In my flurry of newsgathering stories, I stumbled upon this one about a great contest from Rand McNally. (You know, the guys that make those spiral bound books with all the maps in them, what are those old-fashioned things called again? Oh yeah, atlases.) Anyway, they are putting on an event called the Best of the Road contest, and you can go to their website and nominate your favorite small towns across the country. They can fit into any of five categories--most beautiful, most patriotic, friendliest, most fun and best for food. Along with that, you can submit your favorite raodside attractions, like the best mountain scene or best pizza joint. If your nominated city or attraction is selected as a top entrant, it gets a permanent spot on Rand McNally's new travel site and a place in its 2013 Road Atlas. You will also see it appear on USA Today's Travel website, since they are collaborating with the company on the contest.
Now, I know what you are thinking, how can I possibly pick my favorite town? There are so many great ones to choose from, I honestly cannot decide. Obviously, I would love to pick my hometown of Denver, but I don't think you can really classify that as a small town. My college town of Milwaukee would be another great pick, but, again, not so tiny. I certainly can't nominate Chicago. So which town to pick? This could take some time. Luckily, I have until May 23 to submit my vote. And even if I can't possibly decide on a destination before then, I can always enter the other portion of the contest. (That's right, there's more.)
Rand McNally and USA Today will select five teams to go on a three-week cross country road trip to hit the top 20 towns nominated in each category, as well as all the attractions along the way. The trip starts on June 23 and goes until July 15. Each team will visit the four towns in their assigned category, and fans can follow their progress online through Facebook and Twitter. All teams will end their trip in Los Angeles, where the winners will receive $10,000. (Now there's a trip, and a prize, that is totally up my alley.)
So, who wants to be part of my team?
