Chocolate in Belgium

By Marisa Kakoulas
June 4, 2005
It's right there and it's calling to you: "Eat me, eat me!" But how do you choose the very best, in a country that's renowned for its sweets?

A fine place to start is around Brussels' famed Grand-Place, where every third shop seems to be selling chocolate. Don't drive yourself nuts trying to pinpoint the perfect vendor. The Belgian government keeps strict control over chocolate production, so bad batches are rare. If you're worried, look for the AMBAO label with the white cocoa bean, which guarantees the freshest, tastiest ingredients--and no vegetable fats or genetically modified additives.

High, low, and little

Their garish yellow signs may set off your tourist-trap detector, but Leonidas chocolate shops--as ubiquitous in Belgium as Starbucks is in the States--offer decent value. A one-kilo box (2.2 pounds) of assorted chocolates is $36.50, or order by the piece for about $1 per. High in snob factor and price is Mary Chocolatier, on rue Royale in Brussels. Mary's manons--smooth sugar paste around a ball of cream and walnuts, flavored with vanilla, coffee, or chocolate--cost $53 for a one-kilo box. Smaller, family-owned stores often make for fun and friendly shopping. Every month, Antwerp's Burie Chocolatier displays a new chocolate and marzipan sculpture in its window. A 12-piece box of the "chocolate diamonds" (gem shaped and made of milk, dark, and white chocolate) runs $8.50.

Step up to the glass

Prices are set, either by the piece, gram, or box, so don't bother haggling. Premade boxes are popular, but if you're picky or curious, order by the piece. English is widely spoken, especially in Brussels, so feel free to ask questions and be specific in any requests. If you want to taste before you buy, you should bear in mind that the mom-and-pop shops are more likely than the big chain stores to dole out samples.

Melt in your mouth--not in your luggage

Pack chocolates you intend to bring home in your carry-on so that they don't melt or get crushed. Expensive chocolates often include fresh cream and can't be stored for more than two weeks. (The cheaper the chocolates, the longer the shelf life.) Keep them fresh longer by placing them in a closed box in your refrigerator. For optimal taste, take them out of the fridge 20 minutes before eating--if you can wait. 

Belgian chocolates

  • Burie Chocolatier Stefaniestraat 8, Antwerp, Belgium, 011-32/3-237-1242, chobel.be
  • Leonidas Chocolates Locations all over the country, 011-32/2-522-1957, leonidas-chocolate.com
  • Mary Chocolatier 73 rue Royale, 1000, Brussels, 011-32/2-217-4500, marychoc.com
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    Big Developments on Barcelona's Waterfront

    For those who miss Barcelona's Forum 2004, a five-month-long extravaganza of multicultural events ending September 26, there's still plenty to see. As it did with the 1992 Olympics, the city has used a high-profile international gathering as a pretext for radical urban renewal: In this case, the reclamation of its waterfront. "The tourist map had been limited to modernist architecture and Barceloneta up until the Olympics, when it grew to include Montjuïc and the Vila Olímpica," says Juan Carlos Montiel, a city planner. "We want to put Besòs on that map." Besòs, the once-blighted two-mile stretch of shoreline between the Port Olímpic section and the mouth of the Besòs River (Metro Line L4 to El Maresme-Forum), was formerly known for its crime and sewage works. The 124-acre, $2.1 billion development has added parkland, a restaurant-lined marina, and two spots for swimming in the Mediterranean: a pool-like "bathing zone" and the Northeast Park and Beach. The centerpiece Forum building, on what's now the largest open plaza in the city (nearly 40 acres), houses the main permanent exhibition: Barcelona in Progress, featuring a model of the entire city on a 1:1000 scale. Part of the plaza is a vast esplanade, which covers the old sewage plant and culminates in breathtaking ocean views. Above it all, a roof composed of photovoltaic panels converts sunlight into a nominal amount of electricity for the city. After Forum ends, concerts and other exhibits will begin (find schedules at bcn.es/english/ihome.htm), and over the next four years, Besòs will open sailing and diving schools, a marine zoo, and a college campus. Of the area's 2,500 newly built rooms, those of AC Front Maritim hotel, located on Nueva Mar Bella beach--a 10-minute walk from the Forum--are the most reasonable, with doubles priced from $100 (011-34/93-303-4440, achotelfrontmaritim.com). Besòs is only one of three mammoth renewal projects now afoot in the city: By 2007, Sagrera, between the Sant Marti and Sant Andreu districts, will host the station for the new high-speed train to Madrid, as well as a Frank Gehry-designed building, combining offices and a museum of transportation. Construction will begin by December, when work will also start on the Plaza de las Glories, an ambitious plan that calls for sinking part of La Gran Via, a major avenue, below ground. The result will be a pedestrian-only zone graced with daring architecture, including--fittingly--a new museum of design.

    Beyond the Blarney

    James Ashe's Pub was exactly what I'd hoped to find on my jet-lagged, hungry first day in Ireland. Outside, the publican leaned against a tractor and chatted with a neighbor in Irish, a singsong Gaelic language that's changed little in 2,500 years. The pub was low and dark inside, with the sweet smell of peat wafting from a glowing fire, and the only other patrons were two creased-face regulars in a corner. A boy barely in his teens pulled me a perfect pint, stopping the tap at the three-quarters mark and waiting for the creamy head to settle before topping it off. I asked about food, and he apologized. "We only have toasteds." These turned out to be premade ham-and-cheese sandwiches toasted in plastic sleeves--an odd, slightly carcinogenic custom repeated across the land. This was hardly what I pictured eating when my girlfriend, Frances, and I planned our trip to western Ireland last spring. County Clare offers some of Ireland's best traditional music, and County Kerry is one of the last true Gaeltacht--regions where the Irish language has survived centuries of English domination. But signs of modernity have crept in, and I wasn't altogether happy about it. We came to Ireland for green fields embroidered with stone walls and scattered with Celtic ruins. We came for cozy B&Bs and afternoon teas. We came for pubs where musicians jam in a corner and we could share good craic (conversation) with the locals jawing in Gaelic and gulping their Guinness. Picking bits of charred plastic out of the grill grooves in a sandwich was not on the agenda. In Ireland, though, things have a way of working out. A tale of two peninsulas I'd been looking forward to the famous Ring of Kerry loop road. A scenic drive through Killarney National Park brought us out onto Inveragh Peninsula, and to the seaside hamlet of Sneem and the Bank House B&B. The first thing proprietors Margaret and Noel Harrington did was offer us tea in the parlor. Warmed and settled, we then walked over a stone bridge across the village stream and ducked into the Blue Bull pub. We dug into hearty Irish stew crammed with tender mutton and buttery potatoes and held a "battle of the stouts" taste test, pitting Guinness against Murphy's. (Results inconclusive; more research may be necessary.) The next day, we scrambled onto Cahergal Fort, an ancient ring of defensive stones capping a hilltop. In the village of Waterville--a string of houses wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and Lough Currane--we stumbled across a lovely lunch at the humble Chédéan Café, where two kind ladies hand-carved us $4 turkey sandwiches, ladled out soup, and generally beamed at the handful of customers from across a countertop piled with scones the size of a baby's head. But ultimately the Ring of Kerry was a disappointment. It was too developed and not as rugged as I'd imagined. Perhaps the Ring would have been better if we had been able to visit the island of Skellig Michael and its ancient monastery complex. We had stopped in the fishing village of Portmagee and asked at the post office/general store--after politely declining a basket of duck eggs--for a local boatman. The salty captain who was recommended to us just stood in his doorway shaking his head. He mustered all his remaining teeth for a smile and indicated the waters with his stubbly chin. "High seas. Can't go today. Mebbe next week?" We had much more fun the following day on the Dingle Peninsula, just to the north, a gorgeous patchwork of green fields sloping steeply to the sea and dotted with white sheep and pink wildflowers. The fields hid dozens of little-heralded ancient roadside attractions: the Fahan Group of prehistoric beehive huts, the Iron Age ruins of Dunbeg Fort perched atop a cliff, and Gallarus Oratory, a tiny, seventh-century chapel that resembled nothing so much as an upturned boat keel. The main town--which, confusingly, is also called Dingle--is a fishing village of 1,500 people living behind tidy rows of colorful facades. For two decades, the tiny fishing fleet has been escorted to the sea each morning by Fungie, Dingle Bay's resident dolphin. Dingle also bursts with some 50 pubs, and we did our darndest to sample as many as possible in one night, including throwbacks such as Dick Mack's (half bar, half shoe store) and Foxy John's (bar/hardware store/bicycle rental). We spent most of our evening, though, at An Droichead Beag, clapping along to the traditional music and briefly boogying alongside Dingle's young and beautiful in the disco upstairs. Rough seas, thick sweaters We should have taken that crusty sailor's "high seas" comment as a warning. Two days after leaving County Kerry, I was downing Dramamine and shutting my eyes tight against the pitch and roll of a ferry loaded down with potatoes, carrots, and green-faced groups of schoolgirls and French tourists. As more and more passengers dashed for the bathrooms or leaned over the rails, I regretted--for the only time on the trip--the full Irish breakfasts I was cheerfully indulging in each morning. They're a cholesterol-fest of thick back bacon, fried eggs, fried black (blood) and white (don't ask) puddings, brown bread slathered with preserves, hot buttered porridge, fried potatoes, and a pot of tea. And half a tomato. The Irish put half a tomato in everything. The ferry causing so much suffering was bound for Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, a chain famous for its sweaters--wide braids of wool woven thickly together to keep out the chill of the North Atlantic. Even the hardy islanders admitted, once we hit land, that the crossing was "pretty rough." The Man of Aran, our B&B, was a whitewashed, thatched-roof cottage behind a lush garden of flowers. In the yard sat the tar-black oblong of an upside-down currach (traditional Aran canoe). It looked like something out of a movie, and it was. The house was built in the 1930s to film Man of Aran and is now run as a B&B by islander Maura Wolfe and her husband, Joe. We had neglected to reserve bikes when booking, so we spent two hours walking along the shore road back to the main town, praying for the rain to hold off. It was beautiful--in that eerie, isolated way of islands--and we passed more seals, up on the shoals to catch the odd ray of sunlight, than we did people. Once in town, we warmed up at the dockside American Bar and discussed our dilemma: Dusk was falling, the minibus taxis that had met our ferry that morning were now gone, and we had to be back at the B&B for dinner in an hour. A man at the end of the bar overheard us, hoisted a half-full glass--clearly not his first--and said, "I'll take ye!" He paused and reconsidered. "As soon as I've finished this pint." The road was one lane wide, and our benefactor weaved about at frightening speeds, focusing most of his concentration on conversation. He told us he loved Yanks and was in fact a U.S. citizen himself, by dint of having done five years in our navy, in which he enlisted after getting into "a wee bit of trouble" in Philadelphia. He had planned to stay Stateside but came back to Aran for a visit, fell in love, and married--a union that lasted 30 years, until his wife got cancer two years ago. Now he drives tourists around the island in a red minibus and drinks in the American Bar. Behind the music County Clare is known for the undulating Cliffs of Moher, rising 754 feet from the sea, but it's also the epicenter of traditional Irish music. Clare's capital is Ennis, a tiny medieval city that had once been described to me by a drunk man in a Dublin bar. "Ennis is brilliant!" he said, smiling sloppily. "They've more pubs than people there!" I'd timed our trip to end in Ennis at the close of the Fleadh Nua, a traditional music festival that had been the highlight of my first trip to Ireland seven years ago. I'll never forget the great musicians--from adolescent accordion players to octogenarian Gaelic singers, performing onstage and in the pubs--or the tales of seanchai (storyteller) Eddie Lenihan, a twinkle-eyed elf of wildly gesticulating limbs, a thick brogue, and crazy auburn whiskers. I learned to dance some céilí sets (the complex Irish predecessor to square dancing) and took a group lesson on how to beat my brand-new bodhran, a two-foot-wide goatskin drum. The teacher, a beefy-armed man named Mossie Griffin, showed us how to hold the bone (an eight-inch dowel with bulbous ends) and strike it back and forth across the drum skin to get the traditional treble beat. Then he tucked his drum between an arm and his ample belly and explained how he had learned to play: from drumless old men who downed a pint per song and kept the beat by rattling off scat strings of "deedle-aye-da-diddly-aye-da-doh." Well, that was seven years ago, and I should have known better than to try to re-create a favorite old trip. Poor planning got us to Ennis one hour after the Fleadh's closing ceremonies. Luckily, Custy's came to the rescue. This tiny shop--crowded with instruments, sheet music, and recordings, the strangled strains of a flute lesson drifting from a back room--is one of Ireland's traditional-music meccas. The clerk rattled off a short list of the best sessions in local pubs as he popped in CDs to help me figure out what to buy. That's how we ended up at Cruise's. We arrived early enough for some pub grub, and I was actually a bit disappointed that toasteds weren't on the menu. (They had grown on me.) When we heard the strains of a violin from near the door, we elbowed our way to the sidelines of the session breaking out. Anytime two or more musicians end up in a pub, you've got a session--an informal jam at a corner table, the players taking a break between each song to drain their pints. The session was being led by a fiddler in her early 20s who was weaving melodies into jigs, reels, and slow airs aided by an impromptu band of button accordion, banjo, flute, guitar, and squeeze box. The rhythm section consisted of a 15-year-old with an "L" sticker (the learner's permit for Irish drivers) slapped onto his bodhran and a craggy guy who must have been in his 80s. A cigarette dangled from his lips, and he tapped a pair of time-bitten drumsticks, first on a block of wood, then on his half-empty glass of Guinness. Sometimes, though, the tapping just didn't do a song justice, and he'd put down the sticks and break out with a "deedle-aye-da-diddly-aye-da-doh." I thought of Mossie, and wondered who I could see about getting the old-timer another pint. The song was ending, and his glass was almost empty. Western Ireland Food James Ashe's 011-353/66-713-0133 Chédéan Café Waterville, 011-353/66-947-4966 Cruise's Abbey St., Ennis, 011-353/65-684-1800 Foxy John's Main St., Dingle, 011-353/66-915-1316 The Blue Bull Sneem, 011-353/64-45-382 An Droichead Beag Main St., Dingle, 011-353/66-915-1723 Dick Mack's Green St., Dingle, 011-353/ 66-915-1960 American Bar Kilronan, Inishmore, 011-353/996-1130 Walsh's Main St., Dingle, 011-353/66-915-1147, iol.ie/~walshtownhouse, $88 Bank House Sneem, 011-353/64-45-226, sneem.com/bankhouse.html, $75 Man of Aran Kilmurvey, Inishmore, 011-353/99-61-301, manofarancottage.com/, $88 Fahan Group beehive huts Slea Head Rd., Dingle, $2.50 Dunbeg Fort Slea Head Rd., Dingle, $2.50 Gallarus Oratory Ballydavid, 011-353/66-915-5333, $3.15 Fleadh Nua Ennis, fleadhnua.com Custy's Traditional Music Shop Francis St., Ennis, 011-353/ 65-682-1727, custysmusic.com Dan Dooley Car Rentals 800/331-9301, dandooley.com

    Split personalities: A wine tour of the Rhone

    Walking into Domaine le Clos des Cazaux, in the village of Vacqueyras, we found an elderly French farmer standing at the counter, waiting to fill his jugs of bulk table wine. We were gleeful. I've long enjoyed Cazaux's wines. Well regarded and an excellent buy, they can be luscious and sunny or deep and spicy. We had come to sample their better vintages. So why the excitement about a place that doles out table wine to old-timers? As visitors soon discover, France's Rhone Valley thrives on such contradictions. It wins acclaim from critics and drinkers, but it isn't on a pedestal like Bordeaux. Its best bottles can be tucked away for decades, yet Rhone wines immediately warm to New World palates-and remain astoundingly affordable. (Just don't compare local prices to those back home; you may start crying.) In fact, the Rhone is not one wine region but two. The vineyards of the southern Rhone spread across large swaths southeastern France, while the narrow band that makes up the northern Rhone vineyards is concentrated near the banks of the Rhone River, some 50 miles long but never more than a few miles across. The two areas are separated by about 45 miles of farmland where few grapes are grown. Wine has been made here since at least Roman times, and if modern drinkers are coming to appreciate the Rhone again, we are hardly the first. As vintner Yves Cuilleron puts it, "The vineyards of the northern Rhone Valley were very famous a century ago. It was more expensive than Bordeaux and Champagne. Thus a trip through the Rhone is a chance to see a land that lives and breathes wine both exalted and humble. That said, it is an embarrassment of riches. Plan in advance, or be swamped by decisions. A week is barely enough time to scratch the surface, but that's all we had to travel up the Rhone River's spine, driving north from Aix-en-Provence through some of the best-known Rhone villages before finishing in the northern town of Ampuis. Rhone winemakers, increasingly accustomed to tourists driving up their dusty driveways, have devised some aids for the wary traveler. The best is their comprehensive Web site (http://www.vins-rhone.com/) with nine "wine roads": well-planned routes through the Rhone's sub-regions, complete with winery listings, contact details and driving directions. Local tourist offices also stock a paper version. The best bet is to head for smaller villages. A place like Chateauneuf-du-Pape, an epicenter of Rhone tradition, is hardly a sleepy town anymore-and most wineries there insist on advance notice. Some do have downtown tasting rooms, such as Domaine du Pegau, which may prove the best option for quick tasting. Reasonable lodging is plentiful. Many farmhouses have been converted into self-catering "gites" or "chambers d'hotes"-essentially, bed and breakfasts-and offer a pleasant and generally authentic country stay, and which are usually booked by the week. Some wineries also offer B&Bs, allowing you to spend time in a winemaker's home. And they frequently offer evening meals, usually for less than 30 euros, should you want to match food to their wine. The Dentelles No visit is complete without a stop along these jagged limestone ridges rising east of the city of Orange. Towns such as Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Beaumes de Venise have lent their names to popular Rhone appellations. The first two are known for their reds, the last for its sweet, slightly floral white dessert wines. With just 650 residents, the tiny mountainside village of Gigondas is all but a required stop. Some of the best tasting experiences can be found at caveaus (tasting rooms) operated by multiple winemakers, which provide an easy way to taste more wines with less driving. It nearly took a crowbar (actually, a lunch reservation) to pry us out of the expertly-run Caveau du Gigondas with 50 vintners. With over 50 vintners participating, we were overwhelmed by dizzyingly good vintages-the Chateau Raspail 2000, for instance or the Chateau St. Cosme 2002. Though tastings there are free, they're for serious buyers. Visitors should also be sure to stop at individual wineries; the villages generally provide good direction signs to find their local stars. Domaine de Durban produces a delightful Beaumes de Venise, plus a charming house white for about 4 euros per bottle. Up the road, Vacqueyras wineries like Clos des Cazaux show you that, above all, most French winemakers are still humble farmers. Down the street from the Gigondas caveau, we enjoyed a memorable lunch at L'Oustalet. Several bed and breakfasts are nearby. And just south, in the Orange suburbs, is Le Moulin des Souchieres, a quiet, friendly B&B fashioned out of an 1812 mill. En route and in the North Few places can offer a more authentic taste of Rhone life than Domaine Saint Luc, outside La Baume de Transit on the northern edge of the southern Rhone. Owners Ludovic and Eliance Cornillon offer rooms in their 18th century stone farmhouse, plus simple but exquisitely flavorful Provencal meals, served with their own sumptuous syrah-based wines. Their vineyards are literally three long strides beind their 18th century stone farmhouse. You can sit out back, open a bottle of red and watch the sun dip behind the rows of vines. Crossing north of Valence, vineyards begin climbing the hillsides on either bank of the Rhone. A wine lover's path follows the water north up the N7 road on the right bank or the N86 on the left. We soon hit Tain l'Hermitage, which produces some of the region's most valued wines. It also houses one of the area's few walk-in tasting rooms. Across the river in the town of Mauves, Pierre Coursodon's winery lets you sample the ascendant St. Joseph appellation. To the north, in Condrieu, the Francois Gerard winery offers hilltop views and a taste of the area's famous viognier-based whites. In nearby Chavanay, Yves Cuilleron's tasting room displays his highly respected bottlings. The farther north you go, the steeper the hills and more crowded the vineyards, until it seems as though the steep slopes couldn't possibly hold another vine. Lodging in wineries can be found near Tain at the Domaine du Colombier and up north in Ampuis at Domaine Barge, located in the town's center. Also near Tain is La Farella, a restored farm and traditional gite. (The owner may excuse himself to go milk the cows.) Just to the north lies Lyon, France's second-largest city and a perfect place to finish a trip in style. Rail and air routes are plentiful. Lodging Some properties have their own Web sites; others can be found and reserved through comprehensive listings on the Gites de France site. Those in the Vaucluse(southern) and Drome(northern) regions will probably be of most interest, though you can search a B&B by location. The gites are often rates by numbers of epis, or heads of corn, not unlike star ratings. Before you book anything, check a map. Other options: >" Domaine de Saint Luc (Rates begin around 70 euros/night) " Le Moulin de Souchieres in Entraigues-sur-la-Sorgue (From 62 euros/night) " La Farella (from 38 euros/night) " La Ravigote (from 42 euros/night) " Domaine Barge (from 48 euros/night) The Cotes du Rhone appellation familiar to many drinkers includes vineyards in both the northern and southern Rhone. Smaller appellations can be found all along. While some of the best-known, such as Cote-Rotie (north) and Chateauneuf-du-Pape (south) now command premium prices, values can be found almost everywhere. Here are the main wines you'll find along the way: Red syrah: Found in both areas, but is the premier grape of the north Grenache: Dominant red in the south Viognier: Northern white grape Marsanne and roussanne: Southern favorites But with several dozen grapes native to the Rhone region, blends are a way of life: Cote-Rotie: Famous appellation even blends 90 percent or more syrah with just a touch of white viognier. (Field workers mix grapes together right in the picking bins.) Note: At least in the southern Rhone, unscheduled appearances may be OK, but an advance e-mail or phone call is a wise bet. As you move into the northern Rhone, appointments often become essential.

    Alternate Airports are a Key to Low-Cost Airfares in America

    To some American cities--especially hubs dominated by a single airline--airfares are unusually high. To other American cities, airfares are traditionally low. Yet only 50 to 150 miles often separates the expensive from the cheap. By flying to the less costly city, and then driving to the costlier one, travelers can save hundreds andhundreds of dollars in airfares. An example? Consider the recent plight of a young man named Joey. His high school baseball team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, had won the state championship and was to play in the national tournament in Atlanta in ten days. Mom, Dad, and Mary wanted to go with him, but with less than a 14-day advance purchase, the lowest-priced Wednesday-Monday Sioux Falls-Atlanta round trip at the time of writing was $639.50 per person/$2,558 per family. Solution: If Joey's family were willing to drive a little, they could save a lot. Birmingham, Alabama, is only 148 freeway miles west of Atlanta, yet airlines flying to Birmingham from Sioux Falls charge a round-trip price of only $379 per person/$1,516 per family. By flying to and from Birmingham, the family could save $1,042. If someone gave you $1,042, would you drive 148 miles? Joey's family had another option, that of driving to an alternate city before they flew. Minneapolis-St. Paul is 240 miles northeast of Sioux Falls, with a round-trip price to Atlanta of only $169 per person/$676 per family. By flying from and to Minneapolis-St. Paul, they'd save $1,900. If someone gave you $1,900, would you drive 240 miles? Where you live and how much you can save generally determines how far you are willing to drive. I grew up in rural South Dakota and drove 60 miles to a movie and 300 miles to a major city, so driving 240 miles to save $1,900 would be no problem. To some travelers, however, 240 miles is too far to drive, regardless of what they will save. Whatever your preference, at least you have a choice when you are aware of alternate cities. I have been saving money this way for years and have compiled a "Top 30" listing of the nation's most popular (and therefore most costly to reach) cities, coupled with nearby alternate cities enjoying much lower airfares. All that's needed is an inexpensive car rental taking you from the lower-cost city to the pricey one. Listings includes distance and direction. Atlanta, GA (ATL)Chattanooga, TN (CHA), 115 mi. NWGreenville/Spartanburg, SC (GSP) 145 mi. NEBirmingham, AL (BHM) 148 mi. W Montgomery, AL (MGM), 160 mi. S Boston, MA (BOS)Providence, RI (PVD), 50 mi. SWManchester, NH (MHT), 54 mi. N Charlotte, NC (CLT) Columbia, SC (CAE), 91 mi. S Greenville/Spartanburg, SC (GSO), 96 mi. SW Southern Pines, NC (SOP), 105 mi. E Florence, SC (FLO), 106 mi. SE Fayetteville, NC (FAY), 139 mi. E Chicago, IL-O'Hare (ORD)Chicago, IL-Midway (MDW), 22 mi. SE Milwaukee, WI (MKE), 82 mi. N Bloomington/Normal, IL (BMI), 139 mi. SW Champaign/Urbana, IL (CMI), 157 mi. S Cincinnati, OH (CVG) Dayton, OH (DAY), 44 mi. N Lexington, KY (LEX), 91 mi. S Louisville, KY (SDF), 106 mi. SW Cleveland, OH (CLE) Canton/Akron, OH (CAK), 58 mi. SYoungstown, OH (YNG), 76 mi. SE Columbus, OH (CMH) Dayton, OH (DAY), 70 mi. SW Cincinnati, OH (CVG), 111 mi. SW Canton/Akron, OH (CAK), 129 mi. NE Denver, CO (DEN) Colorado Springs, CO (COS), 70 mi. S Detroit, MI (DTW) Toledo, OH (TOL), 62 mi. S Flint, MI (FNY), 64 mi. NW Lansing, MI (LAN), 88 mi. NW Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) Miami, FL (MIA), 27 mi. S West Palm Beach, FL (PBI), 43 mi. N Fort Myers, FL (FMY/RSW), 138 mi. NW Orlando, FL (MCO), 206 mi. NW Los Angeles, CA (LAX) urbank, CA (BUR), 10 mi. N Long Beach, CA (LGB), 25 mi. S Orange County, CA (SNA), 34 mi. SE Ontario, CA (ONT), 38 mi. NE Santa Barbara, CA (SBA), 96 mi. NW Palm Springs, CA (PSP), 109 mi. SE Bakersfield, CA (BFL), 110 mi. N San Diego, CA (SAN), 124 mi. SE Louisville, KY (SDF) Lexington, KY (LEX), 79 mi. E Cincinnati, OH (CVG), 106 mi. NE Indianapolis, IN (IND), 112 mi. N Dayton, OH (DAY), 149 mi. NE Miami, FL (MIA) Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL), 27 mi. N West Palm Beach, FL (PBI), 66 mi. N Fort Myers, Fl (FMY), 152 mi. NW Orlando, FL (MCO), 229 mi. NW Milwaukee, WI (MKE) Madison, WI (MSN), 77 mi. W Chicago, IL-O'Hare (ORD), 82 mi. S Chicago, IL-Midway (MDW), 96 mi. S Green Bay, WI (GRB), 117 mi. N Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN (MSP) Rochester, MN (RST), 85 mi. SE Eau Claire, WI (EAU), 92 mi. E Mason City, IA (MCW), 137 mi. S La Crosse, WI (LSE), 157 mi. SE Duluth, MN (DLH), 167 mi. N Fargo, ND (FAR), 240 mi. NW Sioux Falls, SD (FSD), 240 mi. SW Des Moines, IA (DSM), 246 mi. S Newark, NJ (EWR) New York, NY-LaGuardia (LGA), 20 mi. E New York, NY-Kennedy (JFK), 22 mi. E White Plains, NY (HPN), 33 mi. NE Trenton, NJ (TTN), 51 mi. SW Newburgh, NY (SWF), 65 mi. N Allentown, PA (ABE), 73 mi. W Philadelphia, PA (PHL), 80 mi. SW Atlantic City, NJ (ACY), 114 mi. S New Orleans, LA (MYS) Gulfport/Biloxi, MS (GPT), 114 mi. NE Mobile, AL (MOB), 145 mi. NE New York, NY (JFK) New York, NY-LaGuardia (LGA), 13 mi. N Newark, NJ (EWR), 22 mi. W White Plains, NY (HPN), 24 mi. N Islip, NY (ISP), 37 mi. E Newburgh, NY (SWF), 68 mi. N New York, NY (LGA) New York, NY-Kennedy (JFK), 13 mi. S White Plains, NY (HPN), 17 mi. N Newark, NJ (EWR), 20 mi. W ip, NY (ISP), 48 mi. E Newburgh, NY (SWF), 56 mi. N Palm Springs, CA (PSP) Ontario, CA (ONT), 75 mi. W Orange County, CA (SNA), 96 mi. W Long Beach, CA (LGB), 109 mi. W Los Angeles, CA (LAX), 109 mi. NW Burbank, CA (BUR), 115 mi. NW San Diego, CA (SAN), 130 mi. SW Philadelphia, PA (PHL) Trenton, NJ (TTN), 33 mi. NE Atlantic City, NJ (ACY), 62 mi. SE Allentown, PA (ABE), 66 mi. NW Newark, NJ (EWR), 80 mi. NE Baltimore, MD (BWI), 102 mi. SW Phoeniz, AZ (PHX) Tucson, AZ (TUS), 118 mi. SE Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU) Greensboro, NC (GSO), 62 mi. W Southern Pines, NC (SOP), 66 mi. SW Fayetteville, NC (FAY), 75 mi. S Sacramento, CA (SMF) Oakland, CA (OAK), 78 mi. SW San Francisco, CA (SFO), 86 mi. SW San Jose, CA (SJC), 115 mi. SW Reno, NV (RNO), 131 mi. NE San Diego, CA (SAN) Orange County, CA (SNA), 92 mi. N Long Beach, CA (LGB), 109 mi. NW Ontario, CA (ONT), 116 mi. N Los Angeles, CA (LAX), 124 mi. NW Palm Springs, CA (PSP), 130 mi. NE Burbank, CA (BUR), 133 mi. N San Francisco, CA (SFO) Oakland, CA (OAK), 9 mi. E San Jose, CA (SJC), 43 mi. SE Sacramento, CA (SMF), 86 mi. NE Tampa, FL (TPA) Sarasota, FL (SRQ), 57 mi. SE Orlando, FL (MCO), 84 mi. NE Fort Myers, FL (FMY), 129 mi. SE Daytona Beach, FL (DAB), 140 mi. NE Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD) Reagan National (DCA), 26 mi. E Baltimore, MD (BWI), 56 mi. NE Richmond, VA (RIC), 113 mi. S Washington, D.C.-Reagan National (DCA) Dulles (IAD), 26 mi. W Baltimore, MD (BWI), 38 mi. NE Richmond, VA (RIC), 108 mi. S