Vote for the winner of Gadling’s Perfect Road Trip contest!

It’s finally here. After hours of careful deliberation, turmoil and drama, the editorial team at Gadling has selected FIVE fantastic candidates to win the Perfect Road Trip Contest.

You’ll recall that together with Cadillac, Gadling is sponsoring the Perfect Road Trip Contest to send one lucky winner (and guest) on a fantastic, all-expense-paid road trip trip of their design — in an all new Cadillac SRX. So the stakes are high and the competition heavy.

But it’s up to you to select the winner.

Take a read through the entries below and vote on your favorite at the bottom of the post. We’ll collect votes until 5PM on Thursday, August 6th, and announce the winner on the following Friday morning.

Entry #1: Key West, Florida — Jon
Three words. Over Seas Highway. Where else can you drive 105 miles of Islands linked together?

A surprise for my wife’s birthday, we would fly to colorful Miami to start our trip. A quick trip over to soak up some sun in South Beach will get us started (windows down, sunroof open, Latin Jazz blaring from the stereo.) Time to head south. Continue reading —>

Entry #2: The American Northwest — Scott
My perfect 2-day road trip:

Fly in to Portland, OR with my wife and daughter and pick up my new SRX. From the airport, stop and get some coffee and bacon donuts at Voodoo Donut in Portland and then drive through wine country in the Yamhill valley and head straight to the coast. We’d play on the beach and enjoy fresh seafood in Newport before heading south along the beach, with me enjoying the curves and AWD while wife and daughter enjoy the comfortable ride and great stereo. Continue reading —>

Entry #3: The American Southwest — Patrick

Timing is everything. It is just possible if we leave on September 10th early from Denver International Airport, headed with a beeline South for New Mexico, to experience the opening night of Fiestas de Santa Fe, complete with the burning of the Zozobra, while also getting a chance to seek out some of the most rare and exciting locales in the US. Let’s get started! I have saved a map on Google so you can follow along on our journey. Continue reading —>

Entry #4: Nashville to New Orleans — JR

This is a Cadillac we’re talking about. An American icon, immortalized in songs like Vince Taylor’s rockabilly classic Brand New Cadillac .

So when my baby drives up in a brand new Cadillac, there is only one perfect drive: Nashville to New Orleans. How Cadillac is that? For any Cadillac, this road trip would be a rite of passage; for a brand-new one like our SRX, it’s a baptism of the highest order. Continue reading —>

Entry #5: San Francisco to the Central Valley — Sylvan

The trip starts in San Francisco. Head over the Golden Gate bridge to get a spectacular view of the Marin headlands. Continue along Hwy 1. As you descend to the coast, the road hugs the the hills and affords a spectacular view of the Pacific. Continue to Point Reyes Station. Cowgirl Creamery is headquartered here, and they run a small cantina. Stop for some of their spectacular Clabbered Cottage Cheese and Red Hawk cheese. There are a couple small bakeries lining the main strip in the town; stop in to grab some scones to accompany your Cowgirl goodies. Continue reading —>

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Enter Gadling’s “Perfect Road Trip” Contest!

Yesterday, we announced Gadling’s “Perfect Road Trip” contest, a fantabulous contest in which Gadling is partnering with Cadillac to send one lucky winner (and a friend!) on his or her perfect road trip, all expenses paid. All you have to do is describe your favorite road trip, and if you’re selected as the winner, Cadillac will provide —

  • airfare for you and a friend from your home(s) to the start of your road trip destination;
  • a new Cadillac SRX to drive for the duration of a the road trip (sorry, you have to give it back at the end of the trip);
  • money for fuel and expenses along the way (think: hotel and meals);
  • airfare from the road trip’s end point back to your home.

Here’s how the contest works —

  1. In the comments below, leave a comment telling us about your favorite road trip. (Please: no months-long trips here; the road trip may only be two days long, but that’s PLENTY of time to, say, cruise the Florida Keys.)
  2. You don’t have to have been on the road trip before — it can be one you’re dreaming about — but try to be specific. Make us drool over your imagined itinerary. (Hint: the prize will be available in September, so try to think of a relevant destination — and that destination must be in the Continental US.)
  3. You can only leave one road trip suggestion, so choose wisely. Successive road trip ideas will remain visible on the site, however, for other people to dream about.
  4. All submissions must be left by July 22, 2009, at 5pm EST, in order to be considered.
  5. Gadling’s road trip gurus will choose the 5 best road trip ideas from those left in the comments.
  6. We’ll present Gadling’s readers with the list early next week, and they’ll vote on which is the best road trip — and therefore, who should be the winner of the contest.
  7. Leaving a comment below constitutes having read, understood, and agreed to the complete rules (link is a PDF).

Good luck.

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