Frommer joins the Star...North Carolina beach town declares a "no thong" zone...Horseshoe Adventures

You'll have noticed, I'm sure, a pretty well-known name on the top of our travel page today. That would be the one and only Arthur Frommer; a legend in the travel biz for the hundreds of tour guides he's published over the years. And his daughter, Pauline is there too.

The Frommers have more than 300 travel guides in print and sell 2.5 million of them a year. They've been just about everywhere, and reading their tips is a great way to find out about the world and plan your dream trip.

Arthur Frommer today brings us 10 thoughts about where you can take a great vacation this summer. Starting next Monday, and every Monday, we'll bring you his 20 Best Bargain Vacations of the week; sure to be a huge hit.

We've also got Pauline Frommer to talk about budget travel; always a big issue but seldom more than it is in today's troubled economic climate. Today she looks at some great ways to save on hotels, and it's excellent advice.

“We’re delighted to be featured in the Toronto Star,”Arthur Frommer said in a telephone chat. “I talk regularly with friends in Toronto and I understand the market. We’ll be tailoring my best bargains of the week to make sure we cover off places that folks in Toronto and southern Ontario like to travel.”

Both Arthur and Pauline Frommer will be found on our pages on a regular basis, mostly online but occasionally in print. They'll be exclusive to the Star in the GTA, so be sure to tune in on a regular basis.

COVER UP IN CAROLINA

They love tourists in Kure Beach, North Carolina. They just don't want to see too much of them.

"You can do what you want to in your own space," Mayor Dean Lambeth told CNN, "but for public decency, keep it off the public beach."

Lambeth told CNN he and the town supervisors last week unanimously approved the ordinance banning the skimpy bathing wear.

"Everything we do is family oriented. We like the small town atmosphere," he said.

Lambeth told Associated Press he sees his town as "Mayberry at the Beach." Mayberry, of course, was the mythical town in the Andy Griffith Show.

Good thing we won't see Aunt Bea or Don Knotts in a thong, I can certainly say that.

I got an email a while back from the Canadian Tourism Commission, just while we're on the subject of too much body flesh, and they laid out a list of five nude beaches in our fine country. Here they are:

1. Wreck Beach, Vancouver

2. Patricia Beach, Lake Winnipeg

3. Hanlan's Point, Toronto

4. Oka Park Beach, Quebec

5. Crystal Crescent Beach, Nova Scotia.

On a related (kind of) travel note, I see that a guy who works at the Miami airport was arrested the other day when he went after a colleague who had made fun of him. No big deal, you say? Apparently not.

It seems the worker, identified by Fox News as Rolando Negrin, 44, had strolled through a full-body scanner at the airport and had made a rather small impression on his colleagues. Negrin apparently was being constantly teased about his small penis and couldn't take any more.

Maybe it was a George Costanza thing. You know, like maybe he'd just gotten out of the pool.

Anyway, I guess maybe these machines show more than some of us thought. Or less. I still don't mind going through one to help improve airport security, but it IS a little disconcerting....Not that, well, you know.

GO ZORBING AT HORSESHOE

Horseshoe Resort near Barrie says it will offer Ontario's only zorb ride when their new Adventure park opens July 1. For the uninitiated, a zorb is a giant plastic ball that you climb into and get pushed down a hill. Kind like bungee jumping without the cord, I think.

Horseshoe folks say they also will have southern Ontario's longest zip line, as well as summer tubing, wall-climbing and more.

ARIZONA FIGHTS BACK

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has joined the Arizona Chamber of Commerce by suggesting a boycott of Arizona is a bad idea that will only hurt innocent people.

Various cities in the U.S. have passed legislation that bans travel to Arizona because of the state's immigration law, which allows police to question people about their immigration status if police believe they're illegal aliens.

"It is very bad policy to boycott the businesses and harm the workers of Arizona based on the actions of the state legislature," said R. Bruce Josten, executive vice president of Government Affairs at the U.S. Chamber. "The travel and tourism industry is essential to growth and job creation throughout this country. The last thing we should do is punish those who are working hard to create jobs that our nation's economy desperately need."

The move follows a similar anti-boycott call by the U.S. Travel Association last week.

At the same time that's happening, the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau is having a little fun. The hot summer is approaching, so the folks in Scottsdale have put on some sales.

"We won't lie to you," they said in a press release. "It's hot in the desert in the summer. But you know what makes the higher temperatures worth it? Lower prices. We're talking up to 60 per cent off high-season rates. You know what else helps? Air conditioning. And pools. We've got lots of those. And you know what we don't have that you won't miss? Gross humidity."

The Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North (nice golf course) is offering rates at $195 per night from June 1 to Sept. 12, while the Fairmont Scottsdale has rooms starting at $149 per night with a $50 daily food and beverage credit from May 17 to Sept. 9. Considering how cool it's been in Toronto the last couple days, a nice 28 degree day like they have in the forecast for Scottsdale today sounds pretty damned attractive.

It IS hot during the heat of the day. But Scottsdale tonight was supposed to dip down to 16 degrees, and the forecast called for 18 degrees at 8 a.m.; a perfect tee-off time.