Budget Travel Loves Ocean City, N.J.!

It's our favorite time of year: NYC Restaurant Week is happening from July 20th thru August 14th. You'll find $25 three-course prix-fixe lunch deals and $38 three-course prix-fixe dinner specials at more than 360 restaurants throughout Manhattan, including four in Brooklyn (Benchmark Restaurant in Park Slope, Saul in Prospect Heights, The Gorbals Brooklyn and Cherry Izakaya in Williamsburg) and two in Queens (Water's Edge Restaurant in Long Island City and Haveli in Forest Hills/Rego Park). Visit the website to view a list of all participating restaurants like Angus Club Steakhouse, Birreria at Eataly, Fig & Olive, Nobu New York, The Palm Court, Tribeca Grill, and Les Halles. The event is sponsored by American Express—register your American Express card to earn a $5 statement credit when you spend $25 or more at participating restaurants. They're also running an Instagram photo contest this year: Tag photos from your fun and delicious Restaurant Week experiences with #NYCRestaurantWeek for a chance to win gift cards to select NYC restaurants—four photos will be chosen every week for four weeks, so don't miss out. In the immortal words of Julia Child, Bon Appétit! Please note that discounted prices are valid Monday thru Friday and some Sundays depending on the restaurant. Beverages, gratuities, and taxes are not included in the promoted price.

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Patrick Smith, author of the newly published book Cockpit Confidential, for BT's feature "Cockpit Confidential: Insider Secrets and Advice from an Airline Pilot." In the wake of the crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 in San Francisco earlier this month, some of Smith's insight has helped me to put the catastrophe, awful as it was, in perspective. Flying has never been safer. Smith notes that worldwide there are about 50,000 commercial flights every day and cites data that suggest that since 2000 the U.S.'s fatal accident rate has fallen 85 percent, and the chance of being in a fatal accident from 2008 to 2012 was about one in 45 million. In the case of the Asiana crash, we have an example of a truly catastrophic accident with an extraordinarily low fatality rate—two people out of 307 onboard. Why? Because safety measures implemented over the past 30 years have significantly reduced the chance of fires in plane cabins and compartments and made evacuation easier and quicker than ever. Bloomberg Businessweek recently took a look at some of the most important changes: Seats can now withstand 16 times the force of gravity, seat cushions are less flammable than they once were, cargo compartments are equipped with fire detection and suppression systems, insulation has been replaced with materials that prevent deadly flash fires, portable fire extinguishers and automatic extinguishers have been installed, lighted exit paths can guide the way to an exit even if smoke fills the cabin, and walkways to over-wing exits have been widened. As a result, passengers are better protected from impacts and fire, and manufacturers are required to design planes so that they can be evacuated in 90 seconds even if half the emergency exits are blocked. Sounds like a blink of an eye, no? But in 2006, 873 people were evacuated from a double-decker Airbus in 80 seconds with only one injury.  TALK TO US! We want to know whether airline safety measures—and statistics—make you feel more secure.

While doing story research for an upcoming piece about this year's latest and greatest mind-blowing theme park attractions—keep your eyes peeled later this month—I came across this video announcement from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay about a new thrill ride called Falcon's Fury due to open in the spring of 2014. In what will be the first ride of its kind, Falcoln's Fury will lift riders 335 feet straight up above the park before dropping them to the ground at an incredible 60 miles per hour. Sure, it may sound like your typical drop-tower ride, but the twist is, you'll be falling fast at a 90-degree angle, giving you a face-down, birds-eye view of everything as you drop. The new ride will be 100 feet taller than SheiKra, the park's current terrifying face-down thrill ride, and personally, the scariest, yet most amazing roller coaster I've ever been on. I had never been a roller coaster person—a particularly frightening ride on the Ghost Rider at Knotts Berry Farm had essentially scarred me as a young child—and it had taken me quite some time before I dared to attempt another enormous coaster ride. Luckily, our family moved to the Tampa Bay area during my high school and college years, and one day I gathered up enough courage to let my friends officially drag me onto Montu, another steel coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. After one ride, I was absolutely hooked. We went on Montu and Kumba every chance we got, and eventually worked my way up to a ride on SkeiKra, the ride pictured above that takes you up 200 feet, eases into a 90-degree angle, and drops you straight down at 70 miles per hour into a looping roller coaster. If that's not a thrill ride, I don't know what is. We want to know: what's the scariest thrill ride you've ever been on? Are you an adrenaline junkie who seeks out the biggest and most exciting thrill rides, or do you prefer classic wooden roller coasters and calmer rides? Tell us about it below!

Whether you go for shacks or top shelf, you probably agree that summer and seafood go together like a hammock and a sizzlin' read. Put a seafood joint next to a perfect beach, by the shores of a quiet creek, or hugging the end of a historic wharf and you've got the kind of place you'll dream about all winter. We need your help! Tell us about your favorite waterfront restaurant and we may include it in a future Budget Travel story. Here, to get the beach ball boppin', my highly subjective, by-no-means-scientific short list of fabulous American seafood joints by the water. Yeah, two of my picks are in Maine and one is in the Bronx—you got a problem with that? Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. At the end of the wharf with views of the Pacific and fresh locally caught seafood, this is the place you want to be at the end of a SoCal day (230 Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara, Calif., sbfishhouse.com, Dungeness crab Louie $17.95). Johnny's Famous Reef Restaurant. Look, I grew up in the Bronx and there's no way I can leave the amazing City Island (the "Nantucket of the Bronx") off this list and still hold my head high. Johnny's is at the tip of the island with views of Long Island Sound and knockout fried lobster tails, chowder, and even frogs' legs (2 City Island Ave., Bronx, N.Y., johnnysreefrestaurant.com, fried lobster tails $27). The Lobster Shack at Two Lights. Located on what Budget Travel has called one of New England's "other" capes—Cape Elizabeth—this is the place to grab a classic New England lobster roll and a bowl of chowder by the ocean (225 Two Lights Rd, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, lobstershacktwolights.com, lobster roll market price). LuLu's. On Alabama's Intracoastal Waterway, Lulu's is a Gulf Coast riff on the seaside seafood shack with cold beer, great burgers, and local seafood (200 East 25th Avenue, Gulf Shores, Ala., lulusathomeport.com, shrimp basket $16.99). Cantler's Riverside Inn. On Mill Creek, near Annapolis City Dock, Cantler's specializes in—what else?—Maryland crabs (458 Forest Beach Rd., Annapolis, Md., cantlers.com, fried crab cakes $25).