American Road Trip Talk

The last weekend of June 2013 in Kearney, NE marks the 100th Birthday Party for the Lincoln Highway, one of the first transcontinental highways for automobiles across the United States of America. In Part 1 of our Centennial Celebration for the Lincoln Highway, Sarah Focke, of the Kearney Convention and Visitors Bureau gives some of the background on why her fair city of 30,000 was chosen to host...

The last weekend of June 2013 in Kearney, NE marks the 100th Birthday Party for the Lincoln Highway, one of the first transcontinental highways for automobiles across the United States of America. In Part 2 of our Centennial Celebration for the Lincoln Highway, Sarah Focke, of the Kearney Convention and Visitors Bureau gives you all the details on the upcoming celebration. Car buffs, Lincoln Highw...

Perhaps no other roadside attraction is as closely identified with the American Road as the neighborhood drive in movie theatres that once dotted the US map. Sadly the ritual of warm summer evenings with the family piled in the car to watch the latest blockbuster has gone the way of the Edsel in most places. But the good news is that people like Jim Kopp of Stephens City, VA are hard at work keepi...

The rich earth of the Mississippi River bottom just east of St. Louis has long been a place to grow some of the best produce in the country. In particular, it was something of the tomato capital of the Midwest for many decades. What better monument to that juicy history than a massive catsup bottle, masquerading as the city water tower for Collinsville, Ilinois? In this podcast you’ll meet the Big...

The great Heritage Tractor Adventure is taking place again between June 7 and 10th in the rich Illinois farmlands just outside of Chicago. The adventure, with a three-day tractor ride, combines vintage farm tractors and displays with entertainment, great food, and family fun. WGN-720 AM's own Farm Reporter, Max Armstrong, an avid collector himself, will be setting off on the adventure with you. Hi...

Erika Nelson has dedicated her life to hunting down the world’s largest attractions along the American Road and then creating The World’s largest collection of the World’s Smallest Replicas of the World’s Largest Attractions. Erika is an artist and regular columnist who journals here trophy finds in the Think Big column of each American Road Magazine. In the spring 2013 issue, the world’s largest...

For most of us the idea of rolling down Route 66 involves a nostalgic trip on 4 wheels powered by a motor. For Virginia Sullivan that’s two wheels too many and her vehicle runs on legs. She is with Adventure Cycling Association based in remote Missoula, Montana which is in the middle of an ambitious Route 66 mapping project. In part 2 of our conversation, Ginny explains how this great cycling grou...

For most of us the idea of rolling down Route 66 involves a nostalgic trip on 4 wheels powered by a motor. For Virginia Sullivan that’s two wheels too many and her vehicle runs on legs. She is part of Adventure Cycling Association based in Missoula, Montana. I caught up with her on a Skype connection a while back to talk about an ambitious Route 66 mapping project and to learn about the associatio...

The 2013 spring issue of American Road Magazine featured a story about a golf course in northern Michigan with a one-of-a-kind feature to its course. Sweetgrass Golf course is part of the Hannahville Indian Community resort complex just north of Green Bay, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan. The 18 golf complex benefits from the beautiful wetlands that feed into the traditional tribal huntin...

The movie The Help took viewers behind the scenes of a post WWII southern society in the midst of change. It was filled with wit, insight and mouth-watering southern fried dishes. When Hollywood location scouts for the movie found Greenwood, MS, they knew that had struck gold. The architecture, cotton fields, fabulous food, and residents who welcome everyone with open arms were enough to convince...

One of the best parts of an American Road adventure is finding interesting and authentically local places to eat along the way. If you are planning a trip down the mid-Atlantic coast, you should take notes on today’s podcast. In Volume 4 of the 10th Anniversary edition of American Road Magazine, our Diner Days column focused on the tiny and unique Ten Top Restaurant in an historic Norfolk Virginia...

Legend has it that Napoleon said, “An army marches on its stomach.” Whether that is true or not, it is absolutely true that finding new, interesting and authentically local places to eat is a wonderful part of the American Road adventure. In Volume 4 of the 10th Anniversary edition of American Road Magazine, our Diner Days column focused on the tiny and unique Ten Top Restaurant in Norfolk Virgini...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of America’s most influential presidents having brought the country through the Depression and to the brink of victory in WWII. The quaint town of Hyde Park, New York was his hometown and the site of the Roosevelt Inn, the Memory Motel in our Winter 2012 issue. Karen Rudowski runs this family motel along with her mother Raili. In this second part of our conversati...

In the colonial days of Ichabod Crain, the Headless Horseman and the Knickerbockers, a stagecoach, post road connected New York City and the state capital of Albany. The little city of Hyde Park along side the mighty Hudson River marked the halfway point in the long journey and was a frequent overnight lodging place. That Post Road still exists as US Route 9. In a recent issue of American Road Mag...

For most of us, a road trip is no more strenuous than getting in our vehicles and driving from one destination to another. For our guest, Jamie Summerlin, his 2012 road trip was an extraordinary feat of human endurance that only 40 + other humans have ever accomplished. Starting at Sunset Bay State Park in Oregon, Jamie Summerlin ran 3,452 miles in 100 days until he dipped his 10th pair of worn sh...

Welcome to the second decade of the American Road Magazine. During the past 10 years we have covered lots of miles with our guests on American Road Trip Talk, but none of those excursions compare with the cross-country journey that today’s guest made in 2012. Starting at Sunset Bay State Park in Oregon, Jamie Summerlin ran 3,452 miles in 100 days until he dipped his 10th pair of worn shoes into th...

I confess; I have favorites. After nearly 40 years of hosting talk shows, podcasts and a weekly radio program, I have interviewed an estimated 50,000 people and today’s guest, Erika Nelso, is one of my favorites. This delightful peripatetic artist is the author of the Think Big column that appears in every American Road Magazine. In this podcast, we talk not only about her most recent subject, the...

Nothing says Christmas like sparkling lights, mistletoe and leg lamps. That is, of course, if you are a fan of the 1983 holiday movie, A Christmas Story. The film chronicles a hilarious holiday season during the late 1950’s through the eyes of a child. In one classic scene the father proudly displays his sweepstakes prize, a lamp in the shape of a woman’s leg. The story is pure fiction but not the...

Believe it or not, covered bridges are as American as apple pie. According to Robert Huttinger, web designer and covered bridge aficionado, what we might consider quaint rural river crossings are very particular to North America. Robert is not only knowledgeable about these architectural wonders but he also wants to make sure that the rest of us can find them. That is why he developed a covered br...

Margaret Dunning may be 102 years old, but most of us might find it hard to keep up with her. In a recent issue of our magazine this remarkable woman was featured for her participation in a classic car event with her 1930 Packard 740 Roadster. In this second part of our interview, Margaret relates what it was like to travel on the original American Highways when there were more horses than horsele...

Margaret Dunning may be 102 years old, but most of us might find it hard to keep up with her. In a recent issue of our magazine this remarkable woman was featured for her participation in a classic car event with her 1930 Packard 740 Roadster. During an extended interview with Margaret, she shared about her love for cars and told some fascinating stores about the beginnings of motor travel in Amer...

It's not the kind of thing that you can miss if you are headed through the heart of the land of Lincoln. An enormous crucifix rises nearly 200' out of the corn and soybean fields of central Illinois and can be seen for miles away coming from any point of the compass on the flat landscape. It towers above the convergence of two major freeway systems: I 70 between Terre Haute, IN and St. Louis MO an...

From Biblical times the name Goshen has been synonymous with a promised land of plenty. That is exactly what the little community by the same name in Northwest Indiana’s Amish country became for Care Anderson’s relatives. His great-grandfather brought European candy making skills from Greece to Goshen where folks have come to count on those handmade delicacies and his corner restaurant, the Olympi...

Beautiful photography has been a key part of the magic of American Road Magazine right from the start. How fitting, then, that we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the magazine with the Take 10 Photo Contest to find the best "ten themed" images of the American byways! In this interview Becky Repp tells you how to help the magazine celebrate their tenth anniversary year by sending them your favorit...

American Road Magazine is not just another a beautiful, glossy magazine, it has also developed an excellent digital presence with its Internet homepage. Readers can now view their full magazines online if they prefer and enjoy all the information and beautiful pictures on the device of their choice. They can even work the crossword puzzle electronically, find special sales and enter sweepstakes on...