[Sca-cooks] What the Tourist Cannot Know

Johnna Holloway johnnae at mac.com
Wed Oct 15 10:10:18 PDT 2008


I still have a membership in AAA, so I always get the AAA guidebooks
and maps for the US and Canada. It takes longer these days to get 
information from
the various states, but they still have tourist information available and
often can provide even coupon books or savings. Likewise if you are
driving past an interstate visitors center, why not stop and see what 
they have?
Freda mentioned Lonely Planet guidebooks
which brings up that I am a great believer in guidebooks. If you can't 
afford
to buy, libraries are often great places to browse and see
what there is in terms of information available for an upcoming trip.
Of course when one is spending $$$$ on airfare and hotels, why not
spend a few dollars and get an up to date guidebook to take or read in 
advance.
Or again hit the library.
I tend to mark pages of various books and then hit the local xerox shop.
I then take the file along on the trips and leave the heavier books at 
home.
You can do the same of course with information on the web. Create a file
and print it off before you travel. I have one open on the desktop now for
an upcoming trip next spring.
For US restaurants there are lots of places to look online.
For example:
Jane and Michael Stern run http://www.roadfood.com/ which has forums
on diners across the country.

There's also Chowhound http://chowhound.chow.com/ which talks about eating.

And of course you can of course surf through various newspapers of 
cities across
the country and even around the world. Searching under articles for 
restaurants and reviews
or cheap dining sometimes turns up great places. Try Google and look 
under News.
Try this also for those needlework or bookshops that you want to visit.
I would also urge calling in advance to make sure that restaurants and 
shops are open.
With business bad, some shops are not as reliably open as they should be 
these days.

Johnnae










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