Friday, December 31, 2010

America's Most Bizarre Restaurants

Forbes (1-year)Maybe you've eaten when it's dark, but have you ever eaten IN the dark?  Or have you ever eaten a meal while goats munch on grass above you?

In the Forbes.com article called "America's Most Bizarre Restaurants", they explore the dark and the goats, plus nine other interesting (and bizarre) places to eat.

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Thursday, December 30, 2010

NYT Food Critic Reveals His 2010 Stars

The New York TimesSam Sifton has an article in the New York Times called "Dishes That Earned Their Stars".  In it he describes the best 15 food items he ate in New York City during 2010, plus some found memories of food from around the country.  We map just the places he liked in New York City.

If you're a fan of the Food Network shows Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and The Best Thing I ever Ate, then check out our list of the restaurants they visited in the New York City area.

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Monday, December 27, 2010

Follow The Celebs To: Superbowl XLV and Dallas-Fort Worth

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes! (Food Network)Love watching the Food Network shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate? It's time to follow Guy Fieri and all the other Food Network celebs, and try out the food they are raving about.

The upcoming Super Bowl XLV will be at the Cowboy's new indoor stadium in Arlington Texas, which is in between Fort Worth and Dallas (aka Dallas-Fort Worth).

The map below can be your guide to food, and below the map, we have some info on how to get Super Bowl tickets.  Or, if you love bowling, Arlington has something to interest you too.

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If you need Super Bowl tickets, check out these resale websites:



Tickets For All NFL Games


$20 Off $300 on NFL Tickets (Code = NFLpreRG)


If you want some activity between meals, Viator offers the most comprehensive online resource for travelers to research, plan and book destination activities. Here are a few things to consider:


Friday, December 24, 2010

America's Best Hot Chocolate

Travel + Leisure (1-year auto-renewal)Where can you get the best cup of hot chocolate? It's hard to beat the one you make at home when you're snuggling up on a cold winter night, but Travel + Leisure has put together 30 places to try out when you're out for the evening, or out of town.

From vegan to mexican, Miami Beach to Bozeman Montana, and cafe to hotel, there is something for everyone, and every taste.

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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Family Friendly Ski Resorts in the U.S.

Where are the best places to take your family skiing in the U.S.?  We have combined the recommendations of five different websites and articles to help you find the right places to go.  Oh, and to keep up the international relations, we have included a couple in Canada too, eh?

- MSNBC "10 ski resorts perfect for the entire family"
- America's Best Online "Best Ski Resorts in the USA"
- Family Ski Hub "Top 20 Family Ski Resorts"
- Family Ski Trips "10 New England Ski Resorts for Families"
- MSNBC "Top 10 family-friendly ski resorts" * Added 01/06/11 *

Don't forget to move the map around to see all your choices, and zoom in for more detail.

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If you need a place to stay on your ski vacation, vacation rentals can be a great alternative to motels or hotels. Here are a couple of places to find out what's available:

VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) | HomeAway |
Vacation Home Rentals | ABetterStay

Monday, December 20, 2010

20 Overlooked National Landmarks

National Landmarks 2011 Wall CalendarYou may not have heard of Matador Network as they are a fairly new publication.  They say they are "an independent media company serving a global community of people who share a love for life and travel", and their article "20 Overlooked National Landmarks in the U.S." just begged to be mapped.


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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Break Out of the Museum

GQ (1-year auto-renewal)GQ magazine has made a list of "10 most mind-blowing, energizing, unorthodox, and flat-out-cool places to experience art in America".  These are not necessarily the museums that are the most popular, but that almost guarantees that you'll be seeing something different.

Most are public, but a few are by invitation only, which should add to the fun of it all.  Make sure you find out which ones are which before you go.


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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

New York City's Best Kept Secrets

Arthur Frommer's Budget TravelIn this Budget Travel article, they out a number of local places that New Yorkers know and frequent, but that visitors may not know about.

From the Fatty Crab restaurant in uptown, the Muji store in midtown, and the Century 21 department store in downtown, Budget Travel tries to give you a wide variety of ways to explore Manhattan.



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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Follow The Celebs To: New Orleans LA

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes! (Food Network)Love watching the Food Network shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate? It's time to follow Guy Fieri and all the other Food Network celebs, and try out the food they are raving about.

When you think of New Orleans, food has to be near the top of the list.  The Food Network celebs have found a wide range of food to sample, from appetizers to desserts, and quite a few within walking distance of each other.


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If you want some activity between meals, Viator offers the most comprehensive online resource for travelers to research, plan and book destination activities. Here are a few things to consider:


Thursday, December 9, 2010

Follow The Celebs To: Miami FL

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes! (Food Network)Love watching the Food Network shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate? It's time to follow Guy Fieri and all the other Food Network celebs, and try out the food they are raving about.

Miami has a lot going for it - known as the cruise capital of the world, they were the 2008 "America's Cleanest City", and in 2009 they were the richest city in the United States in terms of purchasing power.  Let us know how these 20 restaurants rank on your culinary scale.


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If you want some activity between meals, Viator offers the most comprehensive online resource for travelers to research, plan and book destination activities. Here are a few things to consider:


Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Train Museums of America

Trains.  Ask anyone born in the first half of the 20th century how they traveled long distances, and chances are they'll say by train.  In 1920 trains were carrying 1.2 Billion passengers, but that was also the beginning of the auto industry, and we all know how that turned out.

Trains still play a role in transporting people and cargo, and there is great interest (and debate) about increasing the role of trains in mass transit.  Revisit the trains, and their history, at the 62 train museums listing on our map.  Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!


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Saturday, December 4, 2010

Follow The Celebs To: Atlanta GA

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes! (Food Network)Love watching the Food Network shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate? It's time to follow Guy Fieri and all the other Food Network celebs, and try out the food they are raving about.

It's easy to get to Atlanta.  They have the busiest airport in the U.S., and are a major hub for rail and road.  In this case, all roads aren't leading to Rome, but to the kind of unique food Guy and the other Food Network celebs are good at finding.


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If you want some activity between meals, Viator offers the most comprehensive online resource for travelers to research, plan and book destination activities. Here are a few things to consider:


Thursday, December 2, 2010

Follow The Celebs To: Virginia

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes! (Food Network)Love watching the Food Network shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate? It's time to follow Guy Fieri and all the other Food Network celebs, and try out the food they are raving about.

Virginia is for Lovers, and I'm sure that goes for food too.  If you're in the Richmond or Norfolk areas, you have a couple of interesting places to try out.  And for the places that Guy visits, you can even view the episodes ahead of time to make sure you know what to order.  Gotta love that!

Updated June 3, 2011 to include seven more restaurants visited by Guy Fieri.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Where Is The Best Pie In America?

Tis the season of pie, oh my!

With Thanksgiving to whet our whistle (so to speak), now we can get serious about finding the best pie.  Our map below is a combination of a number of articles looking for the best pie:

- Budget Travel "The 5 Best New Pie Shops in America"
- Travel + Leisure "America's Best Pies"
- Round America "Pie Report: The Best Pie in America"
- When.com blog "The Very Best Pie Shops Across America"

Good eating, and let us know if we missed any good pies.


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Monday, November 29, 2010

Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the U.S.

Chinese food is sometimes thought of as it's own food group, and it's availability is probably second only to hamburgers - so common that you don't need to go to a chinatown to find a good chinese restaurant.

To help you find excellent chinese restaurants, Chinese Restaurant News holds a yearly competition and awards ceremony to find the top 100 chinese restaurants in the U.S. (other countries too).

Zoom in to find the restaurant closest to where you are, or where you're going.


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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Follow The Celebs To: Washington D.C.

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes! (Food Network)Love watching the Food Network shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate? It's time to follow Guy Fieri and all the other Food Network celebs, and try out the food they are raving about.

There are so many things to do while in Washington D.C., that sometimes you just grab a bite to eat wherever you can.  But if you get a chance, venture outside the beltway, and try out these small national food treasures.


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If you want some activity between meals, Viator offers the most comprehensive online resource for travelers to research, plan and book destination activities. Here are a few things to consider:


Thursday, November 25, 2010

Follow The Celebs To: Maryland

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes! (Food Network)Love watching the Food Network shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate? It's time to follow Guy Fieri and all the other Food Network celebs, and try out the food they are raving about.

The variety of things to do in Maryland have earned the state the nickname Little America, since they have just about every kind of natural feature, except for a desert.  I'm sure that won't hold you back from trying out these 15 unique restaurants...


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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Non-Hotel Lodging Choices - Vacation Rentals

Hotels, motels and resorts can be great places to stay. Most are part of a chain (multiple locations), and you generally know what level of accommodation you're going to get when you book your room.

Sometimes though, you want to stay somewhere off the beaten path, or someplace small when you're in a big city.  For that, you have to dig a little deeper to find what you're looking for, but the reward can be not only a refreshing change of pace, but sometimes it can even be refreshing for the pocketbook too.

This is multi-part series, so keep checking back, or click on "non-hotel" in our Labels to find related articles.


How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner Second EditionPart 2:  Vacation Rentals

Long popular in Europe, vacation rentals have become increasing popular in the U.S. Vacation rentals are furnished apartments or houses that can be rented, and are different from timeshares. The size and type of accommodations can range from a large vacation home on the beach, to an apartment in the city.

Like B&B's, each place has it own unique character, but unlike B&B's, each place may also be used by the owner during part of the year. Many of them are located in popular vacation areas like beaches, lakes and mountains, and the combination of convenience and amenities make them very desirable. For the ones that are in destination locations, you may only be able to rent in one-week blocks of time. Some are big enough for more than one family, and can be great for group getaways.

Since vacation rentals are vacation homes, they come with kitchens, which can both save you money, or just be really convenient for relaxing at the end of a busy day out.

There are a number of websites to check out - start with HomeAwayVRBOVactionHomeRental.com, ABetterPlace.com and Vacapedia.  TripAdvisor and Travelocity also list vacation rentals on their websites.

If you are interested in vacation rentals specializing in particular locations, you could also consider California Beach Resorts and Surf to Ski Retreats.

Not all vacation rental companies work the same way.  Vacation rental apartments that have building managers could be reserved online like a hotel.  For individual properties, like a vacation home, you may have to email the owner to check price and availability, or get more information.

In Europe vacation rentals can go by different names in different countries. In the U.K. you may hear the term Self Catering Cottages (and variations), and other countries may use the term Villa or Apartment. For lodging in the U.K., two reservation companies are Dales Holiday Cottages and Park Resorts. In the Benelux region (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) Belvilla offers homes that range from modest Austrian chalets to luxuriant Italian villas and historic French Chateaux, and everything in between. Venere, owned by Expedia, lists vacation rentals and other types of lodging available throughout Europe and other places around the world (130 countries total).

Monday, November 22, 2010

Food Wars - Who Was First, Or Most Famous

Some of the food and drinks we love seem to have been around forever.  But someone had to create them, and somehow they had to become popular.

This time we're mapping out the places that created, or at least popularized, many of the food and drink we love today.  Some are unique, like Irish coffee in California, and others, like hamburgers, are the kind we eat all the time.

We want to keep adding to this map, so tell us what we've missed.  And a big shout-out to Wikipedia and the Travel Channel Food Wars show for helping us find these places.

Oh, and because some of these food wars are literally across the street from each other, you'll want to zoom in to see each place.


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Saturday, November 20, 2010

Follow The Celebs To: Philadelphia PA

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes! (Food Network)Love watching the Food Network shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and The Best Thing I Ever Ate? It's time to follow Guy Fieri and all the other Food Network celebs, and try out the food they are raving about.

Most people know that Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, but they love their food too.  The food these restaurants offer runs the gamut from appetizers to asian, and scrapple to scrambled - and don't forget to weigh in on who has the best cheese steaks.



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If you want some activity between meals, Viator offers the most comprehensive online resource for travelers to research, plan and book destination activities. Here are a few things to consider: