Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) welcomes Burners
Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) is getting ready to welcome the Burners that fly in for the Burning Man Festival and head out to the Black Rock Desert.
American Airlines has added a special nonstop flight between RNO and LAX from August 23 to September 3 to accommodate all the Burners.
And RNO airport has kicked off a new exhibit in its depARTures Gallery.
Beyond Blackrock: A Global Burning Man Showcase spotlights five Burning Man events from around the world, including New Zealand’s “Kiwiburn”, Washington D.C.’s “Catharsis on the Mall”, South Africa’s “AfrikaBurn”, Argentina’s “Fuego Austral” and Texas’ “Burning Flipside & Freezerburn”.
Oakland International Airport (OAK) hosting augmented reality game
The Bay Area Explorer 5.0 Campaign runs through September 7 and presents players with “Missions” designed to teach players about local history, culture, ecosystems, and safety.
In addition to OAK Airport, participating organizations include U.S Fish and Wildlife – Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the National Park Service – San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Santa Clara County Parks, California State Parks-Seacliff State Beach, Oakland Zoo, BART, Madera County, City of Morgan Hill, Sacramento County Parks, and the City of San Jose.
Scavenger hunt for prizes at SJC Airport
And San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) is celebrating National Aviation Week with a the return of the QR Scavenger Hunt throughout its terminals from now through September 9.
Prizes include airport parking vouchers, lounge passes and airport swag.
[This is a slightly different version of a story we prepared first for NBC News; photo courtesy Louisville Tourism)
The Kentucky Derby, long known as “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” may be on its way to becoming some of the most expensive two minutes in sports.
Ticket prices for the iconic horse race have more than tripled over the past decade, from an average of $378 in 2014 to $1,254 this year on the resale market as of April 22, according to booking platfrom TicketSmarter.
That could reflect strong demand for the race’s 150th anniversary, but it’s also partly because Louisville’s Churchill Downs Racetrack has worked to lure spendier customers through its gates. The facility has shaken up its seating and poured $200 million into a renovation that debuts at this year’s Derby and upgrades such as “a new luxury equine-focused dining experience.”
“We’ve had pushback from locals about being priced out,” said Thomas Lambert, an economist who studies the equine industry at the University of Louisville’s College of Business, but he added that catering to high rollers tends to be good business across the gaming and hospitality industry.Not only are wealthier attendees more likely to gamble “a decent amount,” Lambert said, but “just to say that they have been to the Derby, they will pay extreme prices because of their disposable personal income.”
While the Downs sells one-day general admission infield tickets starting at $275, reserved seating can climb to four figures, with the most exclusive private suites going for $295,000 for multi-year bookings. Much of the reserved seating is now sold only as part of two-day all-inclusive passes for both the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks, the sister race held the day before.
Benefits for businesses, at the track and off
So far, the premium push looks to be paying off. “Ticket sales, including throughout our new seating areas, have exceeded our expectations,” Churchill Downs CEO William Carstanjen told investors last week.
Outside the Downs, the annual flurry of business activity is chasing a less high-end Derby dollar that has been stretched by inflation.
(Courtesy Plehn’s Bakery)
Prices at Plehn’s Bakery, which turns 100 this year, are up about 5% since 2023, said co-owner Jennifer Brownlee, but there’s no premium charged during Derby Week, when business usually doubles.
“Our costs have gone up more than that, but we worry about taking too big of a jump because we’re not a necessity,” she said.
In addition to supplying the buns used by many local caterers, Plehn’s sells a slew of Derby-themed desserts — from cookies shaped like horse heads to cakes topped with little plastic horses.
In the central region of the South that includes Kentucky, inflation hit an annual rate of 4% in March, hotter than the 3.5% national average.
Wiltshire Pantry owner Susan Hershberg said price pressures in Louisville have been “brutal,” but she suspects the Downs’ expanded all-inclusive offerings have weighed on her business, too.While she used to field 400 to 500 boxed lunch orders each day during Derby Week, “this year I only have orders for several hundred boxes, and some people are taking them to Derby parties, not to the track,” she said.
Prices are staying put all the same. “The people who buy the boxed lunches are my regular customers,” Hershberg said, “and right now we’re eating the difference, because there’s only so much sticker-price shock people can handle.”
(Courtesy Pix Shoes Louisville)
Carol Hampton, who owns Pix Shoes Louisville, said her costs are up as well. She added that rival milliners buy her hats, fascinators and other accessories and sell them at a markup, but moving large volumes helps her keep prices down.
“People pick and choose what they want to do with their money,” Hampton said. “They want to look nice, they want to shine, and I help them do that. I just don’t rob them.”
She estimated 150 customers visited the 50-year-old downtown shop on Thursday alone and expects to sell over 8,000 pieces of fancy headgear by the end of the weekend.
The Derby is forecast to deliver a more than $405 million boost to the local economy, a Louisville Tourism spokesperson said. While that would be a jump from around $402 million in 2023, attendance at the race itself is still on a post-pandemic climb back toward its record of 170,000 in 2015, when that year’s eventual Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah, was running.More than 150,000 people are expected at the Downs this year, after a dozen horeses died following injuries around the 2023 Derby.
While investigators didn’t identify a single cause, the Louisville racetrack has stepped up its safety protocols amid heightened scrutiny of the sport’s practices.
Attendance at the other two legs of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore and the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York, also have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels (though Belmont Park lowered its capacity cap in 2022).Lambert, the economist, chalked up some of the Derby’s resilience to its distinctive fanfare: “The equestrian lifestyle, the Southern charms, the hats, the mint juleps, etc. — it’s all turned on dramatically to get the tourists here.”
And tourists need places to park. Like many of his neighbors who live down the street from the track, 39-year-old Daniel Harvey is offering parking on his property during Derby weekend.“It’s my fourth year doing this,” said Harvey, who’s been charging $40 on Friday and Saturday “It’s fairly easy work and an opportunity to make money.” He can fit about 11 cars on his property, which he advertised on Facebook Marketplace, with discounts for booking a spot early.
Aileen Nova Jackson, who will turn 89 in a few weeks and has lived in the neighborhood for 55 years, has been at it much longer than Harvey. She has room for about 15 cars and people who come back each year. She takes reservations and cash, but no credit cards or checks.
These days Jackson lets her son do the parking while she sits in a chair collecting money and chatting with guests. She is charging $80 for cars, $100 for SUVs and $300 for buses and RVs, adding that her prices have risen this year, citing inflation.“When I started it was $2 a car,” Jackson said.
After all these years, though, she’s never been to a Derby.
(This is a slightly different version of a story we wrote for NBC News)
Perryville, MO is rolling out the red carpet for eclipse visitors and keeping costs down
It will take more than the moon blocking out the face of the sun for Emily Gegg and Amanda Schwent to charge more for moonsicles.
The best friends and co-owners of Luna’s Shaved Ice have stockpiled 25,000 of their frozen fruit pops to sell for $3 apiece to visitors descending on Perryville, Missouri, to watch Monday’s total social eclipse.
“We didn’t even discuss raising the price for the eclipse weekend,” said Gegg.
“That wouldn’t be right,” Schwent added.
Perryville, about 80 miles south of St. Louis, is in the path of totality stretching from Texas to Maine, where the shadow of the moon will fully obscure the sun for several minutes.
All along that swath, businesses large and small are looking to cash in. And airlines are running eclipse flights. Hotels are jacking up nightly rates.
Perryville, MO is taking a kinder, gentler tact
But in Perryville, MO, population 8,500, many businesses have decided they “don’t need to make every last dollar,” said City Administrator Brent Buerck.
Officials are setting up viewing locations at the city park, soccer complex and regional airport. They’re also throwing a three-day SolarFest with everything from live bands and a silent disco to a foam party and a car show — all of that free. Tethered rides in hot air balloons are available for a $10 suggested donation Saturday morning, but that evening’s “glow show,” when they’ll be lit up like giant lanterns, can be enjoyed without charge.
There’s even an 8-foot pair of working solar glasses in the park that 10 to 15 eclipse viewers can peer into at once.
“We believe the long-term benefit of receiving people the way we are doing it will pay for itself,” Buerck said. “People will come back for a weekend another time, eat in our restaurants, shop at our stores and buy our gas.”
Stonie’s Sausage Shop, famous for its smoked and cured meats, has added a SolarFest sub ($7.99) to its menu. Villainous Grounds, a coffee and comic book shop, is serving “cosmic lattes” with raspberry, strawberry and rum flavors, topped with a swirl of edible glitter. It has also roasted 300 pounds of a coffee blend dubbed “226.6” for the duration of Perryville’s totality: 3 minutes and 46.6 seconds.
Prices for the cosmic latte ($4 to $6, depending on size) and 226.6 roast ($19 a pound) match the shop’s year-round levels because, as owner Mary Jo Bammel put it, “I don’t like it when I go to events and see other people raising their prices — and because it helps us sell out.”
Hadley Warren, the 13-year-old who selects which sweets to offer at Hadley’s Candy Shoppe, has stocked up on Starburst, Galaxy Popcorn, Pop Rocks and Astro Pops, along with light-up gel spaceship pens. The family-run store downtown has been open during the weekend festivities but is closed as usual on Monday, so its multigenerational owners can enjoy the celestial occasion together.
(Hadley Warren, 13 (right) and her mom, Morgan, at Hadley’s Candy Shoppe in Perryville. Photo courtesy NBC News by Whitten Sabbatini.)
“We didn’t want to let the business take the opportunity away from us,” said Hadley’s mom, Morgan Warren.
This isn’t the area’s first time hosting umbraphiles. During the solar eclipse of 2017, Perry County saw 2 minutes and 40 seconds of totality and welcomed over 17,000 visitors, said Trish Erzfeld, director of Perry County Heritage Tourism. That event delivered an estimated $680,000 in economic impact and “has kept us in the limelight for community planning for the past seven years,” she said.
Perryville, which typically sees at least 50,000 visitors annually, opened two museums — the American Tractor Museum and a full-scale replica of Washington, D.C.’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial — after the 2017 eclipse and expects this one to be a bigger draw. The county’s population of 18,000 is forecast to double or even triple, delivering an economic boost of around $1 million, though the weather could affect turnout.
Erzfeld called tourism “very important” to Perryville’s economy and “the welfare of its residents.” Other local attractions include a Barn Quilt Trail and a Roman Catholic National Shrine called Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
“We don’t want people to come here and feel like they’re being robbed,” Erzfeld said, adding that “inflation has obviously affected our community.”
Making sure eclipse pricing is not out of this world
Some local businesses are looking to capitalize on the rare surge in demand — at least up to a point.
All 75 rooms at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites on Interstate 55 were booked for eclipse weekend more than six months ago, said hotel manager Alex Patel. Its weekend rates generally run between $149 and $169 a night but have hit $399 for the eclipse, and there’s been a long waitlist of people hoping someone will cancel. A few even offered to take a room at any price if one opens up, he said.
“Some hotels are charging $700 and even $1,000, but even if I have one room available I’m not going to charge more than $399,” Patel said. “That’s a max.”
About 15 miles southeast of Perryville, Hemman Winery is offering live music, Moon Pies, “blackout sangria” in special color-changing cups and 1,000 bottles of a limited edition “Totality” wine ($18 a bottle).
“We’re not up-charging for the wine or charging people extra to view the eclipse from our place,” said Bonnie Hemman, who co-owns the winery with her husband, Doug. “I didn’t make the sun or the moon, so I’m not going to stick it to people to come here to see a God-made thing.”
Out at Hollandale Acres farm, Katie Holland-Davis and her husband, Tim, left 9 acres of their land unplanted this year to provide a pop-up campground for eclipse viewers.
“We had such a lovely time seeing the 2017 eclipse from our farm, where the sky is wide open, and we wanted others to have that experience,” Holland-Davis said.
Ninety spots have been marked off for tents and small camping vehicles. A $90 nightly fee includes continental breakfast, bottled water and soda, port-a-potties and shower towelettes, along with games for kids and adults.
“For many people, this is going to be their first eclipse, and our goal is to make sure people have a nice place to stay,” said Holland-Davis, who has hired extra staff to help with logistics. “Making money is not the main issue.”
The safety of locals and visitors to the area is an issue, though. Fifteen Perryville police officers are on patrol over the weekend and into Monday. Perry County Sheriff Jason Klaus has 11 of his 15 deputies on duty to keep things running smoothly and respond to any weather-related hiccups, medical emergencies or traffic.
But officers plan on handing out more free eclipse glasses than tickets.
“We’re going to do everything we can not to use any kind of parking enforcement,” Klaus said, though he added: “When it comes time for totality, I hope people don’t just stop in or on the roadway.”
County patrol cars have stashes of extra sun-viewing specs for anyone unprepared, and Klaus is allowing deputies to invite their spouses (but not their kids) to ride along on Monday.
“Even though we have a job to do and that comes first, the eclipse is a neat effect that I want my officers to take advantage of,” he said.
If you’re flying to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl game, or the festivities surrounding it, be sure to stop for a selfie with the giant “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign replica near baggage claim in Terminal 3 at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS).
That’s just one of the many spots in the airport you’ll find Super Bowl branding this week as the airport gets ready to welcome about half of the more than 330,000 fans who plan to be in town for the Big Game.
Skipping the Super Bowl, but heading to LAS for Valentine’s Day?
Are you planning to get married in Las Vegas – the Wedding Capital of the World – on or around Valentine’s Day?
Thousands of couples do. And once again, you and your sweetheart can stop at the pop-up Marriage License Bureau near Bag Claim in Terminal 1 of the Las Vegas airport.
The Clark County Clerk’s office – which issues marriage licenses from its downtown Las Vegas offices – will have a temporary office at the airport from Tuesday, Feb. 13 through Thursday, Feb. 29 to make it easier for couples to land, get their marriage licenses – or vow renewal certificates, and go directly to their ceremonies.
Be sure to bring a credit or debit card to pay for your marriage license. The pop-up Marriage License Bureau won’t take cash or checks.
