Music The Lost Girls Love

HCC: The best part about going to hear live music is that it takes your mind off your daily life and you can just get lost in the crowd and dance. When I first saw the Zac Brown Band in NYC this summer, I literally could not stop myself from moving in time to their southern rock/country/bluegrass beats. And their songs are relatable because they all tell a story: From "Chicken Fried," a song about growing up in Georgia and enjoying the simple things, to "Toes," about taking your vacation frame of mind back home with you from the beach.

The Zac Brown Band is playing at the Bowery Ballroom on Delancey Street next Tuesday, February 3rd. With tickets costing just $17, it's a small price to pay for a night of live entertainment. You can check out their video, below, for a sneak peak.

Zac Brown Band   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos

Lost Girls Field Trip: Andros Island-Part 3

Jen: While I wouldn't trade my position as 1/3 of The Lost Girls writing team for anything in...well...the world, I recently spread my journalist wings and accepted my first solo assignment: a 9-part web series on Andros Island for the pop culture travel site, Jaunted.com. But even though I temporarily flew away from the nest, I felt compelled to bring my stories home to you, my favorite TLG readers. So enjoy my third post and stay tuned each week for a new entry!

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"The Art of Androsia": You’ve seen them used as beach blankets. You’ve watched women tie them around their bikini-clad waists. Perhaps your hippie college roommate even hung one on the wall. Give up? The answer is batik.

I’m slightly embarrassed to admit this, but if you’d asked me what batik was before my recent visit to Andros Island in the Bahamas, my top three guesses probably would have been:

1) Exotic hard wood used to make furniture. Boring!
2) Stiff sugarcane rum. Much better!
OR 3) an indigenous plant with hallucinogenic properties. Umm…no comment!

Luckily the Birch Family, who founded the Small Hope Bay Lodge where I was staying for the week, was also the brainchild behind Androsia, an original batik fabric and garment manufacturing company on the island. As loyal consumers to, well, themselves, everything from the cottage bedspreads to the staff uniforms were drenched in vibrant shades of magenta, aquamarine and canary yellow and accented with an array of exotic prints featuring turtles, seashells, hibiscus flowers and hummingbirds.

Not to worry, though, there are plenty of goods to go around for guests. The Small Hope gift shop is just a few steps down the beach and is stocked with shirts, dresses, pants and more, which are purchased by honor system (or if you can’t make it down to Andros, all merchandise can be ordered online at www.androsia.aacart.com)

While the beauty of this unique art form certainly set the island tone during my stay, it was Androsia’s pro-social story that truly inspired me. Started in 1973, the year the Bahamas gained its independence, Androsia offered gainful employment for the local people, particularly women and single mothers. In 1998, Androsia won the Silver Jubilee Award, an honor bestowed on certain individuals and companies who have made significant contributions to the Bahamas. Today, the Androsia industry provides job opportunities to residence while continuing to boost the island’s economy.

So while my abs aren’t quite as tight as the woman’s in the featured photo, I’d proudly sport Androsia any day!

For more information, including the batik process, factory tour and custom online orders, visit their website at www.androsia.com

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Dying to view my entire Andros blog series to date?...Of course you are!
Click here to re-visit Part 1-3!

City Escapes: The Jade Journey at Juvenex Spa

ADP: When The Lost Girls began our backpacking adventure in South America, we knew we had to trade in certain luxuries (i.e., private rooms, hot showers, meals served without chicken feet) in order to adhere strictly to our $30 per day budget. Some days—particularly the sub-arctic ones in the Andes—it was pretty tough to put our long-term financial goals ahead of immediate desire for comfort and warmth, but we persevered like hearty travelers should.

That spendthrift martyrdom lasted a few months, but flew out the window almost the moment we arrived in Southeast Asia. In places like Bangkok, Thailand and Luang Prubang, Laos, for example, it was possible to get a private, heated room in a safe hostel for less then $6, a taxi across town for $2 and a delicious meal for under a buck. Because we came in well under budget each day, the three of us opted to spend the cash that remained every night on something truly useful: acupressure and reflexology massages at one of the many excellent spas located within our vicinity. Sure, it would have been more prudent to tuck the extra funds away for some freezing cold day ahead, but where else in the world could we get a 90 minute full-body rubdown (plus jasmine tea!) for less then the cost of a latte back home?

Since completing our trip and returning to NYC, we’ve come to yearn for the days when we could find such deeply restorative, well-priced spa treatments within an easy walk or taxi ride. Just as we were commenting that we’d have to return Asia to get pampered without breaking the bank, a friend recommended that we check out Juvenex, (http://www.juvenexspa.com/) a spa located in Manhattan’s Little Korea. The facility is renowned in spa-junkie circles for staying open 24/7 (you can get a couple massage at 3:00a.m), for the celebs that frequent it (P. Diddy, Sofia Coppola, Tiki Barber, and the Queer Eye guys have all been there) and for its Jade Igloo—a sauna made from 20 tons of the semi-precious green stone. Best of all: the spa offers treatments imported from around the globe, including the same kind of acupressure bodywork treatments we’d come to love—and miss—from our time abroad.

We’d scheduled our massages for January 3rd—surely we’d need to detox after all of the champagne that would enter our systems on New Year’s Eve—did a two-hour Bikram yoga class just prior to ensure that the toxins would begin their expedient journey back out again. Needless to say, by time we arrived, we were more than ready to begin the Jade Journey—which meant crossing a wooden foot bridge into main part of the spa, plunging into three Japanese style soaking tubs infused with sake, ginseng, seaweed and tea tree, sweating it out inside the diamond-shaped herbal steam room and taking a trip inside the baked clay sauna.

After completing the 45-minute experience, we were lead inside private treatment rooms where each of us received a 60-minute energy balancing massage. The therapists used a blend of therapies from around the world—acupressure, shiatsu and deep sports massage—to stimulate the meridian systems of the body and release blocked chi.

I’m not entirely sure where my chi is located (and if it was successfully set free) but by time we all reconvened at the tropical fruit and tea bar, our muscles had completely melted, and we were as happy and relaxed as we’d been back all those months ago in Bangkok. Taking the Jade Journey in Little Korea might not be quite as exotic as a trip to Southeast Asia for a nightly rubdown—but you’ll use a hell of a lot less frequent flier miles in the process.

Live from the Wienermobile: Who are these Hot Doggers anyway??

Here's the latest on-the-road dispatch from our Wienermobile girls. You can read more about their hot dogging adventures by clicking here

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Molly and Selena: How rude! We've been blogging about hot dogs and cross-country adventures for nearly six months, but we still haven't properly introduced ourselves. Guess we're too busy eating chocolate-covered pickles and petting Burmese Pythons.

Molly Fergus hit the road as a hotdogger in June 2008, a few months after graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in magazine journalism. A semester in Barcelona fueled the Chicago native's wanderlust – and she's still looking for more. When her tour wraps up in June, she'll be searching for ways to keep traveling and writing; let her know if you have any leads!

With an appetite for adventure, Selena Armendarez, hit the road in June 2008, only one month after graduating with a degree in communication and public relations from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. In disbelief that driving the Wienermobile was an actual job, the South Texas native discovered it to be a job she could truly relish. One year behind the wheel of a 27-foot-long hot dog isn't your typical first gig after college, but it has proven to be one of the best experiences she could have imagined.

Lost Girl of the Week: Lauren Stitle

Jen: One of the things I love most about being a Lost Girl is receiving emails from other fearless ladies who have dared to get 'lost' themselves and are eager to share their stories. And what's even more extraordinary is when one LG tale motivates another, as was the case with Lost Girl of the Week, Lauren Stitle:

"Hi I just wanted to let you know you girls and your blog were an inspiration to me to follow my dreams and travel. After I saw Courtney Scott as one of your "lost girls of the week" I got in touch with her and found out about an amazing organization in Italy. I then quit my job and moved to Italy to teach and also have become great friends with Courtney. She convinced me to blog about my journey too!"

After receiving the above note from Lauren and checking out her site, lstitle.blogspot.com, there was only one more thing left to do...make her the next Lost Girl of the Week. May her beautiful Italian adventures continue the circle of inspiration!

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Getting Lost by Lauren Stitle:
As long as I can remember I have been very passionate about one thing in life...traveling. I think my love of travel began when I was 13 and my parents took our family on a two-week backpacking trip to Europe. Right then and there the travel bug bit me. This began my love affair with the many different and beautiful sights, sounds, experiences, cultures and people our world has to offer. This love affair of mine continued all through high school and college where I was fortunate enough to travel abroad for the many milestones that school brings your way. Along the way I had love affairs with Paris France, Sydney Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Spain and Italy just to name a few.

There is something about the atmosphere and energy of traveling that feeds me. It is when I feel most at home. Whether is it strolling through a city soaking up the new, unfamiliar and interesting sights, sitting outside of a great little coffee shop, grabbing a glass of wine with new found friends or simply sitting on a bench with a magazine and coffee in hand whilst watching the world walk by and admiring and picking up on the unique and interesting qualities that make these people who they are...these are my favorite moments and when I am at my happiest. These are the times when I think…my life is full.

When I graduated from Uni I did all the things I was supposed to do like score the perfect job, move to a big city, make a good living and start my life as an "adult" and to be honest at the time I thought this road I was heading down would be fulfilling. But I quickly began to feel that my world was mundane and mainstream, something in my life was missing mainly my happiness. I found myself working in a job I was miserable in, living in a city that did not feel like home and trying to be content by buying more and more useless tangible items. To put it simply I was lost....

For years I talked with my family and friends about my desire to see the world, live abroad and travel…some would call it wanderlust but for one reason or another I was hesitant to take that next step. But last spring the stars began to align...

And so after working in pharmaceutical sales for 3 years and hitting a bit of a quarter life crisis I decided to quit my job, leave Chicago and move to Italy to teach English. I have always felt there is more out there for me than the typical progression through life...school, more school, job, marriage, family. As mentioned above my life's passion has always been to travel and learn about new cultures and the ways of the world. I believe this is the best education one can get. So I have decided to follow my gut, make a drastic change and see where life takes me. I know this next phase in my life will be full of beautiful adventures and life-changing experiences that I welcome with open arms and could not be more excited and ready for.

Follow Lauren Stitle as she blogs about "La Mia Bellissima Avventura" on her site, lstitle.blogspot.com

Walk This Way

HCC: Being in a new place can be disorienting: Where can you grab coffee? Take a yoga class? Find a good book? To learn what’s around, check out walkscore.com. Simply type in your address to get a list of grocery stores, coffee shops, libraries, parks, restaurants, bars, gyms and more within 2 miles of where you are. Then dress for the elements and head outdoors—you’ll fit in some exercise, and do the planet good by not burning gasoline. WalkScore.com also ranks the "walkability" of over 2,500 neighborhoods in the largest U.S. cities.

And though you may have a specific destination in mind, walking can help you uncover stuff you might not have otherwise found. In my own wanderings, I’ve unexpectedly stumbled upon community gardens, sidewalk art drawn in chalk, and—I kid you not—an old highschool friend. That’s why my favorite way to explore a city will always be on foot.

Photo credit: mazatlan.com.mx

Live from the Wienermobile: Dinner and a Movie

Here's the latest on-the-road dispatch from our Wienermobile girls. You can read more about their hot dogging adventures by clicking here

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Molly and Selena: Like most long-term travelers, we’re always on the lookout for a bargain – which is why we practically passed out from joy when we discovered the Silver Screen Theater-Café in Pensacola, FL.

The independently owned four-screen theater shows first-run films daily, serves up both movie theater fare and heartier fast food entries, and offers café-style viewing with tables and big cushy chairs.

We caught Valkyrie while munching on popcorn shrimp and cheeseburgers. Admittedly, the food is nothing to blog about, but the grand total for our evening certainly is: $10. $10! That barely covers the cost of an evening movie ticket in most major cities.

When we asked why – and how? – the theater keeps its costs so economical, the cashier simply said it’s because the café is independently owned. Just one more reason we love seeking out the local joints.

The Lost Girls Need Your Love (One Last Time!)

Thanks to all of our readers and friends who've voted for us as "Best Travel Blog" in the 2008 Weblog Awards! At one point, we were in serious contention to win, but thanks to the great efforts of fellow competitors vying for the spot, we've dropped back to 5th! If you could, please take a second to click here or the button above to cast your vote. Your chance to vote ends tomorrow, so be sure to cast your ballot now.

We'd also be hugely grateful if you could pass along the word to your friends and fellow travelers out there!

Lost Girl Field Trip: Andros Island-Part 2

Jen: While I wouldn't trade my position as 1/3 of The Lost Girls writing team for anything in...well...the world, I recently spread my journalist wings and accepted my first solo assignment: a 9-part web series on Andros Island for the pop culture travel site, Jaunted.com. But even though I temporarily flew away from the nest, I felt compelled to bring my stories home to you, my favorite TLG readers. So enjoy my second post and stay tuned each week for a new entry!

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"Journey into the Great Blue Hole": When I got my open water scuba certification a few years ago in Belize, I had neither the time nor the experience to tackle their famous Blue Hole. My fears aside, I was seriously bummed to miss out on such an extraordinary underwater adventure that I may never have the chance to experience again. If only I had known then, what I know now: The highest concentration of blue holes in the entire world is actually in the Bahamas.

Now, I know what some of you off-the beaten track travelers such as myself may be thinking. Aren’t the Bahamas for those cruise ship junkies who’ve just ‘gotta’ own one of those zany souvenir coconut monkeys? Or for blue haired grandmas with a penchant for the Atlantis slot machines? Well, perhaps. But not on Andros Island, home to the largest land and sea park in the Bahamas and a veritable playground for scuba divers!

Boasting one of the most extensive lists of Blue Hole expeditions available to sport divers, my home away from home, The Small Hope Bay Lodge, was my ticket to redemption. As if kicking in the fin-steps of the legendary Jacques Cousteau wasn’t cool enough (his Calypso crew filmed in Andros in 1970), I was going to explore the second deepest ocean blue hole in the Bahamas, "cleverly" called the Great Blue Hole. Oh wait, it’s also known as King Kong’s Cavern. Now that’s more like it!

Before I actually saw one with my own (masked) eyes, the only visual reference I had to what blue holes would look like came from sweeping aerial shots in glossy travel magazines, which painted them as mysterious cobalt eyes staring up from a pale turquoise sea. While these satellite images gave me the impression that I would be lost in pitch black, barely able to see the swimmer in front of me, my in-the-water experience was much different.

Before departure, our dive masters reviewed the game plan, explaining our exact route through the Great Blue Hole and what to expect during the journey. As soon as the boat was safely anchored and we were all in the water, our group headed down to 40 feet to the entrance of the blue hole. From there, we drifted down an ancient waterfall chute and made our way long the rim. An intricate maze of underwater caves, blue holes offer limitless secret nooks and crannies to explore. Luckily our first swim-through, aptly named the skylight room, was bright and spacious enough to accommodate even the most hard core claustrophobic.

As we glided through the passageway, our guides motioned for us to look up through the openings in the rocks where sunbeams had wiggled their way through from the now faraway surface. To up the ‘ooh and ahh’ factor--which sounded more like blub, blub under water--the dive masters pulled out their regulators and sent a stream of tiny bubbles shooting up the cavern wall towards the light. We continued on to what is called the big room where you can look straight across the center of the blue hole from one side and stare down into its vast chasm.

I was so swept up by the breathtaking views and complex limestone formations that without even realizing it, we’d returned to the waterfall and were told via scuba hand gestures that we had a little free time to look around before our ascent. As my dive buddy Mark and I edged our way towards the rim of the blue hole, I tried to do what Small Hope had suggested and imagine what my surroundings would have looked like during the last ice age when the blue hole was on dry land. Had I been able to transport myself that far back in time, I’m sure it would have been a phenomenal sight. But considering how extraordinary it was now, I was more than thrilled to have an ocean around me to float in for just awhile longer.

For more information about scuba diving in Andros Island, visit Small Hope

The 2008 Weblog Awards: Vote for The Lost Girls!

Over the past couple of months, the three Lost Girls have been in different parts of the country—Jen in St. Augustine, Florida, Holly in Syracuse, New York and Amanda in NYC and North Carolina—finishing the first 1/2 of our book. We recently accomplished that mission (woo-hoo! halfway there!) and returned to Manhattan for a New Year's Eve reunion and blowout party on the Lower East Side.

While the countdown to 2009 was pretty exciting, it couldn't compare to the charge we got from becoming a 2008 Weblog Awards Finalist. Thanks to the reader(s) who nominated us--an awesome holiday gift indeed! In order to win "Best Travel Blog" we need your support. Just click here or the button above to cast your vote; it only takes a few seconds and we'd really appreciate it! If you have a bit of time (or just can't bear to get back to your real work after the long holiday) vote for the blogs in the other categories.

Again, thanks to all of our readers, guest bloggers and fellow Lost Girls. Happy New Year!

Live from the Wienermobile: The Two Gracelands

Here's the latest on-the-road dispatch from our Wienermobile girls. You can read more about their hot dogging adventures by clicking here

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After wandering through the King’s admittedly tacky but charmingly extravagant Memphis mansion, we couldn’t help but remember another Graceland we visited in August: Little Graceland in Los Fresnos, TX. (littlegraceland.com)

Just off the highway en route to South Padre Island, this roadside replica of Elvis’ home is possibly the quirkiest attraction in Texas – and maybe even all of America. Simon Vega built the museum in 1993 to commemorate his friendship with the rock ‘n’ roll idol himself; the two lived in the same barracks during Elvis’ military stint in Germany.

The museum is stocked with memorabilia – records, newspaper clippings, books – but the owner is the top attraction. He so admired Elvis that he wrote and recorded a song after his death (ask for a listen), and now he keeps the King’s memory alive by hosting an Elvis impersonator’s festival each August.

We didn’t make it to the Elvis fest, but our trip to the mini mansion convinced us – once again – that smaller spontaneous stops often make better memories than the hyped-up originals.

So of course we want to know, whether it’s a rib joint or a big ball of twine, what are your favorite roadside stops?