![]() Frank/Shutterstockĭay three - Burlington, Colorado to Cedar City, Utah via I-70/I-15 (745 miles): “I-70, for those who have not driven it, is a must-do,” says Carl Reese, who holds multiple cross-country driving records. I don’t think you can sleep on the carousel, but feel free to try. Grit it out until you hit the Colorado border, and then crash in Burlington, Colorado, home to an antique carousel that spins at about 12 miles per hour. Kansas City would be a good place to stop for food - I like Hayes Hamburgers & Chili, though steer clear if your stomach is sensitive - but don’t eat too much, because you’ve still got to drive all the way through Kansas, a state best experienced in the dark. Pick up a case of Ski, Rummy, or Million Dollar Grape soda - the locals prefer Ski, but you do you - and then get back on the highway and tear ass through Missouri. Louis, when you might want to detour slightly off I-70 toward Breese, Illinois, home of the Excel Bottling Company, one of the country’s last independent soda bottlers. I sort of like the hypnotic flatness of Indiana and Illinois, but there’s not much to stop for until right before St. ![]() ![]() Milktoothĭay two – Indianapolis, IN to Burlington, CO via I-70 (918 miles): Get breakfast at Milktooth - or at local treasure John’s Famous Stew, if you are fond of stew for breakfast - and then get your butt in the car, because this is a big drive day. Or do stay out too late, I’m not your mother. Don’t stay out too late: You’ve got a big day ahead tomorrow. Check into The Alexander near the state capitol and head down the street for a drink at the pleasant, undemanding Brass Ring Lounge. By the time you pull into Indianapolis, it will be very late, which is as it should be. To celebrate (almost) making it through this very long state, take a brief detour to Pittsburgh and head to the solid, unpretentious Grant Bar and Lounge in the Millvale neighborhood, specializing in fried shrimp, coconut cream pie and, on Fridays and Saturdays, turtle soup. This task becomes easier once you hit the Pennsylvania Turnpike, America’s first long-distance superhighway. Three-and-a-half days (also known as the “Cannonball Jog”)ĭay one - New York, New York to Indianapolis, Indiana via I-78/I-76/I-70 (709 miles): You’ll be spending a lot of today’s drive in Pennsylvania, and my advice for you is to drive through it as fast as you can, making as few stops as possible. Let’s get to it! Redondo Beach | Rhonda Roth/Shutterstock Before you leave, you should get a car (duh), a national park pass, a toll pass, a Rand McNally road atlas, a tent, and, if you are a sociopath, a tin whistle with which to drive your companions insane. I’m going to try to not repeat segments or destinations, so that you could conceivably drive all three routes and be delighted anew on each trip. We’ll use those cities as our starting and stopping points for each itinerary. Some ground rules to start: The classic cross-country road trip route, established in the 1970s during the legendary Cannonball Run races, starts at New York City’s Red Ball Garage and ends at the Portofino Hotel and Marina in Redondo Beach, California, about 7 miles south of Los Angeles International Airport. I like to walk through nature every three or four days and then see the rest of the country through a car window. I prefer road food to haute cuisine, national parks to museums, the Southwest to the Deep South. I like to drink cheap beer at dive bars and then pass out in hotels. While I like to think there’s something here for most everyone, I readily admit that I devised these as the sorts of road trips that I’d like to take. ![]() I can personally vouch for most of the routes, sights, and destinations I recommend below. I am a frequent traveler and driving enthusiast who spends a good portion of each year on the road. I’ve assembled three ideal itineraries for three separate road trips from New York to California, clocking in at three-and-a-half, seven, and 14 days, respectively. It’s time to start planning a good old-fashioned coast-to-coast road trip. Well, as the song says, summer’s here, and the time is right. It’s something that everyone should do at least once in their life - preferably in the summer, when the days are long and warm and you can roll down your car windows at top speed without risking pneumonia. The overland cross-country journey is ingrained in the American spirit.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |