HERE
Honor active military and veterans
As you celebrate the country’s independence this weekend, consider supporting active-duty military and veterans (and their families) through Old Sturbridge Village’s Field of Flags program. The living history museum designates a field outside the visitor center for flags that honor members of the American military, past and present. Donate $25 to honor a military friend or relative — or even a stranger — and a flag will be placed in the field. Donations provide free daytime admission to Old Sturbridge Village for members of the US military, reserves, National Guard (and up to five family members), including active-duty military and veterans. The campaign runs until Labor Day. Donate in person or online. www.osv.org/field-of-flags.
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Art show takes flight
A new exhibit at the Rice Polak gallery in Provincetown features more than a dozen works by Globe Travel correspondent Necee Regis. Flight Dreams, on show July 7-20, blends imagery of jet planes and mapping systems to evoke responses to — and raise questions about — travel, technology, personal longing, and global connectedness. Regis combines a variety of materials in her recent work, including Hydrocal, Xerox transfers, ink, and paint. When visiting the gallery, don’t miss concurrent exhibits of drawings on incised clayboard by Ellen LeBow, mixed-media stitched photos by Julie Levesque, and oil and wax paintings by Sean Thomas. Meet the artists during the opening reception July 8 at 7 p.m. Free. 508-487-1052, www.ricepolakgallery.com.
THERE
Cozy hotel near SeaTac airport
Imagine an affordable modern hotel that’s close to SeaTac International Airport, surrounded by cool stores and restaurants, and one block from off-road trails for running, walking, and biking. Hotel Interurban Seattle in Tukwila sits in the heart of several shopping areas — less than a 10-minute drive from SeaTac — while offering stunning views of Mount Rainier 50 miles away and access to miles of paved off-road trails. It has 185 guest rooms (each with a super-comfy chair and ottoman designed by the hotel owner), an indoor saline pool, a grab-and-go espresso bar (Urban Roast), and a restaurant (Rendition) that serves classic American cuisine with a Pacific Northwest twist (don’t miss the fish tacos). The hotel’s Kids Takeover Interurban package includes daily breakfast for the family, free parking, accommodations, and a goodie bag with a squirt gun, beach ball, and other pool toys. Rates start at $167. www.hotelinterurban.com.
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New Nordic museum opens
Norway displays more than 6,500 works from antiquity to current day at a new museum in Oslo. The National Museum of Norway just opened on Oslo harbor, offering nearly 90 exhibition rooms, a large open-air roof terrace, cafés, a shop, and an art library. The museum — the largest in the Nordic region — highlights Norway’s extensive collection of art, architecture, and design; its collection includes more than 400,000 objects from medieval tapestries to contemporary artworks. One room is dedicated to Edvard Munch — most known for his painting “The Scream” — while other rooms showcase gowns worn by Norway’s two queens, 19th-century landscape painting, and works by renowned Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn. Don’t miss works by Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. The building is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent (compared with current building standards) and has a beautiful façade covered with Norwegian slate. Admission: free up to 17 years old, $18 for ages 18 and older. www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en.
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EVERYWHERE
A pizza oven for anywhere
Make pizzas at the beach, campground, or vacation cottage with Solo Stove’s portable new Pi pizza oven. The super-cool stainless-steel oven comes with a pizza stone and attachments that let you fire it up using propane or wood. Using the propane attachment, the oven heats up to 600 degrees in less than 10 minutes (use Solo Stove’s infrared thermometer to test the temperature). Turn down the flame a bit and use the stainless peel to pop in up to a 12-inch pizza. Cooking time: about 2 to 5 minutes, depending on crust thickness; just make sure you rotate the pizza for even cooking. The pizza oven measures 20.5 inches in diameter and about 15 inches tall, and weighs 30.5 pounds, meaning it’s portable enough for easy transporting. Pi only $469.99; Starter Bundle $554.99 (wood only) or $729.99 (wood or gas attachments) includes oven, pizza cutter, peel, and infrared thermometer; Essentials Bundle $624.99 includes oven, pizza cutter, large peel, turner peel, infrared thermometer, and a cover. www.solostove.com.
A phone mount for handlebars
Keep your phone handy and visible whether you’re tooling around town or doing a long-distance bike ride. The new Scosche Quick-Release Handlebar Phone Mount attaches to your handlebars quickly and easily without any tools. Attach the jaw-like clamp onto your handlebars using the attached easy-to-grip lever; rubber strips on the inside of the clamp keep the mount in place on your handlebars (fits standard bars measuring .5 to 1.75 inches). Slip any phone up to 3.5 inches wide into the silicone-padded mount and twist a knob to secure it in place. A ball joint and swivel head let you orient the phone in landscape or portrait mode and tweak the angle so you can see. $34.99. www.scosche.com.
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Kari Bodnarchuk can be reached at travelwriter@karib.us.