NEW YORK — If you can't afford to go to Europe this summer but you're looking for some interesting places to visit close to home, check out Travel + Leisure's "50 reasons to love the U.S.A. now" in the magazine's July issue and online at www.travelandleisure.com/articles/50-reasons-to-love-the-usa-now.

The guide, described by the magazine as "highly opinionated," is divided into four geographic regions (Northeast & Mid-Atlantic, West & Southwest, South & Southeast and Midwest) with listings for every state. In Georgia, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges' new restaurant with Chef Chris Yeo, Straits, was named.

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Chris "Ludacris" Bridges (right) and Chef Chris Yeo, behind Atlanta's new Straits restaurant, are one of Travel and Leisure's "reasons to love the U.S."

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Other featured destinations include:

• Nemours Mansion & Gardens in Wilmington, Del., newly restored formal gardens modeled after Versailles' Petit Trianon.

• The 65-casita Encantado resort and spa opening in August in Tesuque, N.M., near Santa Fe.

• Trowbridge's, an authentic old-fashioned diner in Florence, Ala., where you can order ice cream at the counter or choose from sandwiches like egg-and-olive or white-bread banana.

• Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, where you'll find sandy beaches, hiking, wildflowers and more on the shores of Lake Michigan.

— Associated Press reports