Train, Anyone?

I haven't looked at the map, but I'm hoping the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum is somewhere between Hillsboro and Nashville. Wouldn't it be cool to take the Secret City Scenic Excursion Train? Trains are pulled by 1950's vintage Alco diesel locomotives. Seating is in an air-conditioned coach and a dining car, both restored from the 1940's era of passenger railroading. An open-air concession car has souvenirs and snacks for sale. Trip is about an hour.

Where it all began...

On our first roadtrip together, some 10 years ago, we drove from NYC to Niagara Falls. On the way home, I saw a sign for Millard Fillmore's Birthplace. I told them we had to stop and see it. You can't just drive by Millard Fillmore's birthplace!!! My roadtrip buddies collectively said, Who? And thus, two items were added to Roadtrippers Canon: 1) Always plan an itinerary...one that includes the major, minor, and mostly obscure attractions. 2) Always include a U.S. Presidential site. And now, here's KIA, backing their position that no one's ever heard of Millard Fillmore, our 13th president. (Play the KIA's Unheard of Presidents' Sale video.) Lesson learned. Never NOT stop at an interesting stop.

And speaking of discovery...

Metropolis, Illinois Along the Great River Road about 25 miles or so off the beaten path between Memphis and St. Louis. What spells kitsch more than a Super Museum and Super statues and cutouts all over the place? Yep. We're SOOOOOOO stopping, if only to add another state. There's the Americana Hollywood Museum & Gift Store, and a Harrah's, too. Hey, maybe Dean Cain will show up for this trip, too!

With Open Arms...

So, because we're doing 14 states in 14 days - ok, fine, it's really 12 states in 14 days - I've been filling out a million opt-in forms to get all the free visitor guides. I'm expecting lots of wasted paper (which, of course, I'll recycle), and a lot of email spam. But here's the sweetest note ever, from my new BFF in Montana (just click on the image to see it big). Oh, I know it's an auto-response, but it gives new meaning to the phrase MT Note.

Blue Skies and Open Roads: America, wherefore art thou?

Hopefully this blog will seek to inform and maybe entertain you, dear readers, about this seminal roadtrip that every American - nay, every human - should make: the cross-country trip to discover America. And, if I figure out how to do it, all of us should be able to post whatever our hearts' desire. I'm talkin' Roadside Attractions, people! I'm talkin' sweet travel deals and travel tips! I'm talkin' grub - and no, Julie, not real grubs. Well, you get the picture.

Well, now I've gone and done it.

After years of making fun of bloggers and their need to get their voices out there, and thinking OMG, the big-headed hubris of these people thinking that other people might actually care about their lives, thoughts, and opinions, I was finally conviced to host a blog.

This one. Where, admittedly, only four people in the world might care about its contents. The four going on this roadtrip.