Travel: Road Trip USA

With the summer now in full swing, it is time to consider what to do with those lazy days. My suggestion would be to take a couple of weeks and join throngs of college students partaking in that well known summer adventure-- the road trip!

Starting on the eastern seaboard, stop at the Statue of Liberty and head south on Interstate 95 down the east coast. This route will take you through Atlantic City, to Virginia Beach, through Savannah, Georgia, past the Fountain of Youth all the way to Key West.

The Fountain of Youth
You may not be able to see any wacky sites (such as the world's largest catsup bottle) that are characteristic of mid-western road trips, but a trip down the eastern seaboard will take you past the Fountain of Youth! This is the Floridian site where Spanish explorer Ponce de León, searching for a fabled spring that would keep him forever young, came ashore in 1513. It is now a 15-acre park containing the infamous sulfur spring, which you can drink from (although immortality is not guaranteed!)

If you are located somewhere in central United States, try Interstate 83-- "the road to nowhere." From North Dakota strait down to Texas, this route will not take you through one conventional tourist attraction! Immerse yourself in small-town USA atmosphere in the middle of America's heartland.

If you'd rather have a more scenic trip, and do a bit of gambling, follow the Great River Road, which lines the Mississippi. You'll never be more then 100 miles from a casino, from one end of the Mississippi to the other! You'll pass through Elvis Presley's Graceland (Tennessee) as well as Mark Twain's hometown in Hannibal, Missouri.

Traversing the country from East to West this time, is Interstate 20. Passing through 2 of the Wonders of the World (New York’s Niagara Falls and Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park) this 3,200 mile long trek follows the old Oregon Trail. This route passes by Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and "carhenge" in Nebraska-- a replica of Stonehenge, made out of classic American cars.

To finish this article, lets take a trip down the West coast, beginning in the northern state of Washington and ending on the Mexican border. Start out in the Olympic National Park in Washington and head south along the coast through fishing villages into the quiet state of Oregon. Continue your drive through the dense redwood forests of northern California; the Avenue of the Giants is a 31 mile portion of old Highway 101 and lies between Eureka and San Francisco, California. A remnant of car-borne tourism in the United States, check out the drive-through trees, drive-on trees, houses carved out of trees, and more. Follow the coast south to Los Angeles and San Diego for palm trees, beaches and celebrity spotting.