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The Winter 2013 Edition American Roads Magazine Main Street By Kathleen Walls American Roads is proud to present the 2013 Winter Edition of American Roads Magazine. Subscribe to our mailing list to be notified when new issue goes 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.   Adirondack Trail Mix Saranac Lake Winter Carnival – The Ice is Nice By Persis Granger “S’posed to get down below zero tonight.” “’Bout time!” Exchanges like the above are common in early winter in Saranac Lake, NY, a central Adirondack town. It lies about ten miles from Lake Placid, the village that was home of the 1932 and 1980 winter Olympics. Long periods of cold weather make ice, and ice is big in Saranac Lake, whose frozen lakes, before the days of electrical refrigeration, chilled ice boxes all over the country. And, since 1897, Pontiac Bay also has yielded frigid building blocks for an ice palace that glistens center stage at the annual Saranac Lake Winter Carnival. “That is why we may be one of the few places in the country where people actually hope for cold weather,” says Jeff Dickson, carnival organizer.   read Adirondack Trail Mix- Click Here» Agri Lanes I Hear an ECHO by Kathleen Walls ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) introduces you to some of the strangest plants and animals you will ever meet. You can sample produce like guavas, cassava, Carabola, called the star fruit because of its star shape when sliced and experience the taste changes caused by the Miracle Fruit. When you chew this berry first, lemons and other sour or bitter food will taste sweet. Who wouldn't love the Peanut Butter Fruit? Read Agri Lanes_Click Here Art Trails Southeastern Delaware Artists Studio Tour by Anne Jenkins  A group of seven artists in the rural Sussex County of South Eastern Delaware got together in1995 to try and promote their burgeoning art community. They chose to launch the SE Delaware Artists Studio Tour on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving because, ‘no one did anything during the Thanksgiving weekend back then,‘ remembers one the pioneers. Now, eighteen years later, it’s a popular annual tradition and attracts enthusiastic large crowds.  Read Art_Trails.htm Chuckwagon Roundup Fill 'er Up by Kathleen Walls When you have a really big hunger, nothing satisfies like an "all you can eat" buffet. Here are some of the best I have found. read Chuckwagon roundup Click Here »   Civil War Trails On to Olustee by Kathleen Walls During the War Between the States, Florida played an important, if understated, role. True, no major battles were fought there. None of the battles were turning points in the war. Florida's main service to the Confederacy was feeding its armies. Florida provided  much of the beef, pork, fish, fruit and salt needed by the troops.   read Civil War Trails-Click Here » Cort's Crossroads From the Sandaway, With Love by Leigh Cort I yearn to return to the Sandaway – quietly embracing the long Indian summer days on the shore of the Chesapeake, Choptank and Tred Avon Rivers. A graceful and stately mansion with sloping green lawns & gardens …dotted with white Adirondack chairs and chaises – reminiscent of a turn-of-the century postcard. It’s a sentinel of gracious Southern living – Oxford, Maryland embraces four centuries of American history surrounded by three renowned bodies of water. read Corts Crossroads-Click Here » Exploring With Eleanor Mobile's G-Rated Mardi Gras and Other Dixie Delights By Eleanor Hendricks McDaniel A band struts by, horns blaring, drums thumping. A papier-mâché float, representing a medieval castle and festooned with sparkling decorations, approaches. The riding masked revelers cast gifts to the throngs below. The crowd goes wild. “Throw me something, mister!” they shout. I grab a moon pie. Others catch beads, candy, stuffed animals and more. Soon the somber season of Lent will be here. But right now, laissez les bon temps rouler! (French for “Let the good times roll!”)  Ah, yes… Mardi Gras in New Orleans. No! It’s Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, the birthplace of the famous celebration. read Exploring With Eleanor- Click Here» Fork in The Road Flitter Over to Firefly By Kathleen Walls When you think of Panama City Beach, you usually think of the type of food enjoyed by spring breakers; burgers, fries and the like. Being known as the "Redneck Riviera" doesn't help envision a  gourmet restaurant either. Yet right in the heart of the beach city, there is Firefly proving all the stereotypes wrong by serving award winning food  fit for a king, or perhaps a president. read Fork in the Road - Click Here » Happy Trails Pennsylvania Trails: A Colonial Homestead and a Railroad Museum By Tom Straka Photographs by Pat Straka Pennsylvania has a vast choice of roadside cultural attractions. Two that are close by to each other in Amish Country are Daniel Boone’s childhood colonial homestead and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Both, operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, are fascinating ways to learn more about American history in an environment that also allows for a fun time. The homestead has a number of related historical displays along its walking trails. Next to the railroad museum is the Strasburg Railroad and a chance to ride a steam locomotive. read Happy Trails - Click Here» High Roads Airline Food Survey By Kathleen Walls For those of you who prefer to fly over American Roads instead of driving them, this should be of interest   read High Roads - Click Here » Inn Roads Laketown Wharf Resort By Kathleen Walls My assistant/daughter, Veronica, and I visited Panama City Beach in November (See Off the Interstate)  and had a great experience. We stayed at the Laketown Wharf Resort in an Egret apartment, one of three larger vacation rentals,  with  a full kitchen–it was so nice not to have to squeeze everything into a mini-fridge– a great room, two bedrooms, two baths and over 1200 sq ft of space. We were not there long enough to need it but it was nice having our own washer and dryer in the unit just in case. There was a balcony with a gorgeous water view overlooking the gulf. read Inn Roads - Click Here» Music Row Opera Houses By Kathleen Walls In the 19th century, opera houses were the ultimate mark of civilization. Big cities and small towns strove to open and maintain an opera house. In this era before movies and TV, live entertainment  was the  only public entertainment available. Even small towns opened Opera Houses to attract traveling entertainers. Many were called "Grand” which came from the theatre guide book of that time period and was designated to theatres meeting certain qualifications regarding the building's structure. In spite of the name, it was not only operas that were performed in the theatre. In most cases they provided a place to perform the most popular traveling shows of that time, including vaudeville shows, minstrels and even some of the earliest silent movies. Here are some of the most interesting I have visited. read Music Row - Click Here » Off the Beaten Trail Hot Diggity Dog By Kathleen Walls Cruising across America's highways and byways to all the fun festivals and events in a 27-foot-long dog with six captain-style armchairs and a 180 degree windshield and getting paid to do it, what a way to tour the country! There are only twelve active Hotdoggers driving a Weinermobile. I recently met two young people who are doing just that. Hot Diggity Holly and Jess Grillin' are having the time of their lives while learning new skills that will help in later career choices. read Off the Beaten Trail- Click Here» Off the Interstate Rediscover Panama City Beach By Kathleen Walls If you are young–or young at heart–Panama City beach is a great vacation spot any time of year. Sure the season there is supposed to be summer and spring break time, but there are good reasons to visit during the off season. Unless you are a college student or a lover of noise and traffic jams, you best avoid the spring break time. For the rest of the world, September and October are the months when you experience the best of both seasons. read Off the Interstate- Click Here» Pot Luck Pie Customs Around the Country By Mary Emma Allen As I study recipes and travel the country I find various customs involving pies...the types made and the times they're served. For instance, there is Pecan Pie in the South, Key Lime Pie in Florida, Strawberry Pie in season, Mock Apple Pie when you can't acquire apples, Vinegar Pie a pioneer hand down in the Mid West.. read Pot Luck - Click Here» Renée's Route Saint Paul Minnesota: Last of the East, First of the West by Renée S. Gordon Saint Paul is a rich multicultural so destination filled with attractions, heritage and history that it can be experienced in a variety of ways. It is small enough to be considered one of America’s most livable cities but large enough to offer visitors first-class accommodations and dining opportunities. The city is divided into 17 distinct districts, each with its own tales to tell. read Renee's Route- Click Here» Traditional Trail The Shakers of Pleasant Hill By Kathleen Walls Long ago and far away, a simple peace loving people were searching for a place they could live in harmony with nature and their fellow man. In 1779, a few of their number had sailed from their homeland in search of a place to settle. Many settled in New York and founded a colony there. In 1805 some of the group moved down into Kentucky. They found a beautiful land of rolling hills and streams. The soil was rich. They put down roots in a rural area they called Pleasant Hill. read Traditional Trail- Click Here» Vagabond Traveler Traveling Through Books By Mary Emma Allen I've always been fascinated with actual places found in novels and often use this information as a guide for my traveling around the country. I keep an atlas beside my reading chair and pull it out to see where the stories are set and where characters might live and travel. Sometimes I've visited the area of the country in my travels beforehand, so can readily visualize the scenes the author describes. Even so, I'll pull out my atlas to refresh my memory. Read Vagabond Traveler - Click Here Warren's Bi-Ways See the USA in your Chevrolet Part Two by Warren Resen You know you are not in Florida anymore, or the southeast for that matter, when the landscape changes from green to brown. Roads run arrow straight and you can see tomorrow’s weather coming over a table-top flat landscape and mile after mile of highways are devoid of any other traffic. For this article, I’d like to offer a few hints on survival in these foreign climes. read Warren's Bi-Ways- Click Here» Wild Roads The Great Great Plains Zoo and Museum By Kathleen Walls Nature lovers who visit Sioux Falls will fall in love with The Great Plains Zoo. In this 45 acre park, you can visit animals from the North American plains, glide over to Africa and see the animals of the savanna in very natural surroundings, then slip over to Asia and admire the big cats before you hop down under for the Australian wildlife. Plus there are special exhibits for the flamingos, the Birds, Bugs and Amphibians, the penguins and everybody's favorites the primates. Young visitors will be enthralled by the barnyard creatures at Hy-Vee Face-to-Face Farm. All told, over 1,000 animals from around the world.   read Wild Roads- Click Here»

The Fall 2012 Edition American Roads Magazine

Main Street

By Kathleen Walls

American Roads is proud to present the 2012 Fall Edition of American Roads Magazine.

There is a new way to "subscribe, Please register here and you will be sure of geting a reminder when a new issue goes 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

Fall In Love with the Adirondack Region

By Persis Granger

Fall is no wishy-washy affair in the Adirondacks. There's no seamless progression from summer to winter here. The seasons change with an explosion of reds, golds, yellows and oranges, with the crunch of tinder-dry leaves underfoot, with a crackle and snap of freezing nights that whisper of winter to come and sing sad songs of summer past. Activities and ambiance evolve with the seasons. Canada geese trumpet the change in their southward journeys, settling down here or there to glean a cornfield before continuing on. Residents lay in supplies of firewood, and the sharp smell of wood smoke slices the air. Cold cellaring, canning, freezing or pickling prepares beets, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, squash and pumpkins for winter storage. Lush garden plots fall fallow.

read Adirondack Trail Mix- Click Here»

Agri Lanes

Olive Forge Herb Garden

by Kathleen Walls

Marsha and Darryl Herren are an amazing couple. Seniors, who are their own best advertisement for staying healthy with herbs, they run Georgia's only licensed herb farm. This place is amazing. You can find over 350 varieties of culinary, medicinal and wreath herbs. Their gardens and gift shop, The Still Room, are available for browsing.

Read Agri Lanes_Click Here

Art Trails

MID-CITY ARTISTS STUDIO TOUR, WASHINGTON, D.C.

by Anne Jenkins

For a truly refreshing view of the nation's capital, ignore the politics, intrigue, lobbyists and world class art museums when you head to Washington, D.C. and take a tour on the real side of life and discover the local art. The funky, vibrant neighborhood, around 14 th Street NW between U-Street and Q Street (or DuPont & Logan Circles), hosts the Mid-City Artists Studio tour twice a year in spring and fall. The fall one is coming up the weekend of October 13-14, but keep checking their website for the next one if you miss this one.

Read Art_Trails.htm

Chuckwagon Roundup

Unique Eats

by Kathleen Walls

Biblical dinner in The Explorations in Antiquity Center in LaGrange, Georgia has to rank as number one in the unique category. LaGrange's history goes back to the Revolutionary war but this local museum will take you even farther back. The Center, a unique attraction about anthropological finds in the Holy Land, has guides dressed in biblical costumes to explain life in that time frame. You can even enjoy a "Biblical Meal" served in a realistic setting. The museum offers two rooms with reclining tables where you sit on cushions on the floor to eat just as people in the first century would have done. The “Jerusalem Biblical Meal Room” is a copy of one discovered at Pompeii. The “Mount Zion Biblical Meal Room” is a replica of one discovered at Herculaneum.

read Chuckwagon roundup Click Here »

Civil War Trails

Tunnel Hill

by Kathleen Walls

Tunnel Hill is a tiny community in the northwest corner of Georgia. Today, their claim to fame is the Western and Atlantic Tunnel. The small tunnel built in 1850 was the first railroad tunnel built south of the Mason Dixon line. It was strategically important to both the North and South in the Civil War. Because of this, it was one of the bloodiest battle sites of the war.

read Civil War Trails-Click Here »

Cort's Crossroads

St. Francis Inn  

by Leigh Cort

In 1985, Joe Finnegan and his wife Margaret bought the St. Francis Inn (circa 1791) believing ?If you want a successful business in the hospitality industry, everything you do is for your guest's pleasure and comfort.? Nearly 30 years later, they still believe in their philosophy along with a dedicated professional staff, many of whom have been employed at the Inn nearly as long.

read Corts Crossroads-Click Here »

Exploring With Eleanor

Surprising Small Town Atlanta

By Eleanor Hendricks McDaniel

Strung north of big city Atlanta, a chain of small towns offers everything that a traveler desires, but at a slower pace. Whether you're looking for a weekend getaway or longer, these metro Atlanta villages will surprise and delight you.

read Exploring With Eleanor- Click Here»

Fork in The Road

It's Elements

By Kathleen Walls

What do you get when you cross a bistro with an art gallery? How about mixing it all up in an old silent-movie theater in Lyons, Georgia? You don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that one out: "It's Elements, Doctor Watson."

read Fork in the Road - Click Here »

Happy Trails

Civil War Trails: The Antietam Campaign

By Tom Straka

Photographs by Pat Straka

Yes, this is an article about the Civil War battle at Antietam, or Sharpsburg to a Southerner. The North named battles after the nearest body of water, while the South used the nearest settlement. But it is not about the battlefield. Rather, it is about the campaign routes Lee used to get from Virginia to Antietam and back. The trail that Robert E. Lee's troops took to get to Antietam can be just as interesting as the battlefield itself.

read Happy Trails - Click Here»

Inn Roads

Farmhouse Inn

By Kathleen Walls

The Farmhouse Inn is a bed and breakfast with a country style twist. The rooms are in a white clapboard farmhouse-style tin-roofed building and decorated in a cozy farm style. A community room with a fireplace and lots of games is there if you choose to enjoy some indoor time.

read Inn Roads - Click Here»

Mountain Trails

Wildcat Lodge

By Kathleen Walls

High up near the top of North Georgia's mountains is a place of history, mystery and just plain fun. Wildcat Lodge is located in tiny Suches, Georgia. Those who haven't yet discovered this hidden treasure are in for a treat when they do.

read Mountain Trails - Click Here »

Native Trails

Follow That Star

By Kathleen Walls

What better way to learn about a people and their culture is to study their art. For the art of the Sioux people, Prairie Star Gallery in Sioux Falls is place to visit. First thing to know is that "Sioux" is a nomenclature used by Europeans to designate several tribes and means "Little Snakes in the Grass." These proud people call themselves Lakota, Dakota or Nakota which mean "friendly people. There are all just different dialects of the Lakota people.

read Native Trails- Click Here»

Pot Luck

Autumn Foilage Crafts & Cooking

By Mary Emma Allen

The leaves have begun turning colorful and taking on their brilliant red, orange and yellow hues, painting the countryside with nature's palette.

read Pot Luck - Click Here»

Renée's Route

Prince William County & Manassas, Virginia

by Renée S. Gordon

Prince William County was mandated in 1731 by Virginia's General Assembly and named in honor of the third son of King George, Prince William. When John Smith arrived in 1608 two tribes shared the area, the Dogue, Algonquians, and the Manahoac, a Siouan tribe. Because the Manahoac were more nomadic the colonists had the most contact with the Dogue and though the Dogue were friendly eventually they came to be thought of as liars and cheats. It is widely held that ?to lie like a dog? is from this era. By 1730 the Native Americans had moved from the area.

read Renee's Route- Click Here»

Table Talk

Hannah Erasmus Wins

Culinary Dream Contest For Children

A student at PV Rawlings Elementary School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Hannah Erasmus, has a passion for food although she's only ten years old. Her dream was to spend a day in the kitchen of a chef's restaurant learning about nutritious cooking and how to protect the planet's future from the farm to the table . Her winning entry story reflected an awareness of nutrition and cooking for the family as she entered Chef Jean-Stephane Poinard's competition to win ? My Day in a Chef's Kitchen' .

read Table Talk- Click Here»

Traditional Trail

Walk on the Wilder Side

read Traditional Trail- Click Here»

Vagabond Traveler

Collecting Friends...A Travelers Bonus

By Mary Emma Allen

Some people collect souvenirs such as seashells, plates, tea cups, spoons, bookmarks, postcards, dolls, and other memorabilia from places they visit. My husband Jim and I find our lives expanded and enriched by the people we encounter and the friends we make.

Read Vagabond Traveler - Click Here

Warren's Bi-Ways

See the USA in your Chevrolet

by Warren Resen

After years of foreign travel, with all of the accompanying discomfort and indignities of airline travel, worries about safety, revolutions and natural disasters, it was time to get in our car despite the price of gas and see this country where there are no currency changing hisses and people speak the same language, well basically.

read Warren's Bi-Ways- Click Here»

The Summer 2012 Edition American Roads Magazine

Main Street

By Kathleen Walls

American Roads is proud to present the 2012 Summer Edition of American Roads Magazine.

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

All Aboard for “Railroads on Parade”

By Persis Granger

As you travel up New York's Adirondack Northway (I-87), it's easy to breeze right past the tiny town of Pottersville without realizing what gems reward those who follow the exit 26 signs. Flip on your turn signal and join the growing number of those who have discovered Pottersville's amazing new attraction, Railroads on Parade, located at 7903 NYS route 9, the town's main street.

read Adirondack Trail Mix- Click Here» l

Adirondack Trail Mix 2

Adirondack Adventure beyond Lake George Village:

Ten Minutes North: The Sembrich

By Persis Granger

For over a century, Lake George Village in the southern Adirondacks has been a Mecca for tourists from near and far. With the main drag, Canada Street, lined with little shop draw visitors after they've sunned themselves silly on the beach, ridden the steamboat, wave runners or parasail and are ready to shop. Much has remained over the decades - the T-shirts, post cards, ice cream cones, pizzas, miniature golf and arcades. One night a week in summer there are open air concerts in the park, and sometimes fireworks over pristine Lake George. Many, after enjoying the shopping, dining and diversions of the village, are ready to explore. This writer suggests heading north on route 9N, also known as Lake Shore Drive.

read Adirondack Trail Mix- Click Here»

Agri Lanes

Agri Hotspots

by Kathleen Walls

In this issue, American Roads is beginning a new column, Agri Lanes. We all enjoy eating and surely traveling, so what better than exploring the unique places our food comes from. Agritourism is becoming mo e and more popular fueled by the trend of farm to table and no doubt by the alarming recalls and warnings about processed food and salmonella outbreaks. Also in more urban societies, children have no concept of where food comes from. A classic example is the person seeing tongue on a menu exclaims, "I don't want to eat anything that has been in an animal's mouth . I'll have an egg sandwich instead."

Read Agri Lanes

Art Trails

MOSAIC - THE REHOBOTH BEACH GALLERY COLLECTIVE

by Anne Jenkins

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware's premier beach town, hums along dancing to it's own vibe. The town encompasses many different levels of pleasure and culture in a relatively small area - from magnificent art galleries, first rate theater, fine photography and superb handmade jewelry to a boardwalk with tee-shirt shops and old fashioned ice cream shops. They all happily jostle alongside each other - a something for just-about-everyone kind of town. It's friendly, a live and let live place boasting a wonderful beach and, although it can get pretty crowded at the height of summer, a seashore that gives a sense of space and big sky.

Read Art Trails

Chuckwagon Roundup

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

by Kathleen Walls

Chuckwagon Round Up is one of our two new features. It is always going to be a grouping of different dishes, chefs or restaurants that are noteworthy. For this first column, what better way to start then with The Best Thing I Ever Ate . Those of you who watch the Cooking Chanel are familiar with the show of the same name. Like the show, I am going to reminisce about what that thing was. Some of these dishes are tied as I could not decide which was best when both make me salivate just thinking about them.

read Chuckwagon roundup Click Here »

Civil War Trails

Searching for the Real Jefferson Davis

by Kathleen Walls

You can find all the dry historical information about Jefferson Davis online or in books. Sure, he was the president of the Confederate States. Before that he was a West Pointer, a colonel in the Mexican War, a United States senator, the son-in-law of President Zackary Taylor and secretary of War under Franklyn Pierce. Bur if you want to find the real man under all the historical facts, you need to visit the important places in his life.

read Civil War Trails-Click Here »

Cort's Crossroads

Horse Stamp Inn  

by Leigh Cort

Imagine your cares melting away as you drive along Horse Stamp Church Road ~ making up for lost time in a place where time stands still.

read Corts Crossroads-Click Here »

Dusty Roads

Cool Caddy's & Rusted Relics

By Mike Marino

Combine the elements of asphalt and chrome, and you end up with one nitro methane fuel-injected work of art. We're talking' real garage style Guggenheim stuff too. America has been addicted to asphalt and auto's like a nation of full of leaded and unleaded junkie's. Originally, the Detroit metal masters of machinery turned out pretty simple transportation to satisfy the growing motoring needs of an industrial nation that was entering a phase of horsepower puberty. A nation hell bent on going somewhere, anywhere, fast..faster..and even faster still. Eventually, there was an intercourse of speed and style, and in the 1940s' the cars started to get a little class, and in the process, the mechanics of The Motor City were turning into the Monet's of Motown.

read Dusty Roads - Click Here

Exploring With Eleanor

Going Green in the Grand Canyon

By Eleanor Hendricks McDaniel

Hoards of people visit the Grand Canyon each year. They arrive by automobile and every other type of motorized vehicle. More than 100 years ago, they arrived a little worse for wear in a jarring, back-breaking stagecoach. But that wagon didn't pollute the air. If we travel there in a mass transit vehicle, we can pollute it less. We can go green to and inside the park.

read Exploring With Eleanor- Click Here»

Fork in The Road

Walnut Hills:

Vicksburg's Traditional Restaurant

By Kathleen Walls

Every city has its traditional restaurant, the place locals always bring an out-of-town guest, the eatery that is totally unique to that city. In Vicksburg, Mississippi, that place is Walnut Hills.

read Fork in the Road - Click Here »

Happy Trails

Gold Trails: The Reed Mine

By Tom Straka

Photographs by Pat Straka

Where was the first documented gold strike in the United States? Many people would think it was somewhere out West, but it was in North Carolina, not far from Charlotte. (The occurrence of gold in the U.S. was noted before this strike, but none were significant enough to lead to mining).

read Happy Trails- Click Here»

Inn Roads

Ground Zero

By Kathleen Walls

If you are die-hard Blues fan there is one place that will bring the Blues into your life like no other place on earth, Ground Zero Blues Club. Ground Zero is not just another blues club. It is as close as you can get to the roots of the blues.

read Inn Roads - Click Here »

Music Row

Birthplace of the King

By Kathleen Walls

Most of Elvis's fans have made the pilgrimage to Graceland. His most devote followers recognize the importance of that earlier shrine, his birthplace in Tupelo Mississippi. After all without the birthplace there would have been no Graceland.

read Music Row- Click Here»

Pot Luck

The Enjoyment Of Picnic Time

By Mary Emma Allen

Whether you're traveling on a lengthy trip or simply going out for the day, summertime means picnic time when we enjoy eating out-of-doors. This may be a backyard barbecue at Uncle Don and Aunt Susie's, a basket lunch at the lake, or an outdoor meal when hiking or traveling. Often children simply like to eat out on the deck or in the yard and pretend they're on a journey.

read Pot Luck - Click Here»

Renée's Route

Delaware, “A Small Wonder”

by Renée S. Gordon

The state of Delaware is a mere 96-miles long, 36-miles wide at its widest point, is comprised of only three counties. While Delaware's colonial history largely follows the trajectory of the other 12 colonies it has stories that are stunningly unique and the footprints of these tales can be traced from Claymont to Fenwick Island We are going to begin our exploration of the state's singular sites in southern Delaware's Sussex County. Sussex the largest and most rural of the three manages to be jam-packed with history, mystery, slaves, knaves, treasure, 24-miles of sandy shoreline, 47 bays, 10 beaches and all manner of leisure options.

read Renee's Route- Click Here»

Street Party

On The Bourbon Trail

by Kathleen Walls

If you want to head your party bus –or family car–for the most fun in Kentucky, go for twenty-first annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival. The festival, held in Bardstown, September 11 – 16, 2012, celebrates Kentucky's long love affair with the art of making great Kentucky Bourbon.

read Street Party- Click Here

Vagabond Traveler

Hiking Season Offers Many Pleasures

By Mary Emma Allen

Hikes through the woodlands add pleasure to country living or visiting. Now's the time to get prepared for those treks into the solitude of a forest world. Our family has always enjoyed hiking, whether in the woods around our home, longer hikes through New Hampshire's White Mountains where we live, or treks in the Rockies of the West where we often visit.

Read Vagabond Traveler - Click Here

Warren's Bi-Ways

Cowboy Up

by Warren Resen

The event was billed as a “Cowboy-Up” weekend at Crescent J Ranch/Forever Florida. Most people seemed to think it meant dressing up and playing cowboy for the weekend. The term, as used by cowboys, especially at rodeos, has a totally different meaning.

read Warren's Bi-Ways- Click Here»

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.

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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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

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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.

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Western Trails