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Smithsonian Institute

The Smithsonian Institute is one of the most famous, non-governmental, attractions in Washington, DC. The iconic "Smithsonian Castle," is just one building among many that makes up the famed Smithsonian Institute. The full Institute is comprised of 19 individual museums, plus an additional 156 affiliate museums, and nine research centers.

 

Who was Smithson and why is there an institution named after him?
James Smithson was a British scientist who let his fortune to nephew in his last will and testament in 1826. He noted that if his nephew were to die without an heir, that his fortune should go“to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”
Smithson had never been to the United States, nor did he appear to have any ties to or acquaintances there. No one has ever truly understood what his motivations were in establishing an institution in such a far away place. But when his nephew did die in 1835 without an heir, the Smithson inheritance went to the United States.
Six years after Smithson's death, President Andrew Jackson announced the bequest to Congress. On July 1, 1836, Congress accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust. In September 1838, Smithson’s legacy, which amounted to more than 100,000 gold sovereigns, converted to US currency, the gift amounted to more than $500,000. After eight years of debate, an Act of Congress signed by President James K. Polk on Aug. 10, 1846, established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust to be administered by a Board of Regents and a Secretary of the Smithsonian.

Which 19 museums comprise the Smithsonian Institute?

1. Anacostia Community Museum
2. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
3. Arts and Industries Building
4. Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (in New York City)
5. Freer Gallery of Art
6. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
7. National Air and Space Museum
8. National Museum of African American History and Culture (not yet built)
9. National Museum of African Art
10. National Museum of American History
11. National Museum of the American Indian
12. National Museum of Natural History
13. National Portrait Gallery
14. National Postal Museum
15. Renwick Gallery
16. Smithsonian American Art Museum
17. Smithsonian Institution Building
18. Smithsonian National Zoological Park (National Zoo)
19. The National Gallery of Art

Fast Facts
Admission is free to all Smithsonian Institute museums.
All museums are open from 10-5:30. A few have later summer hours. The museums used to be open later, but during the energy crisis under President Carter, the museums were ordered to close earlier to conserve energy and money. They have never resumed the later hours.
The majority of the museums are along the National Mall (a large grassy central park area) in Washington, DC. The Mall is approximately 1 mile long. Prepare to WALK!
The Washington, DC Metro (subway) system is convenient to most major museums. There is even a Smithsonian stop.
The Smithsonian Institute museums have played a major part in many major Hollywood films (most recently "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"). There is even a database keeping track of the movies and scenes.

Check out the CheapOair cheap flights to Washington, DC and begin your summer vacation now!

Not Your Mother's Art Museums

If you think museums are all about exploring ancient history, and looking at painting and sculptures, you might be wrong. Well, only a little bit wrong. Not all museums are stuffy boring places! Some museums are amusing, and yet, interesting places.

The Museum of American Cocktails, New Orleans

The Museum of American Cocktails explores the fascinating two hundred year history of American Cocktails. The museum contains a mind-boggling collection of rare spirits, books, Prohibition-era literature and music, vintage cocktail shakers, glassware, tools, gadgets and all manner of cocktail memorabilia and photographs from the outstanding collections of our founders and patrons.

Drinks anyone?

The Mustard Museum of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin

Conceived and founded by Barry Levenson, the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum in Wisconsin, features the world's largest display and most extensive collection of prepared mustards - more than 5,000 jars, bottles and tubes from all 50 states and more than 60 countries.

But can you get a good roast beef on rye there?

Toilet Seat Art Museum, San Antonio

Former master plumber Barney Smith came up with this unique way to experience art. The contents of the museum are toilet seat lids decorated by Barney Smith, who is now in his eighties. These choice seats are works of art, sporting everything from elaborate paintings to mosaics. Some of the amusing ones are the toilet seat from the space ship Columbia.

I'd like to see the bathroom stalls in that place!

Ready to make a quick, amusing, and cheap summer getaway? Check out the great deals on Air Tran from CheapOair. Cheap flights starting at $39 each way! With fares this low you can afford to buy your own toilet seat art to take home with you!

CheapOair Guide to Booking the Lowest (CHEAPEST!) Airfare

When you want to travel you want to make sure you aren't paying more for your seat than the guy in the seat next to you. You want the most bang for your buck, and the most convenient flight schedule. So how do you do it? How do you find the lowest- cheapest- possible airfares? The trick to booking the lowest fares is dependent on a few key things, the destination you wish to travel to, the duration of your trip and the season you’re planning to travel.

The first, and probably best known step, is to book your flight far in advance so that availability is not limited. Here’s an example: Its summertime and you know that you want to spend 10-days in the Bahamas over the winter. To get the lowest fares, book your winter flight during the summer.

To get the lowest fares online, you really want to avoid booking travel during peak travel times. But, don’t panic. You can still visit family and friends for the holidays and take a world class vacation. Peak travel times are Mondays, Sundays and Fridays, also the day before and the day after a major public holiday. These are heavy traveling days. Be sure to avoid booking travel on these days. If you’re planning a 10-day vacation, include the weekend and try to schedule your return on a Tuesday if possible. If you’re planning on spending a holiday with family, arrive a few days early and depart a few days later. This could save you up to $500 or more in airfare!

Travel off-season. Even during the holidays, some airlines do have off-season flights. At CheapOair.com, we have over 18 Million negotiated fares. Check out our Top 25 deals, Seasonal deals and sign up for the Fare Alerts Newsletter so that you can click on through when you see the lowest fares to the destinations you have been trying to book.

Just one last thing: The lowest fares also tend to come with some type of airline restriction, so pay close attention to what those restrictions or conditions are. Be sure to book your flight far in advance. The lowest fares sell out fast, so start planning now!

For these and other travel tips, check out the CheapOair Travel Resources!

Good luck and safe travels!
CheapOair.com

Travel Like a Rock Star

Ever wanted to live and travel like a rock star? Today we explore some of the hotels built by famous rock stars or that have played host to some famous artists.

The Hard Rock Hotel – San Diego

If you are looking for a true ‘Rock Star” treatment, the Hard Rock San Diego is where you want to go. The hotel is conveniently located in the upscale and trendy Gaslamp Quarter, across the street from the San Diego Convention Center. The very essence of the hotel is “rock n roll” combined with substance. Each and every room promises that your stay at Hard Rock will be memorable. One of the most sought after suites in this hotel is the extraordinary Black Eyed Peas Suite, designed by the Grammy Award-winning band, the Black Eyed Peas. The room was created in an effort to raise awareness and funds for The Black Eyed Peas' charity, The Peapod Foundation, a global organization dedicated to providing opportunities and support for children worldwide. The band - will.i.am, Fergie, apl.de.ap and Taboo - collaborated on the design for the suite, and incorporates each individual's style and unique personality.

The Edgewater Hotel– Seattle

The Edgewater Hotel is the only luxury waterfront hotel offering views to the Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains and the downtown skyline. It was perhaps the stunning location that prompted the Beatles to choose this hotel while touring America in 1964. The hotel's Beatles Suite caters to rock n' roll fans with fascinating portraits and memorabilia. The suite features a photo gallery of the Fab Four in their early years, including the Beatles’ famous “fishing out the window” photo, taken in this very room.

The Palms Casino Resort – Las Vegas

Located in the famous Sin City, The Palms Casino Resort is a must visit for all rock n roll aficionados. With famous nightlife and entertainment scene this hip and modern property has earned a stellar reputation among celebrities, sports superstars and vacationers. The hotel and its recording studio has been frequented by many pop stars, including Britney Spears. When you visit, be sure to check out the MTV Real Life Suite or the King Pin suite, with its own bowling lane.

Jamaica

$94 Each Way: Cheap airline tickets Atlanta to Kingston – Limited time exclusive deal! Book by: May 25, 2009 

Did You Know? Coral Castle

Coral Castle, Homestead, Florida

The Mystery: Made from 1,100 tons of megalithic-style limestone boulders, some heavier than the Pyramids’ and bigger than those at Stonehenge, this unusual structure, located 25 miles south of Miami, was built from 1923 to 1951 by a single man, a diminutive Latvian immigrant named Edward Leedskalnin, as an homage to the love of his life who left him on the eve of their wedding. But how did he do it?

Fact: Leedskalnin claimed he knew the secret to the Great Pyramids’ construction, and was once witnessed levitating stones. Other construction details,no mortar, precision seams, impossible balancing acts—have also stumped scientists for decades.

Adventure Thursday- Vienna, Austria- believe it or not!

Welcome to another installment of Adventure Thursday!

My traveling buddy and I arrived into Vienna via the train into Westbahnhof not the nicest part of the city. It was a late Sunday afternoon when we arrived and EVERYTHING was closed.

Perhaps we were exhausted from our previous travels (We had been traveling around Germany and were coming from the ever so lovely Salzburg) but I still to this day do not know what happened because as soon as we got out of the train station we were lost, map and all.

The hostel that we had booked the night before had given us some directions. For the most part we have been pretty lucky with hostel directions, however these directions were terrible. We had to catch a tram and then a bus though they some how forgot to mention how we got from the bus stop to the hostel. All we had was an address. So there we were somewhere in Vienna, lost, with not another soul in sight. Did I forget to mention that we do not speak any German!

After aimlessly wondering around for about 20 minutes we found a small hole in the wall bar. There were just two people in the bar, the bar tender and another gentleman watching the soccer. I approached the bar man to ask directions with a cheerful Guten Tag hoping that he would respond to me in English, of course he only spoke and understood German. I showed him the address and we communicated the best we could with ums, ahs, and hand signals.

The other gentleman in the bar taps me on the shoulder and asks me if I speak Spanish (which I do!) he only spoke Spanish and German. So in this random bar in Vienna was the Australian chick speaking Spanish to an Argentine who would translate to the Austrian and then translate back to me and I would translate back to my traveling buddy. Two minutes later, we all realized that we were just around the corner from the hostel. Much to our added embarrassment it was located in a small alley way marked with a huge sign saying Jugendherberge German for Youth Hostel. The only thing on this alley was the hostel and an abandoned building with broken windows.

So we walked over, glad to have reached our resting spot. We approached the front desk to check in. This is when they informed us that there no reservation under our name. We asked them to double check and alas we were not there. All of a sudden a manager came over and said “You guys must be staying at the other hostel across the street” Me and my traveling buddy looked at each other confused. All we had seen was an abandoned building with the broken windows.

So we approached the building with the broken windows and right next to the door was a small sign that said Hostel, 3rd Floor. We pressed the buzzer and the two big doors opened. We walked in to the building and the door doors closed and we were left in the dark. It had the beginnings of a horror movie. There was some light coming from outside, though we were not prepared for what we saw. Outside was a tombstone! Scared to be left in the dark we quickly found the stairs and walked up three flights of stairs.  We then found another door. It had a whole bunch of white envelopes sticky taped with people’s names and their country of origin. I found my name and opened the envelope. In the envelope was a key and letter, welcoming us to the hostel and with the following instructions “Go into the kitchen and dial 9.”

We entered the apartment (that had been converted into a hostel) and went straight to the kitchen. Sure enough there was phone there. We spent five minutes debating who was to call, but since the reservation was in my name it was decided that I was the one to chosen one. I hesitantly dialed ‘9’ and a friendly female voice answered and once again welcomed me the “Believe it or not Hostel.” She told me that she had left a map under my pillow in the bedroom. So we went into the bedroom and were shocked at what we found. There were three levels of bunk beds in one tiny room, which was meant to sleep 12. The top bunks were enclosed in a cage! Lucky for us we were on the second level.

Overall, it was one of our favorite hostels of our European adventures. It was really clean and we had so much fun with the people that they stayed there as we all had a story to bond over. We even all went out together for dinner one night from some yummy schnitzel.

Things that we learnt:
1.Pay attention to the name of the hostel when booking.
2.Don’t judge a book by it’s cover

Rio Beach!

CheapOair: : New York to Rio De Janerio $521 Roundtrip on Tam Airlines
Travel Through: December11, 2009

Did You Know? Travel facts!

Did you know? Travel and tourism is a $1.6 trillion industry in the United States?

Travel and tourism industry is one of the country's largest employers with 7.5 million direct travel-generated jobs? You could fill the Louisiana Superdome a hundred times over with people directly employed in the industry.

1 out of every 8 U.S. non-farm jobs is created directly, indirectly or is induced by travel and tourism?

Travel and tourism industry is one of America's largest service exports. International travelers spent more on their visits to the United States than U.S. residents spent while traveling abroad, creating a trade surplus of $8.3 billion for the U.S. in 2006.

Approximately 2.8 million hotel room nights are sold every day in the United States? That's enough hotel rooms to lodge every person living in Dallas, Detroit, Denver and Orlando combined.

A 1 percent increase in U.S. worldwide market share would equate to 8.4 million more visitors, $14 billion more in expenditures, 152,000 new jobs, $3.6 billion more in payroll, and $2.2 billion more in federal, state and local tax revenue?

These and other travel facts found at U.S. Travel Association Fun Facts.