No comments about Zagat Boston Restaurants 2008/09: Including Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket (Zagatsurvey).

5 comments about Weird Ohio (Weird).

1. I was riveted to this book from the first page. Very visually appealing and written in a light-hearted way, it is a great guide for "ghost-chasers" and those who just love to see weird places. I also love how the authors never judge someone based on their personal testimony about places and events in the book and believe me, there are some wacked-out stories that you think just can't be true! I have only owned the book for a week and already have visited about 1/2 dozen of the places mentioned. I have even planned future weekend trips around some of the creepier areas in the book. Great fun! It is hard to tell where some of the things mentioned are at...specific directions are few and far between and that would be my only problem with the book. You won't be sorry you bought this book...it has something for everyone.



2. This is a must have for any Ohioian. Very interesting facts. I bought one for myself and went back to buy more for christmas gifts and you can't beat the price!!!



3. Despite having hack writer and former Decaturian Troy Taylor at the helm, Weird Illinois--a companion to this volume--makes for great bathroom reading. The production values and colorful images more than compensate for Taylor's leaden prose and inane editorializing. I love this book so much that every time I visit my best friend's Chicago apartment, I make time to secrete myself away in the john and hunch over it. I got to wondering what I would think of the book if the writing were as good as the production, and so I decided to check out another book in the series and see.
   
   Luckily, I picked an absolute winner with *Haunted Ohio.* The writing is great, and not just because I'm comparing it with Taylor's ham-fisted oeuvre. The three co-authors balance a love of a good scare story with a desire to know the available facts about any site they describe; it constantly amazed me how they could debunk a particular legend with one or two salient, documented facts without ever abandoning the joy of repeating the original legend."Who cares if it isn't exactly true?" they seem to suggest, "If you're reading a book of weird stories, you're probably into it more for the chill it send down your spine than for any empirically verifiable facts it may reveal." As mentioned before in the context of *Haunted Illinois,* the production values are superb, and the addition of stories supplied by readers and locals really capture something uniquely Midwestern about these weird people and places.
   
   The sections of the book deal with various weird topics like local legends, ancient mysteries (e.g., the Serpent Mound), fabled people and places, unexplained phenomena (e.g., UFO sightings, Hangar 18, and the ever-popular pancakes from space!), bizarre beasts (including the Mothman), local heroes and villains, personalized properties, roadside distractions (like the Longaberger Basket HQ featured on the cover---it's the building shaped like the giant basket, complete with handles), haunted places, cemeteries, and abandoned buildings and roller coasters.
   
   A very fun, entertaining, and even (gasp) informative book.



4. I happened upon "Weird Ohio" at an Amish store and naturally started leafing through it. It looked so interesting and professionally put together, there was no way I could walk out of the store without it (paying full price -- 20 bucks -- which you don't have to do here at Amazon).
   
   Ohio is a land of lush, deep forests interspersed with great cities like Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinatti, as well as smaller cities like Toledo, Dayton and Akron. The Eastern side of the state is part of the Appalachian Plateau with nice rolling hills, whereas the Western side is part of the Till Plains and is relatively flat, a great place for farms. The Southern and Southeastern parts of the state are bordered by the mighty Ohio River, whereas the North is part of the Eastern Great Lakes Lowland with 310 miles of coastline on Lake Erie.
   
   Unlike "Weird Pennsylvania," which unfortunately focuses mostly on the Eastern side of that great state, "Weird Ohio" provides a balanced overview of the weird elements of the Buckeye State.
   
   Let me emphasize how attractive and professionally put together "Weird Ohio" is. The book features colored photos or illustrations on practically every page; and many pages have two or three such items. This, of course, makes it a great coffee table book. But a full 60% is text, written with an informative and entertaining flair. This naturally makes it a perfect bathroom book, which another reviewer rightly points out.
   
   As to be expected, "Weird Ohio" addresses the weird elements of the state -- creatures on the loose (lions, panthers, Bigfoot, the Mothman, etc.), ghost stories, crime stories, heroes, urban and rural legends, unexplained phenomena, ancient mysteries (like the great Serpent Mound), oddities, etc. If these types of items trip your trigger "Weird Ohio" is a must.
   
   I live in NE Ohio about ten miles from the border of Pennsylvania and I was happy to see a local mysterious site mentioned in the book -- "Five Points." This area is a mere ten minutes from my house and involves numerous ghostly stories. My wife took three girlfriends to Five Points on Halloween night during her senior year in High School; she told them a couple of the creepy stories, including one of a lunatic woman who had escaped the sanitarium and wanders around the woods in a white asylum gown. At that point a big leaf hit the windshield and all the girls started screaming in terror! Anyway, I visited Five Points recently with my wife and I can see why this rural area of dark forests and winding roads would give birth to such spooky myths; we went by the "insane asylum" and noticed it was, in actuality, a nursing home (then again, who knows what it was years ago?).
   
   I was disappointed that the book doesn't mention Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park, known as Nelson Ledges or just "the Ledges" locally. It belongs in "Weird Ohio" simply because there's no place on earth like it. It's an amazing area of cliffs, ledges, crevices, waterfalls and caves hidden in the lush forestry of NE Ohio just south of Route 422. If you're interested, allow me to share with you a true tale that happened at the Ledges years ago when I was 15 years old:
   
   On a nice summer day three friends and I decided to hitchhike up to the Ledges, which was about 25 miles away. Although we ended up walking at least 10 miles of the journey, some guy with long hair and a big old car stopped to pick us up when we were a mere two miles from the park. He had his girlfriend in the front seat with him and told us to just jump on the hood. This man was a lunatic! He was barreling down the road at 55-60 miles an hour with four young guys on the hood with almost nothing to hold on to (I held on to the edge of the hood by the windshield)! We made it to the Ledges and we all jumped off the hood. The guy got out of the car and went into the restroom, which was an outhouse made of big concrete blocks painted tan. The next thing we know we hear this blood-curdling scream and one of the large entrance walls of the outhouse came tumbling down in a mist of dust. There was the crazy driver, with no shirt on, crouched and flexing his notable muscles like the incredible Hulk. It was unbelievable, to say the least. One of my friends screamed, "He must be mad at us; maybe we broke something on his car" (like one of the windshield wipers). So we all bolted up into the Ledges to hide, while the other dozen people in the parking lot dispersed in fear as well. The crazy dude jumped in his car, did a couple donuts and sped off down the street. When the coast was clear we all came down from our hiding places and the people in the parking lot ran over to us to ask who that mighty lunatic was. We didn't know, of course; he just picked us up hitchhiking. Naturally, we were all left in a state of total astonishment.
   
   Only about 12-15 people were there to witness these events, but it's a true story and obviously belongs in a book like "Weird Ohio." Maybe if the authors catch wind of it they can include it in the revised edition.
   
   BOTTOM LINE: "Weird Ohio" is a must for Ohioans and former residents who have a taste for the out-of-the-ordinary. It makes a perfect coffee table or bathroom book. Its professional presentation and entertaining text make it worthwhile even for folks who rarely (if ever) visit the Buckeye State.
   
   Another reviewer complained that the book offers no detailed maps or instructions for finding the various areas. This is not a negative point IMHO as the authors obviously didn't want to burden the book with such details. "Weird Ohio" reveals the counties, towns and roads for each item and leaves it up to the reader to gather more detailed information to locate these places; that's what the Internet's for.



5. I started reading this book at a friend's house (even though I'm pretty sure it's just a coffee table book), and when I got home I knew I had to buy it. It's so interesting! I love all that stuff, knowing about hauntings, histories of places, paranormal encounters, I find it so interesting. So if you have these interests, definitely get it, you will love it, it's a good book to just pick through. If you don't, I'm not sure how much you will like it, but you will most likely find something from your area in Ohio, which makes it all the more interesting.

5 comments about Streetwise New Orleans Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of New Orleans, Louisiana - Folding pocket size travel map with streetcar & bus routes (National & International Titles).

1. This is the best map I've found detailing the French Quarter and Garden District. Compact and sturdy.



2. I ordered this map from Amazon, sight unseen, but based on reviews. As a reviewer myself, I know the value of these reviews. However, when this dinky little map fell out of the envelope, I was so disappointed--UNTIL I actually sat down with the map and [...] and planned out the trip.
   
   Let me describe the map and try to show you how compact is the size and the information. It is 16 inches long and 8 1/2 inches high. On one side is a detailed map of the French Quarter and Central Business District, including the Superdome. At the center top is the Treme District with the Louis Armstrong Park. All the hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions are marked in the French Quarter and elsewhere. I was so surprised because the map is so compact. Streetcar and bus routes are also indicated.
   
   When I found hotels on the website, I then found them on the map and could easily decide if the location was suitable. Since we are going during off-season and during the week, prices are exceptional. [...] is an excellent website to aid in planning.
   
   On the flip side of the map is the entirety of New Orleans on a smaller scale with a larger scale of an extension of the Garden District from the French Quarter to Audubon Park and Zoo, another family-oriented tourist destination. Along the top and right side are listings of major streets with coordinate points, as well as hotels, places of interest, restaurants with coordinates.
   
   You might want a larger, more detailed map for getting in and out of New Orleans or if your hotel is outside the city. If not, "Streetwise New Orleans Map" is truly all you need. See you at Cafe du Monde bright and early for cafe au lait and beignets. We've got a city to explore and an adventure to live.



3. This small laminated map was very handy while on vacation in New Orleans. I did think the price (after shipping ) of over $10 was a bit pricey but hopefully it will last for a long time.Great detail, even had our hotel on it!



4. A nifty little map/guide that hilites important places, is easy to read and carry with you. Will take a physical beating as well. Good purchase.



5. I always appreciate these Streetwise maps. The fold easily and are laminated so you can toss them into a travel bag, back pack or purse without worry. Very durable compared to most maps.
   
   My only complaint is that I wish it were just a tad smaller...it is just a tiny bit too big to fit in my back jeans pockets. A long time ago I had several maps that were similarly laminated and easy to fold, but had more than the four sections this one has, so it folded smaller and was thus even easier to carry when you aren't lugging a bag around.

5 comments about California (Regional Guide).

1. This book is full of gems that I would never have found otherwise. Descriptions and prices listed are spot-on.



2. Most people can say they know San Francisco/Bay Area, Los Angeles/Orange County, or San Diego. These are the places people typically hit up when they plan a trip to CA. Having lived several years in SoCal, I found this book opened my eyes to all the state has to offer. It balances the sections on the large cities with other destinations and activities. You can easily stay with friends in LA or SFO and get a better tour of the town than the book can offer, but what about Death Valley or the Redwoods or PCH? This is where the book has been of great help to me.



3. 1. I live in California and thus I'm familiar (at least) with the surrounding region I live in etc...
   
   2. This book physically looks good, has a nice layout, but is relatively devoid of concrete data (ie places to eat, stay etc...). Furthermore, it reads as if it were written by some college political science major at USF...
   
   3. It's tough to find a good travel book; Perhaps the Moon publication might be better. However one thing is sure--> if you want a book with actual good information--> forget this one. If you just want a book with very cursory info--> this might be ok in that it's fairly compact, it covers the entire state etc...



4. Just used this book for a two-week road trip through California. I also had a few other Cal guidebooks with me and this one was the best. It was well organized, in depth and consistently gave good recommendations.



5. Really great book, the only problem, the pictures are all in black & white, its an overview of the Californian State, but if you want a more detailed focus on each city you may need additional guides.

No comments about 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Washington, DC: Including Suburban and Outlying Areas of Maryland and Virginia (2nd Edition) (60 Hikes - Menasha Ridge).

1 comments about Boston, A Year in the Life.

1. I purchased this book as a Christmas present for my brother-in-law who loves Boston. I am sure he will enjoy this book as much as I did.

2 comments about Fodor's Maui 2009 (Full-Color Gold Guides).

1. All the information I need to ensure our Maui trip is everything we can hope for in one book! Well worth reading cover to cover.



2. This book is great, it has a lot of great updated information on Maui activities, both economical and expensive!

5 comments about Lonely Planet Washington, DC.

1. Good book, lots of detail, good maps, good details of accomodation (though this is a bit pointless in the internet age I think), food options... just a standard, good LP. If you like format of LP you'll like this.



2. I took this book with me on a one week trip to DC. I was mightily disappointed. It started with the trip from the airport. I had to pre-plan on the internet, which took awhile, because the book offers no advice for getting from BWI or Dulles into DC.
   
   There is no useful information on how to get around DC, most notably to the Jefferson, Lincoln and FDR Memorials. It wasn't until the end of the trip that I figured out what options there were for public transportation to this end of the mall and the Tidal Basin. A good guidebook should guide you, not make you search all week for the answer.
   
   The authors apparently used a car to get around. Lots of info on parking spaces. So if you're traveling by car (fat chance at hotel parking being $41 a night), this book might be for you.
   
   The restaurant listings dwell excessively on expensive places to eat. Mostly with bad food. I guess if you can afford to park in DC, you can afford to spend $50 on a bad dinner.
   
   Contrary to another reviewer below, the book seemed to be entirely without opinion, at least where it was needed. But this has been a pattern at LP lately. The Air and Space Museum? Feels like walking into a museum that hasn't been changed since 1986. All the guys walking around with sub-machine guns strapped over their shoulders? Makes you feel like you're visiting El Salvador. And the 'bag checks' at the Smithsonians, one after another, each making you hold your bag in a specific way unique to each security guard. Those would be useful opinions.
   
   You can get just as much useful information as contained in this book (actually more) from the DC's visitors websites.



3. I went for a vacation in Washington DC for a week. This book kept me going. I had a little problem with their updates (the walking tour for Embassy Row still lists a certain mansion as the Pakistani Embassy, but it turns out that the embassy moved somewhere else back in 2005, a good two years ago). But aside from that, things were still well-covered.
   
   I disagree with the previous reviewer saying that there were no directions from BWI or IAD, but p. 263 gives the information about this. Regarding public transportation in the National Mall and Tidal Basin, there aren't a lot of options, but all the available options were given in the extensive maps at the back of the book. One really should prepare for large amounts of walking for this area of the city. And regarding the parking spaces, the book also gives information about how to get to places using public transportation, for every time that they give information about parking spaces. So I do not see why it can be concluded that the authors researched this using a car.
   
   A travel guide is just that, just a guide. It shouldn't be mistaken for a tour operator. One should not rely on it a hundred percent. It simply gives suggestions on where to go and what to visit. For my purposes, it served its purpose well.



4. Being a travel junky I found this guidebook very valuable. Some points:
   
   1. It has color maps all located in the same place (back of the book). On the backside of each map is an index with a page reference! So you see the map, you flip and find the attraction/restaurant/whatever, and you go to the referenced page for more info. This is invaluable since the last thing I like doing is flipping through maps embedded throughout a book only to not get any information on what's around me.
   
   2. Did I mention the maps? There is also a subway map overlay on each map so you can plan getting there and getting back. There's also a complete map at the very back.
   
   3. It's a compact book. This is a BIG deal. Lug around a monstrous book for a day and you'll be ripping out unneeded pages later that night (which is a good idea anyway, really). This guide was slim and fit nicely in an outside pocket. Just enough history to occupy the time on the subway, not so much as to displace Washington's biography.
   
   4. It's a well built book. Bend it, fold it, get it wet. It's going to stay together and readable. While weathered guide books held together with rubber bands show some flair, it's no good when you're standing there on a corner with pages falling all over.
   
   Overall a highly recommended guide book. I try and find the best overall guide book for whatever my destination and keep coming back to the Lonely Planet.



5. The author tries way too hard to make this into a romance novel. The various descriptions of DC being a woman in high heels and yet in a business suit, and riding in limos and also sleeping on the streets, etc. were hyper annoying. I enjoy good prose, this was not it. And it's a travel book, not a harlequin novel. Aside from the tone, I found the information offered was often lacking. There was nothing about the numerous options for paid tours of the city's historic sites. There was very little useful in the dining section if you wanted something more than cafe fare.
   I usually love books in the Lonely Planet series, but this one didn't measure up.

5 comments about Not for Tourists Guide 2008 to San Francisco (Not for Tourists Guidebook).

1. Having just moved to San Francisco a few months ago I was excited about the prospect of this book. However, the book failed to live up to my expectations of a "not for tourist" city guide book. The main problem is that the print is miniscule and very hard to read. I'm in my mid-twenties with 20/20 vision - yet I feel that I need a magnifying glass to read this book or risk ruining my eyesight! Because of this small print there is a lot packed into the book - yet only 10% of it is useful to me (maps of neighborhoods and locations of post offices). Also the size of this book is awkward -- it is too large to fit comfortably in a pocket or a purse (unless you have large pockets or a large purse) - so what is the point of the tiny print? This book should have been produced normal size. Instead of this, I recommend getting the 2008 Lonely Planet San Francisco city guide - which is very useful for residents as well as tourists. And if you need maps - just buy a good city map (the MUNI map is a must and can be found at the info center at Union Square for $2.00). If you are moving to the bay area or have just moved, the "Newcomer's Handbook to San Francisco" is also very useful.



2. We just moved to San Francisco and have used this little book constantly. It is compact enough that we do not mind pulling it out to read in public and do not fear looking like lost tourists. It is SUCH a complete guide to any interest you have in the city. We bought the SF tourist guides, the Cheap Bastard's Guide (also useful), but once we find our niche here we will still use this book as a great reference tool. It's easy to navigate, provides street & public transit maps we couldn't find elsewhere, and really helps you feel like you know what's going on. Buy it!



3. NFT for any city are great. It definately doesn't highlight overly touristy areas. I had some visitors and was using my NFT to navigate our day and thinking there wasn't much in a particular area we stumbled into a major tourist trap. No big deal but funny that there wasn't anything on the map. Other than that it is a perfect guide for a newly relocated city dweller.



4. I love this series of books. It tells you all of the places to go to live day to day. When I am traveling and staying for a long period of time, I try to stay in an apartment or condo so I can make my own meals. Books like this are so helpful to tell you where simple things like drugstores and grocery stores are. I previously purchased the Boston and New York NFT books and used them often while visiting.



5. I love the NFT series of books, and this one is no exception! It's full of useful information, it's well organized, and it's pretty funny.
   
   NFT is a cool company, and you can actually view their books on their site for free. However, at this price, it's well worth your money to have the whole book in a convenient portable format.
   
   I have bought these as gifts several times, as well as for myself. I highly recommend them.

5 comments about Coming into the Country.

1. I traveled to Alaska in 2006 but lived there in the early 70's. Why I delayed so long in reading "Coming into the Country" I don't know, but John McPhee has taken me back to that earlier day. Both his character and place descriptions are wonderful and make me long for the cabins, the ice break-up, the dogs, the bush planes, and the 55 gallon drums. The Anchorage of today is much changed, but the bush is still there -- Thank God.



2. Want to read about the realities of the 49th state????
   Want to really learn something about this region???
   Want to get good visuals????????
   If NOT don't read this book!!!!!!!!!!!!



3. This book is a wonderful relic, the last plausible vision of a living American frontier. In the mid seventies, McPhee went to Alaska to do a few pieces for the New Yorker. He met a lot of trappers, prospectors, and "river people" who'd built moss-chinked cabins and whose individualism, gruff hospitality, and happiness he admired. McPhee made a plea for democratic access to Alaskan land. He argued that land far from roads should remain fair game for homesteaders in perpetuity.
   
   It is odd to read an ode to Alaska's wild immensity at a time when islands are being evacuated in the Aleutians, polar bears are drowning, and the permafrost is melting. The question these days is not whether Americans can still choose to live in more or less untainted outback. The question is whether that outback will soon be transformed beyond recognition, not by oil drilling, but by climate change.
   
   What Coming into the Country offers the twenty-first century is escapism and nostalgia. McPhee's account of the political squabbles over the location of Alaska's capital has lost its relevance, but the rest of the book still comes to life. We meet a mix of clannish Christians, proud native people, and prickly bootleggers in the small, dry town of Eagle. McPhee's tale of a man's survival in sub-zero weather after a plane crash constitutes a minor classic of its own.
   
   The book reminds us how powerful the frontier fantasy remains in American psyches. Can it be harnessed as a metaphor? Can the dream of self-reliance on a private patch of woods help motivate us, indirectly, to cut carbon emissions? It has motivated us to go camping and conserve some wild lands even while ruining others. Still, I suspect that as the environmental movement shifts in response to global warming, we may have to jettison the frontier fantasy. It depends too much on a view of nature as more powerful than man. Whether or not we agree with Bill McKibben that we have arrived at the end of nature, we know that everything is responding to elevated temperatures. There is no untouched patch of land left in Alaska. The romance of a homestead sours when the flora and fauna are marching north past the log cabin, driven by coal and oil fires from all over the planet.



4. My wife and I like to listen to a tape while we read the book. We are rereading this book that way. It is a classic and a good introduction to Alaska, where we have lived and worked and touristed.



5. This book was difficult for me to rate, since it is really a compilation of three separate books into one volume. The first two books I would give 3/5 stars, while the third book (the one actually entitled "Coming Into the Country") is superb and deserves 5 stars. Thus, my averaged 4-star rating.
   
   I found the first two books very interesting and readable, but they tended to delve off into a more philosophical orientation describing the history of Alaska, which I deemed long-winded at times. The third book, however, kept my attention perked and was just what I was hoping for when I purchased this book -- a look into the life of an Alaskan bushman -- since it was told through stories of people the author meets along the way during his long stint in the bush, which complimented his writing passion.
   
   A good book and well worth the read.