Fairmont Empress cocktail. Sue Frause photo.

Forget just beer, wine and Diet Coke. Beginning July 1, Continental Airlines will serve specialty cocktails on board.

The booze menu includes a Stirrings Mojito, Stirrings Pomegranate Martini and Red Bull Energy Drink. OK, so these aren’t handcrafted cocktails, and I’m not familiar with Stirrings. The company touts its cocktail mixers as being made with all-natural ingredients including real fruit juice, cane sugar and triple-filtered water.

The Mojito is mint, cane sugar and lime juice served with Bacardi Light rum on ice; the Pomegranate Martini includes pomegranate, cane sugar, lemon juice and Skyy Vodka; and the Red Bull is also served with Skyy Vodka. The cocktails are nine bucks, but if you just want the cocktail mixer or the Red Bull, it’s only $3.

The specialty drinks are available in economy class on flights to North American, Caribbean and Latin American destinations. It will be interesting to see what happens to the cocktails in the sky if the merger between United and Continental becomes a reality.

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Toronto's CN Tower. Sue Frause photo.

There’s no rest for Canada’s largest city as it deals with the aftermath of the G20 Summit.

Next up? The Queen of England’s visit in July. Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh will spend two nights in Toronto following her visit to the capital city of Ottawa on Canada Day, July 1.

The Royal Tour of Canada includes July 4 in Toronto with Sunday morning worship at Cathedral Church of St. James and the afternoon at the Woodbine Racetrack.

The Royal Tour of Canada started in Halifax, Nova Scotia on June 28. It also includes stops in Ottawa, Waterloo and Winnipeg. According to canada.com, Canadians are “lukewarm” about the monarchy.

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Central Park dogwalker. Sue Frause photo.

Not being a dog owner, this notice nearly slipped into spamville. But for travelers who take their four-legged friends everywhere, the Jumeirah Essex House in NYC is offering its new Canine Turndown Program.

Set to launch July 1, 2010, the Central Park hotel has partnered with Amy Kizer, “doggie designer to the stars.” She owns Wagwear, a boutique for dogs at 48 East 11th Street. Kizer has designed and created five-star canine amenities for the hotel that include:

· Wagwear dog bed or Wagwear tee pee hound lounge (a miniature pop-up tent with fleece-lined bed)

· Homemade dog treats created by Jumeirah Essex House’s executive pastry chef

· Wagwear food and water bowls with matching placemat

· Exclusive gift bag complete with a plush Jumeirah Essex House logo fleece blanket (monogramming available upon request)

The amenities are available year-round, seven days a week. Also, custom Wagwear dog collars and leashes will be on loan for guests who left theirs behind — or want their dogs to be chic in the city. Doggie hospitality attendants will tend to the animals with freshly-drawn water throughout the day.

The hotel’s concierge staff has information on doggy trails in the city’s best parks; New York City leash laws; nearby pet sitting facilities; and 24-hour veterinary service. They can also recommend dog walkers and pet boutiques that deliver to the hotel.

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Starbucks menu in Hong Kong. Sue Frause photo.

Starbucks, which made its debut in Seattle in 1971, is hoping to pump up its popularity with the addition of beer and wine to its beverage menu.

The company is renovating one of its high-profile stores at 1600 E. Olive Way on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. The neighborhood is home to dozens of coffee shops, with stiff competition from such indy spots as B&O Espresso and Espresso Vivace.

The new look will be unveiled in the fall, and includes a LEED-registered interior and exterior; work from local artists; and a setting where customers can get “closer to the art of Starbucks handcrafted beverages.” The so-called enhanced coffee experience will include new premium food items along with beer and wine.

A single, tall-non fat latte in the morning and a glass of Merlot at night?

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Bill and Hillary Clinton, Hotel Lucia. Sue Frause photo.

What a kerfuffle. If you haven’t read about the latest sex scandal involving a well-known personality, this one has former Vice-President Al Gore in the eye of the hurricane. Call it Massagegate.

I first saw it on a tweet from The Washington Post, one of the many media outlets that I follow on Twitter: Al Gore: big lummox or crazed sex poodle? I clicked it on and quickly discovered it was already slightly old news, having appeared the day before on OregonLive.com.

The scene of the alleged incident that involved Mr. Gore and a licensed massage therapist was Hotel Lucia, one of my favorite hotels in Portland. I stayed there two years ago, and took this photo of Bill and Hillary Clinton on the 7th floor. The portraits are part of 680 photographs by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer David Hume Kennerly that are on display throughout the hotel’s public spaces and 127 guest rooms. Kennerly was the personal photographer to Gerald R. Ford.

I wonder what hotels do to counter attack this type of unwanted press? Although it’s said there is no such thing as bad publicity (not true, just look at BP), I doubt if Hotel Lucia or any other property would want to be referred to as, “Oh, that’s the hotel where blah blah blah was accused of blah blah blah.”

The Kobe Bryant incident at The Lodge & Spa at Cordilerra in Vail, Colorado wasn’t that luxury hotel’s most shining moment, either. According to Wikipedia: “Eight months after the initial incident the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera remodeled and as part of that sold some furniture. There was speculation that some pieces included in this sale were from “Room 35″ where Kobe Bryant had allegedly stayed at the time. The lodge denied this and stated they had disposed of the furniture from that room separately.”

I’m sure there are guests who request Room 35. And there will no doubt be people who request the 9th floor suite at Hotel Lucia.

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