Max Hartshorne Visits the Lone Star State

Editor, Max Hartshorne writes about the "Wildlife and Nightlife in the Heart of the Oil Patch." While in the Lone Star State, Max gets a taste of southern hospitality and checks some nightlife. Enjoy the excerpt below:

"Beaumont was once bigger than Houston," a local tourism official told me. The city was founded in 1850, and soon after they began to drill for oil. In 1901, after much persistence and despite flocks of naysayers and near bankrupcy, Colonel Anthony Lucas did just that. Pattilio Higgins lost a hand to a marshall's bullet, but he was the man who hired Lucas to drill for oil at Spindletop. Higgins named the boomtown Gladysville.

Today you can visit Spindletop, where a replica of the old boomtown was built and where every year they replicate that famous gusher that spewed 100,000 barrels of oil into the air every day before it was capped.

Flying with Fido

Who knew that jet-setting doggies needed to learn their manners before traveling? In a new article for GoNOMAD.com, travel blogger Jason R. Rich describes the ins and outs of airplane travel with his small dog, and provides readers with an airline by airline guide to carry-on dog policies.
Enjoy the excerpt below:

Dog Etiquette

On the day of your flight, show up to the airport two hours early for a domestic flight. You’ll probably need extra time at the ticket counter and to get through security with your small dog.

Instead of using the automated kiosks most airlines now have at their respective airport ticket counters, when traveling with your dog, you must check-in in-person, pay your pet’s airfare, and show the required paperwork related to your pet’s health.

Before entering the airport terminal, walk your dog. Once you pass through airport security, you’re technically not allowed to remove your dog from his carrier within in the airport, or at anytime aboard the aircraft.

What you do, however, within the airplane’s lavatory is your own business. During long flights, it’s a good idea to allow your dog to stretch out and take a small drink of water to avoid dehydration, which can be done in the privacy of the airplane’s lavatory. You might consider bringing along a disposable wee wee pad for your dog to use on extremely long flights.

Enjoying the Cape without the Hustle and Bustle

Being from a tourist town, I enjoy reading what visitors to my old stomping grounds have to say about the place. The Outer Cape is wonderful to visit during the summer when beach days are plenty and businesses are booming. But, as GoNOMAD's Kathryn Abbott and Kate Cosme discovered on a recent visit, Cape towns like Wellfleet and Provincetown are great to visit in the off season, when places are less busy and you can get down to what really matters: relaxing with loved ones and enjoying the great natural beauty at hand.
Enjoy the excerpt below.




During the off-season it is best to visit Wellfleet on the weekends, as many of the local galleries and shops are not open during the week.

During our stay in Wellfleet we took a couple of trips to Provincetown, the Outer Cape’s most touristy area, located just 20 minutes down the road.

Staying in Wellfleet offers a convenience to the bustling hub of Provincetown’s shops, restaurants, and nightlife, while giving you a quieter setting to come home to.

While touring Provincetown, don’t miss the many beautiful beaches, including Herring Cove and Race Point, at the very tip of the Cape. Provincetown is also much quieter during the week, but after May 1, the Outer Cape’s season slowly gets into higher gear.

To beat the traffic and enjoy the tranquility that comes from being in a great place with fewer tourists, the off-season is the way to go.

Experience Alaska's Beauty without the Carbon Footprint

As discussed in a NY Times article from earlier this year, luxury cruise ships are detrimental to the environment, and when you're looking to spend your vacation enjoying the natural beauty of Alaska, that's a BIG no-no. There is an alternative: All Aboard Yacht Charters (vessel pictured), which caters to groups no larger than ten and promises to show travelers the real Alaska, "up close and personal." While Alaska's luxury cruise tourism has been suffering, here's hoping that a small business like this can hold its own.

Enjoy an excerpt from the NY Times article below:

According to environmentalists, carbon dioxide emissions are just a drop in the ocean when it comes to eco problems on luxury liners. Most ships run on so-called bunker fuel, the cheapest and dirtiest fuel oil, which not only powers the vessel, but also all the amenities on board: restaurants, swimming pools and nightclubs among them. Royal Caribbean will launch its largest ship yet this year, the Oasis of the Seas with a capacity of 5,400 passengers, and its amenities will include a microclimate-controlled Central Park, with irrigation and drainage systems, as well as trees that will tower more than two and a half decks high.

Then there is the issue of waste. A one-week voyage on a large ship is estimated to produce 210,000 gallons of sewage, a million gallons of gray water (runoff from sinks, baths, showers, laundry and galleys), 25,000 gallons of oily bilge water, 11,550 gallons of sewage sludge and more than 130 gallons of hazardous wastes, according to figures supplied by the environmental group Friends of the Earth.