JetBlue's 'Carmageddon flights' SOLD OUT!

With "Carmageddon" hitting Los Angeles this weekend JetBlue decided to help out.  For $4 each way, including taxes and fees, JetBlue promised to help L.A. residents fly over the expected congestion while getting from one side of the metro area to the other.  The roughly 40-mile flights are scheduled for 45 minutes -- with most of that "flight time" presumably coming while taxiing on the ground.

But according the Los Angeles Times, the tickets sold out within hours.  For the rest of us, we either better stay at home or plan on sitting in your car for hours on end.  JetBlue's spokeswoman, Allison Steinberg, told The Press-Telegram, "It's our shortest flight ever."  

Check out the actual deal on JetBlue's website at:  www.jetblue.com/overthe405.

Mirage's topless-optional pool Bare is in full swing!

Vegas has a lot of topless pools, but at most you really don't find that many topless women.  Enter in Bare Pool over at Mirage.  Reports out of Sin City have the women topless daily at the pool.  Recently you would have seen a dancing-drinking bachelorette-esque party, all donning just bikini bottoms.

Also seen recently lounging about the pool's edges, was a husband/boyfriend rubbed lotion onto his wife/girlfriend's exposed boobies.  It's a hard-hard-knock-knock life!

BONUS:  topless chicks at Bare:  one, two and three.

Then in the main pool (and the smaller pool) a few topless women, and others in full bikinis, flirted with men chilling poolside with drinks in hands.  So far no female celebrities have shed their tops at Bare. But Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Khloe Kardashian and Gretchen Rossi have all been reported to have been at Bare.

• Hours:
  Thursday through Monday
  11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

• Admission:
  Men: $20 Sunday through Thursday
  $40 Friday and Saturday
  Women: $10 daily
  Must be 21 years of age or older with valid ID

 Visit their website at: www.mirage.com/bare.

A United frequent-flier hits 10 million miles

You think YOU travel a lot.  Out of Chicago comes a automotive sales consultant who's flown over 10,000,000 miles with United Airlines.  This is an actual confirmed amount.  He's been with United Airlines for the last 29 years flying an average of 340,000 miles a year.  

The frequent flyer, Tom Stuker, hit the 10 mil milestone July 9th somewhere above the cornfields of Iowa on United Flight 942 from Los Angeles to Chicago.  Upon landing in Chicago Stuker got a special celebration with United Continental CEO Jeff Smisek, and other airline bigwigs, on hand to congratulate him. 

 * photo credit to AP

What does get in return for his loyalty to United?   For starters, he's earned 50 million "redeemable" miles - a total that's been padded with elite bonuses.   United also states that whenever Stuker calls United reservations, "all he has to say is 'Hi.' The agent on the other end of the line will immediately recognize who is calling and take special care" of him.

He's also been awarded with a commemorative book listing every United flight he's flown since he joined the frequent-flier program.   Good job Tom!

Yaris Sanchez plays at the beach

23 year old Dominican model, Yaris Sanchez, was featured on this blog back in April when she was featured in Smooth Girl Magazine that was shot in Jamaica.  Now we caught her playing on the beach in her homeland of the Dominican Republic...

* click any photo to enlarge it

(she's 5'4 and 140 pounds - 34D-26-44)

Check her out more at:  twitter.com/YARIS_SANCHEZ.

Honduras protects sharks in all its waters

Endangered sharks are finding more sanctuaries. Honduras has announced that commercial shark fishing will be banned from its 92,665 square miles (240,000 square kilometers) of national waters. Honduras says the ban, which follows a moratorium on shark fishing, will bring in tourism revenue and preserve the marine environment. 

Around the world, shark populations have been decimated by overfishing. In fact some shark populations have fallen by over 90% in the past few decades.  A recent study in the Pacific nation of Palau found that a single reef shark is worth an estimated $1.9 million in tourism revenue over its life span. Killed for consumption the shark is worth $108. Therefore the shark is worth 17,000 times more alive than dead, not including other ecosystem services beyond tourism.

 Honduras President Lobo Sosa signed the legislation on Roatan Island.

Another rum review - Vizcaya VXOP

One of these days, I think I need to write an article on which I judge various rums based on nothing more than their packaging.  It might sound silly, but in truth packaging can tell you quite a lot about a rum.

Moving on... Vizcaya VXOP is a Dominican Republic rum that's corked and will cost you around $33 a bottle when you can find it here in the US.  It's fairly new to our market but being well revived as a dark tasty rum.  Like 10 Cane it's made with the first pressing of sugar instead of using molasses.  It's aged 8 years and after it comes out of the wooden barrels that formerly held bourbon, it's shipped out across the globe.

In the glass:  Light to medium caramel with honey and yellow overtones.

On the nose:  Poured at room temperature and swirled vigorously, shows soft, flowing, sweet very delicate caramel.  A hint of butterscotch cookie chips.  From the aroma, seems like this will be yielding and sweet.

On the palate: The primary elements on the palate are in fact showing lots more flavors than the pleasant but straightforward nose suggested.  Along with the very clean sugar cane, there is a very light and sweet citrus.  The taste is layered and creamy, and the finish slowly wicks away to a perfect vanishing point

Overall, it delivers an excellent sipping experience, and at $40 and under in the US, is bargain priced too.  If you are looking for a rum on the sweet side of excellent, I'd encourage you to seek this rum out.  But please, sip it neat, Vizcaya VXOP is far too refined to waste in a mixer.

Saving beach/pool chairs at a resort

It's an age old problem at travel resorts across the globe.  People who get up early to save a spot on the beach or near the pool, by putting their belongings on the chairs then often times they don't even come back for hours to even use the spot while others suffer.

There's often times no real rules.  Resorts hope that their guests will follow basic etiquette but it's always a problem.   Should there be a time limit on how long you can be away from your chairs with your stuff on it?  30 mins?  60 mins?

IMHO, in my humble opinion, I think it's rude.  Everyone at a resort pays an equal share, for anyone to just dump their stuff on a chair and leave for a few hours is nothing short of hogging a space.  But the problem becomes THEY get all pissy when you move their stuff after then finally come out.

Hedonism II in Negril has a new towel policy.  This policy has kept the chair hogging problems down recently as people are less willing to save chairs with personal belongings or non-plentiful towels.

Vote below, how long should someone leave items before the chair is "free game?"