The Spring 2012 Edition American Roads Magazine
Main Street
By Kathleen Walls
American Roads is proud to present the 2012 Spring Edition of American Roads Magazine.
That way you will always know when a new issue is online.
As always, there is a wide variety of destinations.
All of my books are still available at my personal site, www.katywalls.com or at Amazon.com or
Just click here to email me
I also have several interesting tours available at Visual Travel Tours:
Atlanta, Georgia In The Wild,
Doing Downtown Atlanta,
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Tampa Gone Wild.
Please visit our partner VisualTravelTours for a self guided tour. It's llike having a friend to show you around
Click here VTT and use Promo Code walls30 for a 10% discount!
- Explore on your own schedule, at your own pace. Each tour offers a day or two of entertainment!
- Pick eBook or narrated version, and play on any type of mobile.
- Choose from tours around the world, authored by professional travel writers.
read Main Street - Click Here »
Adirondack Trail Mix
Environmental and Geo-Tourists -
A New Breed of Adirondack Visitors
by Persis Granger
The southern Adirondacks' Lake George Region is a well-known tourist destination in New York, and has its share of traditional tourist businesses—amusement parks, T-shirt shops, hotels, bars and restaurants, motorboats, museums and historical sites. But there is a new breed of traveler that seeks more than personal gratification and relaxation. They are interested in understanding the regional ecosystem and the societal and economic challenges threaten them. They participate in a tourism that celebrates and respects the distinctive geological, cultural, historic and aesthetic character and the trad-itions of a region. These vacationers have been alternately dubbed “environmental tourists” and “geo-tourists”. It is these tourists who shun traditional attractions and blacktopped strip malls and turn off the Interstates to meander into the countryside to rub elbows with the authenticity of the region.
read Adirondack Trail Mix - Click Here »
Art Trails
A Weapon of Art - The Torpedo Factory
by Anne Jenkins
Art contributes to the revitalization of an area or town - I might be banging this drum a lot but there can be no doubt about it. If you need living proof it is in Alexandria, Virginia - and the 37+ year old Torpedo Factory, one of the grand old dames of artist‘s colonies. She might have gone through a couple of facelifts during those years but she is still a magnetic draw for the crowds.
read Art Trails - Click Here »
Civil War Trails
Top Ten Civil War Places
Kathleen Walls
For Civil War buffs, what better way to learn about America's most devastating tragedy than visiting museums and battlefields. Here's my pick of the top ten for a great overview of the War Between the States. Each one highlights a unique fact most people do not know about the War Between the States.
read Civil War Trails - Click Here »
Dusty Roads
California Kicks on Route 66
By Mike Marino
Route 66, the Mother Road, the Main street of America, an overflow of Okies sailing on the literary waters of Steinbeck's "river of immigrants". Whatever! According to the Route 66 song, "It winds from Chicago to L.A....more than 2,000 miles all the way." Somewhere along the long and winding road of history it took the off-ramp at high speed, with t...he pop culture pedal to the metal and ended up as an iconic piece of American asphalt folklore that attracts an international fan base from Norway to Japan! The mating of Route 66 and the automobile gave birth to an entire spectrum of roadside culture that included meeting the motoring publics need for roadside diners and cafes, gas stations, neon motels for lodging, drive-in theaters that doubled as teen passion pits, and drive-in fast food joints loaded with rock and roller skating carhop karma. Historically, it was the setting for Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," and subsequently the film of the same name. Both book and film were considered socialist radicalism at the time, however, the book won the Pulitzer Prize and the film walked away with the Academy Award! So, three cheers for socialism in the Thirties!
read Dusty Roads - Click Here »
Fork in The Road
Secrets of Louisville Chefs Live
by Kathleen Walls
It's a secret but I'll share it. Did you know you can be a guest on a wonderful culinary experience, a live taping of "Secrets of Louisville Chefs." You don't have to be in New York or Los Angeles. This is filmed with a live audience at Sullivan University's Kitchen Theater in Louisville, Kentucky.
read Fork in the Road - Click Here »
Historical Roads
Ferry Plantation House
By Kathleen Walls
"I be not a witch." So said Grace Sherwood. It took three hundred years but finally, the powers that be believed her. On July 10, 2006, Meyera Oerdorf, Mayor of Virginia Beach read the letter from Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine officially exonerating Grace Sherwood of the charge of witchcraft imposed on her in the early 1706.
read Historic Roads - Click Here »
Inn Roads
Living Up To The Legacy
By Kathleen Walls
The heritage of the Galt House Hotel begins long before the magnificent 25 story hotel on the banks of the Ohio River that is the official hotel of the Kentucky Derby. The original Galt House was literally that, the home of Dr. William Craig Galt who was well known for his hospitality. He was a noted physician in the early days of Louisville and a member of the first Louisville Medical Society. He was the attending physician for Louisville founder, George Rogers Clark, when General Clark's leg was amputated in 1809. Clark was the brother of William Clark, the Clark in the Lewis and Clark expedition.
read Inn Roads - Click Here »
Pot Luck
Baby Chicks & Other Spring Things
By Mary Emma Allen
As we travel around the country this time of year, we may spy "spring things" that bring back memories of events and recipes. When I saw some baby chicks recently, I was transported to the days when my dad picked up a box of these fluffy birds at the post office. These yellow balls of peeping puff fascinated us children, and we looked forward each spring when Father ordered the chicks to add to the flock.
read Pot Luck - Click Here »
Renée's Route
An American Pilgrimage,
The Mississippi Delta Blues Trail and the Footsteps of The Help
by Renée S. Gordon
There is no region in the country that is more distinctive and descriptive of a significant African American experience that impacted on the history of the entire nation than the Mississippi delta. In myth the area begins in the lobby of Memphis' Peabody Hotel and ends at the levee on Vicksburg's Catfish Row. In reality the Mississippi Delta, not to be confused with the Mississippi River Delta in Louisiana, is an alluvial plain situated between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers in the northwestern section of the state of Mississippi. The region encompasses portions or all of seventeen counties.
read Renée's Route - Click Here »
Street Party
Lets Talk Derby
Article by Kathleen Walls
It's been called "the fastest two minutes in sports" but the festivities surrounding America's premier Thoroughbred race last far longer than that. The race is held the first Saturday in May and is the culmination of a two week long Kentucky Derby Festival. Louisville Kentucky is the home of the world famous track and it pulls out all stops these two weeks. The opening event gets off with a bang. Literally. The Galt House Hotel, official hotel of the Derby, offers Thunder over Louisville, the biggest fireworks display in the nation.
read Southern Roads - Click Here »
Table Talk
Delectable Edibles From Savannah Inns
By Leigh Cort
It's not often that I'm inspired to write a sequel to a foodie story but this season I can't ignore the four fabulous innkeepers from www.SavannahInns.com – who ROCK when the pressure is on. They hosted a gathering at one of the historic inns that required a specific theme for delectable hors d'oeuvres – something that reflects their luscious Inn breakfasts that translate into cocktail party fare. I call it Southern Hospitality!
read Table Talk - Click Here »
Vagabond Traveler
Developing Memorable Collections From Your Travels
By Mary Emma Allen
As you travel, you'll find various items and information of interest for developing collections. Some of these may be educational, others create memories, while others help you work toward a goal. The list is almost endless, depending on your area of interest
read Vagabond Traveler - Click Here »
Welcome Aboard, Newbies
By Barb Hansen
Most of our yacht chartering customers have cruised before. Many own or have owned yachts. When I go over the dos and don'ts, they get it. But I really like explaining it to newbies. If I do it right, I tell myself, they'll enjoy the cruise even more and feel like they'll want to cruise again. They'll get what cruising is all about.
read View From the Marina- Click Here »
Western Trails
Civil War Trails: Harpers Ferry
by Tom Straka
Photographs by Pat Straka
There would be many places to start the Civil War trail and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia would have to be one of them. It is at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and this made it one of the hubs of early American history. The town is a mixture of picturesque public and private buildings and is a National Historical Park that goes all the way back to a ferry operated by Robert Harper and his heirs from the mid-1700's to 1824 when a bridge was built across the Potomac. Surprisingly, much of the historical park deals with the multi-layered history of the town and not just one important incident. But, yes, there is plenty about John Brown also.
read Western Trails - Click Here »
White Water Trails
Reunion Destination: Grand Canyon Rafting
by Wendy Rubicam
Modern families are often spread out across the world, and family reunions are becoming increasingly more important to maintain family ties and to share experiences as a family. In addition to the distance between family members, work and activities schedules can make it difficult to plan time together with extended family. The perfect solution to this dilemma is to plan a “destination reunion” which allows families to combine their vacation and travel plans with other family members for a truly memorable trip.
read White Water Trails - Click Here »
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