SUMMER DISAPPEARS faster than footprints at the beach. Memorial Day arrives, then before you know it, you're sitting at your desk looking wistfully at the falling leaves.
But wait! It ain't over yet.
Here are some ways to enjoy your vacation days and dollars in these waning weeks of summer (and into September). If you know of some events not listed here, please e-mail me so we can share them with fellow travelers.
Festivals
1. Artisanal food producers gather in Shelburne, Vt., on Aug. 23 for the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival. Sample more than 100 types of cheeses, plus locally produced wines, beers and more. www.vtcheesefest.com.
2. The Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival makes a stop in Cary, N.C., on Aug. 15. Organizers promise 60 beer and 40 bourbon vendors, plus all the barbecue you can eat. And if you can stand to watch, there's a beer-belly contest. www.beerandbourbon.com.
3. The Maryland Wine Festival is a fantastic event held at the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster, with winemaking classes, tastings, entertainment, art and family activities. Sept. 19-20. www.
marylandwine.com/mdwinefest.
4. Harlem Week has evolved into Harlem Month, with a host of events, most of them free. For example, "Uptown Saturday Nite" on West 135th Street between F. Douglas Boulevard and St. Nicholas Avenue, 2-8 p.m. Aug. 15, features a children's festival, dance, a fashion show and a "Quiet Storm" concert. www.harlemweek.com.
5. Legendary artists in a legendary setting - that's the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in Lenox, Mass. Paquito d'Rivera, John Pizzarelli and Regina Carter are among the performers. Sept. 4-6. www.Tanglewood.org.
6. The 19th Annual Tony Williams Jazz Festival is produced right here in Philly by a local jazz legend to raise scholarship funds for students of jazz. This Sept. 4-7 event offers local, national and international jazz artists at the Embassy Suites, 9000 Bartram Ave. www.maccjazz.org.
7. Enjoy live jazz and blues music at the annual outdoor Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival sponsored by the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Sept. 18-26. www.
bostonusa.com.
8. The Baltimore Book Festival features nationally known cookbook and home-and-garden authors, poetry readings, live music and more than 150 exhibitors and book sellers. Participating authors include Gwen Ifill and Amiri Baraka. Sept. 25-27. www.baltimorebookfestival.com.
9. The Mountain Heritage Arts and Crafts Festival in Shenandoah Junction, W.Va., is a perfect place to start your holiday shopping, with 200 crafters and artisans. Find handmade furniture, toys, quilts, baskets, pottery, jewelry and more. Sept. 25-27. www.
jeffersoncountywvchamber.org/
festival/info.html.
10. Planning a visit to Manhattan? Skip those expensive tours and hop aboard the Staten Island Ferry at Battery Park for a free, 25-minute ride around the upper New York Harbor. Great views of the city and the Statue of Liberty. www.siferry.com.
11. Harlem Food & Cultural Tours explore the restaurants, architecture and artistic richness of New York's uptown mecca via motor coach. Guests are guaranteed to leave satisfied - stomachs full and minds culturally enriched. www.tasteharlem.com.
12. The Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival on the third Saturday in August (Aug. 15) in Massachusetts, celebrates Southeast Asian water traditions with races, food, crafts and performances. www.lowellwaterfestival.org.
13. There's lots to do and see in Lancaster County's Pennsylvania Dutch Country. One way to see a lot is with a 45-minute ride through the picturesque countryside on the Strasburg Rail Road and its authentic, coal-burning steam locomotive. There's a dining car, too. On Aug. 14, a wine-tasting ride features Twin Brook Winery. www.strasburgrailroad.com.
14. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground begins in Gettysburg and time travels through 175 miles of American history on the old "Carolina Road" corridor (Route 15) from the Colonial period and slavery to the Civil War and the Cold War before ending in Monticello, Va. www.hallowedground.org.
15. The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, offers 40 stress-busting miles of canoeing, boating, whitewater rafting, swimming, camping, biking and birding. www.nps.gov/DEWA.
16. Go sailing. Well, learn how first, and one place to do that is the Liberty Sailing School of Philadelphia, www.libertysailingschool.com. For info on all things sailing (from courses to cruises to a site for single sailors), go to www.sailing.com.
17. The National Park Service operates 400 sites that help tell America's story. Aug. 15-16 is a "fee-free" weekend at more than 100 sites, including Valley Forge National Historical Park and Hopewell Furnace, an 18th-century industrial site in Elverson, near Reading. www.nps.gov/
findapark/feefreeparksbystate.htm.
18. Visitors to Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., from Aug. 14-30 can experience the colorful, fragrant Flower Carpet created from 100,000 plants. Enjoy jazz and candlelight tours Aug. 14, 16, 21-22, 28-29. www.biltmore.com.
Tickets, please
19. Instead of driving, consider a Greyhound Bus. The company has improved its fleet and terminals, and some routes provide Wi-Fi. www.greyhound.com.
20. The Bolt Bus operates between Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philly, the Cherry Hill Mall in New Jersey, New York and Boston for as little $10 one way. www.boltbus.com.
21. Megabus is another affordable bus network from D.C. to Boston, with routes to Atlantic City, various cities in New York State and even Toronto. Take it from Philly to Manhattan, then branch out from there. Round-trip fares as low as $25. www.megabus.com.
22. Even pricey Amtrak has fares for less than $50 on certain routes. www.amtrak.com. Check public transportation options wherever you're headed at publictransportation.org.
P.J. Thomas is editor and copublisher of Pathfinders Travel Magazine for People of Color, a nationally distributed publication founded in 1997. Contact her at