TravelMusings

3 Posts tagged with the contests tag
A.E. Smith
0

Photo: Kingdom of Navarre

 

 

 

If you sport a bushy white beard, have a penchant for turtlenecks or khaki safari garb, and feel at home in dive bars or around large, unpredictable animals, you may have a shot at a free trip to Spain for the first International Ernest Hemingway Look-alike and Impersonators Contest. Anyone with a physical resemblance to the writer can enter by submitting two recent photos (half- and full-body) or a short video by noon on Monday, June 15 (that’s noon in Spain, or 6 a.m. for folks on the East Coast of the United States). If selected, participants will be invited to Pamplona, July 2 to 10 (with all travel and lodging costs gratis) to vie against other Hemingway impersonators for the grand prize of $2,000 and a return trip for two to Navarre’s Hemingway Route. The contest is being held to recognize the 50th anniversary of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s last trip to the region, a setting used in some of his best-known works.

 

If Spain seems as distant a destination as the snows of Kilimanjaro, domestic Papa doppelgangers can head to Key West, which will host its annual Hemingway Days July 21 to 25. Here, in addition to book readings and a deep-sea marlin fishing tournament, the competitive Papa look-alike contest at Sloppy Joe’s bar involves arm-wrestling and a mock bull-run through the streets.

 

It seems a shame that Hemingway has such a lock on the literary look-alike market, when there are so many other writers (with beards and without) who have notable connections to great vacation destinations. Here is a short list of some other impersonator competitions I would like to see arranged:

 

  • A long beard and a dour look will get you into the Herman Melville look-alike contest, to be held aboard a whale-watching boat leaving from Nantucket.

  • Break out your bonnet and pelisse and head to Hampshire, England for a Jane Austen look-alike competition. Bonus points for those who bring zombie-slaying gear a la Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Winners will have a lead role in a double-wedding ceremony.

  • A button-down shirt, spectacles and knapsack slung over one shoulder are all you’ll need to enter the Rick Steves look-alike showdown, to take place in a sleeper car somewhere between Italy and France. Grand prize is a lifetime Eurail Pass.

 

Any other literary figures you’d like to see in the flesh? Let us hear it in the comments.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: contests, spain, key_west
Amy Hatch
0

Finally, a good reason to join Twitter—and it’s not because you absolutely must share what you had for lunch with the rest of the world. No, this time dedicated tweeters can win themselves a free hotel room at the swank Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles.

 

The hotel will be giving away 50 room nights every weekend through April 18, as part of its “U.O.Me Tax Relief” promotion. Five room nights each weekend will be awarded exclusively through Twitter.

 

How do you win? Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.  You can enter at the hotel’s Web site, or by tweeting about the promotion using the hashtag, #U.O.Me.

 

Rooms will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis—the first 45 Web site entries and the first five tweets will receive a room night. The promotion will run April 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18. 

 

Entries will be accepted between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. the Tuesday before the desired weekend.

 

This is a pretty sweet deal. Winners also get the “Westin Tax Credit,” a coupon given at check-out for 10 percent off dinner at L.A. Prime, a New York-style steakhouse.  Winners who book a second consecutive night with the property will receive a 20 percent off coupon to the restaurant.

 

“In this recessionary climate, several states, including California, had to temporarily delay sending out tax refunds,” said Michael Czarcinski, managing director at the Westin Bonaventure.  “While California has now resumed payments, we wanted to help relieve the stress even a temporary suspension may have caused and invite anxious taxpayers nationwide to spend an evening at the Westin. We’ll foot the bill.  It’s our form of an in-kind tax refund.”

 

Ah, ain't that ... wait for it ... tweet of them?

0 Comments Permalink Tags: los, angeles, westin, bonaventure, twitter, contests
Amy Hatch
0

My closet is strewn—and I mean strewn—with rejected diaper bags. When you are on the go with your kids, you need a bag that is practical, portable and functional.

 

Lots and lots of bags lure you in with their sexy good looks, only to disappoint on your first date. This is especially true when you’re traveling. Heaven knows you need a sherpa when you’re on the road with the wee ones.

 

That’s why this awesome contest over at DeliciousBaby (one of TravelMusing’s favorite travel blogs) caught my eye. Debbie is giving away an actual Baby Sherpa Diaper  Pack.

 

If the photo is any indication, this bag could be your new best friend, no matter if you’re on your way to Nepal or the local mall.

 

Go check it out, enter the contest, and tell her TravelMusings sent you.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: family_travel, travel_gear, diaper_bags, deliciousbaby, contests

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