America's Top 10 Beaches

(NEWSER) -

1. Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach, Outer Banks, North Carolina
2. Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida
3. Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York
4. Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii
5. Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Where to avoid the people and the noise and find serenity

(NEWSER) - Even for die-hard swimmers, surfers, and sunbathers, sometimes a day at the beach is anything but, thanks to way, way too many people. The good news is that there are still undiscovered beaches out there. Travel + Leisure went scouting for such secret beaches. Here are its best finds:

• Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico: This artist colony is way cooler in both temperature and temperament than the Margaritaville of Cabo San Lucas, an hour to the south. Pacific breezes stir up rough and tumbling waves that have made this kicked-back community a surfer’s haven.

Nope. Bo didn't go to Hawaii with Michelle...

(NEWSER) - Oh-oh. The star of the Obamas' holiday card is in trouble again. After the first family got a shellacking from Sarah Palin for featuring their dog, Bo, alone, on their White House greetings, they're now under fire for transporting the dog all the way back from Hawaii just to appear in a photo op with the president during a shopping trip in Virginia. It must have been expensive to ship Bo from Hawaii, where a neighbor reported seeing the Portuguese water dog and the first daughters, reports Politico . Not so, according to the White House: Bo didn't actually travel to Hawaii with Michelle and the girls. The family who reported spotting Bo in the Aloha state said: "We would like to apologize to Bo and the Obama family for any inconvenience this may have caused them." More»

Seaside locales that have made it to Hollywood

(NEWSER) - Ever wondered where filmmakers find those beautiful natural settings? CNN has the scoop on five of the best beaches to have graced the silver screen:

• The Beach's quasi-utopia was created on Thailand’s Phi Phi Leh Island, a spot in the southern part of the country that has seen plenty of tourism since the Leonardo DiCaprio-helmed film came out in 2000.
• The Italian village of Positano was the setting for the port town of "Mongibello" in The Talented Mr. Ripley. During filming, it saw the likes of Matt Damon and Jude Law. As a hotspot for European celebrities, it remains star-studded, and sits a few hours to the south of Rome.

Hawaii, Wyoming top list

(NEWSER) - America is about as stressed as it was last year, a recent poll finds: Some 39.4% of 352,840 respondents called themselves stressed “a lot of the day,” compared to 39.9% last year. The year before was just a little more relaxed, with 38.8% saying they were stressed to that extent. But there is a lot of variation between states, notes the Huffington Post . The Midwest is the least stressed overall, while the Northeast and West are the most. This year’s least-stressed states: More»