Meet me at the corner of Spiritualist and Mediumship. This address pretty much describes the state of mind of everyone I know.

I'd love to meet the person, who makes up the street names in Cassadaga, Florida. He/she really seems to take the job to the next level. How is the real estate market down there? What about the house on Mothership St and Atheist way?

Great find by Willy Volk.

***To have your photo considered, go to the Gadling Flickr Pool and upload your favorites.***

If you're between ages 18 and 34 and want a free Old Navy bikini, it's yours--if you are female. All you have to do is show up at Nikki Beach in Miami Beach, Florida this Friday, April 18, and be prepared to hang out with hundreds of other bikini clad women as part of a Cosmopolitan magazine promotion. Oh, yeah, you'll be getting your picture taken.

The magazine wants to break the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot. Last year's record breaker was 1,010, so this year's aim is 1,200. Along with a free bathing suit give-a-way, there's a day of frolic in the sun. You do need to come with your own bathing suit and gussied up with make-up. Here are the details, and registration information. Don't forget sunscreen.

Okay, as much as this sort of thing sounds like an event that would get on my nerves, it might be fun and a fairly easy afternoon of entertainment if one doesn't think about the tiny bit sexist and ageist quality about it. At least they didn't say which body type is eligible. I'm more of a Spencer Tunick photo shoot type person where anyone and everyone can show up for the occasion.

This photo was taken at a store in Miami Beach in case you're looking for a bathing suit in a pinch.

Miami is number one on the list of falling home prices. That's not all that has fallen in Florida. Tourists didn't head to Florida in 2007 as much as they did in 2006. There were 1.5 million less. As a person who went to Florida for Christmas in 2006, left before New Years and did not return in 2007 we account for five of the folks. It was the four of us and my dad.

The 1.5 million drop is enough to make a negative dent in the tourism market. The Canadians are doing their part, though, to boost Florida's economy. Ten percent more of them headed here in 2007. Floridians also stayed in their state to travel more closer to home. I do have a friend who goes to Key West every year. That's one person who is a guarantee.

One of my friends didn't go to Florida over winter break this year because she wanted to make sure if she spent the money the place would be really, really warm. Florida can't promise that time of year will be sunny and bright. It poured the day we went to Disneyland. [see article]

When some cruise lines began adding fuel charges to their price tag the beginning of February, passengers have begun cry foul. The basic idea is that you have to give people fair warning of increases and there needs to be rules in place for how increases are added. It can't seem willy nilly, otherwise people get their rankles up. Also if there aren't regulations on how prices are doled out, who is protecting the consumer from a surcharge filled life?

Since the Florida attorney general has noticed the 150 (plus by now) complaints he received from customers, he is looking into the matter. Because Florida is a cruise ship hot spot, his findings are important to the industry. No one is arguing that costs to cruise ships have risen because of fuel costs, but how to get the money fairly is a question. The concern is that people are told one price on a brochure and then find a hefty fee added under a line item called "fuel surcharge."

From my understanding of the issue, is that people bought their tickets prior to the February 1 date and the surcharge was added after the purchase. The question is, can you charge people retroactively? Cruise lines are saying yes because the passengers were told in advance of their purchase so that they could cancel. I wonder how big the print was on that piece of information? Why wouldn't prices of cruises be higher? The fuel surcharge is on average $5 per person per day. Why not just say as of February 1 a five-day cruise costs $25 more.

The customers are saying, no way, no how. You can't switch ponies. (Animals are not really involved. I'm using this as a metaphor.) Ed Perkins, a writer on consumer travel issue with Tribune Media Services outlines the argument here.

It seems to me that if fuel surcharges are to be allowed they should only be charged to people who bought the tickets from February on. Can you imagine what would happen if cars had a fuel surcharge that was retroactive? Let's say you bought your gas at 2:45 on a Wednesday afternoon and by 3:00 the gas went up by a quarter because of sudden increased prices and those who bought gas earlier should have paid more. Therefore, if you got 10 gallons of gas, you would have a retroactive fuel charge of $2.50. The gas station companies could send you a bill in the mail.

Another question I have is why isn't their fuel surcharges on food in the grocery store? Each item could have a few cents added to its cost under the guise of fuel surcharge. The idea of surcharges seem fishy to me. Just tell me the price and let's be done with it so I can enjoy my Mai Tai on a tropical beach without feeling like I've been fleeced.

For the Gadling series "World Heritage Site new "Tentative List": Places to Love" we covered the 14 sites that have been submitted for possible inclusion as an official World Heritage Site in the United States. The sites were not posted in order of importance or in the order they appear on the list -- this is the last site covered.

Number: 12

Name of Site: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Location of site: Georgia/Florida

Reason for importance (in a nutshell): This site embodies the Okefenokee Swamp, a large, intact wetland that houses the headwaters of two rivers. It also has undisturbed deposits of peat. The vast, saucer-shaped bog was once part of the ocean floor, and the swamp is one of the oldest and most well-preserved freshwater areas is the US, according to GORP.

Catherine's take: It's got more going for it than a name that's fun to say; intact wetlands are hard to come by these days. The photo I found was so beautiful I had to make it larger than usual. And besides, if we run out of oil we can just burn the peat, right?

This was taken a few days ago by Coralee Skoch, down in Key West. She took part in the Key West Race Week, and here are a few boats coming in after a long day of sailing. I just love the way the setting sun shines through the sails.

A friend of mine moved to Florida recently and has discovered the wonders of Florida's underwater scene. Actually, he hasn't made it to any of the places that he's salivating over whenever he browses the Web site underwaterflorida.com, but he's planning upcoming outings for whenever he has time off from work.

He showed me the section of the Web site that lists many of Florida's freshwater springs by region. If you click on each one, there's a description about what makes a particular spring unique from another. For example, Rainbow Springs is one of the clearest in Florida. Here you can snorkel, canoe and swim. There is also a hiking trail and tropical gardens. As I'm sitting in gray, cold Ohio, tropical gardens sound divine.

DeLeon Springs caught my attention, but it has nothing to do with the fountain of youth. What it does have something to do with is the Civil War. There used to be a sugar mill here that was burned down twice by Confederate soldiers. Now you can canoe and scuba dive.

While the song might say, "There's no place like home for the holidays," being on the road offers the excitement of places new and getting away from it all. Particularly, if staying at home means endless hours of decorating, baking cookies, and trying to make a day "perfect." Instead of feeling relaxed with that holiday glow, you're left feeling frazzled and about ready to bite someone's head off.

Being on the road also avoids the let down feeling after presents are opened, the food has been eaten and darkness has set in because it's winter and 5:30 pm (or therabouts), at least if you live in the northern hemisphere. However, being on the road can be a let down if you like the holiday trimmings and want to have some visual markers that a special time of the year is in one's midst.

I've been on the road a few times on Christmas, and being one of those people who adore the holiday, but also adore travel, I have found a few ways to combine the best of both. Tinsel is a good place to start.

Now that I've expressed my glee that Columbus's Short North is listed as one of the best neighborhoods for retirement, here's the low down on the rest of the list. The original article is from Money Magazine and posted at CNN.com. The version I saw yesterday was on AOL's welcome page. It's an abbreviated version. Instead of 30 city neighborhoods, there are 10 with a link to the other 20.

Here they are:

SoFa in San Jose, California. The sunny 300 days a year here attracted me. Cloudy days are the bane of Columbus living. According to the writers, San Jose also has a noteworthy art scene.

Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts. My closest college friend would probably second this. She lived here for one year and LOVED it. Unfortunately, the year she was living here, I didn't have the money to visit her. The Back Bay was her dream come true, until her next dream came true which is the life she's living now. The reason she only stayed a year? Just like the article said, it's expensive.

A device that would've allowed passengers to keep their shoes on at airport security has failed. Removing shoes in airport security lines is one of a passenger's biggest inconveniences, and the ShoeScanner raised hopes of faster, shorter security lines. After repeated tests at Orlando International Airport this year, however, the ShoeScanner "still does not meet standards to ensure detection of explosives," the TSA said.

Of course, the Scanner was only available to those that could pay the yearly $100 fee to go through a separate line. For the rest of us, it was business as usual in the long line of peasants.

[via USA Today]