Travel New and Now: Hanukkah, Cyber Monday, & Big Sky

Beth J. Harpaz READ TIME: 4 MIN.

CHABAD HANUKKAH LIGHTINGS
The eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah starts the night of Dec. 6. The Jewish outreach organization Chabad Lubavitch is sponsoring celebrations and nightly public menorah lightings in cities around the world.

Several dozen public menorahs will be lit nightly around Paris, including at the Eiffel Tower. In Moscow, a Hanukkah concert will be held at the Kremlin theater Dec. 8 and 13 public menorahs will be set up around the city. Berlin will host 20 public menorahs, including a nightly lighting at the Brandenburg Gate. Other locations around the globe include Argentina, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, China and Thailand. Locations and times for individual events will be listed at http://www.hanukkah.org/events as details become available.

In the U.S., lightings include a 25-foot menorah in San Francisco's Union Square, traditionally attended by thousands. In Washington, D.C., several thousand participants are also expected Sunday at the National Menorah in front of the White House for a celebration that will include a concert. In Houston, City Hall is the location for the annual menorah-lighting, and in Miami, one of many celebrations will take place in Gulfstream Park.

The world's largest menorah, 32 feet high, will be lit nightly in New York City near the entrance to Central Park on Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. Other Manhattan events include a Dec. 12 parade of cars topped with menorahs along Fifth Avenue, an ice-skating party at Central Park's Wollman Rink featuring a massive menorah carved from ice on Dec. 7, and a menorah-lighting ceremony on the court of the Dec. 10 Brooklyn Nets basketball game.

Other teams hosting Hanukkah events include the NBA's Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavs, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks, and the NHL's New York Islanders, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

CYBER MONDAY TRAVEL OFFERS
Many travel providers are offering Cyber Monday deals bookable online on Nov. 30. Some offers begin Black Friday, and some extend for a week or two beyond Cyber Monday. Check online for details at your favorite site. Here are a few examples:

  • Liftopia is giving away lift tickets and other credits for skiing. Enter your email address between Nov. 28 and midnight Nov. 30 athttp://gnarbot.liftopia.com and spin the "Gnar-Bot 5000" virtual slot machine for a gift credit code that can then be redeemed on the Liftopia site.

  • Marriott is offering 25 percent off room rates on deals booked booked starting Black Friday through Cyber Monday at more than 2,000 participating hotels on stays between Dec. 11 and Jan. 17. Marriott Rewards members get another 5 percent off. Book at http://www.marriottextremecybersale.com .

  • Luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent is kicking off a holiday sale Cyber Monday through Dec. 4 offering savings up to 50 percent on 16 select trips with prices starting at $1,495 for a seven-day trip to Thailand (regular price, $2,595).

  • Richard Petty Driving Experience is offering a three-lap ride-along experience in a NASCAR-style stock car starting at $59 through Jan. 3 at 13 tracks around the country; details at drivepetty.com.

    Skiing at Big Sky, Montana
    Big Sky Resort in Montana is opening three new terrain parks and three new ski runs this season.

    The Cache is a natural-style park; The Peacemaker is an advanced park, and Maverick is an intermediate park.

    The new glade runs are the intermediate-level White Magic, named for the classic Warren Miller film; Short Stack, also intermediate, and Playground, a beginner run.

    Also at the resort this season: a new black diamond ski connection, Comet, providing easier access from Outer Limits ski run to the top of Six Shooter chair lift.

    For more information, visit http://www.bigskyresort.com.


    by Beth J. Harpaz

    Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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