Ohio Getaways That Soar To Great Heights

(NAPSI)-Americans are celebrating the 40th anniversary of one of the great achievements of our time: astronaut Neil Armstrong taking his legendary first steps on the moon.

The occasion has moved many people to take a trip of their own to some of the nation's top aviation hotspots. Here's a look at some popular destinations:

Birthplace Of Aviation

Those interested in exploring the historical roots of aviation have plenty of options in the hometown of Wilbur and Orville Wright. The Wright brothers, who are credited with the first successful airplane flight, grew up in Dayton, Ohio. The city is now home to the Wright B Flyer Hangar at the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport. There, visitors can take a ride in a replica of the Wright B Flyer, which seats two and cruises up to 100 miles per hour.

If you prefer to keep your feet on solid ground, check out the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, home to the Wright Cycle Company. The park also includes Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center, containing photos and other displays chronicling the lives of the Wright brothers and another Dayton native, writer Paul Laurence Dunbar.

There's also the Huffman Prairie Flying Field and the adjacent Interpretive Center, also in Dayton. The field is the site where the Wright Brothers perfected the world's first practical airplane and opened the Wright School of Aviation. The Interpretive Center contains additional exhibits that tell the visual tale of the Wright brothers' flight trials.

Fly Me To The Moon

With Ohio being home to Neil Armstrong, John Glenn and more than 20 other astronauts, the state is well versed in space travel. Located in Armstrong's hometown of Wapakoneta, an hour north of Dayton, the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum celebrates the sights and sounds of man's first steps on the moon with the F5D Skylancer and the Gemini VIII spacecraft on display, as well as a moon rock and other Apollo 11 artifacts.

Inside NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, the 6,000-square-foot Visitor Center offers interactive exhibits, including a flight simulator and a launch control center where visitors can conduct microgravity experiments or count down to a simulated rocket launch.

Approximately 60 miles from Cleveland in Warren, Ohio, space enthusiasts can visit the spot where Armstrong boarded his first airplane in 1936-at the age of 6-at the former site of the Warren Airways Airport. The site now boasts a half-scale replica of Apollo 11's lunar landing module sitting on cratered concrete resembling the moon's surface.

History Buffs

The International Women's Air & Space Museum in Cleveland chronicles the lives of women ranging from Connie Wolf, a 19th century balloonist, to legendary aviator Amelia Earhart to astronaut Valentina Tereshkova of the former Soviet Union, the first woman to orbit the Earth.

The largest and oldest museum of its kind worldwide, the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton showcases military aviation history with more than 400 aircraft and aerospace vehicles on display. Key exhibits include past Air Force One aircrafts in the presidential gallery.

An hour south of Dayton is the Tri-State Warbird Museum, a 20,000-square-foot facility dedicated to preserving, restoring and operating World War II military aircraft. The museum's operational aircraft inventory includes the Grumman TBM-3 Avenger, which played a major role in the sinking of more than 60 Japanese ships after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Aviation Events

In addition to Ohio's permanent aviation attractions, the state offers aviation events such as the Vectren Dayton Air Show, Cleveland National Air Show and World War I Dawn Patrol Rendezvous.

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JetAmerica $9 Ticket Sales Soar

/PRNewswire / -- The following is being issued by Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority:

JetAmerica, the nation's newest air service, which is offering one-way non-stop fares for as low as $9, reports that 48 hours after its e-commerce website - www.JetAmerica.com - went active at 12:01 a.m. May 27, 2009 that ticket sales reached 12,000 just after midnight May 29, 2009.

JetAmerica spokesperson Bryan Glazer said, "The seat sales surge was sparked in the eleventh hour by NBC Tonight Show host Jay Leno's Thursday night monologue wisecrack, "A new airline, JetAmerica, announced they're gonna be in operations with ticket prices as low as $9 on flights from Toledo to Newark. Nine bucks to fly from Toledo to Newark. The bad news is you wind up in Toledo or Newark."

Apparently the joke was sparked by a recent story by New York Post reporter Jeremy Olshan about JetAmerica's $9 fares. Olshan jibed that the cost of a flight from Toledo was less expensive than a ride across the Verazzano Narrows Bridge. The tabloid journalist also poked fun at JetAmerica's medium-sized Midwestern metro area markets. He joked that they are "hot spot" destinations.

"Toledoans invite Mr. Leno to fly JetAmerica from Toledo Express Airport to New York where we will take him on a $9 shopping spree through the trendiest retail districts of Manhattan and see how far nine greenbacks go -- probably not as far as a one-way flight on JetAmerica from the 'Glass City' to 'The Big Apple,' which is 438 nautical miles," said, with tongue-in-cheek, Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Stolarczyk.

"Since Mr. Leno has probably not been to Toledo since his days as a traveling stand-up comedian, we'd also like to give him a $9 shopping spree along the shores of the mighty Maumee River."

Stolarczyk recommends that the retiring King of Late Night, soon to become Prince of Primetime television, spends his $9 at Toledo's beloved Tony Packo's Hungarian Hot Dog House. It was made famous by the cross-dressing character corporal Max Klinger in the classic 1970's TV sit-com M*A*S*H. Stolarczyk said, "The world-renowned hot doggery has catered to celebrities and royalty from around the globe, all of whom autograph their buns and display them on the eatery's walls."

Owner Tony Packo III whose grandfather started selling the famous franks in 1932 said, "I've got autographed buns from presidents, athletes and celebrities including Leno's predecessor Johnny Carson and former Tonight Show bandleader Doc Severinsen -- but not from Jay."

When asked for suggestions on how Leno might wisely spend $9 at one of his five Toledo gourmet wieneries, the 36-year-old Packo said, "I recommend the popular 'Mother Dog.' It is one foot long, weighs one pound, is cradled in a 12-inch bun and smothered with onions and mustard. The price is $8.99, tax included. If he wants to wash it down with a soft drink he'll blow his budget."

JetAmerica's $9 seats don't include taxes and surcharges and sodas cost $2 a can. Despite these extra fees, which are also charged by most other air carriers, JetAmerica is selling seats like "hot cakes" since its announcement earlier this week.

Glazer said, "We are forecasting at least 20,000 confirmed reservations by next week once television commercials hit the air in our focus markets of Toledo, Ohio; Lansing, Michigan; Melbourne, Florida; and South Bend, Indiana. The most recent sales figures show that people living within 75 miles of Toledo Express Airport led the way with the most online reservations because JetAmerica has more flights in and out of that airport," said Stolarczyk.

Those flights include six weekly roundtrip non-stops from Toledo to New York/Newark Liberty International. JetAmerica is also flying roundtrips several times per week from Toledo to Florida's Space Coast and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.

"Jet America is also selling a slew of roundtrip seats from Newark to South Bend, Lansing and Toledo so that Notre Dame University, Michigan State University and University of Michigan alumni living in the New York metropolitan area can catch non-stop flights close to their respective alma maters for the upcoming collegiate football season, which starts September 5, 2009 and ends November 28, 2009," said Glazer.

The Alumni Associations of all three Big 10 conference schools report that more than a half million of their graduates reside in the Tri-State Area (NY/NJ/CT). Approximately 75,000 of them fly back to the Midwest to attend home football games.

"Toledo-bound flights are selling quickly because University of Michigan faithful football fans flying to Ann Arbor for The Wolverines' 11 home games are tired of dealing with delays at Detroit Metro Airport," said Glazer. "When you factor in the mileage to the Michigan campus, along with traffic snarls, it's a whole lot quicker to fly from New York to Toledo and then drive to Ann Arbor, Michigan."

"It appears that business travelers are also booking online knowing they can depart Toledo at 6 a.m. and be at their Midtown Manhattan meetings by 9 a.m. and then fly back home in time to sit down for a late dinner," said Stolarczyk.

JetAmerica is offering from nine to 19 seats at a cost of $9 one-way on every flight. On average, most seats range in price from $49 to $79 one-way. The most expensive fares top-off at about $199. Taxes and surcharges are additional.

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Discover What’s Blooming In Ohio

(NAPSI)-Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that the “Earth laughs in flowers,” and if that’s true, Ohio is certainly one of the world’s more joyful places. Each region of the state hosts a diverse collection of natural preserves, botanical gardens, estates, garden cemeteries and more.

Natural Areas and Preserves

Natural areas and preserves provide visitors the opportunity to experience Ohio’s plentiful mature forests, lush wildflowers, wildlife and rare plants all in their natural habitats. Lawrence Woods State Nature Preserve in Northwest Ohio is one such wooded oasis. Visitors can enjoy a boardwalk to spot wildflowers or explore more than 1,300 acres of centuries-old oak trees.

In the same region of Ohio, Oak Openings Preserve Metropark hosts prickly pear cactus blooming on dry, hot sand dunes just yards from orchids growing in low, wet swales. Nearby Kitty Todd State Nature Preserve is home to more than 100 rare plants.

Tucked along the coast of Lake Erie is the Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve on Marblehead Peninsula. This former limestone quarry is home to the only natural population of Lakeside Daisies in the United States and one of only three locations worldwide. The Lakeside Daisy is the rarest of more than 200 endangered plant species in Ohio.

Arboretums

If majestic tree and woody plant collections are more your style, Ohio has plenty of arboretums offering shady spots for relaxation or audio walking tours. The Stranahan Arboretum on the University of Toledo’s campus grows 1,500 specimens of trees from as far away as China, Japan and Norway.

Holden Arboretum in Kirtland is one of America’s largest arboretums at 3,400 acres and is also known for its rhododendrons.

Estate and Cemetery Gardens

Ohio’s estate and garden cemeteries represent some of the most exquisite, historic and artist-worthy settings in the state. For instance, the gardens at Adena Mansion in Chillicothe were created with seeds from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate in the early 1800s. Jefferson gave the seeds to Thomas Worthington, one of Ohio’s first senators. The view from Adena is said to have been the inspiration for Ohio’s state seal.

Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum in Cincinnati is among the top garden cemeteries in the country, offering 400 acres of artfully developed landscape dotted with 12 ponds. It was established in 1845 to honor 40 Civil War Union generals.

Gardens and Conservatories

Ohio’s city gardens and conservatories bring colorful plants from every corner of the Earth to the core of the state’s cities, providing spaces to learn about distant habitats and to escape from life’s hectic pace.

The Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus takes visitors on a journey through the Himalayan Mountains, the rainforest, the desert and the Pacific Islands. Franklin Park is known for its annual Blooms & Butterflies exhibition, which transforms the Pacific Island Water Garden into an enchanting haven for butterflies. Downtown Columbus is also home to the world’s only existing topiary interpretation of a painting. The Topiary Garden depicts Georges Seurat’s famous “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” His re-creation consists of 54 topiary people as tall as 12 feet.

The Cleveland Botanical Garden in University Circle provides 10 acres of award-winning gardens set in the heart of the city’s arts and cultural area. The Garden features the Armstrong Glass House, where visitors can walk into two of the world’s most endangered environments--Madagascar’s Spiny Desert and the Costa Rican Cloud Forest.

Annual Garden Events

No matter what time of year you visit Ohio, there’s something colorful and alive waiting to greet visitors. In addition to Ohio’s permanent sites and attractions, the following annual events attract visitors from around the world:

WinterBlooms Orchid Show & Sale (Mid-January-February), Holden Arboretum, Kirtland

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Zoo Blooms (Held annually each spring)

Cincinnati Flower Show (April), Coney Island, Cincinnati

Cleveland Botanical Garden Flower Show (Biannual, Late May), Cleveland

Columbus Rose Festival (June), Park of Roses, Columbus

Tipp City Mum Festival (Held annually in September), Downtown Tipp City

Free visitor information is available to travelers interested in planning a garden getaway to Ohio. For more information about Ohio in Bloom, visit www.DiscoverOhio.com.

Visitors enjoy a guided tour through the gardens at Adena Mansion in Chillicothe, Ohio.