From the monthly archives:

February 2010

A Mondo Motorcycle Tour

by Alan Rider

Despite a bad wreck, I still love motorcycles with the kind of completely irrational passion normally reserved for sports teams.  And given the fact that bike sales have gone through the roof in recent years, I figure I’m not alone in this mania.
But here’s something few people understand: Even though we might all look the same to the folks trapped inside their shiny metal boxes, there are basically two distinct types of motorcyclists.
The first and by far the largest group generally likes to spend their time polishing chrome or going for a leisurely afternoon ride within a couple hours of home.  Then there are the folks for whom their bike [...]

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Extraordinary Event: Spain's La Tomatina Festival

by Alan Rider

Last night’s post-Super Bowl celebrations in the streets of the French Quarter may have gotten a little wild, but it’s a safe bet they looked downright sedate compared to Spain’s La Tomatina Festival.
Each year on the last Wednesday in August, as many as 40,000 people pack the streets of the tiny town of Bruñol to pelt each other with their share of 45 tons of tomatoes.  In other words, the annual event is essentially the world’s biggest food fight.
Well, it turns out my friend Susie Wyshak was right there in the middle of all the action last year.  Her website, SuperViva.com, is built around the really cool idea of creating [...]

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Celebrate Babe Ruth’s Birthday At Baseball Fantasy Camp!

by Alan Rider

While most of the country’s attention is still focused on football, another group of sports fans are spending this weekend marking the Bambino’s birthday (February 6, 1895) at one of a dozen-plus baseball fantasy camps.
Virtually every MLB team offers these week-long events where amateur athletes can play with—and oftentimes against—baseball legends like Goose Gossage and Bucky Dent.  While each program is slightly different, perks generally include your own team uniform, personalized instruction from some of the biggest names to ever round the bases, one or more daily games, and nightly social events where life-long fans can actually spend time schmoozing with the players they idolized growing up.  Many programs also [...]

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6 Simple Solutions To The Boring Vacation

by Alan Rider

Let’s face it: Vacation days are precious commodities.  So why would you want to squander them on the same old ho-hum travel destinations and activities, especially when you can have a downright mind-blowing experience you’ll be telling stories about for months to come?

Fortunately, all it takes to transform your next getaway from boring to boffo is to make a few minor changes to the way you approach the planning process.  With that in mind, here are six suggestions you can use to help make your next vacation downright unforgettable:
Ditch The Destination Mindset
Instead of focusing on where to go, spend some time thinking about some of those things you’ve always wanted [...]

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A Mind-Blowing Mardi Gras: How To Go From Spectator To Participant in One of New Orleans’ Glitziest Parades

by Alan Rider

I’m looking out at a sea of outstretched arms and upturned faces.  The noise is just this side of deafening, a long pulsating chorus of “Hey, Hey, Hey!”  In response to their pleadings, I’m chucking handfuls of cheap plastic trinkets at the crowd while dressed in an outfit so garish it would make your average clown costume look downright somber.
If this sounds like something straight out of one of those freaky dreams where you wake up sweating and shaking your head, well, you’re close.  Except this surreal scene was very real.  And very, very fun.
You see, while I’d been to a lot of Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans over [...]

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