On Course: Southwest on board at MSP

THIS JUST IN

Low-fare carrier Southwest Airlines will begin flying out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport's Humphrey terminal with daily departures to Chicago's Midway Airport in March. From Midway, the airline flies nonstop to 47 cities, including Orlando, Ft. Myers and New Orleans. Travelers can begin booking for March travel from Minneapolis in November, when the airline will post its next schedule.

KERRI WESTENBERG

CALLING ALL READERS

We want to hear tales of travel woe. Did you get bumped in Vegas and find yourself waiting in the airport for 72 hours -- promised a seat on the next plane and then the next -- before you finally headed home? (If that's you, please call back!) Did you book a direct flight for your family of four, get rebooked on a fight with a layover and then, when that second flight was canceled, get told by the airlines that they couldn't put you on a direct flight because you were holding tickets for an indirect flight? Both happened this summer. What's your travel nightmare? Your story may shed light on how others could avoid similar situations or merely make others feel better because their experience wasn't quite so bad. Please send your stories, along with your city of residence, to travel@startribune.com or by snail mail to Travel, Star Tribune, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488.

KERRI WESTENBERG

BOOK BRIEF

In "Michigan: An Explorer's Guide" (Countryman Press, $19.95), author Jeff Counts recommends what to see and do, and critiques restaurants (both upscale and regular), inns, B&Bs and family-owned motels (and even hotel and motel chains when there are few other options available). He emphasizes such popular destinations as northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, Detroit and the beaches of Lake Michigan. He also looks at the small resort and artsy towns of Saugatuck, Petoskey, Charlevoix and Glen Arbor; National Park Service sites such as Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and the distinctive islands of Beaver and Mackinac. Aside from an ethnic snafu -- as when Counts declares the Cornish to be from Wales -- this is an admirable combination of astute travel writing and seasoned opinion from a veteran reporter and editor.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

OPENING: NEW YORK

Stumped on what to see since "Cats" retired its whiskers? Tired of pastrami on rye from the Carnegie Deli? To broaden your Great White Way experience, the Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, has opened the Broadway Concierge & Ticket Center, an information hub in Times Square. The center will help visitors with advice on shows, a list of restaurants that don't require a sprint to the venue and parking information. The assistance comes with a purchase of theater tickets through the league, which charges a $6.50 service fee (1560 Broadway, between 46th and 47th streets; open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday; www.ilovenytheater.com).

WASHINGTON POST

REAL DEAL

One-day adult tickets at California's Disneyland and Florida's Disney World are a staggering $69 and $75, respectively. But visitors to the parks in 2009 can enter free on one day next year: their birthdays. Anyone older than 2 can take advantage of the offer by presenting a government-issued I.D. (e.g., driver's license, passport) at the box office of a Disney park. Patrons younger than 18 who do not have a government-issued I.D. can bring either their original birth certificate or a notarized copy. For more information, visit www.disneyparks.com.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

ESCAPE ARTISTS

Duluth rates high for B&Bs

The September issue of Coastal Living magazine named Duluth the third best B&B town, after Santa Barbara, Calif., and Troncones, Mexico. Firelight Inn, Olcott House and Solglimt were noted as three good choices. At www.startribune.com/escapeartists, "Keith" added another commendable B&B to the list: Mathew S. Burrows 1890 Inn. "BL Blatter" noted the sandy beaches, great scenery and gourmet breakfasts at Solglimt. "Stacy" wrote that the Firelight Inn has "the most delectable food ever imaginable."

kerri westenberg