With mid-term elections less than two weeks away, our nation’s would be-leaders are busy kissing babies, shaking hands, and trashing their opponents faster than Mark Foley sends instant messages. Express your civic virtue with a visit to the birthplaces of these American icons (and of course vote on November 7th).

What is more American than cruising the open road on a Harley Davidson? This icon was born in 1901 when Milwaukee resident William Harley designed his first motor-powered bicycle. Harley Davidson has been churning out new models in Milwaukee ever since. At their Wauwatosa factory, you can watch workers assemble the engines that make hogs rumble.

• Flights to Milwaukee
• Hotels in Milwaukee
• Talk to other Kayakers about Milwaukee

“Ahh. cartoons, America’s only native art form,” said Bart Simpson. “I don’t count jazz because it sucks.” Clearly Bart never made it to the Blue Note in New York’s Greenwich Village. Since 1981, this legendary club has packed in the top names in jazz for two shows a night. As part of their 25th anniversary celebration, Chick Corea sets up for two weeks in November and Taj Mahal pays a week-long visit in December.

• Flights to New York
• Hotels in New York
• Talk to other Kayakers about New York
• 3 Night flight and hotel package to New York City from $573

Your friend Jack (or John to Colonel Frank Slade) is always on hand to listen patiently to problems. An hour drive from Nashville in Lynchburg, Tennessee, you can see the slow distilling process that brings Jack Daniels to life. For history buffs, this plant is the oldest registered distillery in the country. Just remember that Moore County is dry, so you’ll need to cross county lines to stock up for your election night party.

• Flights to Nashville
• Hotels in Nashville
• Talk to other Kayakers about Nashville

While you can’t bring home a sample, a Boeing factory tour shows what goes into getting you there. In the largest building in the world, you’ll see 747s, 767s, 777s, and 787s in various stages of testing and development. The nearby Seattle Museum of Flight includes a collection over 150 air- and space-craft, as well as the Red Barn, the original Boeing manufacturing facility.

• Flights to Seattle
• Hotels in Seattle
• Talk to other Kayakers about Seattle

Get the Fare Buzz from your home airport.

Iconically,

Steve Hafner (R-Connecticut, woeful) and Paul English (D-Massachusetts, rationally exuberant),
Kayak.com co-founders

With mid-term elections less than two weeks away, our nation’s would be-leaders are busy kissing babies, shaking hands, and trashing their opponents faster than Mark Foley sends instant messages. Express your civic virtue with a visit to the birthplaces of these American icons (and of course vote on November 7th).

What is more American than cruising the open road on a Harley Davidson? This icon was born in 1901 when Milwaukee resident William Harley designed his first motor-powered bicycle. Harley Davidson has been churning out new models in Milwaukee ever since. At their Wauwatosa factory, you can watch workers assemble the engines that make hogs rumble.

• Flights to Milwaukee
• Hotels in Milwaukee
• Talk to other Kayakers about Milwaukee

“Ahh. cartoons, America’s only native art form,” said Bart Simpson. “I don’t count jazz because it sucks.” Clearly Bart never made it to the Blue Note in New York’s Greenwich Village. Since 1981, this legendary club has packed in the top names in jazz for two shows a night. As part of their 25th anniversary celebration, Chick Corea sets up for two weeks in November and Taj Mahal pays a week-long visit in December.

• Flights to New York
• Hotels in New York
• Talk to other Kayakers about New York
• 3 Night flight and hotel package to New York City from $573

Your friend Jack (or John to Colonel Frank Slade) is always on hand to listen patiently to problems. An hour drive from Nashville in Lynchburg, Tennessee, you can see the slow distilling process that brings Jack Daniels to life. For history buffs, this plant is the oldest registered distillery in the country. Just remember that Moore County is dry, so you’ll need to cross county lines to stock up for your election night party.

• Flights to Nashville
• Hotels in Nashville
• Talk to other Kayakers about Nashville

While you can’t bring home a sample, a Boeing factory tour shows what goes into getting you there. In the largest building in the world, you’ll see 747s, 767s, 777s, and 787s in various stages of testing and development. The nearby Seattle Museum of Flight includes a collection over 150 air- and space-craft, as well as the Red Barn, the original Boeing manufacturing facility.

• Flights to Seattle
• Hotels in Seattle
• Talk to other Kayakers about Seattle

Get the Fare Buzz from your home airport.

Iconically,

Steve Hafner (R-Connecticut, woeful) and Paul English (D-Massachusetts, rationally exuberant),
Kayak.com co-founders

Halloween is a favorite holiday here at Kayak (check out Kayak engineer Ron Lohse’s blog to see how we play). What better way to mark the looming date than traumatizing your kids at these world-class haunted houses? It’ll be a trip seared in your memory.

New Orleans teams with ghost tales and strange activity (and not just on Bourbon Street after dark). New Orleans Ghost Tours offer a walking tour through the French Quarter and a separate tour of St. Louis cemetery. Ever wonder about Anne Rice’s inspiration? The tour also swings past celebrity homes and favorite film locations. Next, head over to the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum in the French Quarter. With any luck, you’ll be able to find a doll that resembles your boss; just don’t forget to purchase extra pins.

• Flights to New Orleans
• Hotels in New Orleans
• Stay at the French Quarter Hotel St. Marie from $76
• Talk to other Kayakers about New Orleans

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO is famous for its portrayal in The Shining. Who can forget the demonic little twins and redrum rants? Rumor has it the ghosts aren’t evil like in the movie, though the entire fourth floor is supposedly a party for ghostly activity. Try to get into room 418, ghosts love to hang out in there. Also worth a visit is nearby Baldpate Inn where founding owners Ethyl and Gordon Mace are said to roam the halls. But hold onto your drinks, Ethyl likes to knock glasses over.

• Flights to Denver
• Hotels in Denver
• Talk to other Kayakers about Denver

Key West packs in the ghosts in its two miles by four miles. A doll named Robert in the East Martello Museum is possessed. His antics include preventing his picture from being taken, moving toys, and tapping on his display case. “Papa” can be found clicking away on his typewriter at The Hemmingway Home & Museum.

• Flights to Key West
• Hotels in Key West
• Talk to other Kayakers about Key West

Pack a necklace of garlic and silver bullets when coming to Romania; you are visiting Dracula’s house. Vlad the Impaler, Bram Stoker’s historical inspiration for Dracula, ruled this area of the Balkans from 1456-1462. A reputation for cruelty secured his legend. Be sure to visit Vlad’s birthplace in the 14th Century town of Sighisoara; Castle Bran (Castle Dracula); and, of course, Curtea Domneasca, Dracula’s palace in Bucharest.

• Flights to Bucharest
• Hotels in Brasov

Want to see Ron’s creations in the flesh? “Party With The Dead” comes alive Halloween Night at 26 Silver Street in Randolph, MA.

Get the Fare Buzz for these haunted vacations from your home airport.

Huddling under the covers,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

“The best of America,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, “drifts to Paris.” This was a man desperately in need of super-sized freedom fries! European cities have long inspired American writers, including your Kayak correspondent, and discounted Fall flights have driven us to verse:

Hey Diddle Diddle
With James Joyce in the Middle
And Ernest running away from the bulls.
It’s time for inspiration
Without the perspiration
Where artists and writers rule.
Don’t want no crying
About the cost of flying
To Europe is what I said!
Flights are cheap in the fall
But that’s not all
It’s even cheaper for a nice big bed.
So check out all the deals
In places that keep it real
Like Paris, Venice and Prague.
And like Peggy Guggenheim
Have a fabulous time.
Break away from your workday slog.

Craft a few bars of your own in these cities favored by expatriate scribes:

Paris was the center for American expatriates in the 1920s, as Fitzgerald noted. Writers and artists like Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Henry Miller, and Anaïs Nin lived, worked, loved, and fought in the City of Light. Visit the English-language Shakespeare and Company bookstore on the Left Bank to pick up their works, or just stroll through Paris’s Jardin du Luxembourg, where Stein walked her poodle. Or pick up a copy of Hemingway’s memoirs and head to the Montparnasse café La Closerie des Lilas, where a plaque still marks his favorite seat.

• Flights to Paris
• Hotels in Paris
• Talk to other Kayakers about Paris

Hemingway also journeyed south to Spain for inspiration. The mad rush of the bulls in Pamplona was a Hemingway favorite; pay homage at the Txoco bar or Hotel La Perla in the Plaza del Castillo. Stroll along Madrid’s Gran Via for a taste of The Sun Also Rises, stopping for coffee at Chicote’s Bar (the setting for several short stories) or the Gran Via Hotel, whose second-floor bar is adorned with photos from throughout Hemingway’s life. The bartender still keeps a collection of Hemingway’s works behind the bar.

• Flights to Madrid
• Hotels in Madrid
• Talk to other Kayakers about Madrid

The gondola-lined canals and mysterious winding alleyways of Venice are another source of inspiration. Robert Browning, Henry James, John Singer Sargent, and Nijinsky wrote, painted, and danced here, and Peggy Guggenheim collected artists (as well as their works) in her palazzo on the Grand Canal. During his stay, Lord Byron passed the time studying Armenian; for our dollar Harry’s Bar, birthplace of the Bellini, provides a less strenuous diversion.

• Flights to Venice
• Hotels in Venice
• Talk to other Kayakers about Venice

“The Paris of the 90s,” Prague enjoyed a long-running reputation as the place for Americans college grads to delay real life for a few more years. The backpackers have mostly drifted away, but Prague remains one of Europe’s prettiest and most artistic cities. Check out the Globe Bookstore and Cafe for recommendations from the die-hard expat group that still calls it home, or get your bearings on the medieval Charles Bridge, where the two halves of the city come together.

• Flights to Prague
• Hotels in Prague
• Talk to other Kayakers about Prague

Want to become an expat? Get the Fare Buzz to these destinations from your home airport.

Planning our own excursion to Europe,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

Bigger isn’t always better. Relatively speaking, of course. Oversized is definitely over-rated. Or put another way, small is indeed beautiful. Knowing these more diminutive places is no petite task however. Lots are so easily overlooked. Yet evey one is a tiny gem. Next time you’re looking for something a little different, check out these small treasures.

Barely 0.2 square miles and wholly surrounded by Rome, Vatican City is the world’s smallest state. Rich in history and art, the Vatican is still big enough to contain Michelangelo’s soaring work in the Sistine Chapel and the crowds who gather to hear the pope’s public addresses. Only a few thousand people actually live in Vatican City, less than the number of visitors in an average afternoon. The guys in the clown outfits are actually soldiers, by the way.

• Flights to Rome
• Hotels in Rome
• Talk to other Kayakers about Rome

His Serene Highness Prince Albert II reigns over the 0.7 square miles of French coastline that’s called Monaco. Everywhere you look there are casinos, palaces and Nice ocean views. Risk everything at the famous Monte Carlo casino designed by Charles Garnier, the architect of the Paris Opera, or simply explore the surrounding Côte d’Azur.

• Flights to Nice
• Hotels in Monte Carlo
• Talk to other Kayakers about Monte Carlo

Significant in everything but land mass, tiny Costa Rica is a great escape from the approaching chill. Rich in rainforest, over a quarter of this country’s land is protected wildlife areas, and these parks and reserves hold about 4% of the world’s total animal and plant species. Up in the Monteverde Cloud Forest you can spot some of fifty species of hummingbirds, including the scintillant hummingbird, which weighs less than a penny.

• Flights to San Jose, Costa Rica
• Hotels in Monteverde
• Talk to other Kayakers about Monteverde or San Jose

Lest we forget our own smaller offerings, Rhode Island, America’s smallest state offers big delights. Every New York robber baron had a holiday home in Newport, RI that would make a McMansion tremble. Since then, it’s been New Englanders who come for the yachting and beachside relaxation. Ordinarily pretty pricey, the fall is shoulder season, so your bill will be inline with the theme of this email.

• Flights to Providence
• Hotels in Newport
• Talk to other Kayakers about Newport

The World’s Smallest Museum is, ironically, located in Superior, Arizona. Here you’ll see just ten display booths in 134 square feet. Each honors the world’s workforce in a unique way. Roadside museums just aren’t made like this anymore. Everyone will be entertained — just please all don’t come at once.

• Flights to Phoenix
• Hotels in Phoenix
• Talk to other Kayakers about Phoenix

Get the Fare Buzz to these small destinations from your home airport.

Yours, small but perfectly informed,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders