Last year I talked about my favorite romantic city, romantic book and poetry, hotel, restaurant, etc. in this post. Please take a look because I have not changed my mind. And read on for two East Coast suggestions for this Valentine’s Day (if you can get there through the snow).

Happy Valentine’s Day

Unfairly, last year, I told you about a hotel experience that you cannot have because it does not exist any more.  But you CAN go to the Kimpton Hotel in Boston, Nine Zero.

A toast

Are you ready for this? The package is called “Rub the One You’re With.” It includes a one-night stay, a massage lesson for the two of you by a masseuse, champagne, take-home package of lavender and lemon oils, salts and candles, and for the practical in you–free overnight parking. $414 for a View Room in Boston on the night I checked, but the rates vary by date and city. (If the web site does not show availability when you want to go, call the 800 number.)

Since I stayed at the Nine Zero, I can tell you that if you are not satisfied with the contents of your overnight bag–or you just decide to go on the spur of the moment sans luggage, there are hangers in the closet with sexy little nothings, and lovely robes and slippers–all available for you to buy.

Actually most Kimpton hotels offer these packages, but I have stayed at the Nine Zero and can vouch for the fact it is special. Please check the Kimpton site to see where all the hotels are located and for all the fine print that accompanies the offer.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Like most writers, my mail box gets clogged with promotional pieces around holidays.  Here’s a P.R. release that caught my eye, and I just wish I were going to be in New York City on Valentine’s weekend, to take advantage of this good deal. (Are you reading this, Ken?) I’m presenting the press release, pretty much the way it came to me.

Take a Trip on the Love Bus: Gray Line New York’s Valentine’s Day Deal

New York Greyhound Bus Tour

Tired of the same old teddy bears and chocolates as gifts on Valentine’s Day?  Treat your special someone to one of the most stunning and romantic treasures you might have overlooked: a star-filled, skyline-topped late night ride throughout New York City – a quintessential New York City moment on a double decker bus.

Gray Line New York is offering a special Valentine’s Day bus tour where customers will receive a $25 Gift Card from Restaurant.com to use at one of NYC’s choice restaurants such as 5 Ninth or Circle Rouge with the purchase of two Gray Line New York’s world famous Night Tours tickets*.

This special Valentine’s Day promotion must be purchased online only.Tickets can be redeemed at the Gray Line Visitors Center located at 777 8^th Avenue (between 47^th & 48^th Streets) prior to the tour.

Night Tour tickets cost $39 per adult; departure times and locations of tours are as follows: 6:00 pm, 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm from 777 8th Avenue and 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm from Times Square.

*Tours are valid for travel only on Friday, 2/12, Saturday, 2/13 and Sunday, 2/14. The Gift Card has no cash value, and may not be substituted for another item or tour.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

What are you hoping for on Valentine’s Day? Or do you wish it would just go away? Where would you like to go? What would you like to read?

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©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Destination: New Orleans

New Orleans , more than just Mardi Gras, supports more than a dozen quirky independent bookstores, two major literary festivals, four publishers, a specialty tour of literary sites and a thriving literary colony. You cannot ask for a better destination for a traveling reader.  A traveler who reads cannot ask for a better destination.

Kenneth Holditch, called Professor by his friends, knows every café, bar, waiter, and historic plaque in the Quarter. Retired from New Orleans University, Holditch walks through the French Quarter pointing out the nesting places and watering holes of writers who once lived here and talks about the latest crop of literati.

When I went with him,  Holditch started his tour with a statue on Canal Street, the commercial avenue that separates the French Quarter from the business district. Not many cities raise statues to imaginary people, particularly a pudgy fellow wearing a hunting cap with earflaps. But a bronze Ignatius Reilly, the outrageous hero of The Confederacy of Dunces, waits under a clock just as he does in the opening scene of the novel. By the time John Kennedy Toole’s book had achieved Pulitzer Prize fame, the author had committed suicide. Holditch says, “I think he captures New Orleans, the accents and the different language patterns—from the Irish Channel to the Faubourg Marigny.”

The seventeen-story Hotel Monteleone,  on the National Historic Register, has always served as the hangout for literary figures. The Monteleone family has hosted many writers—Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Ernest Hemmingway, Eudora Welty and William Faulkner. More recent guests include Winston Grooms, the creator of Forrest Gump, and Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford (Independence Day). Many of the authors included the Monteleone in stories, prompting the Friends of Libraries USA to name the hotel a Literary Landmark. That honor has been bestowed on only three other hotels—New York’s Plaza and Algonquin and San Antonio’s Menger Hotel. Monteleone is a good place to stay during Mardi Gras, or any week of the year.

…Tomorrow we will talk more about Faulkner and Williams; and Wednesday turn to the proliferation of modern authors, including Anne Rice and a plethora of mystery writers.

What are your favorite reads for New Orleans?  I can never get too much of that wonderful city, so feel free to give me more books to add to the library shelves.

Find more at A Traveler’s Library about New Orleans:

Surviving in New Orleans

Literary Hotel

New Orleans as Seen by Faulkner

Classic New Orleans Restaurant

Book Lover’s NOLA

Book Stores

Faulkner and Williams

Photograph credits 1) and 2) Wallace Gobetz, from Flickr under Creative Commons License; 3) courtesy of Monteleone Hotel.

Note: If you are going to New Orleans and would like a literary tour, e-mail me (vmb at atravelerslibrary.com) and I will give you the contact information for the person now leading tours for Dr. Holditch.

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.