Top Town Finalists Named in Rand McNally's Best of the Road®

SKOKIE, Ill., June 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- America has spoken and the results are in!  After a month-long call for nominations and votes, Rand McNally and USA TODAY announced town finalists in the search for the Best of the Road.  Over 20,000 Americans from coast to coast weighed in to name their favorite town as the Most Beautiful, Most Patriotic, Friendliest, Most Fun or Best for Food.

The top towns in five categories have been narrowed down from more than 600 submissions and will be reviewed personally by the Best of the Road Rally teams via blog posts, video and photos.  Leading off in New York City on June 23, five rally teams will be assigned one category to review key towns and verify which truly deserves to win the title of Best of the Road in its category.

TOWN FINALISTS IN THE BEST OF THE ROAD

The top 30 finalist towns were determined by a combination of public appeal and analysis of reviews and photos by the judges. Towns have rallied on www.bestoftheroad.com, Twitter, and Facebook to promote their communities, businesses and attractions. Passionate responses accounted for a high volume of votes which edged towns to the head of their class in the five categories.

Teams participating in the Best of the Road Rally will visit four finalist towns in an assigned category as well as two additional towns determined by the competition's judges. Weighing blog posts, videos and photos created in each town by the rally teams, Best of the Road judges will announce the winning towns at the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) Annual Convention on July 22. The top towns will be highlighted on www.bestoftheroad.com and in the 2013 Rand McNally Road Atlas, as well as on USA TODAY's Travel site.

Finalists and judges picks include the following towns in five categories:

Most Beautiful

• Pacifica, CA
• Coral Gables, FL
• Baker City, OR
• Marco Island, FL
• Franklin, TN*
• Sandpoint, ID*

Most Patriotic

• Clarksville, TN
• Emporia, KS
• Peachtree City, GA
• Williamsburg, VA
• Fort Leonard Wood, MO*
• Rapid City, SD*

Friendliest

• Walla Walla, WA
• Valdosta, GA
• Mount Airy, NC
• Lake Havasu, AZ
• Woodward, OK*
• Nacogdoches, TX*

Most Fun

• Vacaville, CA
• Myrtle Beach, SC
• Santa Claus, IN
• Yellow Springs, OH
• Glenwood Springs, CO*
• Sioux City, IA*

Best for Food

• Gulfport, FL
• Visalia, CA
• Burnsville, MN
• Costa Mesa, CA
• Addison, WV*
• Lafayette, LA*

*Indicates Best of the Road judges' picks

Best of the Road Rally team selections will be announced prior to kick-off on June 23.  They will embark in the ultimate cross-country adventure from New York City and compete to win the title of the Best of the Road Rally and $10,000.

For more information and to follow each Best of the Road Rally team's progress, visit www.bestoftheroad.com.

About the Best of the Road® –Rand McNally has earned the reputation as a trusted source in maps, directions and travel content with its best-selling Road Atlas and annual Best of the Road online guide.  Its celebration of the Great American Road Trip has given way to an online guide of the Best of the Road and features top attractions in more than 20 categories --- from the Best Beach to the Best BBQ.   This year, in collaboration with USA TODAY, Rand McNally is revving up for an all-new the Best of the Road search with content created by travelers online and published in the 2013 Rand McNally Road Atlas. For more information about the Best of the Road, visit www.bestoftheroad.com.  

About Rand McNally – Rand McNally is the most trusted source for maps, directions, and travel content.  Rand McNally's products and services include: Interactive travel referral service, Tripology; IntelliRoute® truck routing software and GPS devices; and the leading geography-based educational resources for the classroom.  The 88th edition of America's #1 Road Atlas by Rand McNally will be available shortly and it includes digital TAGs which connect smartphone users to special mobile web pages. Consumers, businesses, truckers, and educators depend upon Rand McNally to help navigate today's world. www.randmcnally.com

About USA TODAY – USA TODAY is a multi-platform news and information media company. Founded in 1982, USA TODAY's mission is to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Today, through its newspaper, website and mobile platforms, USA TODAY connects readers and engages the national conversation. USA TODAY, the nation's number one newspaper in print circulation with an average of more than 1.8 million daily, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper website  launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.9 million readers daily. USA TODAY is a leader in mobile applications with more than eight million downloads on mobile devices.  The USA TODAY brand also includes USA TODAY Education and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

Press Contacts:

Weber Shandwick for Rand McNally
Kristen Insalaco, [email protected], 212-445-8481
Lauren Lane, [email protected], 212-445-8303

USA TODAY
Heidi Zimmerman, [email protected], 703-854-5304

SOURCE Rand McNally