I agree. I think a transparent box with just the name would be great, and then when you mouseover/click, it would open a tooltip similar to PadMapper. Right now the distance and thumbnail don't really add much to the initial tooltip.
It would be great if each location had several pictures, and info on how to travel there & other nearby attractions. For instance, maybe it could open a link to HipMunk with the nearest airport already filled in, or it could just tell you airline prices directly. Do that, add a few hundred more locations, and this would actually be a really really cool site.