Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A Dinner, A Show, And Maybe A Murder

Sandals dining

Well not a real murder.  A dinner theater murder.  More on that in a little bit.

Dinner theater (or theatre) is a form of entertainment that includes dinner as part of the ticket price, and you eat in same room as the performance.  The earliest professional dinner theaters in the U.S. provided plays and musicals, and these are still the predominate types of acts.

Like other forms of live entertainment, the industry has had boom and bust years. Not as prevalent as it used to be, the industry still survives, especially near popular tourist destinations like Orlando Florida and Anaheim California (Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm).

Our map displays 27 dinner theaters that belong to the National Dinner Theatre Association, and 12 others that are independent dinner theaters.  Let us know if we missed your favorite one.  [article continues below map]

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Another type of performance is murder mysteries, where the performers may also be your servers.  The majority of these are traveling shows using existing restaurants, although there are a few that have their own venues.

If you've never experienced a dinner theater, they can be a lot of fun, and definitely something different in this internet age.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Things To Do: Super Bowl XLVI and Indianapolis

468x60 - Unpublished Rate Hotels

The Super Bowl is February 5th, and this year Indianapolis IN is hosting the game at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts.  If you're going there to watch the game, or just to hang out at the NFL Experience, you may want something to do before or after the game.

Here at Where's URL we are big fans of Guy Fieri and his Diners, Drive-ins and Dives show on the Food Network, and Guy has visited seven local restaurants on his show.  We've mapped them for you, plus some unique attractions around Indianapolis that would be worth your time.

For instance, a short walk from Lucas Oil Stadium is White River State Park, which contains the NCAA Hall of Champions Museum, Indiana State Museum, an IMAX Theater and more. They even offer a park pass.  Check our map for more attractions.  Ready, Set, HIKE!

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References:
**UPDATE**
We've added some of the places the USATODAY article "Indianapolis revs up for Super Bowl" mentions.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

World's Most Visited Museums



If you have a bucket list of "most popular" places to visit, then you'll want to read the Travel + Leisure article World's Most-Visited Museums.  Even if you don't have a bucket list, reading about these museums may give you the inspiration to find out why so many visit them, and since thirteen of them are in just three cities, visiting more than one on the same trip may be easier than you think.

When you do go, consider an attraction pass to save money and give you access to more local attractions:
How many have you visited?

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Thursday, January 5, 2012

Top 30 U.S. Shopping Malls

Buy, Sell, and Trade Gift Cards

What U.S. shopping mall gets more visitors than Italy?  According to Travel + Leisure, that would be the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.  In their article America's Most-Visited Shopping Malls, they identify the top 30 most-visited malls across the U.S.

Not only are these malls great places to shop for locals, but they can also be top destinations for tourists.  For instance in the article they talk about how Woodfield Mall located outside of Chicago is the #1 tourist destination for Illinois.  And the size of the malls truly blurs the line between shopping and adventure travel, especially during the holiday shopping season.

Likely you live close enough to at least one of these mega-malls.  How many have you visited?  Click on each one to see how it ranks.

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