Live like a lighthouse keeper in Michigan

For our anniversary issue, we asked you to tell us about your favorite restaurant. Nearly 400 of you wrote in. Narrowing the list down to 38 was tough, but we put together your suggestions to get America's Favorite Restaurants: Where to eat like a local, from sea to shining sea. We didn’t have the print space to pack in more, but the web is a bit more roomy. So here’s your chance: What local restaurant would you add to the list?

This summer, artist Olafur Eliasson is creating four waterfalls in New York City's East River. The 90- to 120-foot waterfalls will run from late June through mid-October on most days from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The locations are underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, on the Brooklyn side; between Piers 4 and 5 in Brooklyn Heights; on Governor's Island (near the Statue of Liberty); and in Lower Manhattan at Pier 35 north of the Manhattan Bridge. Circle Line Downtown has already begun to sell tickets for yacht rides to see the waterfalls, with tickets for 30-minute rides starting at $10. (circlelinedowntown.com) [nycwaterfalls.org]

You might have a new museum to add to your list of must-sees: The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced plans to add a second location in downtown New York. The building, located in the Meatpacking District, will offer six floors and about 50,000 square feet of gallery space. Award-winning Italian architect Renzo Piano, based in Paris, is the designer—the New York Times said "the museum’s monumental exterior forms are conceived as a barrier against the area’s increasingly amusement-park atmosphere," a departure from his other works, including the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. The new location will surely be a sight—the Whitney plans to raise $680 million for the project, with construction beginning in 2009 and a planned opening in 2012. The Whitney's collection consists of 20th and 21st century American art, including works by Jasper Johns, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Andy Warhol, to name a few.

In Florence’s crowded historic center, it can feel like there are as many Americans as locals—and tourism board and province officials want it to stay that way. They were in New York recently to introduce the Fiorino Effect, a series of wide-ranging discounts they hope will keep Americans visiting despite the weak dollar. The promotion kicks off May 15—timed to the start of Il Genio Fiorentino, a 10-day festival—and runs through December 31. It provides a 10 percent discount at participating hotels and restaurants in Florence and neighboring small towns like Reggello and Barberino Val D’Elsa. Among the more affordable options, Giovanni da Verrazano, a 10-room hotel overlooking the main piazza of Greve, Chianti, made the cut for our Secret Hotels of Tuscany feature. And we’ve previously recommended the family-run Albergo Serena, an 18th-century building with patterned stone-tile floors, well-worn furnishings, and a convenient location by Florence’s Santa Maria Novella train station. Americans will also get free admission to the Palazzo Medici, a 20 percent discount on exhibits at the Palazzo Strozzi, and a 15 percent discount on performances at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Be sure to mention the Fiorino Effect when booking your hotel room and download the voucher before you go. It has an image of the fiorino (florin), a gold coin introduced in the 1200s by Florentine bankers and that enjoyed a heyday as the preferred currency for trade. The promoters are quick to compare it to the role played by the dollar—for now, anyway. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL What $100 Buys in Florence