Blog Posts by Jenny Adams

(Photo: Kevin Tachman)Ask 20 New Yorkers what the best neighborhood to visit for food is, and you will get 20 different answers. Ask them what the worst neighborhood is, and it will be a simple, curt response of “Times Square.”

Oh, Times Square. Vestige of neon so garish and flashy, epilepsy feels imminent. It’s a neighborhood where you can’t catch a cab, but you can wait in lines longer than those that stretch out from the gates of Heaven on Judgment Day - only to further endure a meal at an Olive Garden or a Red Lobster. Or worse. There are plenty of overpriced, post-theater delis with questionable health ratings.

Yes, Times Square is enough to weaken the knees of the happiest tourist or the sturdiest Big Apple dweller. The truth is, however, there are some amazing culinary options if you know where to look. Yahoo Travel sought the guidance of several men and women working in New York’s food and beverage scene, from chefs to bartenders to food journalists. Here’s their advice on how to eat and drink like

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BASE jump wingsuit flying, anyone? (Photo:  Dominic Wicki)

Long ago, most people thought the world was flat. And perhaps because we’ve now labeled every country, river, ocean and forest, and we know we can’t actually fall off the face of the Earth, a few of us have become restless. That need for real adventure has produced some extremely intimidating travel activities.

From jumping off a platform more than 70 stories high to swallowing the heart of the most deadly snake in the world, we rounded up the most insane, horrifyingly crazy, ridiculously intimidating activities on the planet. Sure, you can’t sail off the edge of the world – but if you have the money, you can lean out over largest waterfall in the world … while a complete stranger holds your ankles.

Here’s to the most intimidating travel activities on Planet Earth and those crazy enough to invent them:

No. 10 – Nude Cruising

While some people have no fear of heights and others will happily eat bugs, being completely naked with several hundred strangers will intimidate just about

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The Baseball Hall of Fame. (Photo: Courtesy of Tauck)

Baseball season begins Sunday, and for those fans who want to get closer to the sport, there’s a new way to experience it this year. Legendary producer and documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has partnered with the travel company Tauck to create a four-day celebration of America’s national pastime.

Based on Burns’ acclaimed film “Baseball,” the event will anchor in Cooperstown, N.Y., and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. You’ll arrive in Cooperstown and check in at The Otesaga Resort on Lake Otsego. The trip is unique because it’s not merely a chance to tour baseball’s national shrine, but also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear Burns speak and meet with baseball legends such as Hall of Fame players Phil Niekro and Ozzie Smith. There are presentations by historian and author Daniel Okrent, an originator of fantasy baseball, and exclusive tours of the museum.

Ken Burns (Photo: University of Texas-Arlington).A lakeside barbecue will give you a chance to mingle with Niekro and Smith, and you’ll get to hit a few balls at the

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(Photo: Orient-Express Trains & Cruises)

There is something romantic about a river – whether it’s the tree canopy of the Amazon, bearing birds and reptiles, bending low to kiss the water, or the never-ending hard current of the Mississippi, moving boats and men and ink from the pens of Twain and Faulkner.

Travelers have been drawn to them for thousands of years, and while looking at a river from its banks is lovely, to live on the currents for a week or more is the journey of a lifetime.

Here are seven of the world’s best riverboat journeys:

The Irrawaddy, aboard The Road to Mandalay

Rudyard Kipling penned the poem “Mandalay” without ever actually going to Mandalay. You can go now, however, thanks to the ease in tension and rise in tourism for Myanmar. The most iconic way to visit this tropical country of temples is to cruise the Irrawaddy River with The Orient Express. The Road to Mandalay is an 82-passenger ship, built in 1964. The world-renowned vessel has a feel of timeless luxury – from afternoon tea service on the

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Freehand Miami guest room. (Photo: Adrian Gaut)

One of the biggest benefits of traveling is meeting people along the journey. One of the biggest drawbacks is the cash necessary to make travel happen. Hostels answer both of those needs by dropping you into a ready-made group of like-minded adventurers, while saving you from the cost of a hotel.

Much like cross-country trains and universal healthcare, we in America are a bit hostile (excuse the pun) when it comes to hostels, compared with Europe.

While they aren’t plentiful, there are still some great hostels open to travelers Stateside if you know where to look. Here’s a list of five we’d hit up in 2013:

Freehand Miami(Photo: Adrian Gaut)
Miami

The vibe: We learned about this hostel from a bartender at The Broken Shaker, whose drink landed on Yahoo!’s main site as one of the coolest new cocktails in America. The Broken Shaker craft cocktail bar is attached to this hostel, which features a renovated 1930s building with striking, gorgeous décor, an outdoor pool, tropical courtyard and rooms that would make

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Downstairs level of Raven & Rose. (Photo: Jenny Adams)

Portland’s a hot topic when it comes to dining out. Take its Thai establishment Pok Pok and its sister operations, Whiskey Soda Lounge and Pok Pok Noi. That empire, headed up by Chef Andy Ricker, did so well that he opened two additional locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Once the New York Times got a bite, Pok Pok became the trendiest place to be seen gnawing Thai chicken wings in the Big Apple. That’s a pretty good indicator. When Portland introduces New York to the next best chicken wing, it’s a clear signal that these Pacific Northwest chefs know what’s up.

Pok Pok is a must-visit, but here are three other, new places that caught our eye for eats and drinks in Portland.

Raven & RoseUpstairs bar. (Photo: Jenny Adams)
Only open a few weeks now, this massive two-level venture in downtown brings diners classic, farmhouse cuisine with an Irish-countryside-meets-the-Pacific-Northwest kind of slant. Executive Chef David Padberg mans the kitchen, turning out signatures like grilled sturgeon served with clams, shell beans

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Octopus salami at Rosemary's in the East Village, NYC. (Photo: Jenny Adams)

“Remember Pillsbury Toaster Strudels? Can a girl not get a toaster strudel anymore?”

I almost spit my Panamanian, four-times-roasted, $6 coffee across the table when my friend posed that question at brunch last weekend. In this round of what I like to call Art vs. Sustenance, Sustenance was sporting a concussion and two black eyes.

Pig ears at Duck's eatery, NYC. (Photo: Jenny Adams)

In front of us was a razor-thin slice of seafood. Topped with bright pieces of torn basil, pickle relish and a smattering of olive oil, the main event was two diaphanous circles of octopus, barely thicker than a sheet of paper.

I lifted my fork, head cocked and hesitant. It seemed a shame to destroy something so beautiful and so, frankly, bizarre. However, there were no toaster strudels to be had, and we were starving.

Bizarre is becoming the norm. Menus around America are boasting bits of meat previously only witnessed on reruns of "Fear Factor," and after brunch, I asked a few chefs about the motivation behind this trend. They admitted that shock value

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A second-line street parade. (Photo: Jerry Moran)

Sadly, the word “authentic” has become to the travel industry what “all-natural” is to the food industry - something that sounds like it would be amazing for you, but more times than not, it’s just that prepackaged, proverbial corn syrup.

However, every once in a while you stumble upon a real way to crack a destination open and get at the heart of it. Meet “The Real New Orleans.” It’s a brand-new tourism concierge, providing visitors a backstage pass to the Big Easy.

“I’m your classic case of a guy who came down for a Jazz Fest weekend and never left,” laughs co-founder, Bill Taylor. Taylor moved from San Francisco to New Orleans in ‘96, and he’s certainly made his own mark on the town prior to this as the Executive Director of the Trombone Shorty Foundation and the executive director at The Tipitina’s Foundation.

“I’m so infatuated with this city that when my friends would visit, I felt compelled to show them an unbelievable time here,” he continues. “When I realized authentic

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