By Fred Wright, Jr.

Humming along
Ever fed one of those high-energy hummingbirds by hand? Now you can at Lake Hope State Park in the Hocking Hills region of southeast Ohio. Each Wednesday and Saturday at 2 p.m., through Labor Day (the first Monday in September) visitors can watch a video and learn how to hand feed one of those tiny ruby-throated speed demons. Hint: Standing very still helps. The lessons are free. For more information, call 800-HOCKING or go to www.1800Hocking.com.

Chocolate is good for you
The Clinton Hotel & Spa in Miami’s trendy South Beach area is offering chocolate body paint. There are three flavor choices — milk chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate. The flavors come with a soft paintbrush. Cost is US$ 45. The hotel also offers other products from the Kama Sutra line at its salon, including Oil of Love and Honey Dust. For more information, call 305-938-4040 or go to www.ClintonSouthBeach.com.

More worms, please
Ever watch that TV show Fear Factor and wish you could be there chomping down on disgusting animal parts or flying through flames? Well, Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and in Hollywood, California, now offer guests the chance to eat ground-up concoctions and attempt to overcome obstacles. The reality show has been transformed into a theme park experience. Audience members can also shoot contestants with water guns and even control some of the stage obstacles. For more information, go to www.UniversalOrlando.com or www.UniversalStudiosHollywood.com.

Giddy up, mule!
The lowly mule is celebrated each year in the small town of Benson, North Carolina, and the annual event draws upwards to 70,000 visitors to the community of 3,900 people. The 5th Annual Benson Mule Days Celebration will be held September 22-25. Visitors get to transverse the town on horses, mules, wagons, campers and a variety of unusual equine contraptions, celebrating the farming tradition of the mule. There will be mule pulls, mule jumping, mule racing and the Grand Champion Mule gets to lead a parade on September 24, starting at 10 a.m. For more information, call 919-894-3825 or go to www.BensonMuleDays.com.

Yawn!
For folks who fly coach (that’s most of us), but can’t get comfortable enough to sleep, there’s a new product that promises to turn cramped coach seats into first-class comfort. The 1st Class Sleeper, designed by an airline pilot, is lightly inflated with a few puffs of air. Then you simply drape the Sleeper over the back of your airline seat and sit back into it. The Sleeper wraps around you and provides neck and head support. Price is US$ 44.95. For more information, call 866-766-6946 or go to www.1stClassSleeper.com