VISIT
Cape May, New Jersey
Victorian Week gives visitors opportunity
to experience a simpler, more elegant time
Cape May’s 34th annual Victorian Week, to be held Oct. 6-15, will once again transform the seaside resort into a late-1800s landscape, with activities revolving around the period that began with the reign of Queen Victoria and ended shortly before World War I. Tour bed-and- breakfast inns decorated in period furnishings, dance at the vintage ball , dine at Champagne and gourmet brunches and teas and enjoy historic house and Cape Island boat tours. Some activities are free; some require passes. A weekend pass (there are three to choose from, ranging in price from $18 to $25) includes trolley shuttles. Visit the sponsoring Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts website for a full schedule of events. Victorian Week,
capemaymac.org
DINE
Kansas City, Missouri
American Royal Barbecue expects 500 teams in the world’s largest BBQ contest
The 27th annual American Royal Barbecue, considered to be the world’s largest barbecue contest, kicks off the American Royal, one of Kansas City’s big fall events, Oct. 5-7 in the Stockyards District. More than 500 teams are expected to compete for the $100,000 in cash and prizes to be awarded. Spectators can sample barbecue and cheer on the teams, as well as attend Barbecuelooza , which features fireworks, a concert, a barbecue-related trade expo and a children’s carnival. American Royal Barbecue, americanroyal.com
SHOP
Salida, Colorado
Bungled Jungle gallery features monstrous artwork, intriguing mirrors and tables
Salida’s charmingly bizarre Bungled Jungle gallery bristles with entertainingly menacing creatures who could be the offspring of a Mos Eisley Cantina regular and an extra from the “Monsters, Inc.” set. Toothy, stubbly and endearingly good-humored, the jungle critters in fact come from the minds and hands of the couple that owns the gallery. Their progeny begin with metal, wood or plastic skeletons, and build up in layers of plaster, clay and polymers. Check out the Flower Derangements, the mouthy outsized mirrors, the droll servant/tray tables and the overpopulated bicycle’s delicate balance of disease-y riders.
Bungled Jungle, 132 First St., 719-539-3759,
bungled jungle.com
DINE
Various locations, USA
Ikea’s furniture can’t hold a futon to its tasty and inexpensive offerings in the cafeteria
Those gigantic blue-and-yellow Ikea furniture stores are a standard stop for road-trippers who love to get a bargain they can’t find at home. But the superstores’ cafeterias hold lesser-known, though equally affordable, treasures for travelers who like to eat. The food is unusual – where else are you going to get Swedish specialties like lingonberry mousse on the go? – and it’s darn cheap. The best bargain: the 99-cent breakfast with heaping helpings of eggs, potatoes and bacon or sausage. There are more than two dozen Ikea stores in the United States now, and their locations along major highways – like the one off Interstate 95 outside of New Haven, Conn., or the one just south of the Newark Airport off the New Jersey Turnpike – make them easily accessible. There’s a list at the website. Ikea, ikea.com
– Denver Post staff and wire reports
