Illinois hopes seasonal celebrations boost travel

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois bills itself as the country's leading producer of pumpkins, with the town of Morton as the "pumpkin capital" -- an epicenter of all things round and orange. Family-friendly roadside patches and harvest celebrations throughout the state make it an ideal autumn destination.

Even in Chicago, from Oct. 15 to 31, Daley Plaza will be turned into "Pumpkin Plaza," with pumpkin-decorating, fortune-tellers and trick-or-treating. Didier Farms Pumpkinfest, in Prairie View, offers 20 acres for pumpkin-picking and hay rides, through Oct. 31. The 43rd annual Pumpkin Festival in Sycamore takes place Oct. 27 to 31, while the 19th annual Scarecrow Festival in St. Charles is scheduled for Oct. 8 to 10. To help you plan a three-day trip to take it all in, the Illinois Bureau of Tourism is offering a "Fall Travel Kit." The kit includes a map, parks guide, the fall issue of a travel magazine for the state called "Illinois Now!" and a getaway guide, along with information on scenic drives, festivals and attractions.

To get your Illinois travel kit, call (800) 2CONNECT or visit www.enjoyillinois.com.

Cemetery book offers guide to graveyards

GUILFORD, Conn. -- Are you afflicted with taphophilia?

If you're one of those people who likes to wander around old graveyards, taking pictures and reading the tombstone inscriptions of long-dead strangers, then the answer is yes.

Now there's a new book to help guide you in your cemetery wanderings. "Stones and Bones of New England: A Guide to Unusual, Historic and Otherwise Notable Cemeteries," by Lisa Rogak, is just out from Connecticut-based Globe Pequot Press.

The book will direct you to cemeteries for some famous people, but it also shows how epitaphs and markers for the departed can provide windows into the stories, morals and sometimes even the strange humor of the past. "I warn all friends, both old & young, Not to live life as I have done," reads the headstone for a 22-year-old buried in Mansfield, Conn.

The book also showcases the graves of pets; Civil War and Revolutionary War soldiers; and slaves and freed blacks. In addition, "Stones and Bones" documents the elaborate stone carvings that grace late 19th- and early 20th-century graves in the Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vt., and the landscaping at the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., which began a 19th-century trend of "garden cemeteries."

Magazine lists best Web sites for travelers

NEW YORK -- The Internet has become an essential planning tool for most travelers. But what sites offer the best deals? Which are easiest to use? And where do you start when you type a destination into Google and your search returns thousands of options?

Travel + Leisure magazine can help. Its October issue offers a guide to the top 35 travel Web sites.

For basic domestic airfares, Travel + Leisure recommends the big three -- Orbitz.com, Expedia.com and Travelocity.com -- but notes that they excel in different areas.

The magazine found Orbitz offered best deals on domestic flights, while Travelocity was slightly better for international fares. Expedia's "Book Together and Save" had the most convenient and numerous options for travelers who want all-in-one deals for hotel, transportation and tickets to local attractions.

-- From wire reports