See America

Many popular tourist destinations owe a large part of their identity to a singular aspect of their culture. In France, locals will introduce you to the joys of any one of their thousand distinct cheeses, while thoughts of Brazil might bring to mind their stunning beaches. You know that if you visit Arizona that one way or another, you’ll probably catch a glimpse of the Grand Canyon. If your travel...

What is a “Meow Wolf”? Some have said it's a “psychedelic funhouse.” Some liken it to “Burning Man,” the outdoor music festival. Others say it’s an “intergalactic, interdimensional travel agency.” While most have no idea what we’re talking about.  Save 15% on a Roadtrippers PLUS subscription and start building your ultimate road trip. Use code RVMILES2X at checkout.  Photo: Rusty Blazenhoff .  Con...

Space Travel is starting to change dramatically, but the history of space travel is one of the most incredible pieces of America's story, and few places can it be better felt than in Cape Canaveral. I'm Jason Epperson, and this is the See America Podcast. From coast to coast, we See America one mile at a time, discovering stops along the way that are eclectic, historic, ridiculous, breathtaking, i...

In the southwestern corner of Tennessee, a mountain towers over the city of Chattanooga, at its peak, it's rumored that you can see 7 states. This destination is certainly one borne of natural beauty and history, but the dawn of auto tourism led it down a similar path as the Niagra Falls - commercial kitsch, with See Rock City signs plastering that 7-state region. That's ok, that nostalgia is hist...

See America is back! We're kicking off season 7 with a fun roundup of some of the most interesting and amazing bathrooms in America, along with the best places to stop when you have to do your business on a road trip!

This week, we are adding to our ever-growing list of episodes highlighting international landmark replicas that dot the American landscape with a road trip to the iconic Parthenon, located not in Athens...but in Nashville, Tennessee.  

The world's most famous gunfight didn't happen where you think it did, and it only lasted for 30 seconds. But the spat between the lawmen Earps and Cowboy Clantons is one of the most enduring legends of America. And really, how long does a gunfight need to last? The town it happened in is one of the few places you can truly step back in time and be there, much as it was, at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday,...

In upstate New York, one museum is dedicated to a boxed dessert that's been a part of America for nearly 125 years. America's Most Famous Dessert's success story is the result of marketing that would help shape the advertising industry throughout the 20th century. There's always room for Jell-O... This week, The Jell-O Gallery Museum in LeRoy, New York.

This week, a celebration of the Pine Tree State's 40,000 acres of Wild Blueberries at Wild Blueberry Land in Columbia Falls, Maine.

Our journey today definitely spends some time in Europe, as much of America's story does. But it ends in the 1970s, in Lake Havasu, Arizona, where a piece of world history was salvaged for a tourist attraction like no other: The London Bridge

This week, we journey to the world's largest convenience store — Texas' famed Buc-ee's. A place filled with miles of treats and sodas and bathrooms so clean you'll hold it for an extra fifty miles just to use them. It's a chain that's become a legend. 

It's been called the "King of sodas" and "liquid sunshine," and over the years it's gone through several variations - Red Fusion, Diet Cherry Chocolate, and "made with real sugar," but at the end of the day, the original reigns supreme. In an industry where companies are constantly trying to reinvent themselves, this brand's original formula has stayed near the top of the leader board since it was...

One of the world's most well-known roadside attractions, nearly in the middle of nowhere South Dakota began as a stop for free ice water, coffee, and donuts for service personnel on the way to an Air Force Base. Today, it's a tourism icon. And the coffee price has gone up drastically — from free all the way up to a whopping $.05.  This week, the Wall Drug store in Wall South Dakota. 

Evel Knievel made the leap from rural county fairs to sold-out stadiums through a unique combination of bravado, determination, and promotional genius. He invented himself and his business, jumping, crashing, and miraculously recovering to promise even more outrageous stunts to come.

Each winter, thousands of people descend upon Alaska in hopes of catching one of the most spectacular light shows on earth. Steeped in legends and myths that can be found in cultures throughout the world, these brilliant lights are one of our most majestic natural wonders, and certainly, one of the most highly photographed. Their presence gives a sense of the otherwordly to a state that already fe...

It's surely not a stretch for me to say that most people imagine that all the stunning major hotels in the US are in popular tourist destinations. But what if we told you one that has been called the 8th wonder of the world—an architectural marvel with nearly 250 exquisitely appointed suites, a world-class spa, 45 holes of championship golf, and an atrium dome that was once the largest in the worl...

Normally on this show, we take you to a single destination, but this week we're changing it up a bit. We're going to take a journey across the country to the final resting places of —some famous, some infamous, some completely unknown. These people all left their mark at the last possible moment, with some of the strangest tombs you'll find on earth.

The Great River Road follows the Mississippi River’s length, on both sides, providing access to much of this beauty, mixed with the industrial history of America. We’ve covered several Mississippi river towns on this show - Minneapolis, Rock Island, St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans - but there’s one town where you can get the quintessential Mississippi river experience. A town where much of the pop...

Jack Daniel’s may sound like a ubiquitous, mass-produced brand, but it’s always been made the same way, in the same place, the same way it was made by the man whose name is on the label.

Many historians cite the first bank robbery in the United States as February 13, 1866 when associates of Jesse and Frank James robbed the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri. If that date sounds way to modern, your history senses are keen. To find out more about the real first U.S. bank robbery you’d have to travel back to 1798, 68 years before Jesse and Frank James, and 1,127 mil...

Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks;  When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one. Actually, the bordens received only 29 whacks, not the 81 suggested by the famous ditty, but regardless, Lizzie Borden’s alleged murder of her parents is one of the most famous murder trials in history.  This week, on our special Halloween edition of the podcast, the Lizzie...

New York City. The bright lights of Broadway shine on no less than 40 of the greatest stages on earth, and yet, one venue in the Big Apple outshines all others. This week, Radio City Musical Hall.

Up until about 30 years ago, there wasn’t much that made the North Star State  — Minnesota — a destination for international tourists. It’s 10,000 lakes included. That all changed on August 11, 1992, when 10,000 people all had their first day of work in Bloomington, a suburb of the twin cities, at what would become one of the most popular tourist destinations in America, second only to Times Squar...

In Wiltshire, England sits a prehistoric monument of epic proportions. Featuring a ring of standing stones each around 13 feet high, seven feet wide, and weighing about 25 tons, Stonehenge is a household name shrouded in folklore and fame. Constructed between 3,000 BC and 2,000 BC it has been legally protected since 1882 and was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. It’s an awe-inspiring and...

America is home to lots of things that we get to claim are the biggest and greatest, but there’s one facility in the U.S. that probably deserves more bragging rights than any other, and it’s not one that’s often talked about. It’s the biggest library in the world, and It also just happens to be one incredible display of American architecture.  This week, the Library of Congress.