Aug. 11, 2008 issue
Tara Weingarten

Maybe you’ve noticed that traffic in your town hasn’t thinned out this summer. If so, you’ve identified a trend. High fuel prices are keeping American families at home, clogging local streets rather than heading to the airport for that exotic faraway trip. Hoteliers eager to tap into our frugality are offering enticing deals to locals that include comped room nights, heavily discounted spa treatments and gratis tickets to local attractions. Dubbing it the “staycation,” resorts are begging their neighbors to give them a try. It’s working.

Michael Gereboff, a 32-year-old health-care management executive, and his girlfriend Lori Cohen, a 31-year-old Ph.D. candidate, last week made a two-hour drive from her home in Arlington, Va., to the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay (chesapeakebay.hyatt.com). The couple bought the hotel’s Chesapeake Bay Experience package (summer rates from $235), which included a $25 gas card, a s’mores kit to prepare at the resort’s outdoor fire pit, a kite to fly on the bay and two passes to nearby Blackwater National Wildlife Preserve. “We’ve gone to the hotel’s spa, we went to the nature preserve, we’ve taken a catamaran tour of the bay and we’re about to rent a speedboat. We could have had the same vacation in Mexico but it would have cost us a whole lot more,” says Gereboff.

At Miramonte Resort and Spa in Indian Wells, Calif. (miramonteresort.com), book a standard room (rates from $155) and get four free passes to Knott’s Soak City. And, kids eat free at the resort. In Austin, Texas, the Crossings destination spa (thecrossings austin.com) has cut rates 35 percent through the end of summer; packages begin at $126.75 and include unlimited fitness classes, three meals daily and use of the infinity-edge pool overlooking Lake Travis.

Southern Californians and drivers from the Phoenix area can hit the super hot Las Vegas desert this summer on one tank of gas. Wynn Las Vegas’s Midsummer Night’s Dream package (wynnlasvegas.com) is a steal at $185 per person for a three-course dinner for two at Daniel Boulud Brasserie, a bottle of Mailly Grand Cru champagne and two premium seats to Wynn’s show Le Rêve. Every Thursday throughout the summer at the Mandalay Bay (man dalaybay.com), Nevada locals get rooms for $109.99, plus 10 percent off food and beverages, two free passes to Mix lounge, two passes to the Moorea Beach Club and two free cocktails at the Eyecandy Sound Lounge.

By Oscar Raymundo

Breaking up is hard to do. But you don’t have to walk away from a relationship empty-handed. Two new Web sites allow you to cash in on all that jewelry you got from your ex. For a $5 listing fee, a $50 appraisal fee and a small commission, Ex-cessories (ex-cessories.com) figures out how much those David Yurman earrings are worth and guarantees their authenticity. Ex-Boy-friend’s Jewelry (exboyfriend jewelry.com) doesn’t charge a posting fee or take a cut of the sale. It does encourage women to vent about the breakup behind that 14-karat white-gold engagement ring now selling for $9,000. Both sites also feature other listings to sell off that PlayStation or other toys he might have left behind. Boys come and go, but diamonds are forever.

Go to the New World Flamenco Festival in Irvine, Calif. Featuring performances by Spanish dancers María José Franco and Juan Ogalla, the event also has film showings, courses and an exhibit by flamenco photographer Daniel Muñoz (Aug. 8–17; thebarclay.org/festivals).

Hear “The Airborne Toxic Event.” This self-titled debut album from the L.A.-based band will rock you with energetic guitars, haunting violins and melodic hooks at every turn. Song you’ll want stuck in your head: “Sometime Around Midnight” ($12.98).

Visit Rome. American Airlines is offering round-trip fares from $750 for travel in September, October and early November (book by Aug. 7). Log on to smartertravel.com or aa.com for details.

See “Hail to the Chief: Images of the American Presidency” at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Timed to coincide with the Republican National Convention, the exhibition includes presidential portraits, photos, handwritten letters and campaign materials (through Sept. 21; artsmia.org).

Subscribe to mPassport, a service for travelers that allows you to access a database of English-speaking doctors on your cell phone from anywhere in the world. The list covers more than 4,200 doctors in 180 countries. For details visit mpassport.com.