future of travel

Strategizing for the future of travel is part of the reason I’m here in Amarillo with the Midwest Travel Writers Association. The high price of gas, both for autos and aircraft, is already resulting in plans by our readers to stay closer to home. Changes will also include differences in how we travel and the attitude we bring to our journeys. We’ll likely take another look at Amtrak, Greyhound and sharing cars and find new ways to have fun without spending an arm and leg.

Associates in this organization, who represent destinations throughout the Midwest, had these tidbits to share with me at our meeting this morning:

By next year In Indianapolis you can rent a bike and follow a new Cultural Trail that connect every art, cultural, heritage, sports and entertainment venue downtown. Motorcycle racing returns to the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the Red Bull GP race Sept. 14. www.indy.com

Traverse City in northern Michigan, a seven hour drive from home, has cool lake breezes, wineries and music and art festivals throughout the summer. Top chefs, cookbook authors and wine experts gather Sept. 11-13 for the Traverse Epicurean Classic which is framed around three days of cooking classes, international wine, beer, cheese and spirits tastings. One producer is even crafting eau de vie from the wonderful fruits in this area. www.epicureanclassic.com and www.visittraverse.com

July 22 brings the long awaited opening of the world’s only Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. Hotwire.com named this lakeside city as one of the 2008 Top 10 Best Places for a Value Vacation. The News-Herald’s Jean Bonchak will be traveling there soon to gather information for the Sunday Travel section to help you make the most of your own visit. www.visitmilwaukee.com

Taking Amtrak to Chicago is simple from Cleveland’s East Ninth Street Station. Cross the street from the Windy City’s Union Station to catch a regional train to Woodstock, one the Victorian small towns an hour or so west in northern Illinois. Music, art and crafts shows fill the summer weekends, and everything’s within easy walking or biking distance from a handful of bed and breakfasts. My frieind Kathleen Webster can fill you in with an email to websters@galenalink.com Tell her I sent you.

Discover the adventure of rock climbing in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge are of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Book a room at Natural Bridge State Resort Park then meet up with Matt and Amy Tackett, owners of Red River Outdoors. They’ll have you climbing a sheer rock face or rapelling off a cliff in no time at all. www.redriveroutdoors.com