Memorial Day Weekend 2011: Gas-Saving Travel Tips and Celebration Ideas

 Memorial Day is the (unofficial) start of summer and many Americans are heading out of town for the long weekend.

How many?
The motor club and leisure travel organization AAA expects 34.9 million Americans to take a trip of 50 miles or more this holiday weekend.  That's up a fraction from the 34.8 million last year.
Gas prices are taking their toll.  The number of travelers planning to drive will drop slightly to 30.9 million.  Yet, automobiles are still the preferred mode of transportation for American vacationers and, in its annual Memorial Day travel survey, AAA reports that 6 out of 10 say that rising gas prices won't impact their travel plans.
Nationally, air traffic is up 11.5 percent this Memorial Day weekend over last year, even though both airfare and hotel rates have raised.

A small minority, 3 percent, will travel by rail, bus or watercraft.
Originally called Decoration Day because of the practice of decorating soldier's graves with flowers, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service.
It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868 in commemoration of the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic.  In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday of May.
Now, it is unofficially known as the start of summer.