Top Ten Lists For The Road

For those making vacation plans, and if you're partial to the small-town experience (as am I), here are ten good choices for the summer, in a list compiled by Irv Gordon for USA Today:

Lancaster PA
McLean TX
Montauk NY
Belle Fourche SD
Florence OR
Stein's Ghost Town NM
Opportunity MT
Gothenburg NE
Tupelo MS
Cave City KY

Meanwhile, I'm in the market for a new bicycle. That urge to take to the open road by car is getting more expensive these days, and sometimes I just wanna get off the beaten path and camp overnight by a stream.

Here to give us a hand (again, in today's USA Today) is Bicycling magazine editor Steve Madden, with his own top ten list of bike-friendly towns. DC isn't one of them (even though they finally started putting bike racks on public buses), but Seattle (which has been doing it for years) is, of course:

Chicago IL
Portland OR
Denver CO
Philadelphia PA
Tucson AZ
Seattle WA
Madison WI
San Francisco CA
Austin TX
San Diego CA

I'm heading to the Common Ground festival this weekend, northwest of Baltimore, in a college town in the heart of God's country. Me and my black hat will be back in the blogosphere on Monday.