Gwinnett Daily Post

DULUTH -- While Duluth wasn't selected as one of five cities that will appear on the Travel Channel next week, city officials are happy to have made it as a finalist in the Rand McNally Best of the Road Contest, an American road trip that publicizes top attractions.

Five teams that made up the contest hit the road last month in search of American towns full of friendly people, beautiful scenery, great food and patriotic fervor.

In the end, they narrowed it down to Gainesville, Texas, ManDan, N.D., DeLand, Fla., Watertown, N.Y., Enterprise, Ala., and Duluth.

Rand McNally is a source of 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. The Best of the Road search aimed to provide content created by travelers online to be published in the 2014 Rand McNally Road Atlas.

For more information about the Best of the Road, visit www.bestoftheroad.com.