Customer Reviews

Road Trip America: A State-By-State Tour Guide to Offbeat Destinations

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I just received this book. When I saw it my heart sank. I'd like to take my kids on the kind of road trips I enjoyed when I was their age. My parents always found the scenic, as well as the fun places to take us. This book struck out big time. It doesn't give out useful info for planning a fun road trip. I thought one of the previous reviewers was exaggerating when they said each state gets only two pages. How can you learn what a state has to offer in a tiny amount of space? 2 pages it is.

On the bright side, I also ordered United States on the Road. WOW. Now that book is definitely a guide to planning a very cool road trip. Beautiful photos and descriptions of plenty of places to visit (scenic as well as fun), history, directions, mileage, email addresses, phone numbers, price guides, etc. I can't wait to start planning our trip!!

I wish I had read some of the reviews of this book before making my purchase. I would have passed on it. I was hoping for something a little more detailed, more definitive. Instead I see a smattering of questionable entries on locations that were easily accessed on his itinerary, whether they were the best the state has to offer or not. As many would, I first looked at a state I know well (Kansas), to see Wood's recommendations. Gulp - he was way off! If P.J. Dinsmoore's "Garden of Eden" in Lucas is not even mentioned, or the world's largest ball of twine in Cawker City, this guy has not done his homework.

One thing I'm sorry I missed out on by not being born about 10 years earlier is the fun and excitement of the family road trip and the wonderful, strange, and Kitschy roadside attractions so popular in the 50's and 60's. In this small but fun book, author Andrew F. Wood takes readers on a state-by-state journey to some of the weirdest and wackiest attractions one can find traveling the highways of America. As Wood points out, many of these are kept alive only by the love of their owners, long after their heyday has passed. The book is arranged in alphabetical order by state and in addition to noting some of these attractions, each state also has a "Did you know" fun little fact or bit of trivia about it.

Wood's book is not meant to be a complete guide to all roadside attractions, but rather a nation-wide sampling of some of the zanier things to see as you visit each state. Some notable stops along the way include:

Holbrook, AZ where you can find one of the last remaining teepee motels called the Wigwam Motel, along the famous Route 66.

Giant statues have long been popular attractions for motorists and this book lists many interesting ones to see including one of comic strip hero Steve Canyon along I-70 in Colorado. Or in Collinsville, Illinois, you can see the world's largest Catsup bottle.

In Dyersville, Iowa, you can visit the baseball field made famous in the film, "Field of Dreams" or visit the home of Bufford Pusser in Adamsville, TN, who was immortalized in the 1970's cult classic, "Walking Tall".

For those who like their attractions a bit spookier, there is the Voodoo Museum in New Orleans' famous French Quarter, and you can get your picture taken in an authentic gas chamber at the Wyoming Frontier Prison Museum.

Michigan features Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum and Cawker City Minnesota is home to the world's largest ball of twine, at a massive 40' feet tall.

The book is loaded with fast food firsts, such as the locations of the first KFC, Wendy's, White Castle, and more as well as numerous tiny towns...even a tiny world...that can be visited. This is a fun, fascinating trip through America that many of us never see and that is quickly disappearing from the landscape. It's obvious that Andrew Wood has a tremendous passion for the subject matter. Get out on the road before it's too late!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Forget about the big attractions, like Disney, this short book offers the unique and more personal attractions. Perhaps your interested in the first McDonald's (California), the first Steak-N'-Shake (Illinois), or White Castle (Kansas), or maybe Kentucky Fried (In Kentucky of course!). Maybe your interested in the biggest ball of twine (several states boast of this), or miniature models of towns. Each of the fifty states is introduced by a "Greeting from" postcard (but at less than 1 1/2" by 2 1/4" I wish these would have been bigger). The appendix identifies many of these from Curt Teich Postcard Archives that collectors will recognize. There are pictures of unique hotels, cottage courts, and such as "Wigwam village", and I would have enjoyed having these pictures/cards dated. Readers of this will also enjoy his Motel Americana web site.

In all fairness I was looking for a different book -- when I got this in the mail it wasn't what I expected. Though the title would have you believe it would be a suitable replacement. I was planning to drive from LA to San Diego and was looking for some cool landmarks. Well each state gets 2 pages, so you can image the ideas I got for stopping points. Zero. I looked up Massachusetts, my home, and all it seemed to talk about was Howard Johnson's. Given HoJo's has burned a place in local memory and was an important early player in the motel business, no evidence exists of it today. So bad road trip book. Mildly interesting history book.

This is not a tour guide and nether is Motel Americana by the same Author a Guide. My reason for buying this book was because I was planning a road trip. this book is absolutely no help. what a mistake. From now on I will read the reviews before purchasing a book

I was hoping to use the book to research a road trip. Its not more informative than a generic tourism department leaflet. There's not one map or address in here. One trip to roadfood or roadside america would give more information than this. What a letdown.

History buffs and pop culture fans will love this nostalgic look at the fascinating monuments, restaurants and other fun and quirky sites found in the United States. It would be fascinating to look at the historic photos found in Road Trip America: A State-By-State Tour Guide to Offbeat Destinations and then take a road trip to see the appearance of that site in modern times.

No matter what state - or states - that you want to visit, author Andrew F. Wood has fun and offbeat recommendations of places to see and enjoy. You could plan a day trip, complete with a picnic lunch, and tour your own state following Wood's suggestions or you could create an entire vacation itinerary using this book as inspiration.

I'd suggest that, when using this book, you take along a quality road map, as this book doesn't provide specific directions. I'd also recommend that you take along a highlighter to keep track of which sites you were able to visit - and then plan another road trip to see some more.

Way too thin for the experienced traveller or collector of offbeat destinations. Liked the old photo postcards but there were no photos of the places that were described. So photos did not match text. I think that people who are really into this kind of attraction are sort of graduate level tourists/travellers/pilgrims and this is kindergarten level.

A wonderful guide to the quirky and fun, off-the-beaten path family road trip