V-103's "Frank And Wanda Show" Contest Trips

As I reported back in November I won trips to New York City and Las Vegas as part of a prize package courtesy of V-103’s Frank & Wanda Show anniversary contest. The show selected 10 listeners to receive 10 of Frank and Wanda's 10 favorite things.

My adventure started in New York City, where myself and 9 other winners had the opportunity to see the musical “Wicked.” And what a "Wicked" good time we had. The show was amazing. The hotel we stayed at, the Flatotel was fabulous. We also got the chance to check out NYC, see the sights, sounds and sample the best of New York cuisine. Frank Ski was our host for this trip.

Two weeks later our destination was fabulous Las Vegas. Our accommodations for this trip were at TI: Treasure Island Hotel. As New York was cold, with snow on the ground, Vegas was warm, sunny and lots of people. Somehow I always manage to get to Vegas during college spring break. Our host for this trip was Wanda Smith, and her sidekick the wonderful Miss Sophia.

I would never have guessed I would say this, but Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere, was actually pretty good. The show is very interactive with the audience. I have to admit, the show is pretty impressive. I call it a sensory explosion, as there were performers in front of me, behind me, overhead and even below the stage. It was very entertaining.

Being that this was like my fourth or fifth time in Vegas, I stopped counting a while back.... I tried to do some fun off the strip....so

I took a tour of the Ethel M chocolate factory. Ethel M or Ethel Chocolates are the gourmet candy division of M&M's and Mars candy. Ethel was the mother of the company's founder. The factory also has a botanical cactus gardens. All types of cactus species are grown there. What is also interesting about the gardens, the factory uses different techniques to recycle 100% of it wastewater without using harmful chemicals.

Finally I took a trip over to what is called old Vegas. These are the early hotels on and near Fremont street. They are old, but still bustling with life. I’ve been told by some that the odds are much better at these establishments. My luck wasn't so good; I lost $7 on the quarter slots. $10 was my limit; after all we are in a recession.

I have to say thanks to "The Frank and Wanda Show", V-103 and it's staff for the great "recession vacation." In the current economy there would have been no way for me to go to both Las Vegas and New York in the same month. I had a great time. Special thanks to Wanda and her pal George Wallace for inviting us to his "I Be Thinking Show", at the Las Vegas Flamingo.

Need to Get Away??

If you having been saving to get away from the everyday, now may be a good time to go, that is if you have the dough. I’ve been flooded with sales and deals for travel. Although the economy is taking a plunge, there are some great opportunities to get away if you can spare the cash. I’ve found deals at hotels in Las Vegas, and deals and sales from Delta Airlines, Hotwire.com, and NorthWest Airlines.

I got a notice that Delta is having a sale on flights from Atlanta, Boston, & New York. Fares range from $69 up to $149. The destinations are pretty much across the board. The cities offered are:

Akron,OH - Minneapolis/St Paul, MN
Baltimore, MD -Moline-Quad Cities, IL
Bloomington, IL - New Orleans, LA
Buffalo, NY - New York-Kennedy, NY
Charleston, SC - New York-La Guardia, NY
Chicago-Midway, IL - Newport News, VA
Chicago-Ohare, IL - Orlando, FL
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX - Pensacola, FL
Dayton, OH - West Palm Beach, FL
Denver, CO - Philadelphia, PA
Detroit MI - Phoenix, AZ
Flint, MI - Pittsburgh, PA
Fort Lauderdale, FL - Raleigh/Durham, NC
Fort Myers, FL - Richmond, VA
Gulfport, MS - Rochester, NY
Houston-Bush , TX - San Antonio, TX
Houston-Hobby, TX - San Francisco, CA
Indianapolis, IN - Sarasota, FL
Jacksonville, FL - St. Louis, MO
Kansas City, MO - Tampa, FL
Los Angeles, CA - Washington-Dulles, DC
Las Vegas, NV - Washington-Reagan National
Memphis, TN - White Plains, NY
Miami, FL - Wichita, KS
Milwaukee, WI

I thought it was a pretty good deal. I trip from Atlanta to New York, any airport s on $99 one way. It would be great if you want to buy now and fly later. The fares have a 10 advance purchase and have to be used by January 30, 2008. Delta’s sale on fares ends on October 31, 2008 so hurry if you want to take advantage.

I was checking out prices at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, and they have several days during the week where the room rate is under $80 a night. That is pretty good deal for that hotel. Typically prices are much cheaper during the off-season and especially during the week. I recommend checking the prices at the hotel’s website and then compare them to the discount travel services like Cheapoair.com, Hotwire.com and Priceline.com. Hotels will have promotions from time to time, but the best deals are likely to be found on the discount services, if the hotel isn’t running a special.

Hotwire.com has deals on Vegas hotels as low as $32 a night. They also are advertising deals on flights on United Airlines and hotels in Florida. You can sign up to their travel ticker and they will email you new deals as they become available.

NorthWest Airlines is over a promotion running now on cruises. Just in time as the cold weather moves in, you can take a vacation to a nice an toasty destination. NorthWest is offering, for every dollar you spend you receive a WorldPerks bonus mile (NorthWest frequent flier program.) NorthWest is offering deals on cruises on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean cruise lines. Cruises on Celebrity start at $299 and a free on-board credit. Royal Caribbean cruises start at $399 and also include a free on-board credit. Both cruise purchases earn WorldPerks miles.

Nevada Health Crisis

I just spent4 days and 3 nights in fabulous Las Vegas and it started out as a much needed relaxing trip. However something that I heard in the local media quickly got me out of the relaxing mood I was enjoying. It seems that a Las Vegas clinic has possibly exposed as many as 40,000 patients with hepatitis B, C and HIV. For the Life of me I can't figure out why this story hasn't gotten any national coverage.

The Southern Nevada Health District, the regulatory agency that oversees the public health of Las Vegas and surrounding areas discovered through an investigation that a clinic was not following safety protocols. The investigation started because of a increase of patients reported with hepatitis. A number of those patients were linked to this clinic. It appears that the clinic was reusing syringes on patients. It appears that this practice may have been going on as far back as March of 2004.

It is inexcusable for someone to act in such disregard to people's safety, especially from someone you trust with your life like a medical professional. I think it is pure evil what has been done to these people. Officials are asking patients to go get tested. I can only imagine what these people are going through while they wait to learn the results. No one should be subjected to this.

The city has been holding public information meetings trying to help patients understand what exposure to these diseases may mean to them. But no one seems to be answering people's burning questions. How did this happen? Who was involved? Officials are tight lipped about many of these questions. It's unclear to me if they just don't know the answer or can't talk about them while the investigation continues.

As I think about what's happened in Las Vegas, it makes me see red! People paid that clinic to perform a service, and what they got in exchange was a nightmare. According to The National Coalition on Health Care, health insurance premiums rose by 6.1 percent in 2007 and total spending on health care was nearly $2.3 trillion. People are already paying a lot for health care; the last thing they need to worry about is trust their health care professional.

First and foremost these people needed to be tested and treated for their exposure to these diseases. Second the people who carried out these procedures that possibly exposed thousands of patients need to be prosecuted. There needs to be some kind of accountability. The people this is affecting need answers sooner rather than later. Lawsuits are already being filed; hopefully they will lead to answers. Why did this happen and who started it all?