The Golden Age of the Automobile, when families explored the
countryside on weekend afternoons and took long summer vacations driving on
iconic highways like Route 66, is long gone. So are the classic roadsters and
station wagons of the era. It is a past bathed in a romantic glow, before
anxieties about global warming, traffic gridlock, and crumbling infrastructure
sucked all the pleasure out of driving. Here are some books to take you on a
nostalgic road trip into the past:
This companion volume to a PBS documentary includes many
vintage photographs.
Covering the years 1893 to 1908, “a page-turning story of popular culture, business, and
sport at the dawn of the 20th century, filled with compelling,
larger-than-life characters.”
A lively history of the first coast to coast highway, from
Times Square to San Francisco, completed in 1913.
But is there perhaps a renaissance underway for the motoring
holiday? Low gas prices, the hassles of air travel, and fear of terrorism
making foreign travel less appealing may be “driving” a new enthusiasm for
taking to the road. Whether you want to travel near or far in the U.S. here are
some resources to get you started:
Covers over 400 sites divided into ten weekend trips.
Aimed at retirees, this book explains how you can travel on
the road for a year at the same cost as staying at home.
Facts and activities for places to visit in every state.
27 road trips not too far from home.
Includes two day to two week routes on scenic roads from
the Rockies to New England.
Useful Websites:
This easy to use site offers classic routes like Route
66, the Pacific Coast, and the Oregon Trail, or you can map out your own custom
trip.
Popular routes and helpful information from a reliable
source.
Or if you’re planning a
staycation this year you can always
take one of these virtual road trips from the comfort of your own armchair or hammock:
A 57-year-old widow leaves the corporate world to travel 2,500
miles of the Pacific coast on a Harley.
A humorous account of “fifteen years and
ninety thousand miles on the roads and interstates of America with Lewis and
Clark, a lot of bad motels, a moving van, Emily Post, Jack Kerouac, my wife, my
mother-in law, two kids, and enough coffee to kill an elephant.”
In June 1953 ex-President Harry Truman and his wife Bess
went on a road trip to visit old friends. Just the two of them, no Secret
Service, unimaginable today.
“Thirty games in thirty days on the best
worst baseball road trip ever.”
For more reading suggestions check out this list from Goodreads.
Whatever your plans this summer, here's wishing you Happy Adventures and Happy Reading!
Rita T.
Labels: Books, History, Travel
A humorous account of “fifteen years and
ninety thousand miles on the roads and interstates of America with Lewis and
Clark, a lot of bad motels, a moving van, Emily Post, Jack Kerouac, my wife, my
mother-in law, two kids, and enough coffee to kill an elephant.”
