Rockies, Vancouver and Victoria. From £1,699, including internal transport and city sightseeing.
Fly-drives

With English as the common language and miles of well-maintained and open highways, go-as-you-please, fly-drive holidays are a pleasure – as long as you resist the temptation to cover too much ground. In the east, towns and attractions are closer together, with plenty to see along the way.

Ontario and Québec have been neighbours and rivals for centuries. Compare and contrast francophone and anglophone Canada on a two-week Canadian Affair fly-drive (020 7616 9184; www.canadianaffair.com). Its Ontario, Québec Highlights itinerary takes in the big city buzz of Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City, as well as the natural beauty of Algonquin Provincial Park and Niagara Falls. From £799.

In the west, classic fly-drives start or finish in the gateway cities of Vancouver and Calgary, traversing the Rocky Mountains. Like a 3,000-mile long spine down North America, the Rockies are at their most majestic in western Canada. A natural border between Alberta and British Columbia (always referred to as BC), they encompass the national parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay, natural playgrounds for hiking and riding, river-rafting, walking onto glaciers, and even bathing in natural hot springs.

Although most tour operators list this standard itinerary, they are happy to tailor routes to fit your requirements: extra nights in Banff and Jasper, perhaps, or time to explore the Pacific coast. Prices range from budget to luxury. For example, Holidays2Canada (0800 9…; www.holidays2canada.co.uk) has a cost-conscious fly-drive package that begins in Calgary, includes the mountains and ends in Vancouver – from £989 for 11 nights.

By contrast, Bridge & Wickers (020 7483 6555; www.bridgeandwickers.co.uk) books you into Fairmont and other resort hotels for its Peaks & Grapes circular route from Vancouver. The “peaks” are in Jasper and Banff; the “grapes” in the Okanagan Valley, home to many of BC’s award-winning vineyards. Eleven nights cost from £1,571.

North Americans love touring in recreational vehicles that eliminate the cost of hotels and reduce the price of meals yet retain the freedom of the road. Connections (0800 988 5845; www.cnww.co.uk) has two weeks in a 27ft RV that sleeps four and comes with power steering, air-conditioning, bunk beds, kitchenette, fridge and shower. For a trip from Calgary to Vancouver, budget £1,265 per person, based on four sharing, including transfers, one hotel night on arrival, 950 free miles and one-way drop-off fee.

Often an add-on to West Coast visits, the 280-mile-long Vancouver Island deserves to be a destination in its own right. Walk along miles of empty Pacific beaches and into rainforest with ancient 200-ft (60 metre) tall cedars. Go whale watching to get up-close photos of orcas, minkes and greys. Fly by float plane to Knight Inlet and spy on grizzlies. Spend time in Vancouver and Victoria, the provincial capital, where nearby Butchart Gardens are Canada’s answer to Kew. Golden Canada’s nine-day Whales, Bears & Vancouver Island package (0845 085 8080; www.goldencanada.co.uk) costs from £1,694.
Rail and coach

With so much to look at out of the window, drivers can feel short-changed. The answer is to travel by train or coach. Although the rail routes between Vancouver and Banff/Jasper are the best known, there is magnificent countryside ready and waiting to be seen elsewhere. Rocky Mountaineer’s Fraser Discovery Route links Jasper with Whistler (00800 0606 7372; www.rockymountaineer.com), while Via Rail’s Skeena Line connects Jasper and Prince Rupert via Prince George on the Pacific coast (084…; www.1strail.com).

North American coaches are luxurious. Titan HiTours (0800 988 5824; www.titanhitours.co.uk) has a popular 14-day Canadian Rockies and Vancouver tour from £1,745 that also has time in Victoria. For a coach trip with a theme, consider the Hidden Treasures of the Maritimes, new for 2009 with Explorations by Collette (0800 804 8705; www.colletteworldwide.com). In a small group, you taste local wines and eat some of the world’s best seafood in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

As well as natural wonders, such as the Bay of Fundy’s fierce tides and water-sculpted Hopewell Rocks, you also see “economuseums”. These specialist craft workshops produce and demonstrate the making of maple syrup, quilts, and more. The cost is from £2,349 for 10 days, including breakfast, some lunches, dinners.
Cruises

Cruise on the east coast; cruise on the west coast; now cruise the Northwest Passage. Long dreamed of as a short cut from the Atlantic to the Pacific, this could soon become a reality as the Arctic warms. As well as Billy Connolly’s television show, see the special Northwest Passage exhibition at London’s National Maritime Museum (May 23-Jan 2010). For the real thing, fly to Nunavut and follow the route of ill-fated explorer Sir John Franklin. Frontier Canada (020 8776 8709; www.frontier-canada.co.uk) has an eight-night Northwest Passage itinerary through the Arctic Archipelago with the award-winning, Inuit-owned Cruise North. You’ll the Inuit and see musk ox, walrus and narwhals, plus polar bears, whales and icebergs. From £3,935 per person, including all meals and excursions.

More conventional is a Titan HiTours (080…; www.titanhitours.co.uk) cruise on the St Lawrence River, through the 1,000 Islands. The 750 mile-long St Lawrence is the “main road” that connects Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. Villages, forts and private estates stand on the banks; islands galore dot one of the prettiest sections of the waterway. Travel aboard the Canadian Empress, a replica Victorian steamboat; stop in Ottawa, Montréal, Toronto, Kingston, as well as Upper Canada Village, a living history museum that takes you back 150 years. The cost is from £2,475 for 11 days, including full board on the cruise.

On the west coast, cruising from Vancouver to Alaska has long been holiday. Why not potter around the islands of the Inside Passage, using BC Ferries’ network of routes (www.bcferries.com)? An exceptional trip is to the remote Queen Charlotte Islands, or Haida Gwaii, the home of the highly-artistic First Nations’ Haida tribe. See their monumental carved totem poles and log-built long houses at the new Haida Heritage Centre in Skidegate. Wild and beautiful, Haida Gwaii is accessed by ferry from Prince Rupert, itself known for its fine museum, fishing and grizzly bear watching.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/northamerica/canada/4567550/Canada-An-insiders-guide-to-road-rail-and-cruise-holidays.html

Demand from UK holidaymakers for package holidays, coupled with capacity cuts, is helping Tui Travel meet its margin targets in spite of pressure on discretionary spending.

Holiday bookings are expected to be flat, Tui said in an interim management statement , and the trading environment was challenging. But it said: “We are achieving our load factor and margin targets due to our ongoing management of capacity, and we expect this to continue through the summer season.”

The group, formed last year via the merger of Tui and First Choice, said it was well positioned to meet expectations for the year.

UK average selling prices for the summer 2009 season grew 11 per cent over the past 10 weeks, against a fall in sales of 10 per cent, well ahead of cost inflation of about 6 per cent.

Peter Long, chief executive, said: “The booking cycle is where we anticipated it would be.”

Bookings for all-inclusive holidays were up 20 per cent on last year, while Turkey and Egypt were among medium-haul destinations in demand as holidaymakers looked to avoid eurozone countries because of sterling’s weakness. Mr Long added that Britain’s cold snap had prompted holidaymakers to turn their attention to summer holiday plans, with online traffic markedly up at the start of this week.

UK capacity has been cut 17 per cent and there was scope for further reductions. Mr Long said Tui could take another 2 to 3 per cent of capacity out of the market. “I don’t believe demand is going to fall to the extent that more than 20 per cent of our customers are not going to go away,” he said.” I do not think we are struggling to fill holidays.” A similar pattern emerges in other countries. Germany and the northern region have seen capacity cuts of between 14 and 16 per cent, on a sales decline of 11 to 12 per cent.

Tui said its UK consumer research showed that 87 per cent intended to take an overseas holiday this summer, the same percentage as last year, with 94 per cent of those planning a package deal.

Tui shares rose 18p to 242½p.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6c17468-f3f0-11dd-9c4b-0000779fd2ac.html

At least two Marshall women were on a Southwest Airlines flight to Las Vegas Thursday, Feb. 5, when fumes entered the cabin, causing discomfort and forcing the crew to activate oxygen masks, according to Las Vegas media reports. Flight 756 landed safely, but six people, including members of the crew, were taken to hospitals for treatment, according to a Las Vegas television station report. Of the 116 passengers aboard, two — Sharon Mills and Donna Zahn — were from Marshall. Mills and Zahn were both interviewed by Fox television in Las Vegas after the ordeal was over. About 20 minutes before the plane landed passengers began noticing a strange odor that made breathing difficult. A Las Vegas police official said the odor was caused by an electrical problem.

http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1499923.html

I love martinis. I average about two a year, usually here in Las Vegas, where they are known to spawn. A cold glass of beer is a splendid sight, and a glass of Chardonnay has a lovely sort of moon glow. But a martini comes with that great stiletto heel.

And after the first sip of my very first martini, I become disoriented and hopelessly lost. We’d arrived in Vegas at 5 p.m., Posh and I, and by 6 we are sitting in a cocktail lounge at the MGM Grand, me sipping a vodka martini, her one of those cosmos, pink as a baby’s butt.

“Where to next?” I say.

“We just got here,” Posh says.

“We have to keep our fluids up,” I say.

“We do?”

“Follow me,” I say, and head off in the completely wrong direction.

For me, Las Vegas is one long sobriety test. Can I get through the revolving door alive? Can I keep from losing a foot on the escalator? I swear, if Vegas were a cruise ship, I would’ve fallen overboard years ago.

“This way,” I say.

“No, I think it’s this way,” Posh says.

She’s absolutely right. My wife is younger than me and has better eyes. In fact, she has magnificent eyes. And a Cheshire smile. Wait . . . that’s not Posh. That’s someone else’s Posh. Poshhhhhhhhhh!!!

“I’m over here,” she says.

OK, that’s it, I’m switching to beer — a far superior lubricant anyway. Vodka is for losers, the hooch behind most failed Eastern Bloc regimes. Beer is better. In the right light, a glass of beer looks like the Lombardi Trophy.

Fifteen minutes later, we’re sitting in an Irish pub in New York New York, which is like heaping falsehood upon falsehood. There is nothing Irish about this pub. There is nothing New York about the desert.

What to make of Vegas. The place both fascinates and repulses me. I like the audacity of it all, and the energy too. I can skip that whole high-roller shtick — the big cover charges, the limos and the bottle service. Go with it if you like; it’s just “not my bag,” as Sammy would say.

But for people-watching, good food and a little fun, Vegas is fine by me.

“Are you 21?” I ask Posh as we head into a casino.

“Yes, finally,” she says.

“Good,” I say. “Because you look so young.”

In fact, we’re celebrating what she tells me is her 21st birthday. To mark the milestone, I’ve scheduled spa visits and romantic dinners. We might see a show, though many of the good shows are dark and I refuse to take her — the mother of four redheads — to see Carrot Top. It’s the very thing we’re fleeing.

http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-erskine7-2009feb07,0,3593039.column