Sunday, May 1, 2005

Link Of The Week

Before the days of Mapquest and Travilocity, all we had to rely on were old school maps, and if you or your family were members, AAA Triptiks.  The Triptiks were the travel bible when me and my family took our cross-country trips to California back in the day.  Each page had all of the exits marked, usually with a blue magic marker, and they also showed the staple of gas, food, and lodging. 

I read an article in our newspaper the other day about a site that gave you information about interstate exits, and the gas, food, and lodging that were by the exit.  This was too good to be true.  I had to check it out for myself.  Sure enough, it's simple, and very easy to use.  Just check out http://www.travmatrix.com and see for yourself.

Let's say your're travelling down south. You have a fondness for the trendy Cracker Barrel restaurants, but you also want to find a hotel that will accepts pets.  Travmatrix is the place for you. 

TravMatix was created in 1999 by Ashland businessman David E. Carter, who got frustrated on a trip to Florida when he couldn't find a hotel that would accept his dog. When he discovered that no one had compiled that sort of detailed information about businesses along interstate highways, he created a company to do it.

One drawback to this is that Travmatrix only recognizes places that are right on the exit - if a restraurant, gas station or other place of business is a half mile from the exit, you're out of luck. But I think Travmatrix will get you through. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

AAA has a publication titled "Traveling With Your Pet".  It lists all the AAA approved hotels that accepts pets and it's updated every year.  Of course I'm a little biased, but for my money, nothing comes close to the AAA database of information.  And for those who only want to access information online, go to aaa.com