Good news for all the Minnesotans traveling to Branson, Mo. Starting May 11, Sun Country airlines (www.suncountry.com) will introduce the first nonstop air service between the Twin Cities and the Missouri vacation hot spot. Introductory fares will be $79 one way, with Monday, Wednesday and Saturday depatures from the Humphrey Terminal. Package deals through Hobbit Travel (www.hobbittravel.com) will start at $199 per person for round-trip airfare and a two-night hotel stay.

ELIZABETH LARSEN

Thanks to the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, the collection of the University of Iowa Museum of Art will return to its home state. The collection was moved to a warehouse near Chicago after the museum was closed when Iowa City was flooded last spring. On April 19, the Figge will open its first exhibit of the work, including Jackson Pollack's "Mural." The Figge is a stunner in its own right, designed by London architect David Chipperfield and overlooking the Mississippi (www.figgeart.org).

KERRI WESTENBERG

If you bought Frommer's 12 bestselling city guides individually, it would cost more than $200 and weigh more than 8 pounds -- not exactly easy to put in your suitcase. But the travel guide publisher is now offering a digital version of Frommer's CitySet for $40. And the only space it will take up is the bytes on your Amazon Kindle or Kindle 2. The guides can be downloaded wirelessly. The 12 cities included in the Frommer's CitySet are Barcelona, Spain; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; London; New York City; Paris; Rome; San Francisco; Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Waikiki's newly remodeled Outrigger Reef on the Beach features a bevy of room packages, among them a Reopening Special with a standard room for $159 per night plus tax, valid through Dec. 21. The special also is good at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. True to their names, both hotels offer immediate access to the surf and sand of Hawaii's Waikiki. (1-800-688-7444; www.outrigger.com, go to "From $159 USD Reopening Special" and click on "Get More Information.")

A reader called to ask if it's cheaper to travel as a passenger on a cargo freighter than to fly. The answer is no. Booking passage on a cargo freighter averages just over $100 per night. Because the freighters are working ships, a trip to Europe from North America can take between seven and 13 days each way. But freighter travel is usually cheaper than traditional cruises and often offers a more adventurous way to experience the sea. If you like to have a lot of unstructured time and can roll with the possibility that your end destination could change depending on weather or business conditions, freighter travel could be for you. Check out www.freighter-travel.com for more information. Got a question for the Star Tribune travel team? E-mail us at travel@startribune.com. We'll answer it on Escape Artists, our travel blog (www.startribune.com/escapeartists).

ELIZABETH LARSEN

Irish music, food and fun await visitors to the 25th annual St. Patrick's Day Festival and Irish Fest this week in New London, Wis. (northwest of Appleton), which is temporarily redubbed New Dublin for the occasion. Local businesses will offer daily food specials, a Finnegan's wake and other entertainment, and residents and visitors alike will line downtown streets to watch the St. Patrick's Day Parade at 1 p.m. Saturday. More than 100 units will be featured, including marching and bagpipe bands, floats and clowns. Also Saturday, Irish Fest will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. under the Big Top (at the Festival Foods parking lot). Rising Gael will perform at 11 a.m. and Seven Nations will perform at 3 p.m.