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| By Ann Tatko-Peterson, Contra Costa
Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
May 21, 2009--Catch the flu, visit for free. Thanks to the swine flu, Mexico has spent the past month feeling like Exile Island. Now a few Mexican resorts are offering the "Flu Free Guarantee" to coax travelers back to the country. Five resorts are so sure you won't get the swine flu while visiting that each is offering three free trips if you do. The participating resorts are Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets and Dreams Resorts & Spas, Azul Hotels by Karisma, El Dorado Spa Resorts & Hotels by Karisma, and Real Resorts. The odds of catching swine flu at one of these resorts are as remote as winning a big lottery jackpot. But the promotion is pretty catchy nonetheless. Look down, if you dare. If you're afraid of heights, steer clear of the Ledge at Chicago's Sears Tower. The soon-to-open feature is a series of fully enclosed boxes with glass floors and glass walls that extend off the building's 103rd floor Skydeck. Yes, as in nothing standing between you and the very distant ground except see-through glass. For quite some time, visitors have wanted to see what's about 1,350 feet below. Proof of that, says Skydeck general manager Randy Stancik, is in "the forehead prints on the windows." Details: www.theskydeck.com. How bad luck turns good Tripping into the lap of a stranger in a hot tub, being crushed by a vending machine, winning a gift basket of female personal-hygiene products (bad when you're a man) are just a few of the hard-luck stories that 25 finalists hope will win them the "Turn Your Luck Around" contest.Endless Vacation Rentals is giving away two weeklong vacation rentals to the top vote getters in the contest. The public can vote at yourfatchance.com. through June 24. Voters also can enter an online scratch-off game to win one of 12 one-week vacations. Hit the road Top 10 summer road-trip destinations, according to Hotwire.com., based on the highest percentage of hotel transactions with guests coming from nearby locales. 1. San Diego 2. Philadelphia 3. Houston 4. San Francisco 5. Dallas 6. Los Angeles 7. Boston 8. Phoenix 9. St. Louis 10. Washington, D.C. -- Ann Tatko-Peterson ----- To see more of the Contra Costa Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.contracostatimes.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |
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