If you’re in Nashville, Tennessse, the answer is simple, at least for men  - when you want to go, go to the Heritage Hotel restroom. Turns out that the hotel’s distinctive Art Deco men’s room, commonly known amongst the locals as Nashville’s most unique and elegant restroom, is simply the best. That’s what tens of thousands of people who voted in Cintas annual “America’s Best Restroom” contest seem to think.

The ‘America’s Best Restrooms’ contest has been running for the past 7 years, with nominations from a wide cross-section of businesses, including restaurants, hotels and casinos across the United States.

The top 10 for 2008 are…

1. The Hermitage Hotel, Nashville, TN - featuring leaded-glass tiles, authentic terrazzo floors and a shoeshine station.

2. 21C Museum, Louisville, KY - featuring one-way mirrors facing urinals, LCD screens with traveling images of eyes built into mirror above sink.

3. Brio, Rockford, IL - featuring a Women’s Room is themed as Heaven, Men’s as Hell: features custom mirrors, sinks, doors and floor, using a wide variety of materials.

4. The Signature Room at the 95th, Chicago IL - featuring sweeping views (located atop the 95th floor of John Hancock Center), custom woodwork, silver accent pieces and black & white photos from the 1930s.

5. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA - it’s water theme features an array of hand-painted tiles and etched glass panels depicting sea creatures and plant life.

6. El Monte Sagrado Living Resort and Spa in Taos, New Mexico -featuring walls covered in natural Portuguese cork and African Mahogany, a Slate floor and fossilized rock hand basins.

7. Grand Central Terminal in New York, New York - featuring Bottocino marble walls, Terrazzo seamless flooring, stainless steel doors, Stony Creek granite partitions, and sustainable light fixtures.

8. Jerome Bettis’ grille 36 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - featuring - custom marble/tile and a one-way mirror above the urinals, enabling patrons to monitor the 50 High-Definition televisions located in the bar.

9. The Montville Inn in Montville, New Jersey - featuring River rock stone walls, wine bottle infused in glass fiber reinforced concrete, and a mirrored waterfall, with a built-in television.

10. Iowa 80 Truck Stop in Walcott, Iowa - known as The World’s Largest Truck Stop, its’ restrooms feature nostalgic signs and custom tile and the Women’s Restroom is adorned in pink with signs offering trivia and gender-specific advice.

And that’s just this years list. There’s also the America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame which has details of the past seven years of winning restrooms…

(photo source

Three years ago tomorrow, on August 29, 2005, the category five Hurricane Katrina decimated the low-lying city of New Orleans (plus huge swaths of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.)

One year later, I made a quick visit to the city while moving from Florida to Texas; here is my somewhat grim snapshot report.

An excerpt:

“The smashed landscape goes for miles and looks as though it happened just 2-3 months ago, not last summer. This city is not “bouncing back” anytime soon and it is a shadow of what it was.

Yes, a few twists and turns found our minivan somehow absurdly cruising Bourbon Street, and that “den of iniquity” looks pretty much the same as always (this detour was not in my original quickie sightseeing plan, but my teenage daughter got to hoot at all of the girlie bars and soused adults wandering about.)

But drunks carrying daiquiris is not New Orleans.

The residential and business districts were dealt one hell of a body blow from which they are very slowly recovering, and all the powdered sugar beignets and chicory coffee slurped down at Cafe du Monde do not a real, live, sustainable city make.”

I closed the post with an exhortation for visitors to return to New Orleans, then wrote another post later highlighting the “Open for Travelers” sign hanging on Louisiana’s Cajun Country.

Today, as the city and the entire Gulf Coast prepare for the inbound Hurricane Gustav, I read a report in Editor & Publisher about how the local Times-Picayune newspaper is both reflecting on Katrina and simultaneously gearing up for a possible Gustav hit (almost exactly three years later, as many residents are finally moving back into their flattened homes.)

Since I’m returning to New Orleans on October 25 for the BlogHer Reach Out conference, my thoughts are with this unique city and those who live there, or used to.

I want to know why the city does not seem to have the protective structures that are a part of the elaborate anti-flooding DeltaWorks in the Netherlands.

Why did the Dutch get organized and spend a lot of their capital on flood control (especially after the disastrous 1953 North Sea flood that killed people and wiped out entire communities) but our nation can’t seem to find the same strength of will for New Orleans?

American gumption, know-how and focus — where y’at?

In my opinion,  you can never have too many tips about ways to travel green. So when one of our Perceptive Travelers sent through this guest post, I just had to share it with everyone…

5 Tips for the Everyday Traveler Going Green
 by Jennifer Gregory from On the Go Travel Blog.

 I have a secret. The concept of “going green” was, at one point, incredibly scary to me. As a child I loved being outdoors, hiking and camping, but never considered whether or not my actions were having an impact on the environment. After all, my young persona was invincible – surely the earth was invincible, too?

Apparently, such is not the case. As I have grown older I’ve watched the world slowly growing into one that is more conscious of the environment. We’re taking steps to lessen our impact on global warming, save our natural resources, and live less wasteful lives. But, while my compost pile in the backyard is great for home use, I quickly realized that those less familiar with natural methods of conservation might have a little more trouble implementing these concepts on the road than they would at home.

So, while you may not be able to do everything you do at home while out and about, here are five simple things you can do to keep your vacation or road trip as environmentally friendly as possible:

1. One of the first things I do upon entering my discount hotel room is to hang the “do not disturb” sign, which stays up until the end of my stay. This prevents housekeeping from coming into the room and needlessly replacing towels and sheets that have only been used once or twice. This cuts back on unnecessary water consumption and energy use. Also, I am only one person and don’t need to use 6 lamps at one time – so I usually unplug all but one or two for the duration of my stay as well.
2. Consider using public transportation instead of renting a car at your end destination. In most tourist-heavy areas, public transportation is easily accessible. It costs less to use public transportation, and you won’t be wasting fuel or releasing harmful emissions into the atmosphere.
3. Carry your own environmentally friendly water bottle. Filling and carrying your own water bottle is great for a couple of reasons. First, if you ever find yourself in a questionable environment you’ll know exactly where your water came from and whether or not it was purified. Second, you won’t feel the need to open up the water bottles you find in your hotel room, which means you won’t add additional plastic waste to the nearest landfill.
4. Stay on previously mapped out trails when hiking and exploring. These trails have been laid out both for your safety and to protect the wildlife and plants within the environment you’re exploring. Make sure your garbage ends up in a trashcan, and if there isn’t one available, carry it with you until you find a proper method of disposal.
5. Purchase souvenirs that have been made locally or by natives. You’ll support their local economies, reduce the impact of mass production, and go home with an authentic piece of memorabilia. Check the labels. Why would you purchase a souvenir stamped “Made in China” from a tourist trap in Mexico when you could easily walk to a local stand or shop and purchase an authentic hand woven blanket for less?

It’s not easy going green, and I don’t expect anyone to do a complete 180 degrees in a single trip, either. Simply begin by making small changes to the way you move across the earth and you’ll soon find that the impact you have on the environment is growing less with each adventure. Have a safe trip!

(Jennifer Gregory is a writer with a passion for travel. After completing her degrees in Social Work and eBusiness, she traveled through Europe, across America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. She now writes for On the Go Travel Blog.)

It finally rained a few days ago here in Central Texas, where we’ve been suffering from drought conditions.

My family and I stood out on the front porch just to smell the rain, feel it splash up to wet our toes and hear it pound on the roof.

That night, we felt an affinity for some 20th century Texans who lived nearby; southeast of Austin in the teensy farm village of Hostyn, one of the oldest Czech communities in the state.

They suffered an even more severe drought in 1924-1925 that devastated their livelihood, the cotton crop.

In appreciation for the end of dry conditions in 1925, the Czechs of the Holy Rosary Catholic church in Hostyn built a small replica of the famous Catholic landmark, the grotto at Lourdes, France.

During a road trip to Houston, we detoured to take a look at their tribute.

It’s a little disconcerting to find an elaborate stone grotto with plaster figures and plastic flowers sitting out in the middle of nowhere on a hot Texas day, but I admired the vision and persistence of believers who were determined to offer thanks for rain the best way they knew how.

Over the years, church members also donated money to build an elaborate sculptured “Stations of the Cross” series all the way around the church building.

The nearby cemetery was full of gravestones with Czech names, but the most poignant sight was two Civil War cannons, with plaques.

One was for Joseph Lidiak, a father, who fought for the Confederacy.

The other was for John Lidiak, his son, who fought for the Union.

After the war, they returned to the village and worked the family farm together. Today they are buried side-by-side on the windy bluffs of Hostyn.

Update:  The August 29, 2008 issue of “The Austin Chronicle” has an article about the Hostyn Grotto in its Day Trips section.

Related posts:

• The melting pot still stirs
• Baby, you can drive my (art) car

Wandering around the internet this week, I stumbled upon GOOD magazine’s Wanderlust Interactive Map that follows the trails of some of history’s greatest adventures. From Magellan’s circumnavigation to Ken Kesey and his group of Merry Pranksters crossing the United States, this interactive map incorporates maps, images, and information, turning the experience into a journey and a history lesson all in one.

I followed the Pan-Am Highway map which reminded me how much I had enjoyed Tim Cahill’s record breaking 23 day road trip from tip of South America to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, documented so entertainingly in his book Road Fever.

And then I checked out Captain Cook’s Endeavour Voyages which brought back fond memories of Tony Horwitz’s book Blue Latitudes which followed all three of Captain James Cook’s epic journeys and almost tempted me to head off to the South Pacific Islands. 

The GOOD magazine’s Wanderlust Interactive Map has twenty three journeys mapped out at present.

Here’s hoping that more will follow.