Rundown
for the Week of August 8, 2003
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Intimate Kansas City Jazz Session by Laura Ziegler
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On Kansas City's east side, just down the block from the corner of 18th and Vine, the heart of Kansas City's rich jazz heritage, sits a small pink stucco building, the Mutual Musicians Foundation. While the building itself may not be impressive, what's inside is. Since Kansas City is one of the cradles of jazz, and a place where some of the greatest musicians got their start, you can go out any night of the week to hear jazz in any number of venues -- but on Saturday, the Foundation building is where you can have an unusually intimate and authentic jazz experience. Reporter Laura Ziegler sits in for a session.
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The Picnic by Benjamin Adair
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In the northern Mississippi hill country, about 45 minutes south of Memphis, there's a tradition of grand old picnics where the music is even more important than the barbecue. The Savvy Traveler's Benjamin Adair went to the granddaddy of all Mississippi picnics a couple of years ago: Otha Turner's Picnic. It's an event built on the spirit of dropping our differences. We're visiting the picnic again this summer. Otha himself has since died, at the age of 94, and his granddaughter Sharday now carries on the amazing party.
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Related media
"The Picnic": Originally aired on September 21, 2001
Click here to search for other stories by Benjamin Adair
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Cash goes to Barbra Streisand's House(s)
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While we're always giddy with queasiness at Cash Peters' delightful "Bad Taste Tours," we're offering a slight departure from his usual outrageous travels. Why? Well, the destination this time is actually in, well, quite good taste. Cash goes looking for "Babs" as he takes a tour of the diva's former residence -- actually five former residences, all located next to the sea in beautiful Ramirez Canyon Park in Malibu. But not to worry, Cash is as tongue-in-cheek as ever.
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Sound Travels Mongol Music
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Sound Travels, the part of the show where we travel with just our ears as our guide, takes us to Mongolia this week, where two instruments dominate the music: the "Horse Fiddle" and the distinctive, polyphonic throat-signing. Throat-singing is an ancient technique symbolically connecting the earthly and spiritual realms: the base frequency represents humankind trapped on earth; the higher notes are our struggle to reach the spirit world. Throat-singer Nergui Ashiid was recorded by Jack Chance in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
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Traveler's Aid End-of-Summer Travel Tips
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There are just 3 weeks left before Labor Day -- and just 3 weeks to squeeze in a last-minute vacation before the end of summer. Need some ideas and strategies? We've got 'em because we've talked with the experts: Bob Diener, the president of Hotels.com; Anne Campbell, editor of online cruise magazine CruiseMates.com; and Mark Orwoll, managing editor of "Travel + Leisure" and "Travel + Leisure Family." The experts tell host Diana Nyad how to find the hottest bargains online and give their top three travel picks for last-minute end-of-summer travel deals.
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Online resources
Check out our Web resources on end-of-summer travel for more info. on family travel, as well as links for cruising and hotel deals. You really have no excuse to stay home. [Click here for our Web resources.]
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Deal of the Week Surfing for hot hotel bargains
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You need a summer vacation, right, but you didn't plan ahead by booking tickets three weeks in advance. What to do? No worries, says our Travel-Expert-in-Residence, Rudy Maxa. There are still huge airfare deals to be had -- if you know where to look.
Where should you look?
First of all, on airline Web sites themselves. Most major airlines, except Southwest, post on Wednesday morning all kinds of weekend getaway fares. This past week, for example, American Airlines offered the following fares for next weekend. Now, don't bother writing them down because you had to book by last Friday. But there'll be another round this coming week, and these will give you an idea of what's out there:
Round trip between Chicago and Atlanta: $139.
Between Chicago and New Orleans: $139
Between Dallas and Phoenix: $149.
Between St. Louis and DC: $139
On most of these Web specials, you can begin travel on Friday evening and must return by the following Tuesday. So, at most, that's a 3-night getaway.
Want a weekend getaway that includes airfare and hotel?
Visit site 59. This weekend, you could have gone to New York or to an all-blues weekend in Memphis for $271 per person, including airfare and hotel, based on two people traveling together.
What to do if you'd like a longer getaway?
Create you own trip. On Priceline, you can bid on a flight, a swanky hotel, and even score a great rental car.
Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity are increasingly offering discounted travel packages as well. Don't forget, most airlines have vacation arms that will sell you airfare and hotels together. The best part? You often don't have to book more than a few days ahead to get a rock-bottom fare.
Another tidbit:
Even though we're focusing on domestic travel this week... But if getting way out of town after the summer appeals to you, British Airways has dropped its fares to London for the fall and winter this week. If you book by October 15th, you can fly between NYC and London for as little as $218 roundtrip before taxes between Oct. 30th and Dec. 17th.
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