Weekend Traveler

ANOTHER REASON TO VISIT WASHINGTON D.C.

In case you need another reason to plan a trip to the nation's capital, here's a good one. The first museum devoted solely to the world of espionage opened there this week. According to the curator of the 60,000-square-foot International Spy Museum, it's not only chock full of everything related to the world of James Bond and other fictitious and real spies, it also lets you spy on others going through the building at the same time.

The founders of the museum renovated an old building at 600 F Street in downtown Washington. Having lived in the nation's capital for two decades I'm anxious to go back and see the facility, especially when I picture in my mind's eye how run-down that corner used to be.

The museum, as I mentioned, lets you become a spy. About 20 minutes into the tour you are given a chance to secretly peek at visitors who are just starting the tour and on people in several adjacent buildings using headphones. Choosing Washington as a site for the first-of-its-kind collection is a good idea. After all, it's a city famous for intrigue and bugging -- move over, Richard Nixon and his plumbers unit.

In a pre-opening look-see for reporters, Howard Shapiro of the Philadelphia Inquirer toured the new building. He reports that it's an incredible collection, highlighting both the imaginary world of spying and the very real world of international espionage.

For more information, check out spymuseum.org on the Internet. The opening segment, if you have a fast enough computer, may be nearly as much fun as visiting the center itself.

US AIRWAYS STEPS IN TO REVIVE MIDWAY AIRLINES

During the past few decades there have really been two Midway Airlines. The first hubbed out of the older Midway Airport on the south side of Chicago. It offered great connections to a lot of cities, but it never lived up to its expectations.

I have great memories of Midway No. 1. I especially recall a trip from Washington D.C. to Omaha, with a change of planes in Chicago. I was the only passenger on the Washington-Chicago flight and found that I was also the only passenger on the Chicago-Omaha flight. When my plane arrived at Midway it taxied over to a point just beside another plane, not to the gate. Employees pulled a set of portable stairs to the plane's exit door. I was then thanked and escorted down the steps. Then another employee led me a few yards to the waiting stairs of my Omaha-bound flight. I felt like Elvis. It's one reason I was saddened when the original airline died.

Then a second Midway emerged, with new bright logo and most of its flights hubbing out of Raleigh-Durham. It went bust shortly after Sept. 11 because of sudden downturn in travel.

On Thursday of this week, US Airways announced that it would "resurrect" Midway, operating it as US Airways Express in many markets. The announcement, released to the media from the larger carrier's headquarters in the Washington suburbs, was made on the same day that US Airways issued a disastrous second quarter earnings report.

The agreement is an eight-year deal. The head of Midway says he hopes that many of his former employees can be called back under the new arrangement.

MORE FINANCIAL BAD NEWS FOR DELTA

For years Delta Air Lines has been my favorite carrier, for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that it's the only airline in the country that officially spells "airline" as two words. But my love of the airline goes deeper.

For many years, while working in the information section of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington I was regularly sent around the country. The "ag" department's carrier of choice was usually Delta.

There was a time when flying on Delta was like flying "first class at a coach price." I well remember being in the front row of coach on a Delta flight, then continuing my trip on another carrier (the name of which I will not mention). The difference was startling.

But recently services have had to be curtailed, meals eliminated and perks lessened as the carrier suddenly fell deeper and deeper into debt ... then 9/11!

Thursday the Atlanta-based carrier noted that its net losses for the second quarter of this year are more than $185 million. And, according to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, analysts don't look for quick improvements.

Delta is one of the country's largest airlines, operating major hubs in Atlanta (of course), Cincinnati, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Salt Lake City -- and inter-lining with a variety of international carriers.

Though it may not be the old Delta, it's still one of the country's great airlines and has one of the more generous frequent flier programs in the air.

GETTING OFF THE BEATEN PATH

I can safely say that one of the best short vacations I ever took involved just driving for two days on the back roads of Vermont. I flew into Burlington, rented a car to drive the 45 minutes east to do a radio broadcast from the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory on the old UPI Radio Network. But I purposely fixed it so I'd have lots of time to kill. Let me share part of what I did as a "thought starter" for your future planning.

Before leaving I checked a ton of maps and found several ferry boats operating over Lake Champlain to New York state. I went to Charlotte, Vt., (pronounced sharr-LOTT') and rode the ferry, doing an interview with the captain.

I then drove through Smuggler's Notch, where a small car can barely make it through a crack (notch) in a rock ridge.

After that I entered Stowe the back way. I saw a group of people kneeling on a lawn. I stopped and went over to where they were. I suddenly began singing "The hills are alive with the sound of music," but did not know why. I then realized that music from "The Sound of Music" was being quietly piped through the area, nearly subliminally. It was the estate of the members of the Von Trapp family, who had moved to Vermont from Europe after the Second World War. It was a wonderful experience. By the way, the people were kneeling before the graves of many of the family members.

For those who would like more information on the Stowe area and the famous Green Mountain Club, call the area's information line at 877-GO-STOWE, or go to stowe.com on the Internet. By the way, if you hate the summer's heat, the highs and lows in the coming week should be in the upper 70s in the daytime and a comfortable 55 at night.

(UPI Travel Correspondent Dennis Daily is based in Las Vegas, Nev.)