Monday Travel Ticker: Twain fire still burns

Mark Twain moved to Carson City, Nev., in the 1860s and fell in love with the area, though a campfire he built accidentally started a low-burning forest fire. The question of where exactly Twain camped on Lake Tahoe has inspired the Gatekeeper’s Museum in Tahoe City to host the “Mark Twain Tahoe Mystery Public Festivity,” featuring two authors with competing theories. The event takes place June 21 at the museum. Info: www.northtahoemuseums.org . . . . Airline industry consultant Robert Herbst says to expect a merger of American Airlines and US Airways in the next two years. Fresh out of their own bankruptcies, Delta and Northwest merged in 2008, he notes. In 2010, United and Continental merged. Read his smart analysis at AirlineFinancials.com . . . . Runners and drivers alike should know that the Big Sur International Marathon will be run along Highway 1 beginning at 7 a.m. Sunday. The race starts in Big Sur and ends at Rio Road in Carmel. Info: www.bsim.org/ . . . . Chef Gordon Ramsay’s first restaurant in Las Vegas -- a steakhouse -- opens May 11 at Paris Las Vegas . . . . The Santa Maria Valley Strawberry Festival expects 60,000 attendees this weekend. For info, click here . . . . Featuring more than 70 brewers, the San Luis Obispo’s California Festival of Beers takes place over Memorial Day weekend, May 25-27. Long held at the Avila Beach Golf Resort, the festival is moving this year to the outdoor section of The Madonna Expo Center. Ticket info: www.californiafestivalofbeers.com . . . . Speaking of beer, the Monterey Beer Festival celebrates its 11th anniversary June 9, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Tickets: www.nightthatneverends.com/brew_with_a_view.html

.... West LA Takeaway a photo-driven, interactive food-ordering app for the iPhone, wil be available for download at the App Store on Tuesday. It focuses on the area’s takeout and delivery . . . . Los Olivos Jazz and Olive Festival offers samplings of 30 different olive-themed dishes in the Santa Ynez Valley, June 2, a Saturday. Info: www.losolivosrotary.org . . . .Travel quote of the day: “I don’t want food snobs. They don’t eat in the restaurants, they don’t hold their birthday parties there.” (Gordon Ramsay)