Sunday, May 26, 2013

2013 Blue Star Museums Map


For the fourth year now, Blue Star Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and a record-breaking 2,000 museums across America, will be offering free admission to the nation’s active duty military personnel including National Guard and Reserve and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2013.

The free admission program is available to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card, which includes active duty U.S. military - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard and Reserve, as well as members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps - and up to five family members.

For the third year, we are mapping the location of the participating museums - see the Blue Star Museum Map page in our menu bar at the top.

We here at Where's URL think that finding places on a map is quicker than looking at a list of city names, so we are going to map as many of the Blue Star Museums as we can.   Of the 2,000 museums that are participating this year, we have mapped over 800 of them, and we'll add more as soon as we can.

The most up-to-date list of participating museums is on the Blue Star Museum official website, so be sure to check there before you go, or if you want more choices than our map indicates.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

2013 Major & Minor League Baseball Fields



Take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd;

2013 is the 113th season for Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB).

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don't care if I never get back.

The Astros' shift to the American League West, and that will lead to at least one Interleague game every day.

Let me root, root, root for the home team, if they don't win, it's a shame.

30 MLB teams in 18 U.S. states and one Canadian province, and 160 MiLB teams in 43 states and a different Canadian province.

For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out, at the old ball game.

You can buy tickets at MLB.com, and there are a number of ticket resellers like TicketsNow, TicketNetwork, Razorgator, TicketSolutions, Select-a-ticket, TicketFeeder and more.

(continued below the map)


If you have an iPad or iPhone, you have lots of options for keeping track of your favorite team and live scores:
  • MLB.com MLB.com At Bat - MLB.com
  • FOX Sports Mobile FOX Sports Mobile - FOX Sports Interactive
  • CBS Sports for iPhone CBS Sports for iPhone - CBS Interactive

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Where To Eat & Drink At SXSW... And Why

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conferences & Festivals are going on now through March 17, and this yearly event draws a lot of people from outside Austin TX.  In between the various planned activities, the attendees want to drink in (literally in some cases) the local sights, scenes, sounds and senses.  And we'd like to help.

We have gathered up all the stories we have collected from around the web that talk about food & drink related places in the Austin area, and put them on one map.  Click on each dot to see what place it is, and who was talking about it.

The full list of the stories are below the map - Enjoy!:



The stories we've collected relating to Austin are:

Veggie Tales: Austin's best spots for plant-based dining - The Austin Chronicle
You Gotta Try This, SXSW: Vegetarian favorites - Austin360.com
You Gotta Try This, SXSW: Lunch, dinner downtown - Austin360.com
You Gotta Try This, SXSW: Lunch, dinner outside the downtown core - Austin360.com
Top Austin Restaurants for SXSW, According to TripIt Users - TripIt Blog
Find time for a long, tall taste of Austin during SXSW madness - Austin American-Statesman
Austin, Texas: Where to Eat and Drink - Bon Appetit Magazine
10 places to see in 2013 - Los Angeles Times
101 Best Restaurants in America for 2013 - The Daily Meal
The Best Burgers in 25 Cities - Zagat
The Most Important Restaurants in America - Bon Appetit Magazine
'Where Chefs Eat': Insiders Guide to the World's Best Dining Delights - PRI's The World
America’s Best Bagels - The Daily Meal
A trio of Austin art galleries - San Antonio Express-News
After Crispy Pig Ears, 10 Trends for 2013 - The New York Times
America’s 12 Best Donut Shops - The Daily Meal
The Best Burritos in America - The Daily Meal
What to eat in Austin right now - New York Post
Best French Fries in the U.S. - Travel + Leisure
America's Coolest New Diners - Travel + Leisure
Top sandwich shops: Travelers pick their favorites - USATODAY.com
10 of America's best historic restaurants - CNN.com
The 25 Best Ice Cream Shops in the U.S. - Complex
Best Ice Cream Spots in the U.S. - Food & Wine Magazine
World Beer Cup 2012 Winners - USA & CAN
100 Restaurants with the Best Service in the U.S. - OpenTable
The Ten Best New Restaurants in America: Restaurants + Bars: - GQ Magazine
Best Restaurants 2011 - Esquire
The Best New Restaurants in America, 2011 - Bon Appetit Magazine
2011 Top 100 Chinese Restaurants Competition - Top 100 Overall Excellence (USA)
2009 Top 100 Chinese Restaurants Competition - Top 100 Overall Excellence (USA)
Food Wars - Travel Channel
America's Best Donuts - Travel + Leisure
National Carousel Association
Sweet Tooth - Food Network
Bar-B-Que - Food Network

Friday, March 1, 2013

Stories About Places We Added In February

Save up to $500 when you book your flight +hotel!

Downton Abbey, Airstreams, Valentines Day, and "Best Of" lists - those were the most popular topics of the stories we added in February to our Everything Map and Our Reading List.

For Downton Abbey, CNN ('Downton' in America: 6 big estates) and USA Today (Gilded-Age Newport courts 'Downton Abbey' fans) both looked at the American versions of Downton Abbey estates.  Or, for something a little different, the San Jose Mercury News (From warm hobbit holes to misty mountains -- Middle Earth in the Bay Area) located places you can channel your inner hobbit.

For decidedly smaller accommodations, Mother Nature Network (Hotel lets travelers rest their weary, discerning heads in rehabbed Airstreams) and the Los Angeles Times (Refurbished Airstreams showcase small-space living as lodging) found places you can stay the night in renovated Airstream trailers.

Chocolate and things to do on Valentines Day provided some interesting places to visit too.  MapQuest Discover (Everydayer: America’s Best Chocolate Factory Tours Travel Collection), AOL.com (A Cowboy and His Cocoa: Meet Wyoming's Meeteetse Chocolatier) and the Los Angeles Times (Chocolate nirvana in Santa Fe, N.M.) sought out the best chocolate experiences. The Los Angeles Times (10 romantic restaurants for Valentine's Day) and USA Today (10 favorite hotels for a romantic getaway) looked for romantic places to eat and (ahem) sleep.

Best soup, best ski resorts, best burgers in 25 cities, best atmospheres experiences, best hotels of 2013 and the 101 best restaurants of 2013 - all in all there are places in 44 states that we collected from 66 stories this month.  What will be popular in March?

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Stories About Places We Added In January

Save up to $500 when you book your flight +hotel!

Where are the most beautiful bookstores in the world?  Are crispy pig ears a food trend for 2013?  What are the 38 essential restaurants in San Diego?  And though I'm sure you've heard of SoHo, do you know where RiNo is?

These questions and more are answered in the 59 stories and 600 places we added to our Where's URL map in January.  Though January isn't thought of as a month with a theme, looking at our story list you could see three.

The first was libraries and bookstores, and the beautiful buildings that contain them, with the Hopper.com article "5 Amazing American Libraries" and the Flavorwire article "The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World".  Why are places to read popular in January?  Is reading a popular New Years resolution?

The second theme was the Presidential Inauguration, with the Budget Travel article "Affordable Hotels in Washington, D.C.", USA Today's "Top 10 Washington, D.C., hotels based on guest reviews" and "Eight restaurants where presidents have dined" articles.

And then there is the Superbowl in New Orleans.  The New York Times covered the budget aspect with "In New Orleans, a Trio of Thrifty Lures", and slipping a little into our February list USA Today covered the sports celebrity angle with "10 great places in Drew Brees' New Orleans", and the L.A. Times tried to go all out with "Super Nola: Insider's tour of New Orleans".

Will crispy pig ears be a trend in February?  Check back and see...