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Student buys a plane ticket for food

Fast-food fandom usually comes down to a tug-of-war between cost vs. taste, and for true die-hards, the taste almost always outweighs the cost. This guy from Troy, NY, weighed the costs of purchasing a plane ticket specifically to eat Chick-fil-A, and decided it was worth it.

From Troy, the closest Chick-fil-As are either 68 miles away in Chicopee, MA, or 76 miles away in Enfield, CT. A group of students from Troy’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), however, discovered a clever loophole.

The airport in Albany, just 15 minutes from Troy, does have a Chick-fil-A behind the TSA checkpoint. Seeing a golden opportunity, members of RPI’s cross country/track and field team contributed $5.50 each to buy a plane ticket for RPI senior Vincent Putrino, who purchased a $98 ticket to Florida in order to get past security. Once through the checkpoint, Putrino ordered $227.28 worth of Chick-Fil-A, including 15 sandwiches, 15 orders of fries, and 156 chicken nuggets.

Putrino then left the airport and returned to his friends, in perhaps the most legendary and extravagant food run of all time.

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Kenya’s elephant population doubled

In a year where good news seems rare, elephants are lifting us all up. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) announced yesterday that the elephant population in Kenya grew to 34,800 by the end of 2019. That number is more than double the population from 1989, when it was just 16,000. These numbers are heartening, but nowhere near Africa’s booming elephant population of the 1970s, which totaled 1.3 million across the entire continent, compared to today’s 500,000.

The recent population increase is thanks to the country’s ability to curb poaching in recent years through the implementation of greater fines and jail time. The KWS also implemented a Conversation and Management Strategy in 2012 to develop elephant recovery strategies.

According to KSW Director General Brigadier John Waweru, “It is fortunate that Kenya has a conservation and management strategy for elephants in place to guide elephant recovery strategies, which has seen a more than 100% growth in Kenya’s population from 16,000 in 1989 to 34,800 by end of 2019.”

And Kenya isn’t resting on its laurels. The country continues to devise creative ways to support elephant conservation and those who protect the elephant population. The Magical Kenya Elephant Naming Campaign will take place on World Elephant Day (August 12), which is designed to raise money to support rangers who combat poachers.

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Amazon fire season worst start

In true 2020 fashion, the Amazon fire season in Brazil is off to its worst start in a decade. In the first 10 days of August alone the Amazon has had over 10,136 fires, which is an increase of 17 percent from last year, according to data from Inpe, the country’s national space research agency.

Romulo Batista, senior forest campaigner for Greenpeace Brazil, said, “This is the direct result of this government’s lack of an environment policy. We had more fires than last year.”

Blame for the forest fires and deforestation falls on the shoulders of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has failed to control both issues. The government did launch an operation in May called Operation Green Brasil 2, with the aim of using thousands of soldiers to prevent deforestation and protect the land — though that effort doesn’t seem to have paid off.

“It’s a lot of propaganda,” said Batista. “You don’t combat deforestation with an army operation, you do it working all year round with intelligence and coordination.”

As reported by Reuters, in a speech on Tuesday, Bolsonaro denied the surging fires in the Amazon. “This story that the Amazon is going up in flames is a lie and we must combat it with true numbers,” he said.

Now investors are under pressure to do their part to save the Amazon. Candido Bracher, CEO of Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco, said they would no longer finance meat companies suspected of contributing to deforestation. “We want to guarantee the industry won’t be supplied by meat from herds raised in deforested areas,” he told the Estadão . “We will do this by tracing.”

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UK's socially distant music venue

The UK just debuted its first-ever socially distant music venue at the pop-up Virgin Money Unity Arena in Newcastle, England. The venue held its first show on August 11, headlined by Sam Fender. It was attended by 2,500 people who weren’t required to wear masks as long as social distancing was adhered to.

Photo: Virgin Money Unity Arena/Facebook

The space features 500 metal platforms spaced out at least six feet from each other. Each platform seats up to five people and has a table and chairs along with a fridge to keep drinks cold. Guests can preorder drinks before the event and pick them up at the bar.

Photo: Virgin Money Unity Arena/Facebook

The safety measures in place also require guests to remain on their platform throughout the performance and arrive at the outdoor venue in the same car. All cars are also required to be parked at least six feet away from each other.

The arena will be open until September 13, 2020. The next show will be a performance by Two Door Cinema Club on August 15, followed by The Bootleg Beatles, Björn Again, Dinosaur World Live, Becky Hill, and more.

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Alice in Wonderland garden exhibit

This summer, the Atlanta Botanical Garden is offering a fairytale journey through its grounds with its “Imaginary Worlds: Alice’s Wonderland” exhibit. Based on the iconic children’s book, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol, the exhibit features life-sized sculptures of Carrol’s characters such as the White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat.

Photo: Atlanta Botanical Garden/Facebook

The two largest sculptures are the 16-foot-tall Red Queen and a 14-foot-tall sculpture of Alice rotating in the garden’s Howell Fountain pool. All of the designs are created according to the long-standing tradition of mosaiculture, which is a form of horticulture art where giant sculptures are created by using thousands of bedding plants attached to frames made of steel.

Photo: Atlanta Botanical Garden/Facebook

In addition to the Wonderland characters, there are two more whimsical works to look forward to. The Earth Goddess, a depiction of a woman with colorful, flowing hair, and the Shaggy Dog have been visitors’ favorites since they were revealed in 2013.

The exhibit is open until November 1, 2020. For more information and tickets, visit the botanical garden’s official website.

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Real haunted houses

You may have been one of those kids who used to muster up the courage to knock on the door of the creepy, rumored-to-be-haunted house in your neighborhood every Hallowen. Now it’s time to take it to the next level. Plenty of houses and hotels around the world claim to have supernatural happenings, but these seven are some of the absolute spine-tingling. While not all of these houses are open to the public, many are open to even stay the night. Just be prepared for some uninvited guests.

1. Woodchester Mansion — Gloucestershire, England

Photo: Woodchester Mansion/Facebook

Abandoned by the last of various groups of builders in the mid-1860s, the Woodchester Mansion remains unfinished to this day. Inside the gargoyle-clad building you’ll find — amongst the strewn-about tools of Victorian-era workers — a dwarf-like ghost in the cellar, the see-through spirit of a little girl who runs up and down the stairs, and way too many bats for this place to not be haunted.

As can be expected, the mansion’s chapel experiences the most fear-inducing activity. Aside from the scent of recently extinguished candles that occasionally wafts through the building and the concerned apparition under the stained-glass windows, be wary of flying stones and other bits of rock that tend to be thrown across the room here.

2. Longfellow’s Wayside Inn — Sudbury, Massachusetts, US

Photo: Longfellow’s Wayside Inn/Facebook

The oldest continually operating inn in the United States, Longfellow’s Wayside Inn also houses the nation’s oldest cougar. Jerusha Howe, sister of one of the original owners of the Inn, continues to make her presence known in her old home, especially to men who opt to stay the night in her former bedroom.

According to local legend, Jerusha — also known as the Belle of Sudbury — died of a broken heart after falling in love with a British man who promised to return to America to marry her. He never did, and she died unmarried in 1842. Since then, she’s been hanging around the inn, still waiting for her lover to return and passing the time by playing on her piano, hovering over guest beds, and occasionally swooping under the covers to give unassuming men a little ghostly action.

3. Skirrid Mountain Inn — Monmouthshire, Wales

Photo: 4 season backpacking/Shutterstock

The ancient Skirrid Mountain Inn once doubled as a courtroom and execution space — a sure-fire way to encourage future ghostly hauntings. Over the course of a few hundred years, numerous accused criminals were hanged from the inn’s exposed stairwell beams.

In the mid-19th century, the inn finally decided to put away the noose and focus on actual hospitality, but the spirits of those executed here are still a bit displeased. Exacting their revenge, the ghosts at the Skirrid Mountain Inn have been known to slip invisible ghost-nooses around the necks of visitors, tightening them sharply enough to leave physical imprints on their skin.

To be fair, the inn also houses a few harmless apparitions as well, including a friendly clergyman and a mischievous lady who smells of perfume and enjoys levitating glasses (breaking several of them a week) and floating cash around the bar.

4. The Great House at Rose Hall — Montego Bay, Jamaica

Photo: Debbie Ann Powell/Shutterstock

The adopted daughter of a rumored voodoo priestess from Haiti, Annie Palmer was bound to become a scary story. After marrying a rich sugar plantation owner, she moved into her new digs in Rose Hall and promptly murdered her husband. She then married twice more, each relationship ending in another mysterious death. It wasn’t just husbands that experienced the wrath of Annie. During her time at the Great House, she regularly forced slaves to be her lovers, brutally killing them once she got bored of them.

Annie was eventually found smothered to death in her bedroom, ending her reign of terror over Rose Hall. Unfortunately, the ritual burial she was given went wrong and her spirit managed to escape. She now reveals herself as the true evil person she was by appearing in photographs as a smudgy face-shaped blob in a mirror.

5. Poveglia Island — Venice, Italy

Photo: Kagan Kaya/Shutterstock

Once a dumping ground for plague sufferers and dead bodies, Poveglia also served as an isolated mental hospital and retirement home for the indigent. Hundreds of thousands of people are said to have died in Poveglia, most of them alone and/or screaming. Their remains were typically shoveled into huge mass graves and unceremoniously burned. Understandably upset, their souls are said to still inhabit the island, where they moan a lot and stomp around the abandoned main building.

The island, now closed to the public, doesn’t attract too many visitors. Locals and water-taxis are reluctant to approach Poveglia and will likely think you’re crazy if you ask, so finding transportation can be a challenge. Perhaps you should just take that as a clue and stay away.

6. Gardette-LaPrete House — New Orleans, Louisiana, US

Photo: Christian Hinkle/Shutterstock

New Orleans is not short of spooky happenings, especially downtown, but one place in particular is worth planning a trip around. The Gardette-LaPrete House — often referred to as “Sultan’s Palace” — was once home to a mysteriously wealthy Turkish man, his large family, and a harem of young women and boys, many of which were rumored to have been held against their will. Known around the neighborhood for raucous sex parties, opium hangouts, and the piles of jewels and gold lying around the house, the Sultan’s Palace eventually became known for something much more gruesome.

The scene of one of the grisliest crimes in New Orleans history, the Gardette-LaPrete House was raided one night and every resident mutilated. The young Turk himself, however, was savagely beaten and buried alive in the courtyard.

While his gold and harem are long gone, the sultan still hangs around his mansion, leisurely floating by windows and burning incense. Don’t worry, only the occasional disembodied blood-curdling scream can be heard here from time to time.

7. Stanley Hotel — Estes Park, Colorado, US

Photo: Sopotnicki/Shutterstock

Six miles from Rocky Mountain National Park, the Stanley Hotel is a scenic mountain-view property that would make for a terrific mountain retreat — if it weren’t for the dead kid in room 418 that likes to shake the beds of hotel guests and tickle them in their sleep. Or perhaps if the staff could do something about head chambermaid Elizabeth Wilson. She’s extremely helpful behind the scenes and always quietly takes care to help guests tidy their luggage and hang their coats. The only problem is that she’s kind of missing a pulse. Then there’s the ghost-perv in room 401 who likes to cop an occasional feel from women guests and has a gross habit of breathing heavily into the ears of the ladies.

The staff of the Stanley insists that its otherworldly visitors are of the friendlier, harmless variety. Nonetheless, we wouldn’t blame you for steering clear of any place on Earth that’s ever remotely served as inspiration for Stephen King’s The Shining.

A version of this article was previously published on October 27, 2011, by Sarah Park and was updated on August 12, 2020, by Katie Scott Aiton.

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Hot Tub Boats for rent in Seattle

If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to combine the two greatest leisure activities on the planet into one experience, check out the Hot Tub Boat. True to its name, the Hot Tub Boat is a small boat with a built-in hot tub — or a hot tub with a built-in boat — that can be rented on Lake Union, Washington. The boats are now available for rent on the 580-acre lake in the heart of Seattle, and they’ll change the way you view boating forever.

Photo: Hot Tub Boats

Each boat can accommodate six people and has an electric motor and onboard diesel heater to keep the water at a steamy 104 degrees. You steer the boat using a joystick, and even though it doesn’t exceed five miles per hour, you still need a valid driver’s licence to operate it.

The boats are pandemic-hygiene-friendly, being drained and cleared thoroughly between each use.

Henry Burgess-Marshall, head of marketing and operations at Hot Tub Boats, told Insider that the boat has already proven incredibly popular, with no bookings remaining for August. “This summer has been wonderfully hectic,” he said. “To have something that’s a little strange, a little quirky really works here in Seattle.”

Currently there are two boats available to rent, but by next summer the goal is to have four rentable boats in total. Rentals currently cost $350 for two hours. If you want to own a Hot Tub Boat yourself, however, it’s certainly a possibility — it’ll just set you back at least $75,000.

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Lesser known wine regions

The United States is a great place for wine lovers. It’s home to around 250 distinct wine regions, called American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), that are designated as special appellations for growing grapes. AVAs encompass thousands of wineries making all types and styles of wine, from balanced European-style blends to big and bold wines made from a single grape variety.

A handful of these regions have garnered international acclaim. You likely know their names — Napa, the Finger Lakes, Willamette Valley. What you might not know are the regions close by or even directly neighboring these famous wine regions. The wine isn’t the same in these nearby regions (otherwise there wouldn’t be a point for the different designations), but they’re often just as exciting to explore. So take a break from the well-known and venture out. You might just find a new favorite.

Instead of Napa and Sonoma, try Monterey

Photo: David A Litman/Shutterstock

Napa is one of the most famous wine regions in the world, let alone the US. It’s home to the wineries that first put American wine on the map, many of which are still worth a visit. Nearby Sonoma is a little more laid back with slightly less name recognition, but it too is known for producing sustainable, destination-worthy wines. But just two hours south to Monterey, and you’ll find a wine region with far fewer crowds, great wine, and a classic California wine country atmosphere.

The Monterey AVA was first recognized in 1984. Since then, eight smaller AVAs have been delineated inside, and together the regions have some 150 wineries and around 40,000 acres of vineyards. Start in the far north by Carmel and Monterey Bay, where you’ll find wine made from cool weather grapes like riesling and pinot noir. Farther south and slightly inland are warmer varieties like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah, petite syrah, and zinfandel. Chardonnay is planted throughout the AVA and makes up more than half of the vines. Be sure to pop into the smaller AVAs on the way south, as each has its own microclimate to explore.

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Instead of the Finger Lakes, try Niagara Escarpment

The Finger Lakes deserves all of the recognition it gets for quality wine. The region put New York on the wine map starting with Dr. Frank Konstantin, who proved that European grape varieties could be successfully grown in the cold northern center of the state. Venture north to the Niagara Escarpment AVA to experience a region that deals with even colder weather.

Niagara Escarpment is near Niagara Falls and was first recognized as an AVA in 2005. Hardy and cold weather white varieties like chardonnay and riesling, as well as pinot noir, are the primary grapes. Warmer air off of Lake Ontario in the autumn keeps parts of the region just warm enough for grapes to ripen. There are around 20 wineries in the AVA. What you don’t want to miss out on are the many ice wines available, which are made by leaving the grapes on the vine until they freeze in early winter. When done right, the concentrated sugars in the grapes ferment into a sweet, balanced dessert wine. Niagara Escarpment joins the Finger Lakes as one of a few regions in the US where there are regular ice wine weather conditions. And if you can’t get enough, hop across the border to Canada’s Niagara wine country where you’ll find even more ice wine.

Instead of Walla Walla, try Snake River Valley

Photo: CSNafzger/Shutterstock

Walla Walla, and the Columbia Valley AVA that encompasses it, straddles the Washington-Oregon border and is known for its robust cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and syrah wines. The red wines have brought much attention to this small AVA, as well as the white wines made with chardonnay and gewurztraminer. A short drive south is another AVA that crosses state lines: the Snake River Valley AVA, which spans across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

Though Idaho isn’t much known for wine outside of the region, the Snake River Valley is reason enough to pay attention (and a visit). Idaho winemakers are open to experimentation and play with different varieties — some wineries work with as many as 20 different varieties for blends and varietal wines. The wineries throughout the Snake River Valley AVA, which started in 2007, are accessible and welcoming. Most importantly, the wine is balanced and tasty, so save some room in your luggage to bring back bottles that are hard to find outside of Idaho and the Pacific Northwest.

Instead of Paso Robles, try Sta. Rita Hills

After Napa and Sonoma, Paso Robles is up there among the most famous wine regions in California. The Paso Robles AVA started in 1983 and has since been subdivided into 11 sub AVAs. Its diversity in wine types and styles is part of what makes it so special. But for some of the best pinot noir in California, you have to head south and toward the coast to the Sta. Rita Hills.

The Sta. Rita Hills AVA is near the elbow of California and was formed in 2001. It has hills on one side and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south. Despite being closer to the equator than any European wine region, it has a cool, moderate climate thanks to the fog and breeze from the water that makes the region perfect for grapes. It’s a special place for anyone who enjoys syrah and chardonnay, but it’s an especially noteworthy stop for anyone who loves varietal pinot noir at its finest.

Instead of the Willamette Valley, try Umpqua Valley

Photo: TFoxFoto/Shutterstock

The Willamette Valley makes some of the most famous wines in the US. It was formed by a group of University of California, Davis students in the 1960s who believed that the Oregon region could grow cool-climate varieties. They were right. The pinot noirs are not infrequently compared to Burgundy, and the relatively small amounts of pinot gris and chardonnay shouldn’t be ignored.

That said, it’s understandable that less attention is paid to Oregon’s other AVAs and sub-AVAs that stretch along the western side of the Cascade Mountains. Connected by a sliver to the south is the Umpqua Valley AVA, which was founded in 1984. The first vines were planted in the region in the 1880s by German immigrants who had worked with the Beringer wine family in Napa. Umpqua Valley’s upstart winemakers planted riesling in the 1960s, and founded the Oregon Winegrowers Association in 1969. Overall, there are more than 20 grape varieties grown in the 65-mile AVA. The cool climate section is known for pinot noir like those to the north in Willamette Valley, and the warm climate section is known for merlot, syrah, and tempranillo.

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Campus bubbles for college students

In an attempt to provide students with a college experience while they take university classes online this fall, two Princeton graduates devised a new idea for campus living. Instead of simply taking online classes from their parents’, students would move into hotels with tens of others.

Starting this fall, The U Experience will house 150 students at two hotels, one in Hawaii and another in Arkansas. These “campus bubbles” will supposedly allow students to get a taste of the university experience without actually being on campus.

Twenty-four-year-old cofounder Lane Russell had the idea when Harvard announced that it would shift to remote learning but still charge full tuition. He told Business Insider, “It really made us think about, ‘What is the thing that college is offering, and what are students getting out of it? And we think that, even if a college is announcing something that indicates that the experience is actually worth $0, a lot of students probably do value it much higher than that.”

The other cofounder, Adam Bragg, added, “Something like this could have never been done before — mainly because the separation of a college experience from colleges was never possible. They held the college experience for ransom, and now that they’ve shifted to online learning, there is an opportunity to do something like this.”

Although neither Russell nor Bragg has a background in higher education or hospitality, they do claim that they “have an understanding of the college experience firsthand” and “understand the value of it.”

Applications for the new experience are now open, and according to Russell and Bragg, they already have enough to fill a class.

If admitted to the program, students must take a COVID-19 test and self-quarantine between the time of their test and their arrival at the hotel. Students must also comply with local health regulations, like Hawaii’s mandatory 14-day self quarantine policy.

All students will have single rooms, and those on the Hawaii campus will have their own private bathrooms. The base price for rooming at the Arkansas campus is $12,000 while the Hawaii campus is $15,000.

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Mauritius oil spill endangers sea

On July 25, the MV Wakashio owned by Nagashiki Shipping struck a coral reef on the southeast coast of Mauritius. Since last week, an estimated 1,000 tons of oil has leaked from the Japanese bulk carrier, damaging some of Mauritius’ pristine beaches and seriously endangering marine life.

Activists have told Reuters that eels and starfish have been found dead and covered in oil. Crabs and seabirds are also in grave danger.

The ship still contains around 2,000 tons of oil that may still seep into the water. The Mauritian government declared an emergency on Friday on account of the spill, and is working with France to remove the oil as expediently as possible.

Despite the cleanup efforts, Vikash Tatayah, conservation director at Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, told Reuters, “There is some anger and some criticism from the civil society that the government may have taken too much time to respond.”

The ship had been grounded for nearly two weeks before it started leaking oil and action was finally taken.

According to Mitsui OSK Lines, which operates the ship, “We will do our utmost towards resolving the situation quickly.” No specific details were provided, however.

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