Mobil announces hotel, restaurant awards

New York — The 2004 Mobil Travel Guide awards gave five-star ratings to 30 hotels and 14 restaurants throughout the country.

The winners, which were announced Oct. 22, include well-known hotels like the Four Seasons in New York and the Peninsula Beverly Hills as well as first-time honorees like the Woodlands Resort and Inn in Summerville, S.C.

Four-star accommodations on the Mobil list range from the White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport, Maine, to the Ritz-Carlton in St. Louis, to Averill’s Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork, Mont., and Lost Creek Ranch in Moose, Wyo.

For a complete list, visit www.mobiltravelguide.com.

The awards coincide with the release of Mobil’s Regional Travel Planner books.

Arkansas adds visitor center at wildlife refuge

St. Charles, Ark. — Officials of the White River National Wildlife Refuge hope a new $2 million visitor center will attract tourists in addition to hunters and anglers.

The center opened in mid-October.

Refuge Manager Larry Mallard said while most visitors to the refuge were interested in hunting and fishing, there were also lots of opportunities for wildlife photography, canoeing and bird watching on the 16,000-acre refuge.

The refuge takes in 92 river miles and 300 lakes, and features towering Cypress trees, dense bear population and clouds of waterfowl flying overhead. For more information, call (870) 946-1468.

Fire museum reopens

Kansas City, Mo. — After two years of renovations, the Kansas City Fire Museum reopened in mid-October, with old fire trucks and other firefighting artifacts on display.

Most of the museum’s pieces were used by the Kansas City Fire Department, including trucks from 1927 and 1950.

Museum officials believe there is new interest in firefighting among school children and others after the Sept. 11 attacks, when 343 firefighters died at the World Trade Center.

For more information about the museum at 1019 Cherry St., call (816) 474-0200 or see www.kcfiremuseum.com.