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.

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.

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If you have an iPad or iPhone, you have lots of options for keeping track of your favorite team and live scores:

• MLB.com
• FOX Sports Mobile
• CBS Sports for iPhone

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

Stories About Places We Added In February

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?

Stories About Places We Added In January

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...

2012 Best Amusement and Water Parks

Every year when summer ends, Amusement Today conducts an international poll to find out what were the best amusement parks and water parks around the world.  This is not an easy task.

The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) says that there are more than 400 amusement parks and attractions in the United States, and approximately 300 amusement parks in Europe.  And according to the World Waterpark Association, there are over 1,000 waterparks in North America, and about 600 around the rest of the world.  That's a lot of fun to judge.

The Amusement Today awards are called the Golden Ticket Award, and they identify the top winners in 23 categories.  Categories include not only Best Park and Best Waterpark, but also Best Children's Park, Friendliest Park, Cleanest Park, Best Shows, Best Kids Area, and Best Indoor Coaster.  You can find all the winners, and see what categories they won, on our map below.

For even more choices to have fun, last year we looked at the most & least expensive amusement parks, as well as the parks that had the most inversions (going upside down) from the Roller Coaster Database.

Zoom the map out to see the winners in Europe and Japan.

North Carolina BBQ Trail

Just mention the word "barbecue", and some people will start salivating.  And with good reason, because there is a lot of great barbecue out there.

For this map though, we'll focus on barbecue from North Carolina, and the mission statement for the North Carolina Barbecue Society says it all:

"The mission of the North Carolina Barbecue Society (NCBS) is to preserve North Carolina’s barbecue history and culture and to secure North Carolina’s rightful place as the Barbecue Capital of the World."

To help you sample North Carolina barbecue the NCBS has put together a Barbecue Trail to help people sample the distinctive methods and barbecue cooking styles North Carolina barbecue has to offer, and you can see the 23 places they've chosen on our map below.

For a slightly different perspective on North Carolina barbecue, check out the BBQ Jew blog.  And if you want to check out unique and unusual things to do between meals, Visit NC has some suggestions.

Zoom in to find your next meal.

Where To Find Authentic Neapolitan Pizza

There are all kinds of pizza in the U.S. - New York-style, Chicago-style, St. Louis-style, even California-style.  But where can you find authentic Neapolitan-style pizza?

Authentic Neapolitan pizzas are typically made with tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese, and are cooked in a very high-heat wood burning oven. While you could order Neapolitan pizza in a lot of pizzerias, the only way to know you are getting truly authentic Neapolitan pizza is if the restaurant has been certified by VPN Americas.

VPN Americas is the American Delegation of the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, an international non-profit organization founded in the mid 1980’s by a group of Neapolitan pizzaiolis (pizza makers) seeking to cultivate the culinary art of making Neapolitan pizza.  Currently there are 69 restaurants that have been certified in the U.S. and Canada, and as you can see from our map some are in places you wouldn't expect.

Zoom in the map to see exactly where each restaurant is at.  Enjoy!

Where Is The Best Ice Cream

There is plenty of ice cream out there - it's not like we lack choices.  But if you have the chance there are a few ice cream shops you should really make an effort to visit, and we've mapped the top choices from six "Best Of" lists to help you find them.

• Two Scoops of Ube - Time
• Great American Ice Cream Shops - SAVEUR.com
• America's Best Ice Cream - US News & World Report
• Best Ice Cream Spots in the U.S. - Food & Wine Magazine
• The 25 Best Ice Cream Shops in the U.S. - Complex
• America's Best Ice Cream Shops - Travel + Leisure

Vanilla is still the king of flavors, however as you visit the ice cream shops on our list you may find new favorites that go beyond strawberry and chocolate too.

Move the map around to see where all the shops are located (don't forget Hawaii too), and zoom in to see how close you are to some creamy heaven.

Best Zoos and Aquariums

Lions, tigers and bears.  Oh, my!  And where are the best places to find them, plus penguins, killer whales and bat rays?

We've mapped the zoos and aquariums from four articles to help you find great places to visit - some even show up on more than one list:

• America's Most-Visited Zoos - Travel + Leisure
• 10 Best Zoos for Kids (and 15 runners-up) - Parents
• The 10 Best Aquariums for Kids - Parents
• Best US Aquariums - Travel Channel

Be sure to zoom in and move the map around to find the zoo or aquarium closest to where you're going.

Updated Everything Map & More

Now that we're firmly in the grips of summer, you need more choices of where to go, what to do, and the stories behind why you should go there.  Luckily we're here to help.

Our Everything Map, which includes the places from all the stories we have mapped, has almost 6,000 places to visit in the U.S.  Zoom the map and move it around to find the places where you are, or where you're going

Or, if you like to browse interesting stories about places, check out Our Reading List, which lists the stories we have been adding.

Finally, if you are a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families, you'll want to check out our Blue Star Museum map. Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,800 museums across America, with participating museums offering free admission through Labor Day.  So far we have mapped over 1,000 of the participating museums - it's our way of helping you find museums without having to wade through lists and lists of museum names and unfamiliar cities.

Blue Star Museum Map Announcement

For the second year, we are mapping the location of the participating museums in the Blue Star Museum initiative.  See the Blue Star Museum Map page in our menu bar at the top.

Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,600 museums across America. The program runs from Memorial Day, May 28, 2012 through Labor Day, September 3, 2012. The free admission program is available to active-duty military and their family members (military ID holder and up to five family members). Active duty military include Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and active duty National Guard and active duty Reserve members.

Last year we mapped participating museums in 12 states.  This year we have created a national map, and so far we have mapped half of the participating museums, with more to be added as fast 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.

U.S. 2012 World Beer Cup Winners

Where can you find the best craft beer?

Earlier this month the Brewers Association held the World Beer Cup 2012 - 'The Olympics of Beer Competition'. 799 breweries from 54 countries and 45 U.S. states entered 3,921 beers in 95 beer style categories.

U.S. breweries won 212 of the 284 total awards, with California (55 awards) winning the most, and Colorado (27 awards) winning more than the next highest country (Germany with 23 awards).

So where can you find the best craft beer?  On our map!

We have mapped the winning small & medium sized breweries that you can visit, tour or drink at.  Zoom in to where you are, or where you're going, and click the map pins to see the brewery name and their awards. The map pins are even color coded.  Read more after the map...



In the U.S., the Brewers Association says there were 250 new breweries that opened in 2011, and though overall beer sales by volume were down, craft brewery volume was up by 13%.  Clearly more and more people are enjoying the unique beers being crafted by these mainly local breweries.

You don't have to be a beer expert to enjoy craft beer, but you may want to brush up on some definitions:

• Microbrewery - A brewery that produces less than 15,000 barrels (17,600 hectoliters) of beer per year with 75% or more of its beer sold off-site.
• Brewpub - A restaurant-brewery that sells 25% or more of its beer on site. The beer is brewed primarily for sale in the restaurant and bar.

Two resources to find a craft brewery, or your favorite craft beer are:

• CraftBeer.com -published by the Brewers Association, they have an extensive database of breweries and beer-related information
• TapHunter - They don't cover every market, but they specialize in connecting craft beer fanatics with the beers they love, the brewers who brew them and the locations that pour them. They have a website plus iPhone and Android apps

If you want to share your beer experiences, two of the largest forums are:

• BeerAdvocate - a global, grassroots network, powered by an independent community of beer enthusiasts and industry professionals who are dedicated to supporting and promoting beer
• RateBeer - an independent world site for craft beer enthusiasts that is dedicated to serving the entire craft beer community through beer education, promotion and outreach.

Things To Do: Orange County, CA

Just south of Los Angeles and north of San Diego lies Orange County California. If you're not familiar with Southern California, it's where Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm are located (and a lot more).  Zoom our map out to get your bearings, then zoom in to find lots of things to see and do.

To give you a flavor of what you can find in Orange County, we have mapped the places from ten different articles from four different local media - those that know Orange County the best.

Click around to explore, and see the article list below:



Articles we've mapped:

• Southern California Close-Up: 10 places to explore in Inland Orange County - Los Angeles Times
• One perfect day in Irvine, CA - Sunset
• Cruise California's Newport Harbor - Sunset
• Best of Orange County 2011 - Best Hole in the Wall - The Orange County Register
• Best of Orange County 2011 - Best Restaurant - The Orange County Register
• Best of Orange County 2011 - Best Romantic Restaurant - The Orange County Register
• Best of Orange County 2011 - Best Museum - The Orange County Register
• 10 Great Breweries In Orange County - The Orange County Register
• Delectable Donuts - The Orange County Register
• Donut Gold - Coast Magazine

If you need more local info, check out the official website for Orange County.

Where To Travel In The U.S. With Kids?

Now is the time of year where you're trying to figure out where to take the family, and this map will focus on the places you should take your kids in the U.S.

To start, we're mapping two articles about where to take your kids before they turn 15, but we'd like to get suggestions from you on other articles we should add:

• 15 Places Your Kids Should See Before 15 - Budget Travel
• 15 More Places Every Kid Should See Before 15 - Budget Travel

Leave us a comment below telling us what other articles you think we should add. Happy travels!

Our Reading List & Everything Map

Announcing two new features on our blog:

• Our Reading List - the stories and places we collect in between our big articles
• Everything Map - our map of, well, everything we have blogged about, and all the places from Our Reading List (over 5,000 as of today)

If you are someone that likes to find unique places to visit, these two new features should quickly become a favorite.

Enjoy!

Top Small Hotels And Motels For Families

With around 50,000 hotels, motels and other lodging to choose from in the U.S., where are the best places to stay with your family?

Luckily TripAdvisor, which bills itself as the world's largest travel site, likes to pull together "best of" lists based on reviews from people that actually visit the places they rate.  For families, TripAdvisor just announced their list of the:
"Top 25 Small Hotels & Motels for Families in the United States"

Where can you find the most winners in the one area?  Five of the 25 are within 9 miles of each other - can you find them?  Hint:  You're going to have to really zoom the map to find them.

2011 Best Amusement and Water Parks

Now that it's springtime, our thoughts start turning to the important things that lie ahead - like what exciting things we're going to do this summer!

Amusement parks and water parks are lots of fun, but what if you wanted to visit the best of them?  Luckily for you, every year Amusement Today conducts an international poll to find out who will win their Golden Ticket Award for being the "Best of the Best" in the amusement industry.

Sixty parks won this year, in twenty-two categories that included Best Park, Best Waterpark, Best Children's Park, Friendliest Park, Cleanest Park, Best Shows, Best Kids Area, and Best Indoor Coaster.  Whatever you're looking for, they can tell you who is the best, and our map shows you where they are.

For even more choices, last year we looked at the most & least expensive amusement parks, as well as the parks that had the most inversions (going upside down) from the Roller Coaster Database.

The blue pins show who is #1 in their category.  Zoom in to see more detail, and move the map over to Japan and Europe for more "Best of the Best".

2012 Major & Minor League Baseball Fields

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

2012 is the 112th 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 first regular MLB season series will be the Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics in the Tokyo Japan.  Buy me some sushi and fried octopus balls...

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.

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There is a lot of new technology that is going into stadiums these days, and last year Wired.com looked at some of the most interesting in their article called "Fields of Dreams: Ballparks Unveil Tech Upgrades".

If you have an iPad or iPhone, you have lots of options for keeping track of your favorite team and live scores:

MLB.com | FOX Sports Mobile |
CBS Sports for iPhone

And if you're interested in Fantasy Baseball, there's an app for that too...

RotoWire Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit 2012 | Fantasy Baseball '12 - Yahoo/ESPN Manager | ESPN Fantasy Baseball 2012

...plus books to help you draft the best players...

• 2012 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster)
• The Fantasy Baseball Black Book 2012 Edition
• ESPN Fantasy Baseball 2012
• Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide

...and a lot more.

Best Vintage Stores

You may be living in the 21st century, but that doesn't mean you have to dress that way.

Shops that carry vintage clothing have always been around, whether selling used clothing (thrift shops, 2nd hand stores, etc.) or new clothing meant to look either old (though some sort of distressing) or like it's from another era.

While you can find hidden treasures at thrift stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army, you can find a more curated collection of clothing & accessories at dedicated vintage stores.  These two articles talk about where to find the best:

• The 25 Best Vintage Stores in America - GQ
• World's Top Vintage Stores - Departures

Move the map to find the four stores in the Departures story located in Europe.