Amid rising travel costs, one unsung airline offers a surprising array of quick, affordable trips from Las Vegas to — well, where do you want to go?October is the single best time of year for hitting the highway in the United States, and Las Vegas is a world-class road trip hub. Not only can road warriors drive to a wide array of great destinations, they can multiply their possibilities almost endlessly by catching a flight on Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air.

Behind every cocktail, there’s an arsenal of gadgets and garnishes. Here’s a primer on a fewGadgetsJigger {1}Ensures perfectly measured cocktail ingredients: Yay! Also prevents overpouring: Boo!MuddlerFrom palm-sized to billy club.

The mentor: Chris HopkinsProperty mixologist at The CosmopolitanBack story: Hopkins’ mixology skills have taken him from Australia to London to San Francisco until he settled at The Cosmopolitan when it opened in 2010. He worked as the general manager of Vesper, the resort’s lobby bar, before being promoted to his current position.

Meet the Chinelos, raucous ambassadors to a Mexican protest tradition that’s brash, colorful — and very loud. Now jump!The burst of trumpets and trombones punctuated by a haughty tuba and a big bass drum bursts through the flimsy screen of a subwoofer and flirts with cacophony.

After decades cooking in the valley, restaurateur family the Woos find their latest good fortune at the Hard Rock’s FúThe year-old Fú at the Hard Rock Hotel looks like any other Asian restaurant poked into a corner of a Las Vegas casino, a contemporary space where you just know you’ll find noodles and barbecued pork and such. This is the new wing at the Hard Rock, and with the high-limit Dragon Salon offering pai gow, baccarat and big money blackjack just a few steps away, Fú’s location makes all kinds of sense.

M.E.