There's no place like Kansas City

(Cooking Light) -- Kansas City came of age during America's westward expansion and rose to prominence as a meatpacking center. But today in this leafy Midwestern city, which straddles both Kansas and Missouri, you'll find some of the world's finest jazz and barbecue, stunning art deco and Mediterranean-inspired architecture, and more than 200 ornate fountains. And that's just the beginning.

Hotel checks in 'CrackBerries' for addicts

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- BlackBerry addicts have a crack at freedom when they check into one Chicago hotel: the manager will put the communications devices and others like them under lock and key for guests who want a break.

Hotel: Put that 'CrackBerry' down, you addict!

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- BlackBerry addicts have a crack at freedom when they check into one Chicago hotel: the manager will put the communications devices and others like them under lock and key for guests who want a break.

Explore the west coast -- of Michigan

NEW BUFFALO, Michigan (AP) -- Imagine a weeklong vacation spent lounging on a sandy beach in Florida, touring a Napa Valley winery, visiting an art gallery in New York, exploring a historic Cape Cod lighthouse and golfing surfside on Hilton Head Island.

Cutting-edge Pittsburgh

(Budget Travel Online) -- It's an unseasonably chilly Friday night in Pittsburgh, but inside the Andy Warhol Museum, a swarm of stylish 20- and 30-somethings aren't letting that stop them from imagining themselves at a Factory party.

Lost in the language of signs

(CNN) -- No matter if you've packed a map, read your guidebook or listened to your language tapes, sooner or later every traveler looks to signposts for help.

Bush backs move to impose terms on air controllers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The White House threatened Tuesday to veto legislation that would reverse the Bush administration's decision to impose contract terms on the nation's 14,500 unionized air traffic controllers.

Be your own agent for summer air travel

(CNN) -- More passengers, fewer flights and an influx of less-experienced leisure travelers in the skies may cause a spike in hassles and delays for business travelers this summer.

Airline tickets fly into history books

(CNN) -- Old-fashioned airline tickets will be relegated to the history books next year if an industry lobby group gets its way.

Bali's neighbor awaits its time in the sun

LOMBOK, Indonesia (AP) -- As the tropical monsoon clouds roll in, obscuring the towering volcanos along the Bali coastline, the pristine neighboring island of Lombok seems a world away from Indonesia's premier tourist destination.

Devils Tower gears up for centennial

DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT, Wyoming (AP) -- James and Belinda Livingston had never heard of Devils Tower until someone they met on their travels suggested they take the drive to remote, northeast Wyoming to check it out.

Time to head to the ... ski resorts?

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- Chinese ballet dancers in Vail. Jazz in Aspen and bluegrass in Telluride.

Cottages recreate old-time California beach idyll

LAGUNA BEACH, California (AP) -- There once was a place along the Southern California coast where residents spent leisurely summer days sunbathing on the sand, pulling halibut and perch out of the surf, and where the martini flag was raised each afternoon at 4 o'clock when the trumpet sounded.

Foil burglars when you're on vacation

(Southern Living) -- Nothing kills all the extra sleep and relaxation you got on vacation like returning home to fill out a police report and meet with a claims adjuster.

Wander the fragrant streets of Mackinac Island

(Cottage Living) -- My first morning on Michigan's Mackinac Island, I thought I had wandered onto a Hollywood back lot.

Pikes Peak marks 200 years on America's map

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- Zebulon Pike wasn't the first person to see the towering peak that would bear his name. He never reached the 14,110-foot summit. And after a miserable time in the Rocky Mountains, he was captured by the Spanish and carted off to Mexico.

Wine-tasting and retreats at California monastery

VINA, California (AP) -- In a Northern California monastery, 25 monks following the teachings of St. Benedict rise hours before dawn to pray, work the land and make a serious syrah -- a full-bodied red wine.

'Da Vinci Code' chateau has real-life tangled past

VILLETTE, France (AP) -- Chateau de Villette, the sumptuous home of Sir Leigh Teabing, the sinfully wealthy character from "The Da Vinci Code," is not just a figment of author Dan Brown's imagination but a real-life chateau with a past as fascinating as its star-struck present.

Key West pirate museum a treasure trove

KEY WEST, Florida (AP) -- Pat Croce's passion for pirates is written all over him.

'Da Vinci Code' tourists flock to Scottish chapel

ROSLIN, Scotland (AP) -- There's no mystical rose line running through it, no Star of David carved into the floor or hidden vault where the fabled Holy Grail may rest. And the brutal veil of metal scaffolding shrouding the chapel doesn't help either.