August 2011 posts for CheapOair and Louisville.com

Check below the jump for my CheapOair and Louisville.com articles from August 2011.

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A Midwestern ‘hello’ from Indianapolis

Throw the ball through the hole and drill Peyton Manning in the head.

Shortly after 10 a.m. today I’ll be hopping on a Greyhound bus for a four-day visit to Indianapolis. Louisville’s been a great jumping-off point for exploring cities in this part of the United States—I’ll be making my third trip down to Nashville in October and, boy, that Chicago city’s something, ain’t it?—and locals here have spoken highly about the Indiana capitol (there’s often envy in their voices).

I’ll be at the Colts-Packers NFL preseason game Friday night and the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Sunday afternoon, visiting breweries, restaurants, and museums throughout my stay. Follow along in real time (Eastern Time Zone, even!) at

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And for a sneak peak, read this article on Indianapolis’s bars I wrote for Gridskipper when the city hosted the Final Four last year.

Thanks to Morgan Greenlee and the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association for sponsoring my trip.

Howdy from Dallas

Greetings from the Grassy Knoll.

I’m in Dallas for two days to take the Fairmont Dallas Hotel’s Art Immersion Apprentice Trip. Despite numerous visits to galleries and art fairs with the hope to buy something more original than a classic rock album cover to hang on my walls, I’ve never been able to pull the trigger. This package features an hour session with Bryan Embry, owner of the nearby Ross Akard Gallery, who’ll help me learn how to make a purchase. (It also includes time with the hotel’s artist in residence and a dinner with wine parings at the hotel’s restaurant, Pyramid.) Afterwards, I’m going to hit the local galleries—Dallas has “the largest contiguous urban arts district in the nation”—and buy me some art.

I’ll also be having lunch with a friend of mine who lives in Dallas, aptly nicknamed “Tex.”

Interested in joining the art experience in real time? Mosey on over to the social media accounts:

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Thanks to the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (specifically Mike Taylor and Katie Norwood) for sponsoring my visit.

ABC’s ‘Travel Now’ shows me (scared) in a Roman gladiator arena

I’m happy with how my web exclusive for the June 2011 issue of Air Canada’s enRoute: “Gladiator Training in Rome: From mere mortal to warrior? It’s all in a day’s work” turned out. But if you require more of a visual than my text and photo provided, watch this installment of ABC’s Travel Now with Karen Schaler:

Unique Vacation: Rome Cavalieri’s Roman Adventure

Karen provides an insightful overview of the Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts’ offerings, but if you just want to see me run around a gladiator ring all scared, it’s at 2:47 and 3:43.

Howdy from Montana

Greetings from me and Little Joe at The Ranch at Rock Creek.

To quote myself, (this site is ZachEverson.com and I’m Zach Everson, so it’s ok): “I’ve long argued to anyone who will listen (so probably no one), that no states in the country are as underappreciated for their natural beauty as Montana and Idaho.”

I’m in Montana for the next nine days, delighting in just how accurate that statement is.

For the next two nights I’m at The Ranch at Rock Creek, a luxury vacation ranch in Montana (for more on The Ranch, read this article I wrote about it for UpTake). After that it’s six nights in Big Sky at the Big Sky Resort’s Huntley Lodge.

Day one at The Ranch at Rock Creek has been amazing. As much fun as my wife and I are having—gourmet lunch, horseback riding, child care—our 18-month-old daughter seems to be having more fun—an abundance of Cheerios, ponies to watch, a fun person to play with instead of Mom and Dad.

Interested in joining the rodeo in real time? Mosey on over to the social media accounts:

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Thanks to the Ranch at Rock Creek and Christina McGoldrick and Meredith Strodel at Victoria King Public Relations for arranging my stay there. And thanks to my wife for letting me tag along with her to her conference in Big Sky.

Photo: Margaret Everson