Friday, January 28, 2011

Follow The Food Celebs To: Hawaii

Man V Food: Season 2Diners, 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?  How about the Travel Channel food show Man v Food?  It's time to follow these professional foodies and try out some of the restaurants they have visited.

Most of these restaurants are in the Honolulu area of the island of Oahu, and we have added a list of popular attractions from the 10Best website, plus the Aloha Stadium where the NFL Pro Bowl is played.  Zoom the map out to find more restaurants on Oahu, and other islands.

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Check out the links below for more choices of places to go and things to do:

Unique places to stay

BedandBreakfast.com - B&B's in the Honolulu area

HomeAway - Over 5,000 vacation rental listings for Hawaii

Attraction Passes and Tours

Go Oahu Card - 468x60 Banner


Hawaii Activities - Explore over 300 things to do in Hawaii

Luxury Link - Save on Hawaii and South Pacific Travel at Luxury Link

Trusted Tours - Honolulu Tours, Sightseeing, Museums, Attractions, and Discount Tickets

VisiTICKET - Honolulu Power Pass



Thursday, January 27, 2011

Sunset - 37 Best Places To Live

Where would you live if you wanted to move?  What would be the important features that you would look for?  Big city, small town, good food, interesting place to work?

Sunset magazine, which focuses on the 13 Western states, tries to narrow down your choices with their list of the 37 Best Places to Live.

The types of things they look at include places to grow your own everything, start a business, own a vacation home, and places to ditch your car.  Read the article, and use our map to find what could be your next home.

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Friday, January 21, 2011

Follow The Celebs To: Phoenix AZ For Food - Sports - Attractions

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.

Some Like It Hot is not only the name of a funny movie, but it also describes the citizens of Phoenix Arizona.  That's because Phoenix has the hottest summer temperatures of any major city in the U.S., and second only to Death Valley overall.  If you like wearing shorts & tank tops, this is the city for you.

If you need an excuse to venture out for new food, sports is one way.  Phoenix is one of only thirteen cities that hosts all of the "Big Four" sports teams - the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL, Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB), Phoenix Suns (NBA), and the Phoenix Coyotes (NHL).

Whatever the reason for visiting, use our map below to try something different.
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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Follow The Celebs To: Pittsburgh PA For Food - Sports - Attractions

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.

At the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which form the Ohio River, lies Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, and with so many rivers it's no wonder one of it's monikers is "The City of Bridges".

If you need an excuse to venture out for new food, sports is one way.  Pittsburgh has three "Big Four" sports teams - the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB), and the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL).

Some of the unique local attractions include the Duquesne Incline, as well as the National Aviary. But whatever the reason, use our map below to try something different.
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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Indoor Waterparks Of North America

It seems as though kids (and some adults) are drawn to water, no matter what size body of water it is. But finding a place to swim in the winter can be challenging. Indoor waterparks solve that problem.

The first indoor waterpark was built in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1985, and the first U.S. waterpark was built in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin in 1994. With temperature controlled interiors, they are year-round destinations, regardless of the season.

To help you find the right indoor waterpark, we have pulled together five different lists:

Wikipedia - Top 30 Largest Indoor Waterparks
Budget Travel - Top 10 Indoor Water Parks in the U.S.
About.com - The Top 10 Indoor Water Park Hotels
America's Best & Top Ten - Best Indoor Water Parks
Top Eight - Top Eight Indoor Waterparks

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

2010 Top 100 Chinese Restaurants

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 and move the map around to find the restaurant closest to where you are, or where you're going. The blue "10" map pin shows you the top ten winners.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Follow The Celebs To: Cleveland OH For Food - Sports - Music

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.

Nestled along Lake Erie is Cleveland Ohio, the second largest city in Ohio.  A former manufacturing center, Cleveland has transformed into a well balanced city that was ranked in 2005 as one of the most livable cities in the United States.

If you need an excuse to venture out for new food, sports is one way.  Cleveland has three "Big Four" sports teams - the Cleveland Browns of the NFL, Cleveland Indians (MLB), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA).  And if you like hockey, Cleveland has the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL).

Or if you appreciate music and the performing arts, we also list the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Playhouse Square Center for performing arts.

Whatever the reason, use our map below to try something different.
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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Covered Bridges - Pennsylvania Dutch Country

American Covered BridgesCovered bridges, the original wooden kind, harken back to an earlier era, and luckily there are quite a few still left around you can view and experience.

Today we're mapping the covered bridges located in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, which is also known as "Pennsylvania Dutch Country", and we're using information and pictures from Wikipedia.

In case you want something to do in between covered bridges, we've added a few other things to do and places to visit on our map.

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Friday, January 14, 2011

Covered Bridges - Parke County Indiana

American Covered BridgesCovered bridges, the original wooden kind, harken back to an earlier era, and luckily there are quite a few still left around you can view and experience.

There are a number of online resources for finding covered bridges, including Wikipedia, but a another great source is at www.dalejtravis.com called "Round Barns and Covered Bridges".  Lots of pictures and detail, and our information comes from them.

Our map below shows the covered bridges of Parke County Indiana, which calls itself "Covered Bridge Capital of the World" because it has the most covered bridges of any county in the U.S.  They also hold the Covered Bridge Festival in the fall, which is Indiana's largest festival.

As an extra on our map, we have added three covered bridge-related businesses to visit when you're in the area.

And if you're looking for the covered bridge of Bridges of Madison County fame, it is two states over in Iowa.

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Bargain Guide For Visiting Santa Barbara

Los Angeles TimesIf you're looking for a California break from all the winter weather, the Los Angeles Times has an article called "Santa Barbara Bargain Guide" that offers up a great list of things to do and places to go in Santa Barbara, which is 100 miles up the coast from LA.

In the guide, they give you a wide range of unique places to stay,  eat, and lots things to do, so you don't even have to do any travel planning.

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The map below gives you a better view of the Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail.  Not included is the Summerland Winery, which is east of the downtown area.

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Monday, January 10, 2011

Top 10 Desserts of 2010 in New York City

The website Serious Eats is focused on "celebrating and sharing food enthusiasm through blogs and online community."  And as part of our look back on 2010, we have mapped out the places they talk about in their article "Top 10 Desserts of 2010".

Which one is your favorite?

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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Follow The Celebs To: Nashville TN For Food - Sports - Music

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.

Next stop is Nashville, which is the capital of Tennessee, and is perhaps best know by it's nickname "Music City" because it has a vibrant music and entertainment scene spanning a variety of genres.  We have marked the two most notable music venues on our map, which are the Ryman Auditorium and Grand Ole Opry House.

For sports, Nashville has two "Big Four" sports teams - the Tennessee Titans of the NFL and the Nashville Predators of the NHL.  Other sports include minor league baseball (Nashville Sounds) and soccer (Nashville Metros), both of which offer reasonable ticket prices, and you can get much closer to the action.

So if you're going to or from a game, and you're starving for something different, find the closest restaurant on our map below.

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Friday, January 7, 2011

Follow The Celebs To: Memphis TN For Food & Sports

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.

Memphis Tennessee is not one of the "Big" cities in the U.S., because although it is the biggest city in Tennessee, it's only the 41st largest metro area.  But what it lacks in "Big", it makes up with local flavor, both in food and sports.

The lone "Big Four" sports team in the city is the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.  Baseball (Memphis Redbirds) is played in the Pacific Coast League, ice hockey (Memphis Riverkings) in the Central Hockey League, football (Memphis Panthers) in the North American Football League, and rugby union (Memphis Blues) is played in the USA Rugby South league.  Besides lower ticket prices, you're also much closer to the action in these smaller league venues.

So if you're going to or from a game, and you're starving for something different, find the closest restaurant on our map below.

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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Follow The Celebs To: Chicago IL For Food & Sports

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.

Chicago, the Windy City, is the 3rd largest city in the U.S., and home to not only a lot of good food, but also lots of sports too.  In fact, Chicago has been named "Best Sports City" numerous times over the years.

So if you're going to or from a game, and you're starving for something different, find the closest restaurant on our map below.

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

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If you want some non-sports activity between meals, Viator is a comprehensive resource for travelers to research, plan and book destination activities. Here are a few things to consider:


Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Vote For Budget Travel's 2011 Coolest Small Towns

Arthur Frommer's Budget TravelBudget Travel magazine wants your vote for their "Coolest Small Towns in America" competition.

Check out our map below to see where the current nominees are located, and at the bottom we have a map for previous years winners.

Don't wait too long to vote, since the poll closes February 11, 2011.


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The map below has all the past winners, including 2010.


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Monday, January 3, 2011

S.F. Foodies Rejoice - 10th Annual Dine About Town

If you're going to be in the San Francisco area during January 15-31 2011, and your New Years resolution is to try new restaurants, then you're in luck. TasteSF is presenting the 10th annual Dine About Town, where you can get two-course lunches for $17.95, and three-course dinners for $34.95.

You can make reservations for most of the restaurants through OpenTable. In our map below, we have color coded the map pins by meal: Yellow for lunch, blue for dinner, and green for both.

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If you're visiting from out of town, or looking for ways to save money on lots of different attractions, check out our other articles under the labels "save money" or "attraction pass".