Travel news and notes

The Travel Industry Association predicts leisure travel will increase 1.4 percent over last summer, with 330-million Americans expected to travel 50 miles or more in June, July and August. The figure is derived from what the association means as one person traveling 50 or more miles, one-way, away from home.

Though automobile travel will account for eight in 10 summer leisure trips, TIA predicts that air travel will rise about 3 percent this summer.

La Brea tar pits are burping

A newly discovered bacteria is bubbling in the goo at the La Brea tar pits.

The bacteria in natural asphalt munch on petroleum at the site and burp up methane gas, said researchers at the University of California, Riverside. Previously, educators suspected the methane bubbles were a byproduct of oil creation 1, 000 feet below the surface.

During the past century, scientists and volunteers scouring the Wilshire Boulevard tar pits have unearthed the relics of 600 types of animals and plants from the last great Ice Age. Some fossils are 40, 000 years old.

Get your passports, seriously

The new rule that anyone driving across the Canadian border must have a passport or passcard will "absolutely" begin in January, government officials asserted.

American lawmakers from states along the northern border have been trying for months to stall or alter the plan, contending the rule will hurt trade and tourism.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was created by Congress to tighten security on both the Canadian and Mexican borders, but many members are fuming at the notion their constituents will need a $97 passport or a passcard, expected to cost about $50. Children would be exempt. For information about passports, go to www.travel.state.gov.

A getaway to Charleston

Charleston Place in Charleston, S.C., has a Summer Family Getaway package for Sunday through Thursday stays through Sept. 7. The nightly price of $268 for a family of four includes room and four tickets to any of four activities, including the South Carolina Aquarium or a carriage ride through historic downtown. For information, call toll-free 1-800-611-5545 or go to www.charlestonplace.com.

Steamed, never boiled

A number of readers, all of them from Maryland it seems, took exception to one sentence in last week's story on hunting for the state's best crab cakes. "I can assure you that NO one in Maryland BOILS crabs. They are STEAMED, " wrote one reader. "To any Marylander that would be sacrilege, " said another. Okay, when it comes to Maryland blue crabs, steamed it is. We'll know better next time.

Compiled from Times staff, wires

[Last modified May 28, 2007, 13:06:23]