The 100 Best Affordable Vacations (18 page)

 
www.hotels.com
: Click on the “condos” tab to see city and resort rentals.

 Hyatt Vacation Club: These resort time-shares are available for nonowners; visit
www.hyatt.com
; under brands search for Hyatt Vacation Club.

 Marriott Vacation Club: Resort time-shares available for nonowners; search from
www.marriott.com
.

 
www.vacationroost.com
: Specializes in ski and beach destinations.

 
www.vrbo.com
: One of the largest websites, offering tens of thousands of units, mostly offered by individual owners. (Vrbo stands for “vacation rentals by owner.”)

 
www.zonder.com
: All properties listed are professionally managed.

Other “cheap trip” tips to keep in mind when visiting New York City:

 Hotels are typically cheaper on weekends and in the coldest winter months. The days just before Thanksgiving and Christmas also yield bargains. Discount travel websites like travel zoo.com and hotels.com can lead you to lodging values.

 For meal deals, check online at
www.nycgo.com
for special dining weeks when fixed-price meals are offered at many local restaurants. Delis dotted around the city offer great value, and often, some of the best comfort food in the city.

 For theater tickets, check out the TKTS booths in Times Square, South Street Seaport, and downtown Brooklyn. You’re unlikely to find tickets to the hottest shows but consider the off-Broadway shows, where the drama is often inventive and edgy, and the prices cheaper.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

NYC & Company,
www.nycgo.com
.

hear cowboy poetry

ELKO, NEVADA

There were poems about dyin’ a’horseback.

Poems about shootin’ a bear.

There even were poems about ol’ beat up cowpokes
bemoanin’ the loss of their hair.

—
BAXTER BLACK, COWBOY POET AND LARGE-ANIMAL VET, “ON THE EDGE OF COMMON SENSE”
(1985)

19 |
The West may be tamed, but the romance of the resilient, self-reliant, and rugged cowboy lives on—and not just in the movies or the local Western bar. The United States remains one of the top beef-producing countries in the world, with more than 93 million cows, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And though today’s cowboys have access to advanced animal husbandry techniques, iPods, and the Internet, much of the farming requires wide, open spaces and a man on horseback.

From Florida to California, cowboy traditions are celebrated at rodeos, fairs, and cattle drives. But if you want to understand the soul of the men (and women) who ride the range, the
National Cowboy Poetry Gathering
is the place.

For a week each January since 1985, cowboy poets, storytellers, and musicians gather in Elko, Nevada, for musical performances, poetry readings, sing-alongs, and workshops for young writers. The gathering is organized by the Western Folklife Center, headquartered in the Pioneer Hotel; tickets start at $20 per event.

COW-CULTURE FACTS

 Despite doctors’ orders to lay off the red meat, consumers chow down more than 27 billion pounds of U.S. beef per year.

 In 2010, the United States was home to 93.7 million cows—about a third the number of people.