`Poets and artists from Walt Whitman to Muddy Waters have long sung the praises of rolling down the highway, and no matter how times have changed we still believe there’s nothing more essentially American than hitting the road and seeing the country.”
So writes perennial traveler and author Jamie Jensen in “Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways” (Moon; $22.50), a massive love letter to the pleasures of the open road. Jensen offers 11 cross-country routes, including less traditional north-south (West Coast, Appalachian Trail) journeys.
Throughout the long journeys, Jensen’s eagle eye settles on the most interesting and unusual sites, people and anecdotes. Hence, the author makes pit stops at such sights as the James Dean Memorial, 27 miles east of Paso Robles, Calif., where the moody actor crashed his Porsche on Sept. 30, 1955, and the crossroads of U.S. Highways 49 and 61 in Mississippi where, according to blues legend, the great blues guitarist Robert Johnson traded his soul for his art. Eight miles south of Gibsland, La., a faded stone marker stands on the site where the infamous Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow met their violent end.
From soda fountains to minor-league baseball teams, Jensen celebrates life on the road whether it be the 3,200-mile-long U.S. Highway 50 from San Francisco to Ocean City, Md., a stretch of which is called “the loneliest road in America,” or fabled Route 66 between Chicago and Los Angeles.
Jensen also includes survival guides for two dozen cities, more than 100 maps and various essential driving tips.
Civil War sites
“The Civil War Trust’s Official Guide to the Civil War Discovery Trail” (Macmillan Travel; $11.95) is a guide to more than 400 Civil War sites in 24 states. The guide was compiled by leading scholars and historians of the Civil War Trust, a private, non-profit organization. Dr. James M. McPherson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, wrote the introduction. The trail includes battlefields, historic homes, railroad stations, cemeteries and parks, Underground Railroad sites, memorials and museums. Each site has been selected for its historical significance.
Organized alphabetically by state, city and site, each chapter offers a brief overview of the role of each state in the war. Essential information is also included, such as directions, hours, admission charges (if any), visitor services and what to see and do once you get there.
Outdoor locales
Three North American regions renowned for their outdoor attractions are subjects of new guides from Frommer’s.
“Frommer’s Utah” (Macmillan Travel; $14.95) provides detailed driving tours, a chapter on ski resorts and detailed coverage of the major national parks, including Bryce Canyon and Zion. “Frommer’s Montana & Wyoming” ($15.95) includes Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier National Parks.
“Frommer’s Nova Scotia, New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island With Newfoundland and Labrador” ($14.95) concentrates on the natural resources of the Maritimes, focusing not only on historic fishing villages and beaches but also on scenic drives, nature walks and the best places for whale watching and lobster suppers.
