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The Duke Ellington Jazz Festival is in full swing here in D.C. this week, with over 100 performances in 35 venues around the city. This year's festival celebrates the music of New Orleans, and has a roster of artists -- Harry Connick Jr., Buckwheat Zydeco, Trombone Shorty -- that would make any jazz-hound swoon. While the huge, talent-packed event at the Kennedy Center this coming Monday is sold out, they'll be plenty of (free!) jazz performances on The Mall this weekend, and restaurants and clubs throughout D.C. are hosting acts as part of Jazz in the Hoods. I spoke with the festival's founder, Charles Fishman, yesterday about the events, and in the spirit of jazz, he riffed a bit with me about how it's come together.

"The first year we did three concerts and had programs in 11 different clubs, this year we have over 100 performances in 35 different venues in the city. Jazz in the Hood is going into restaurants, clubs, hotels, and galleries. Some of these places do jazz, but many of them don't. It's pretty overwhelming -- people keep calling us and saying they want to be involved. Working with all these clubs, it's very encouraging to see what the response has been.

"Jazz is the one of the only original American art forms. You need to expose people to jazz: They hardly hear it on the radio, they never see it on television, and the record studios aren't doing diddly squat. These festivals are becoming a force.

"To have two full days on the National Mall for such renowned musicians from New Orleans is an amazing opportunity. I think we're the first jazz festival to dedicate our festival to another city. With the exception of our artistic advisor - everybody is from New Orleans. Essentially we're offering a virtual microcosmic cornucopia of the diversity of the musical heritage of New Orleans, which has driven American culture. But unfortunately, many immortal jazz artists are more appreciated out of this country than in this country."

Fishman encourages anyone coming into D.C. this weekend to make their way to The Mall, and be sure to check out U Street, where much of the city's jazz history is found. As our interview/jam session ended, I thanked him for his time. "That's what we do, we jazz baby," he said with a laugh.

[Duke Ellington Jazz Festival; Schedule of Events]

Photo: Duke Ellington Jazz Festival

Amy McKeever gives us the scoop on the many alternative film festivals taking place in the coming months.

The Cannes Film Festival, which just wrapped up, is renowned for its star-studded red carpets and its glitzy Palme d'Or. But for those of us not fortunate enough to score tickets to this fest in the south of France, there are plenty of lesser-known film festivals throughout North America worth checking out. Here's a round-up of five of the most intriguing small American film festivals.

Disposable Film Festival -- San Francisco, California
San Francisco's Disposable Film Festival is the ultimate exercise in filmmaking democracy - this festival, started in 2007, allows anyone with a cell phone, PDA or web cam to make and submit short films to be judged. Even better, the festival charges a very affordable submission fee of $.99. Although the festival premieres in late January, film buffs can also catch screenings of the films throughout the year (the latest is taking place June 12-14 in Paris at the Forum Des Images). Organizers even hosted a free bike-in screening in San Francisco this month which, like DFF itself, is a refreshingly updated version of an old concept.

Moondance International Film Festival - Boulder, Colorado
Some film festivals strive to do more than simply entertain audiences and honor filmmakers. Festivals such as Boulder's Moondance also aim to improve their community. Through its Columbine Award, this festival emphasizes non-violent conflict resolution and peace-building. The films screened at Moondance relate human experiences and struggles - from racism to body-image issues - in hopes of sparking dialogue and understanding. Moondance also offers workshops, pitch panels and even a Native American blessing ceremony at sunset. The festival runs from September 15-27.

Robin Williams said it best: "If you remember the sixties, you weren't there." But if there's anything to remember about the hippie-loving sixties, it's Woodstock, the iconic music and art fair of 1969. Some 32 artists--including legends Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and of course, Jimi Hendrix--performed in front of 500,000 people on a few hundred acres of land in Bethel, New York.

For years people have tried to recreate Woodstock, but despite their high-profile mud-slathered attempts, none have come close. But this year marks the three-day counterculture concert's fortieth anniversary, and the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is celebrating by offering a whole season's worth of performers, including Earth, Wind, & Fire, Chicago, Peter, Paul, & Mary, Dave Matthews Band, Brad Paisley, and many others.

The Bethel Woods Center is also home to a museum, which will celebrate Woodstock with exhibits like Give Peace a Chance: John and Yoko's Bed-In for Peace, Rock Heroes: Woodstock-Inspired Selections from the Hard Rock International Music Memorabilia Collection, and even a motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers.

The summer lineup starts June 14 and ends September 26, so there's plenty of time to make plans to get up to New York and celebrate Woodstock, twenty-first-century-style.

Did you go to Woodstock? How do you plan to commemorate the event this summer?

In our search for the authentic, we're always on the quest to highlight the homemade - Hungarian chimney cakes, New Zealand cocktails, even Virginia dumplings. But what about homemade music?

On June 13 and 14, Tampa will be hosting the second annual Homemade Music Symposium, a free festival featuring a quirky mix of homegrown musical talent and international business gurus. Originally created to give local musicians the chance to learn industry tips from business greats, the event combines workshops and performances, with an emphasis on public access. Any aspiring musician can meet with legends like Tony Michaelides, a record promoter who served David Bowie, U2, and The Pixies, among others, on the Manchester rock 'n roll scene.

Contributing Blogger Cathy Healy got the scoop from naturalist writer and artist Emilene Oslind on when, where, and how to watch pronghorn antelope in Wyoming this June.



LARAMIE, Wyo. -- Pronghorn fawns will make you laugh, promises Emilene Ostlind, a former natural history photography coordinator for National Geographic magazine. "Fawns have these little snub noses and a funny poof of white hair on their butts that stands up when they get excited. Most does have twins and they're full of energy. If you're lucky, you'll get to see two fawns jump up from behind a sagebrush, drink some milk from their mother and run around, playing and chasing each other."

You can easily find pronghorn in Wyoming if you get off the interstates and onto Bureau of Land Management roads. The state has about half of the million pronghorn in the world, all of which live on North America's western plains. (Map).

While you won't need a four-wheel drive, you will need binoculars or a scope to observe the skittish animals, says Ostlind. Pronghorn are the fastest creatures in North America--they can run away from you at 53 mph. Not only that, but antelope have 270-degree eyesight and can spot movement from two to three miles away. Your advantage is that pronghorn are curious, so they might come closer if you're in your car and not on foot. Or, if you're watching from a hilltop a couple of miles away.

Lost Girl blogger Amanda Pressner is in Australia for a few weeks and is sharing her finds with us here on IT.

Australia may be the poster country for the Endless Summer, but it might surprise you to know that the sun does actually set in the land down under--and the colder months eventually arrive. So how does Oz's largest and most iconic city manage to cope when the mercury plummets (below 60 degrees!), the sky gets dark at 5 pm and winter gloom threatens to set in?

Well, we're talking about Aussies: They throw a party, of course.

This year marks the kick-off of Vivid Sydney, a cultural extravaganza that's designed to turn the city into a living canvas of light and sound during the winter season. The organizers are already calling it the biggest festival of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. Running from May 26th through June 14th, Vivid will feature four major cornerstone events that will take place in and around the city's harborfront.  

The three-week program was originally conceived to give the locals reason to celebrate during a previously sluggish interlude on the Aussie event calendar. Vivid Artistic Director Mary-Anne Kyriakou, who's both a musical composer and a lighting designer, had seen similar festivals in Europe and knew of the uplifting impact that light could have on the mood of an entire city--particularly during the darkest time of the year.

Next week is an auspicious event for beer lovers everywhere: American Craft Beer Week, which runs from May 11-17 and serves as a "national celebration highlighting the culture and contributions of craft beer." Freda Moon got a head start this past weekend, and offers up some other great places to snag a beer and celebrate.

An all-day downpour wasn't enough to keep a record crowd of 5,500 beer lovers from last Saturday's 13th Annual Legendary Boonville Beer Fest. Arriving en masse and in costume for the pirate-themed event, attendees paid $50 a person for four hours of all-you-can-drink access to over 100 beers from 43 craft breweries around the United States. Each was equipped with a five-ounce tasting glass and set loose to drink, dance and frolic in the mud at Mendocino County's fairgrounds in Boonville, Calif.

The festival, a fundraiser for local charities hosted by Anderson Valley Brewing Company, draws both connoisseurs and casual beer drinkers, people who come to taste and those that come to guzzle. Some arrived prepared for the festival's theme and Northern California's weather, wearing elaborate pirate garb or full-body rain gear. Many wore specialized glass holders around their necks to ensure they wouldn't break their irreplaceable, and therefore sacred, tasting glass. (The sound of one of these glasses breaking evokes a roaring, humiliating--if good-natured--howl from the beer fest crowd.) Others donned more eclectic ensembles, combinations of wigs, unicycles, kilts, star-shaped sunglasses and beer stickers on cheeks and foreheads. Because it was raining and the beer was flowing, a handful of participants paraded in nothing but mud and mud-covered skivvies.

Traveler staffer Kimberly Ann Calder is taking her time to stop and smell the roses--literally--and brings us the best flower festivals happening this month.

Although the April showers have continued into May here in D.C., this month is here to greet us with some of the greatest flower festivals, which will help you smell-a-brate...er...I mean, celebrate spring's arrival in the best possible way.

Lilacs

Lilac Festival: May 8-17
Rochester, New York is home to the 10-day Lilac Festival, largest in the U.S. and free of charge. Highland Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, has over 1,200 lilac bushes in more than 500 varieties spread out over 22 acres, with colors ranging from the richest purples to the most delicate of whites. The festival draws nearly 400,000 visitors each year and includes a parade, concerts, arts and crafts shows, and concludes with the annual Lilac 10K road race and 5K Family Fun Run.

Spokane Lilac Festival: May 16
Spokane, Washington has been dubbed "Lilac City" because of the lilac bushes dotting the landscape. Lilac Garden, at Manito Park, is completely devoted to lilacs and is one of the main focal points of the festival due to the wonderful fragrance wafting throughout the garden. The grand parade starts at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday and nearby events include a car show, music, food, and other for entertainment the remainder of the day.

The Mackinac Island Lilac Festival: June 5-14
This Island, off the coast of Michigan in Lake Huron, is a National Historic Landmark. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the island, but with bike, horse, and Rollerblade rentals available right off the ferry, you can access much of the charm that this pedestrian island has to offer. This ten-day festival offers events such as food and wine tastings; gardening and lilac tending classes; a dog and pony show; live entertainment; a 10K run around the island; and the culminating event, the Grand Parade.

Ranunculus

The Flower Fields, now until May 10
The ranunculi are in full bloom in southern California. Nearly fifty acres make up the spectacular display of color draped over the rolling hills in Carlsbad, California. Visitors are encouraged to walk through the fields, take pictures, and enjoy the vibrant beauty up close.

Iris

The Tennessee Iris Festival: April 25-May 2
Dresden, located between Nashville and Memphis, is home to the biggest Iris show in the country. The official opening ceremonies start at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday but every day is packed with activities like the NASCAR Experience, bingo, tasting parties, a carnival, concerts, a parade, a 5K race, a flower show, and of course plenty of Irises. 

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (kicking off this weekend) isn't the only big spring show in town. The Ponderosa Stomp Festival and Concert may not have quite as high a profile, but for eight years the event, organized by anesthesiologist "Dr. Ike," has more than met its mission of "celebrating the unsung heroes of American music."

The 2009 edition, April 28 and 29 at the House of Blues and other venues, will feature the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, the horn section that backed up Al Green, Dan [he wrote "The Letter"] Penn, a tribute to the great piano man/singer Eddie Bo, who passed away this year, and the Jean Knight, whose 1970s hit, "Mr. Big Stuff," is part of the French Quarter soundtrack (you can listen to it here). Knight is hoping recent toe surgery won't keep her from climbing the steps to the stage this year. Marc Silver spoke with the singer about her plans for the show.

Your toe might keep you away?

I can't wear the shoes I want to wear.

What kind?

Oh, I like glitter shoes, I'll be glittering.

Is the Stomp a special kind of concert?

Oh yeah, it's fun. It'll be real packed, packed with people. They love it.

Is "Mr. Big Stuff" your favorite song to sing?

"Big Stuff" is my favorite. But let me tell you, when I came across that song, I didn't like the melody. It sounded like some kind of church song.

Every trip should have a soundtrack, so we've asked CJ Fahey with Nat Geo Music to select artists from their catalog whose songs will inspire you to get going.


If you happen to be in Italy this Wednesday, April 22nd, we've got plans for you: Thousands of people will convene on Rome's famous Piazza del Popolo for a free concert Nat Geo Music is hosting for Earth Day. The featured artist is Ben Harper & Relentless7, and we're also excited to present a band we just signed to the newly-created Nat Geo Music record label: Bibi Tanga & The Selenites. We're even keeping in theme with the day: to offset the carbon footprint of the concert, we'll be planting a thousand trees in a park in Rome as well as acres of trees in Costa Rica.
 
But this is the travel blog, so let me set the scene at Piazza del Popolo. The best way to appreciate the piazza is from above. At the piazza's east end you'll see a terraced path lined with trees that climbs to an overlook in the Villa Borghese gardens called Pincio. From there, Piazza del Popolo and all of Rome, most notably the dome of St. Peter's, spreads before you in a view that's like love at first sight.
 
I lived in Rome for three years and fell in love with the city many times, but most often from someplace high. Whether it's the view of the Garden of Oranges from the Aventine Hill or the front of the Fontana dell' Acqua Paola from the Janiculum Hill (which is actually not one of the original seven hills of Rome), everyone who's lucky enough to explore the views of Rome has a favorite. If you've been to the Eternal City, I'm curious to hear your favorite view, or any experience you had that made you fall in love.
 
Of course, this Wednesday's Earth Day concert will not be the time to catch the view from above the Piazza del Popolo. We hope the piazza is packed with people who love music, but also people who, like us, care about the planet and want to show their support for environmental awareness and action. But if you can't make it to Rome in time, watch the concert live online from 2-6p.m. EST at www.natgeomusic.net. Or at least go plant a tree!

[Nat Geo Music Earth Day Concert in Rome]

In a not-too-well-known wrinkle of history, Lincoln freed the approximately 3,000 slaves then living in the District of Columbia on April 16, 1862, nine months before the country-wide emancipation of enslaved peoples. In honor of that date, Washington, D.C., celebrates Emancipation Day today.

In D.C., Emancipation Day was a public holiday marked annually from 1866 to 1901 before fading away. It's been revamped in the past four years, though D.C. Mayor Fenty has recently considered scrapping the local holiday to save the city some much-needed money.

This year, a series of education and commemorative activities have been planned, ranging from ongoing art exhibits on African American celebrations and culture, to rallies and marches supporting D.C. statehood, to a living history discussion with an actor portraying Lincoln as he discusses his views on slavery, colonization, and emancipation, put on by the Historical Society of Washington. Some events and church services continue into the weekend and beyond. If you can, be sure to catch the discussion by Howard University professor Dr. Mark Mack about how ground penetrating radar is being used to detect the unmarked African American graves which were discovered what is now Walter Pierce Park in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. The session takes place in the park at 2 p.m. on April 25.

Does your city have any celebrations of its very own? Unique to its history and culture?

Photo: via D.C. Mayor's office, by Lateef Mangum

Traveler photo intern Jenn Blatty knows a thing or two about Savannah, and offers an insider's look--plus a few tips--on how to get the most out of a Savannah visit on St. Patrick's Day.

For one weekend in March, over 200,000 people flood the streets of Savannah, Georgia, to drink green beer and join the Irish in the country's second largest St. Patrick's Day celebration.

This year, the festival has two major changes. First, the bars will remain open on March 17 until 3 a.m., removing the city's traditional 1 a.m. St. Patrick's Day shutdown.

The next change could allow for some great mingling opportunities between locals and the tourists. For years the city has enforced a gated-off festival area on River Street where guests wait in line outside the barricades, pay their dues, and enter the party zone. While there are plenty of hangouts on River Street, locals tend to steer clear of this area during St. Patrick's week. This year the gates will be lifted, and without these boundaries locals and tourists can socialize with each other.

If you're one of the lucky tourists, you might even run into what I call the "Legends of Savannah." The "Legends" are an older generation of locals, and the storytellers of the city. They are the ones who, as children, would pluck rings and coins washed up from old shipwrecks down on River Street, before pavement covered the sands. They are the ones who can get around faster by boat than by car, navigating through the maze of the Intracoastal Waterway as if they were driving the city streets, and they can make you a crab cake--from catching the crab to adding the perfect seasoning--from scratch. Look for these locals at 17hundred90, McDonough's, and Pinkie Masters.

For more tips on how to navigate Savannah on St. Patrick's Day, check out ConnectSavannah.com.

Photo: Shutterfool via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

Today, Indians will throw caution to the wind, as well as colored water and powder at one another during the Hindu celebration of Holi, the Festival of Color. Think of it as India's version of Mardi Gras, a day when social norms surrounding religion, sex, and caste are reversed for the sake of a good time.

In most places, the rambunctious, color-slinging Holi is a one-day affair, but the holiday usually begins the night before, or during the early morning hours, with the building of bonfires to honor the Hindu god Vishnu and the triumph of faith and good over evil.

Holi also is celebrated, in various forms, in Bangladesh, Guyana, Nepal, and other countries around the globe.

Photo: Amre Ghiba via Flickr

It's the largest flower show in the world, and it comes every year at a time when most folks are sick of winter. The Philadelphia Flower Show, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, is running now through Sunday, March 8. The theme this year is Bella Italia, which means wine and food tastings, Italian cooking demos with local celebrity chefs, opera singers, and Italian-style gardens with pergolas, stone walls and outdoor living rooms. Plus the usual acres of gorgeous flowers, plants and garden designs.

Professional landscapers, florists, horticultural and educational organizations create full-scale gardens each year at the show, and spend months arranging their displays so that their flowers, trees and shrubs will be at peak bloom. The designers compete for the "Best in Show" Major Exhibitors award in each of their respective categories.

President's Day is fast approaching, and with our nation's (and the world's) newfound fascination with the Commander in Chief, there's a heap of places you can put your presidential passions to educational use.

Drive down Highway 288 South near Houston, Texas, and you can catch a glimpse of six presidents of gigantic proportions. The 18- to 20-foot-tall busts of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, JFK, and George H. W. Bush (a Houston native) were sculpted by David Adickes and will soon become part of Presidential Park. When the park opens in September, all 43 presidents (that's right--Obama might be the 44th, but Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, thus making 44 presidencies but only 43 presidents) will be on display. Obama's bust will be unveiled on February 16.

No presidential site is more famous than Mount Rushmore (named after an attorney, oddly). Officially complete in the 1940s, the park gets some three million visitors a year. The park rangers there host plenty of guided walks and talks, so if you visit this month, be prepared for the cold. Walk the Presidential Trail to get up close to the mountain, and president buffs shouldn't miss the nearby National Presidential Wax Museum.

Abraham Lincoln has been all over the news lately. The media drew parallels galore between Lincoln and Obama: Both thin men of humble origins, each served Illinois for one term in Congress before becoming president. Both our 16th and our 44th presidents arrived by whistle-stop train tour for their celebrated inaugurations; the same bible swore each into office; and both rally their fractious nation through masterful stagecraft as talented orators.

Beyond the Lincoln/Obama comparisons, of course, Lincoln is in the news as it's his 200th birthday this Thursday, February 12th. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has assembled a great website that compiles heaps of commemorative and celebratory events around the U.S. as well as trivia quizzes, background on Lincoln, and even resources for teachers to bring Lincoln into their classrooms.

IT's browsed the Lincoln Bicentennial site and below, share some of the events that caught our eye, starting with our dear District and moving out throughout the country.

Events in Washington, DC

See the Emancipation Proclamation with your own eyes at the National Archives from Thursday through Monday, 2/16. If you swing by on Monday, 2/16, you can also see Senator McGovernor discuss and sign copies of his new book, Abraham Lincoln.

Kids will enjoy interactive events Monday, 2/16, from 9 a.m -3 p.m., at the White House Visitor Center's "President for a Day," where they can chat with Lincoln and craft their own correspondence with quill and ink.

On Thursday at noon, a reading of the Gettysburg Address and performances of 19th-century music will follow a wreath-laying ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial.

The Kennedy Center will host a choral festival of 350 voices to celebrate Lincoln, Monday, 2/16, at 2 pm. Tickets are $10.

The site of John Wilkes Booth's assassination of Lincoln on April 14, 1865, Ford's Theatre reopens after an extensive 18-month renovation. On Thursday from 9 a.m. -5 p.m., the theatre will host a full schedule of speakers, performances, and activities to commemorate Lincoln's life and presidency. Students will read his speeches and a brass band will play Civil War-era hits. The Heavens Were Hung in Black, a play detailing Lincoln's struggles in 1862, premieres.

The National Gallery of Art will screen a documentary about the Shaw Memorial, Saint-Gaudens' sculpture commemorating the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, one of the first African American regiments to serve in the Civil War.

Learn about Lincoln's dramatic death and the doctors who attended to him in his final hours at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. See bone fragments and clumps of hair from his fatal wound. This special exhibit runs through the end of December, 2009.

Stop by President Lincoln's Cottage, his family's home during the summers of the Civil War, at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Northwest DC. Check out its full range of Lincolniana

We can't get enough of love this week, so here, as supplement to our Valentine's Day package, is a tutorial in some of the best American bubbly.
 

Sparkling wine--not to be confused with the traditional bubbly made in northeast France--is made in basically the same way as traditional Champagne, and American sparkling winemakers are popping up in surprising places around the country. One such maker is Gilbert Gruet, of France's Gruet et Fils. After visiting the United States in the 1980s, Gruet decided to plant an experimental vineyard in New Mexico. With its sandy loam (poor soil with good drainage) and microclimate (warm days and cool nights), the hills of the Southwest soon proved to be a prosperous grape-growing region. At over 4,000 feet (1,200 meters), Gruet Winery is one of the highest-elevated vineyards in the country, but the soil and climate make it the perfect place for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, both commonly used in making sparkling wine. Winemaker Farid Himeur moved with the Gruet family from France to New Mexico and told us what to look for when buying sparkling wine.

Gruet Winery uses the traditional méthode champenoise when making its wine. What is the difference between méthode champenoise and the charmat method of making sparkling wine?

Methode champenoise [the method used in Champagne as well] means that you use Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, hand-picking, slow whole-cluster pressing, and of course, a secondary fermentation in the bottle (which creates the bubbles by adding yeast and sugar at bottling). The yeast creates sediment that needs to be removed through the riddling process (turning bottles until they are upside-down). Once the bottle is upside-down with the sediment in the neck of the bottle, we freeze the neck (along with the sediment) and remove the crown cap. The pressure that has built up in the bottle will pop the ice cube (again, along with the sediment) and then we add the cork and wire hood, which is called the disgorging process.
 
The charmat method is the actual fermentation of a whole tank (be it 1,000, 5,000, or 10,000 gallons) instead of a single bottle at a time. The wine is then bottled with bubbles (CO2). This process creates much bigger bubbles that do not last long in the glass.

What qualities should one look for when tasting sparkling wines?

One should look (as with regular wine) at color, effervescence (mousse), and the wine should really be clear (sparkling). But most importantly, the glass should have a ring of mousse along the edge of the wine (called an aura) and against the wall of the glass--the smaller the size of the actual bubbles the better. One of the common mistakes that people make (as opposed to regular wine) is that one should not smell champagne, as all you get is CO2 in the nose. One should swirl the wine in his or her mouth and discover all the flavors of the wine.

Many people tend to drink sparkling wine during a celebration, but don't often consider pairing it to the food they are eating. What particular sparkling wines go well with certain foods?

Sparkling wine goes well with anything, but particularly with spiced food, due to the wine's high acidity. It also goes well with delicate white fish and a light sauce.

Being careful with how you spend your money but still hankering to go on a great trip this year? If you're in NYC this weekend, stop by The New York Times Travel Show, this Saturday, February 7, and Sunday, February 8, at the Javits Convention Center.

The show features seminars on how to score spectacular travel bargains in these troubled times, from industry superstars such as Arthur and Pauline Frommer, Rick Steves, and Samantha Brown. Andrew Zimmern, of "Bizarre Foods," will present, as will travel writer Patricia Schultz, author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, focusing on not-to-miss destinations in the U.S. and Canada. Plus you can catch IT contributor Andrew Evans discuss "Making Your Wildest Travel Dreams a Reality" on a panel with other travel writers and industry experts.

In addition to travel writing seminars and tips on gay, adventure, spa, luxury, and family travel deals, six performance stages will come alive with dancers from India and Indonesia, Mongolian throat-singing, Garifuna music and culture, Tarahumara dance, Greek singer Eleni Alexandris, and many more. You can learn how to brew your own Peruvian pisco sour or taste an array of South African wines.

The $15/day admission fee affords you access to seminars, stage performances, exhibitors, book signings at the on-site Borders, and giveaways galore, including one that really caught our eye, a trip to Nicaragua auctioned off by the Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance. Plus, SeaWorld's bringing some penguins, a toucan, and a sloth for the kids' enjoyment or they could opt to scuba at the heated pool.

The New York Times Travel Show's array of cultural performances and food and drink tastings will surely get you charged up for your next well-planned, memorable, and economical trip.

Photo: via the New York Times Travel Show website

We at Intelligent Travel love Restaurant Week. The concept: Dine on a fixed-price, three-course lunch or dinner to sample a variety of cuisines at a fraction of the cost. Some restaurants let you select items from their full menu, others offer limited menu choices (check the website to see full menus) or specially prepared menus. Beverages, taxes, and gratuity aren't included in the fixed price.

Tip: Lunch is usually the better value and it's often easier to score reservations. New York City and Washington, DC, have been holding restaurant weeks for several years, but newcomers like Chicago and Portland, Maine, are catching on. San Francisco held its restaurant week in January and Los Angeles ends theirs on Feb. 6 (look for the summer versions). Check OpenTable and Chowhound for menus and restaurant reviews or the individual city's restaurant week website. And if you have any cities to add or recommendations on which restaurants to check out, let us know.

• New York City just extended its Restaurant Week from mid-January through February 27. The Dish: More than 150 restaurants are offering a three-course lunch for $24.07 or a three-course dinner for $35.00. Some restaurants serve menus for both meals; several only feature a lunch menu. Check with the individual restaurant whether weekends are included. Who's In? Participating restaurants include Asia de Cuba, 21 Club, Le Cirque, Morimoto, Nobu, and Tabla.                                                                                                        

• Some 130 Chicago eateries have signed on to the city's second annual Restaurant Week held from February 20-27. The Dish: Lunch runs $22, dinner is $32. Who's In? Brasserie Jo, Frontera Grill, Rosebuds on Taylor Street, the Palm, Cape Cod Room, NoMI, and One Sixtyblue.
  

Now I'm not the biggest sports fan, so I'm proud to say that I actually knew that the Super Bowl is taking place this Sunday, February 1st. And I know the Cardinals are taking on the Steelers in Tampa Bay, Florida.

That said, as a fact-checker here at Traveler, I have to admit to not knowing much about the city that'll host Super Bowl XLIII. To make up for this gap in my geographic knowledge, I've done some research and found some cool places to go, beyond Raymond James Stadium, if you're heading down to sunny Florida this weekend for the big game.