CONTENTS AND STAFF Contents Page 3 Travel Tips Page 5 Outdoors - Trails Pages 6-7 Pittsburgh Wine Festival Page 9 Entertainment Page 11 NFL Draft Party - McFaddens Page 12-13 Dining - Taste of The Nation Pages 14-16 Music - Rise Against Pages 17 Night Tech Page 20-21 Dale Chihuly at Phipps Pages 22-37 Humor and Jokes Page 38 Horoscopes Staff Publisher: Joyce Campisi Editor-in-Chief: Joyce Campisi Executive Editor: Joseph P. Campisi, III Production Manager: Rob Hoffman Photographer: Nate Schritter Todd Brunozzi Jill Kummer Graphic Designer: Donnie Garber Dennis Kostley Account Manager: Nicole Cincala Feature Writers: Suz Pisano, Trish Imbrogno, Jackey Day, David Mayle Contributing Writers: Bill Mace Jean Mace Dottie Wilhelm Lori Hon Webmaster: Benjamin Auman Distribution: Take One USA Nightwire 622 Second Avenue Pittsburgh, PA. 15219 412-755-1055 FAX: 412-755-1056 [email protected]/www.nightwire.net Copyright ®, SX publications, Nightwire. All rights reserved. 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SX Publications, Nightwire cannot be held responsible for photos submitted by advertisers and photography supplied by advertisers or vendors without a release from the model(s). SX Publications, Nightwire will assume no liability for misprints, typos, ad print quality, ad placement or incorrect ad copy. 2 • June 2007 TRAVEL Travel Tips By: David Mayle Saving Money On Airfare 1) Maximize Your Frequent Flyer phone. Why pay $10 for something you can do yourself? Miles - FF programs offer miles for hundreds of other things besides just flying. Before you make any purchases make sure 7) After Booking A Flight Keep Checking The Prices - to check the FF programs that you are enrolled in for any Some airlines such as AA will actually give you a credit if offers that may be available. Even if it's only a few miles if it's the price drops on a fare after you book it so it pays to something you are going to purchase anyway why not get keep checking the fare even though you have already those miles? You would be shocked how many miles you can purchased a ticket. I don't know if any other airlines will rack up from bonus programs. I'm able to cash in miles for 2 do it but it never hurts to ask. to 3 trips a year and 25% of the miles I accumulate come from bonus offers rather than actual flights. Saving Money On Hotels 1) Avoid "Big Name" Chain Hotels Like The Plague - The big name chain hotels can 2) Search For Flights To Your Desired Destination From cost more than 10 times as much as a local hotel and I Alternate Airports - Let's say I want to go to Lima but PIT to can tell you firsthand that you DO NOT get what you pay LIM is $1000/roundtrip. I will start searching for flights to Lima for. You will get a far better deal at a hotel with a lesser from Miami, Atlanta, NYC, etc. looking for a bargain fare. known name. How to find a good, cheap hotel is When I find one I will then find a flight from PIT to wherever somewhat of an art but if you know how to use a search and compare the price of booking the segments separately to engine like google you have all the tools you need. I the roundtrip cost from PIT. The reason is that the online generally look at the hotels website first and then try to search programs such as Travelocity often don't combine find independent reviews to support their claims. So far I flights from all airlines. They will always put flights from Delta have found hotels this way in Lima, Cusco, San Jose, and Avianca together, for example, but they won't always Medellin, and Managua and haven't been disappointed combine them with all airlines. A good example is recently I yet. I have also yet to spend more than $50/night. was looking at flights from PIT-LIM. The "best price" on Travelocity was $1200. By finding a flight on LAN from MIA to 2) Call Or Email The Hotel For A Better Rate - Big LIM and a flight on USAirways from PIT-MIA and booking them chains generally won't do this but the small hotels will. separately I was able to save $600. Just remember that this only works if you're staying more than a few days. One hotel that I stay in has a 3) Be Flexible With Your Travel Dates - You can almost "published" rate of $106/night. I pay $48 because I stay always find lower prices if you are willing to travel on non-peak a week and emailed them asking for a better rate. days. Leaving on a Thursday and returning on a Monday can save you hundreds of dollars if you can be flexible. 3) Be Nice To The Hotel Staff - This pays dividends on return trips. I just got a free room upgrade to a suite on a 4) Pay Attention To The Planes When You Are At An Airport future trip simply because I'm nice to the hotel staff. - Every time I go to an airport I make a note of what planes I Honestly, I'm not nice to people because it gets me see from airlines I'm not familiar with. The reason is a lot of the better hotel deals but it's a nice side benefit of being smaller airlines are not hooked in to the major airlines nice. ;) networks. On my last trip to Lima I noticed a lot of planes for AeroCondor at the Lima airport. When I got a chance I looked 4) Watch For Hidden Charges - You can rack up a up their website and found they offer very low fares on flights small fortune in charges by just using a hotel phone to inside of Peru. make local calls. Another common tactic is charging you for items from the minibar whether you used it or not. 5) Always Check The Airlines Website For A Lower Fare - All Always pay attention to your bill when you check out of a of the major travel websites add a fee for booking flights hotel but this is an absolute MUST when in Latin through them. The same flight is almost always cheaper if you America. can book it directly through the airlines website plus you usually get bonus FF miles for booking directly through their 5) Check For Deals On Travel Websites - This can be site. hit or miss but one great site I found for Peru is go2peru.com. They have incredible deals on hotels there. 6) Book Airfare By Phone Only If You Absolutely Have To - Continental, for example, charges $10 to book a flight by June 2007 • 3 OUTDOORS Trails By: Trish Imbrogno It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood (finally!), and the last thing you want to do is spend it in the gym! If you have a bike or enjoy walking or running, there are a thousand things for you to do outdoors in and around the Pittsburgh area. We are fortunate in this area to have great scenery both in the urban areas as well as out of the city. There are trails that run along the rivers in the city, if you like to see the urban landscape. On the other hand, if you’ve spent your day and week in the city and want to see some foliage, there are trails for you, too! Some trails are suitable for biking, while others are better spent on foot. If you are planning an afternoon on the trails, there are few general rules you’ll want to observe. Also, check with the individual trail to confirm restrooms, fountains and other access points every few miles on the trail from pertinent information to insure your experience is a good one! Coraopolis to Bethel Park. Some parking lots are • Stay right except to pass. available. Visit www.montourtrail.org for maps and more • Warn before passing. information. • No motorized vehicles (unless otherwise designated). Frick Park. If you want to feel like you’re in the forest • Stay on the trails. without leaving the city, then Frick Park is the place for • No camping or fires (unless otherwise designated). you. Full of heavily foliaged trails for walking, running • Leash your pet. and biking, you’ll forget you’re in Regent Square. There • Take your trash, cigarette butts and other debris to is activity on the trails year round, including pets and receptacles (if available) or off the trail with you. owners. If cycling, please be aware that many of the South Side Trail. Length: 5 miles. Surface: pavement, trails in the parking are heavily foot traveled, and crushed limestone.