May is a month to plan your summer getaways, amid the excitement of graduations, weddings and other celebrations. So this month's travel section gives you  several Midwest options to consider for weekend or longer escapes from Northeast Ohio. Click on the highlighted words below to go to each of the stories.

Door County, Wisconsin has been called the Cape Cod of the Midwest and the similarities are clear to anyone who has been to both peninsulas. The closer one juts into Lake Michigan and its watery pleasures are fresh water with many small towns, cheese makers, cherry producers and diversions that run toward food - including the storied fish boil  organized so almost everyone who visits has a chance to partake.

Even closer to home is Ann Arbor, just a little more than two hours drive away. It's already well known among those who attend it's annual art festival but our story showcases its sustainability scene - a concept that is going mainstream in his town and is heavily reflected in its food scene. If you are an Ohio State fan don't let your Michigan prejudices keep you from exploring this gem of a town.

For many Northeast Ohioans it wouldn't be summer without the Shaw Festival and Chautauqua Institution, so we've given you an early heads-up  about performances and lectures sure to sell out this summer. Next month we'll visit both places - both really good driving distance destinations for those of us who live around here -  to give you the skinny on where to stay, eat and explore. We'll also be presenting blogs by two local women who have long visited both areas to give you their takes on what's great in both Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Jamestown, N. Y areas. This story also details a few other very interesting festivals around which you may wish to frame part of your summer.

Brunch at Brennan's is  an understandable  highlight for many visitors to New Orleans. That meal is recounted along with its extraordinary Bananas Foster, a dish that was invented there. The writer, once affiliated with the Ritz Carlton, asks the kinds of questions she was always asked as a server in order to learn about some of the other dishes. What she discovered may surprise you.

Who knew that Freiburg in southwest Germany was one of the country's sunniest locales. But the bachle, tiny little canals built  hundred of years ago to bring water from the mountains to the city, keep visitors' eye downcast as they seek to avoid stepping into them.