Remember the coffee revolution of the Nineties, when what used to cost 25 cents at some crappy diner suddenly cost $3 at a snooty cafe? Well, at least instead of drinking what looked and tasted like dishwater you now got something that tasted like actual coffee. Ah yes, I was in graduate school then and the coffee revolution came along just at the right time! But coffee has been around a lot longer than that, as a new/old coffeehouse at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia shows.

Americans have been drinking coffee since before they've been called Americans. A local wigmaker and caffeine junkie named Richard Charlton opened a coffeehouse at Williamsburg more than 240 years ago, when Virginia was still a colony. Today Colonial Williamsburg, an interesting and authentic recreation of a Colonial town, has reopened this coffeeshop on the same site. You can sit in 18th century style while sipping a coffee, chocolate, or tea. You're not allowed to dump the tea into the sea, that was in Boston, but Charlton's coffeeshop was the scene of angry colonists confronting the British-appointed governor of Virginia colony to protest the Stamp Act in 1765.

This wasn't surprising. Coffeeshops were places to meet and discuss politics. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson drank coffee at Charlton's shop. There's no record of what they talked about over a good cup of Joe, but we can imagine. Did hepped-up caffeine addicts create the superpower we know today? Stranger things have happened. . .

Drink coffee the way George Washington used to originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Where to go for fast food - the flowchart edition originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In Japan, they bathe in beaujolais originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Mexico - Birders will unite in the Yucatan Peninsula for the Yucatan Bird Festival from November 19-22. For the 8th consecutive year, the festival offers a wide range of field trips, exhibits, conferences, and a "birdathon." Objectives of this annual festival include promoting the rich diversity of bird species found in the Yucatan and developing a conservationist culture among tourists and tour providers.
• California - The California Surf Festival celebrates awareness and support for surf history preservation this weekend from November 19-22. It is an international event destination bringing people from all over the world to Oceanside, California, to experience surf culture through films, music, art, photography and interaction with those who embody the culture as well as highlight the surf community of California.
• Amsterdam - The International Documentary Film Festival begins this Thursday, November 19. The film extravaganza will present over 300 documentaries over the course of 10 days, ending on the 29th.
  
• Israel - Shalem Dance Festival will begin this Thursday, November 19 in Jerusalem. Over 50 Israeli and guest dancers perform in original contemporary dance works. This year's highlight will feature contemporary dance ensembles from Africa. The festival ends on the 21st.

• India - The Mim Kut and Pawl Kut Festival will be celebrated this Friday, November 20 in Mizoram. Celebrated in the last week of November or the first week of December, the festival celebrates the completion of the harvesting season.
• Helsinki - This year Helsinki's Chocolate Festival has a larger "box," as it is held at Wanha Satama fair centre November 21-22. The festivali celebrates the diversity of the sweet stuff. Choco-connaisseurs share their sweet wisdom about the impact of chocolate on health, wellbeing, history of chocolate, production and variety.
  

Get out and go: Events around the world (November 18-21) originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If these questions make you feel ignorant, you're not alone. Michael Lynn, a prof at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, has conducted to nationwide tipping surveys and has found that a third of the respondents don't know to leave 15 percent to 20 percent of the tab at a restaurant. Throw hotels and drivers into the mix, and it's unsurprising that the rules aren't understood as clearly as they could be.

So, USA Today and I are helping you know what to tip and when. A recent article by Gary Stoller provides some good ideas, and I've tossed in a few of my own.

Continue reading Tips for tippers: it isn't what you expect

Tips for tippers: it isn't what you expect originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tokyo is the top dining city in the world, according to the latest Michelin Guide. With 11 restaurants at three stars, it's pushed past Paris, the former top dog in the culinary world. Eight of the nine Tokyo restaurants with three starts retained their Michelin ratings year-over-year, and three were bumped up from two stars to three for 2010. Paris has only 10 three-star restaurants in the 2010 Michelin Guide, and New York only has four.

According to Oyvind Naesheim, Nobu Hong Kong's executive chef, "Tokyo is an unbelievable city for food," continuing, "The passion and perfection at some top Tokyo restaurants show us why this city is so outstanding in fine dining."

Two thirds of the 197 Tokyo restaurants listed by Michelin focus on Japanese food, focusing on common styles includingfugu, soba, sukiyaki, tempura and sushi. Three of the 11 three-star spots went to French Restaurants.

In total, Tokyo has 261 stars, more than any other city in the 23 countries that Michelin covers. Look for the list of Tokyo three star restaurants after the jump.

Continue reading Tokyo restaurants tops in Michelin

Tokyo restaurants tops in Michelin originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In the Wild Wild West: Dine in a trailer park originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Obama lifted a 22-year ban preventing HIV-positive people from traveling to the States. Umm.... FINALLY! [via The Economist]
• If you're traveling around Europe and America you should have no trouble satisfying your daily coffee craving. [via Moon]
• Is H1N1 preventing you from traveling? Here are some sound travel tips to keep you healthy on the road. [via CNN Travel]
• I love juicy travel secrets! Here are a three great ones from my friend Katie over at Tripbase.
• If you have a stomach made of steel, then you should hit the streets in these street food meccas. [via BootsNAll]

Gadlinks for Wednesday 11.11.09 originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• I love companies that give back. Here are five travel outlets that make giving part of buying. [via Jaunted]
• Yikes! As a single female traveler, I've been wary of couchsurfing. This give me more reason to avoid couchsurfing altogether. [via True/Slant]
• I read this article on the plane recently and was really moved by what this graffiti artist is doing to share his vision of the world. [via Hemispheres]
• This is a nice, comprehensive guide to wine tasting in South America. [via BootsNAll]

More Gadlinks HERE.

Gadlinks for Friday 11.6.09 originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading The Spice Isle: Making the most of a cruise stopover in Grenada

The Spice Isle: Making the most of a cruise stopover in Grenada originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is the best day of the week, in my opinion: You're in a midweek groove, but the weekend is in sight. That's a perfect metaphor for how I'm feeling this week in life, too. I'm past the midpoint of many things in life, but the end is nigh! We have a whole lot of great travel reads to be thankful for as well, so let's get started.

• This astute article details the dark side of adventure holidays. [via Telegraph]
• I'm ready for a sushi revolution, but are you? [via Hemispheres]
• Trip Advisor advises us on how to protect the world's most important places. I'm all for it! [via Blisstree]
• We all know about those negligent pilots who claimed to be using their laptops and bypassed their arrival city, but what's the truth behind pilots, laptops, and air safety? [via The Week]

More Gadlinks HERE.

Gadlinks for Wednesday 11.4.09 originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Plan your airport layover with T+L's Airport Navigator originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• "Unless you enjoy breathing in ammonia, avoid [fermented] skate at all costs."
• "Koreans gnaw on dried squid while drinking beer and soju. Too bad the rubbery strands smell like dead mice."
• "Due to its fetid odor, the oval, tropical fruit [durian] also has one thing in common with terrorists and smokers: It's banned from the Singapore airport."

The best stinkin' food in Asia originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: Dougaldston Spice Boucan, Grenada

Continue reading The Spice Isle: Nutmeg's always the answer in Grenada

The Spice Isle: Nutmeg's always the answer in Grenada originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Pub Etiquette: This ain't no American bar

Pub Etiquette: This ain't no American bar originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Real Ale--the way beer ought to be originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Great drinking and dining at London's gastropubs originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been a tough year for Iceland. Thanks to foreign money, crazy lending and borrowing practices and a real estate bubble that amazed the world as it grew and when it popped, the small northern country has suffered severely through the global financial crisis ... which was predicted by a walking tour guide prophetic viking. Now, a year after Iceland went bankrupt, it's losing something else - fast food. McDonald's is leaving the island nation.

Reykjavik, the capital, is home to all three of the country's McDonald's restaurants ... but not for long. The decimation of the Icelandic krona and declining profits are forcing the franchise owner to call it quits. Magnus Ogmundsson, managing director of Lyst Hr., which holds the franchise in Iceland, told The Associated Press, "The economic situation has just made it too expensive for us." His situation was made difficult by the McDonald's requirement that the store's goods be imported from Germany. So, he had to spend in euros, which became incredibly expensive because of the krona's plunge.

To get a sense of how bad the situation became, check out the price of a Big Mac. It already costs $5.29 in Reykjavik, and to turn a profit, it would have to go for $6.36 - making it the most expensive in the world. Currently, the title goes to Switzerland and Norway, where a Big Mac costs $5.75.

Continue reading Iceland ditches McDonald's

Iceland ditches McDonald's originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Now there are three Haven's Candies locations. The company's flagship candy making facility, that includes a retail and wholesale store, is in Westbrook, Maine. Other retail locations are in Portland and Scarborough.

If you've ever wondered how candy is made the old fashioned way, this video clip of Haven's Candies covers it. From peanut butter cups to coconut haystacks to candy canes, it's all here. By the end, you'll have a sweet tooth craving.

It is possible to see Haven's Candies being made in person. There is an open house at the candy factory every year on Columbus Day. Guided tours are also available at other times. Plus, the candy making area of the Westbrook location has glass windows. When the store is open you can watch the candy production.

Vintage candy making in Maine originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading A Classic West Virginia Resort Returns to its Roots

A Classic West Virginia Resort Returns to its Roots originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.