Travel - The Durango Herald

Johnny Cash’s colonial past

Famous singer raised on government collective in Arkansas

DATE: Aug 30, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

Mimicking airlines, hotels get fee-happy

NEW YORK – Forget bad weather, traffic jams and kids asking, “Are we there yet?” The real headache for many travelers is a quickly-growing list of hotel surcharges, even for items they never...

DATE: Aug 30, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

Missing from New Zealand’s slopes? Snow

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Winter has rolled into its third month in New Zealand, and Nick Jarman says he’s going stir crazy as he stares out at the driving rain on the small ski area he mana...

DATE: Aug 16, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

Pompeii: Dead city lives in ruins, imaginations

POMPEII, Italy – Pompeii is the city of the long goodbye. In A.D. 62, a major earthquake toppled buildings, causing severe damage, harbinger of what was to come. Seventeen years ...

DATE: Aug 16, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

Touching the clouds

Day hiking highs in 100-year-old Rocky Mountain National Park

DATE: Aug 16, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

The challenge of keeping our skies safe

Safety improves as airline industry expands worldwide

DATE: Aug 2, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

Great white tourism

Shark sightings lure visitors to Cape Cod and merchants cash in

DATE: Aug 2, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

Traveling with your teen

Seems impossible, right? These strategies can make trips fun for everyone

DATE: Jul 19, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

19-year-old flies 29,000 miles around globe

A South Dakota teen may have become the youngest person to fly solo around the world. Matt Guthmiller, 19, completed the more than 29,000-mile journey in a leased single-engine ai...

DATE: Jul 19, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

‘Sweet Home Alabama’ to welcome tourists

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Tourists traveling into Alabama on interstate highways will soon be greeted by signs strengthening the state’s official connection to the Lynyrd Skynyrd song title “Sweet ...

DATE: Jul 19, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

Car rental companies rev up exotic offerings

LAS VEGAS – There’s a chance now for the middle class to feel like movie stars. Or for a movie star to feel like a movie star away from home. In the past few years, some of the b...

DATE: Jul 19, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

Busting five myths about tipping

Tipping may be the most confusing travel behavior of all. Haven’t we all wondered about when to tip, whom to tip and how much? Let’s debunk five myths to help guide you on your next trip. ...

DATE: Jul 5, 2014 | CATEGORY: Travel

Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’tsAnnual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Cowboys. Fancy ladies. Gold miners. Even-toed ungulates that some in Durango might consider more like rats.Where can you find a runway show that takes you on a whirlwind tour through the weird, wacky and wildly exaggerated 150 years of Colorado history? Only at Durango’s annual Fashion Do’s and Don’ts, held Wednesday, where models and audience members wore costumes celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial – the theme of this year’s two-week Snowdown celebration.Standout acts included the Ghosts of Durango, which featured four of Durango’s most famous ghosts: a Rochester hotel ghost in a Victorian get-up of a more “modern” variation; the Strater Hotel’s head of housekeeping, also head of more discreet services; a young girl haunting El Rancho’s bathroom; and Sheriff Bob Thompson, killed in a 1906 gunfight. according to emcee Suzan Lane. A Another act was the Secret Circus Society, featuring Rubi Starr, Jeni Gross, Tabatha Joy Bettin, Adrienne Young and Ethan Deffenbaugh dressed as a car and the roadside pests better known as deer. Group members said the inspiration for the costume came from lived experiences driving Durango roads. The two-person Cantine Couture act starred Leslie Ponce and Tyler Frakes in an homage to the plentiful variety of Mexican restaurants found in any Colorado town. Ponce, dressed in comically large Mexican pointy cowboy boots, ambled down the runway as if taking a stroll under the hot, dusty, high-altitude sun, while Frakes flitted about the stage in a bright yellow salsa dress. Ponce said this year’s costume had been tough to decide, but the final decision was inspired by TikTok videos of Mexican cowboys in pointy boots. This was the duo’s third year strutting down the runway. Why they keep coming back for more, Frakes said laughing, was, “for the fame, the glory and the attention.”

Fashion Do’s and Don’ts has been one of the most highly anticipated Snowdown events since its inception in the 1990s. It has more than doubled in size over the past several decades. Last year, there were a record number of models, and in order to keep the event at a manageable size, this year’s fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unfazed by the change. “It was actually easy,” said Jodi Zuber, one part of the two-person duo that made up the 1950s Texas Invader Ski Couple. Her partner-in-costume, Danny Jaques, said they had been doing this for several years, and it’s good with everything going on in the world to “get some levity and let your hair down.” The performers were not the only ones in costume. Audience members also dressed in a wide variety of unique takes on what makes Colorado, Colorado. JonBenet Ramsey made a miraculous appearance, being played by an 82-year-old woman, as did Casa Bonita, an ensemble that included a taco, sopaipilla and gorilla in chains – to name some of the characters. By the end of the show, people were in high spirits, as usual. “It was just delightful,” said a first-time audience member. If blessed with the chance to get the much coveted tickets – he said he would jump on it. jbowman@durangoherald.com

Annual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Photos: Durango High School basketball teams lose to Montrose High School

Photos: Local girls high school wrestling at La Plata TriDurango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Durango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Photos: Fort Lewis College women’s and men’s basketball take on Westminster UniversityBoth Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Both Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Photos: An afternoon in 2004 with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as he works on Capitol HillDurango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Durango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Photos and video: ICE protests return to DurangoAbout a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

About a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

The Durango Herald’s year in photos 2025

Photos: Chapman Hill fires up the snow guns

Johnny Cash’s colonial past

Mimicking airlines, hotels get fee-happy

Missing from New Zealand’s slopes? Snow

Pompeii: Dead city lives in ruins, imaginations

Touching the clouds

The challenge of keeping our skies safe

Great white tourism

Traveling with your teen

19-year-old flies 29,000 miles around globe

‘Sweet Home Alabama’ to welcome tourists

Car rental companies rev up exotic offerings

Busting five myths about tipping

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