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One night during my recent trip to Harman’s North Folk Cottages I decided to take the advice I had read in the cabin journal and head over to Hermitage Inn Restaurant. The previous visitors to the cabin wrote that the steak was the best in town and wanted to see if it was.

The Hermitage, open since 1840, offers a wide variety of selections in its menu, which is a good thing since most else in town is fast food. There restaurant serves fish, chicken, and meats as well as several type of salad and soup. Make sure to ask for the specials, since there are interesting offerings there - the waitress forgot to mention it until after we had ordered.

The Steak: The filet (about $16) was tasteful, but over cooked - granted the servers ask everyone to cut in and check their meat first. Overcooking means that you’d have to send the steak back to the kitchen for a new one and wasting food isn’t very eco-friendly.

The Appetizer To Get: Mushroom caps. Broiled mushrooms stuffed with crab cakes, not very big (about $9).

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Find the highest payouts and the best that online gambling has to offer at Free Online Casinos. The site reviews many of the large online casinos detailing payouts, deposit requirements, and special offers. Practically all of the popular casino games are covered.

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Two miles down the road from Harman’s North Folk Cottages are Smoke Hole Caverns. The caverns are a must visit if you are in this part of West Virginia. Unlike other caverns along the east coast of the United States, the Smoke Hole Caverns actually go up into a mountain.

Tours run every 30 minutes 7 days a week from 9am-4pm. Our tour guide was friendly, enthusiastic, and well versed in the historical and geological features of the caverns. You could tell she really enjoyed teaching others about the caves and the really rubbed off on everyone else. (I wish for the life of me I could remember her name, I’ll do some research and get back to you!)

The cost is $10 for a tour that lasts about 30 minutes. Along the tour you will run across a mineral spring with running water. We were told that it was drinkable and I was one of the few who proved it. It’s probably some of the freshest natural water I’ll ever drink.

If you end up arriving between tours, there is a fairly large gift shop with crafts, books on being/cooking like a redneck, and a small fast food kitchen (all with lower than expected prices). You can take a look at some of my better pictures after the jump and the rest here.

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My recent post on how to avoid a speeding ticket generated some feedback about the disadvantages of driving faster. In particular, peter wrote:

How about not breaking the law. Example added benefits are reducing the chances of killing someone and using less gas - save money and the planet.

Must be a reasonable option?

So I ask you out there, is speeding worth the risks to you or are the risks in your opinion small and worth the saved time? Are the alternatives “reasonable options” as peter suggests?

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Enjoy a remote section of the Appalachian mountains by staying in the comfortable and clean Harman’s North Folk Cottages. I enjoyed a recent stay there which I couldn’t wait to get home to write about. There are approximately 20 cabins on a small stretch of land right in the mountains of West Virginia. The cabins are far enough apart to where you get a good deal of privacy, but feel close enough to civilization to be comfortable.

Location

The cabins are in Cabins, WV, a tiny town about 2 miles away from Smoke Hole Caverns. Step out of the front door of the cabin and you’ll see the north fork of the Potomac River and one of the impressive mountain faces. There is a convenience store about a mile down the road, but make sure to stock up on groceries. The nearest one is 17 miles away.

Pictures

You can see some of my pictures of and around the cabin here.

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Automobiles are the most common method of travel and many of us use them to jet from city to city. Hitting the gas on the open road can help shave minutes of any trip but get pulled over and you’ll lose time, money, and maybe your ability to drive.

Although it’s not encouraged, if you do decide to speed here are some ways to avoid the flashing lights and scruffy beards of police speed traps.

• Use The Herd Mentality - Think of a nature show, which one of the grazing animals gets eaten by the lion? The odd one out that’s away from the group. The same logic applies when you’re on the road; slow down when there are no other cars around, you’re easy prey for a cop sitting by the road.
• Watch The Taillights On The Horizon - The cars on the edge of your visual range (not the ones right in front of you) will tip you off to police, accidents, and construction. Be alert if you see a series of brake lights making their way toward you.

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Reading is the pastime of the frequent flier as a good way to stay entertained on long flights, unexpected delays, or the usual layovers. It’s been a while since Amazon released its wireless reading device, the Kindle and I decided to test whether its the ultimate way to read at 30,000 feet.

The contender is an iPod Touch that has been jailbroken, (something you’ll need to do if you want to read eBooks).

Up against both are classical books, made of nothing but paper and ink. Here’s how each fared.

Aspect: Size

• Winner: iPod Touch - The iPod Touch comes in at 4.2 ounces about 4.3 inches high, 2.4 inches wide and .31 inches thick. The Kindle doesn’t fit into most pockets at 7.5 inches tall and 5.3 inches wide at 10.3 ounces. Books vary, but are almost all heavier and bigger.
• Best For: Travelers who are short on space, trying to avoid luggage fees, or sticking to a single carry-on.

Aspect: Security Lines

• Winner: Books (except controversial ones) - Books won’t make X-ray machines beep, get TSA officials riled up, or have wires associated with them. Carrying books can help you get through security faster. The more electronics you travel with the greater the likelihood you’ll be held up, stopped, or searched.
• Best For: Business travelers who tend to take day trips, people who end up late at the airport, and the impatient. Never travel with books that may be offensive in the countries you are visiting (especially in conservative societies); in these cases, it’s better to have a Kindle or iPod Touch to obscure what you are reading.

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Travelers headed on longer flights tend to overestimate the amount of time they’ll spend reading and pack their carry-ons with too many books. You can easily calculate the amount of time you’ll actually get to read with the flight reading formula.

(Total flight hours - 4) + (Total layover hours/2)

• Add up your total flight time and subtract 4 hours per flight for international trips (2 hours for domestic). The first 30 minutes of a flight is taxi, safety instructions, and takeoff. The second hour is usually when meals are served, plus 30 minutes to go to bathroom, doze off, and look out the window.
• Cut Your Total Layover Time In Half - A 3 hour layover means that you’ll at most get only 1.5 hours to read. You’ll spend the rest of the time getting to your gate, looking for food, peeing, and boarding.

You’re reading ability and desire will also drop off as you get closer to your destination. On your way back home double all of these numbers. Fatigue will have set in and jet lag is compounded as you return home. Take the total number of hours and divide it by the number of hours it take you to read one book.

Save space in your carry on by bringing the realistic number of books you’ll be able to read - which is usually 1.

[photo by: florian.b]

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I’ve got some ideas of my own, but would really like to hear from you experianced travelers. What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to someone about to set off on a trip?

Let us know your travel mantras in the comments and I’ll chime in with my own nuggets of wisdom too.

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New bloggers who don’t write about gadgets, technology, or their personal lives tend to gravitate toward writing about travel. Many blogs begin as a journal of one or two trips and then quietly fade off into the night. Many of us however trudge on, aiming to write our wisdom gathered during trips, research common questions, and connect with other vagaboonds long after that.

Travel blogging isn’t easy to keep up with, since most of the people who do it have full-time day jobs and spend their free time traveling. (Not to mention having families and a life.)

I recently wrote about a transition that has helped me in my writing and posted a comment in response on one of Problogger’s posts on the subject.

Set hours for work and define your objectives. Ever since I began doing this a few months ago I’ve produced better quality posts.

The extra free time also made my relationships with other people and commitments smoother…

Lea Woodward agrees with me that treating your writing like a profession and your traveling like a hobby will help to reduce stress, keep your writing interesting, and keep your love of travel and blogging alive.

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We often neglect how often we are in a car during our travels. Consequently we don’t pay enough attention to planning around our automobile use, plopping ourselves down in a car and expecting the vehicle, traffic, and pedestrians to act the same all over the world.

Most people spending days fretting over a flight across the Atlantic, but neglect to avoid these basic driving mistakes. Cars are the most dangerous form of travel and getting ready for foreign roads may save your life.

• Not Doing Some Google Hacking - A simple search like “driving in ________” can help you to get a general idea of the driving conditions in the city you’re visiting (ViaMichelin is another great resource). Places generally fall into one of two categories, either they strictly follow the rules (think Western Europe) or it’s utter coordinated chaos (as in India).
• Staying In The Left Lane (or right for the UK and former British colonies) - You’re likely to get lost or have to make sudden turns onto streets which won’t be easy if there is a car blocking your path. Staying in the right lane also gives you a better view of most exits and make it easier for you to detour around unexpected traffic or construction.

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The author of the sexiest summer travel post will win a $250 voucher for the airline of their choosing. The contest runs from May 1 through June 15, read on for details on how to submit your story and win.

What You Have To Write

A post of at least 250 words about your sexiest summer travel story. Only original work will be accepted.

I’ll give each one a grade of 1-7 depending on originality, writing quality, and entertainment value. Remember that “sexy” can mean anything - for some it will be saving penguins in Argentina, taking a motorcycle tour of South America, or a a trip to a Swedish night club. Sexy is what you make of it so tell us why your story is the sexiest!

Worth: Up to 7 points rewarded (by me) at the time your submission is posted.

• Bonus: 2 points by adding 2 links at the bottom of your post referencing two blogs of your choice.

Submissions will be posted on Fridays at the end of each week throughout summer and the winner announced on September 1, 2008. I’ll post the first submission beginning on June 20 and every Friday after that in the order I receive them, through August 22.

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Be Lazier writes:

Get answers and learn how to get the most out of a few minutes of rest during a short flight, unexpected delay, or any other time you have free minutes at Take A Nap.

Miriam asks: What about having a lot of trouble waking up from an afternoon nap, even after a poor night’s sleep? I often find myself feeling extra groggy and dim, the opposite of what I hope for!

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You’ll notice less frequent posts this week since I’ve got a lot of exciting things going on in my personal life

I’m still looking out for good ideas and news to post about so I’m loaded with material for next week and beyond. Feel free to leave some ideas or chat in the comments, they are always welcome. If you’ve come across some good travel blogs or write one yourself I don’t know about I’d like to hear about it.

Also, this Thursday I’ll be posting details about my next contest with a prize of a $250 travel voucher for the airline of your choosing.

[photo by: pierre pouliquin]

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