The Orange County Register, July 2nd, 2006
I've lived more than 40 years in California.
I had dinner and a night in a motel in Rhode Island.
Pennsylvania got three years of my life. Indiana, a long afternoon.
I've walked all over New York. I barely got out of my car in Nebraska.
So though a trip to Kansas meant that I had finally visited all 50 states, the quality of the 50 experiences varies
But over four decades or four hours, each state grabbed my attention long enough to conjure a memory - indelible or fleeting. This is hardly a "best of" list of national attractions. You won't find a Yellowstone or Empire State Building anywhere here.
Just a collection of little pieces and places that stuck in my mind while wandering across the nation.
Alabama: Downtown Montgomery
In less than a half-hour you can walk from the spot where country radio legend Hank Williams debuted, a few feet from where Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus, up to Martin Luther King's old church and past the White House of the Confederacy, finishing on the steps of the state capital, where Old South stalwarts Jefferson Davis and George Wallace both promised unyielding opposition to a future that overwhelmed them. Oh, and Chris', one of the country's legendary hot dog stands, is along the route. (800-240-9452 or www.visitmontgomery.com)
Alaska: Peace of Selby, Selby Lake
A ruggedly pretty fly-in lodge beside a lake in the Gates of the Arctic National Park, where the sun never sets in the middle of summer. The lodge is run by a feisty woman named Be, who packed a pistol when we went berry picking, because "bears like berries, too." Needless to say, plan on a summer visit. (www.alaskawilderness.net)
Arizona: Meteor Crater, Winslow
When worlds collide. Luckily this one was a lot smaller than ours. The lack of water in the desert has slowed erosion, leaving the cosmic hole near Winslow one of the few clear examples of the battering Earth has taken from space over the eons. (800-289-5898 or www.meteorcrater.com)
Arkansas: Hope
Bill Clinton's hometown is a sweet and slightly sad town that is proud of its favorite son, even if he did spend most of his adult life in Fayetteville and Little Rock. Try to visit during the annual watermelon festival. (870-777-6701 or www.hopearkansas.com)
California: Avenue of the Giants
The two-lane meandering drive near Garberville takes visitors on a route through giant redwood stands, among some of the oldest living things in the world. It's best taken during the long off-season from October to April. The rain gives the huge trees a spectacular primordial feel. (www.avenueofthegiants.net)
Colorado: Lily Sopris
After a grueling day of travel, I was in a foul mood about Colorado when I checked into the Hotel Monaco in Denver. Up ran Lily Sopris, a Jack Russell terrier who serves as the hotel's pet concierge, wagging her tail. Charming surprises are a rare thing on the road. Lily made my day. (800-990-1303 or www.monaco-denver.com)
Connecticut: Yale
I had passed through Connecticut many times, but one of America's great universities, in New Haven, was reason to stop for the day. It's not as pretty as Harvard or Princeton, so the education offered there since 1701 must be pretty good to draw all those applicants. (203-432-2300 or www.yale.edu/visitor)
Delaware: Rehoboth Beach
When I was living in Pennsylvania, Rehoboth was my local beach. I'd rent a trailer, splash in the Atlantic and go into town for a table full of blue crabs you'd smash open with a wooden mallet. (800-441-1329 or www.beach-fun.com)
Florida: Pool at the Biltmore, Coral Gables
Hotel pools have a tendency to look like kiddie water parks with slides and fountains. The 700,000-gallon blue colossus where Olympian and later movie Tarzan Johnny Weissmuller was once a lifeguard is an exception. It's the largest hotel pool in the continental U.S. So classy and cool you almost feel as if you're breaking a taboo by actually going swimming in it. (800-727-1926 or www.biltmorehotel.com)
Georgia: A President in Plains
Wandering around the tiny downtown of Plains one afternoon, my family and I ran into Jimmy Carter, who was working on the rehabilitation of an old building in the downtown of his tiny hometown. The 39th president of the United States took a moment out for a quick interview and a picture with my son, Thomas. He still teaches Sunday school to all comers who stop by Maranantha Baptist Church. (229-824-5373 or www.plainsgeorgia.com)
Hawaii: North Shore of Oahu
In winter, the big waves roll in from Alaskan storms, creating the epic surfing conditions that smash up all but the best board riders. Pipeline, the famous break to the left from Ehukai Beach Park, is the best spot to see the action. (877-525-6248 or www.visit-oahu.com)
Idaho: Idaho Potato Expo, Blackfoot
A great tourist trap in the town, this spud museum tour ends with "free taters for outta staters." It used to be a choice of baked potato or potato ice cream, but for a while they resorted to boxes of potato flakes. (208-785-2517 or www.ida.net/users/potatoexpo/)
Illinois: Wrigley Field, Chicago
There is no better way for a baseball fan to spend a spring afternoon than taking the elevated train from The Loop in downtown to Wrigleyville, having a pregame beer at either the Cubby Bear or Murphy's Bleachers, then taking in a game at the ancient field with the ivy-covered brick wall. Baseball's version of nirvana. (866-652-2827 or www.chicagocubs.com)
Indiana: Falls of the Ohio State Park, Clarksville
One of the states that got short-changed, with just an afternoon visit from nearby Louisville, Ky. But what an afternoon, climbing around the rocks in the golden afternoon light at the pretty state park on the banks of the Ohio River. (812-280-9970 or www.fallsoftheohio.org)
Iowa: Hotel Pattee, Perry
It's rare that a hotel can make a town a destination all by itself. But lovers of arts and crafts or just plain artistic whimsy make the trek to tiny Perry just to see the beautifully eclectic themed rooms of this one-of-a-kind inn. Visit in fall, during pumpkin season. (888-424-4268 or www.hotelpattee.com)
Kansas: Fort Scott
The town grew up around the fort established in the 1840s as one of a string of posts marking what was then the western edge of the frontier. I arrived soon after a major fire had heavily damaged the historic 19th-century downtown. It seemed a lonely place among the flat prairie grass, but when the soft sunlight shone between the old army barracks in a park on the edge of town, it gave everything a melancholy feel that was very appealing. (www.fortscott.com)
Kentucky: Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot
Twice a year, automatic-weapons enthusiasts gather in a shallow valley near Louisville and let it rip, blasting wrecked cars and huge wooden wire spools. You can rent a Thompson or an Uzi, or splurge for a lesson on how to use a flame thrower. Only in America. (www.machinegunshoot.com)
Louisiana: Dancing at Mulate's, Breaux Bridge
The area has become more commercial over the years, but it's still a blast to drive down into Cajun Country for some catfish before stomping around the wooden dance floor. (325 Mills Avenue (LA 94), Breaux Bridge, 337-332-4648) Note: Mulate's in New Orleans is a franchise of the original.
Maine: Trenton Bridge Lobster Pot, Trenton
Two lobsters and a beer for less than $20 was quite a find when I visited in the early 1980s. The price has gone up a bit, but a crustacean picnic by the water is still one of New England's great inventions. (207-667-2977 or www.trentonbridgelobster.com)
Maryland: Annapolis
West Point sits on a dramatic promontory above the Hudson River. The Air Force Academy has the Colorado Rockies as a backdrop. But the home of the Naval Academy has the prettiest setting of all, a sunny ocean-side town that fills up with cadets. (888-302-2852 or www.visit-annapolis.org)
Massachusetts: North End of Boston
The Old North Church and Paul Revere's house, along with great calamari and cannoli. Revolutionary New England meets Little Italy in one of the great American neighborhoods. (888- SEE-BOSTON (733-2678) or www.bostonusa.com)
Michigan: Old Tiger Stadium, Detroit
It's closed now and will soon be torn down, but I was glad to get to spend a summer afternoon watching a Tigers game from the upper deck of left field of one of the last classic-era ballparks. (313-202-1800 or www.visitdetroit.com)
Minnesota: St. Paul
Across the river from Minneapolis is the smaller, quieter, older Twin City, the one that counts F. Scott Fitzgerald and "Prairie Home Companion" among its assets, past and present. (800-627-6101 or www.stpaulvcb.org)
Mississippi: Clarksdale
Legend says Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads (most say Highways 49 and 61) to become the world's greatest guitarist. There's an ATM at the intersection today, so maybe the deal could be done with cash instead of eternal damnation. Commercial sprawl has taken away some of Clarksdale's backcountry charm, but the small town near the banks of the Mississippi is still recognizable as the "birthplace of the blues." (800-626-3764 or www.clarksdaletourism.com)
Missouri: Independence
The core of the town made famous by "Give 'Em Hell" Harry Truman has been lovingly preserved to look as it did when the president was a resident. (816-325-7000 or www.ci.independence.mo.us/tourism/)
Montana: Beartooth Highway
One of the scariest moments in my travels was when I locked the rental-car keys in the trunk while well up this famous "high road" near Yellowstone National Park. Luckily, my wife discovered you could pop the trunk from the driver's side. We were able to continue our drive through the clouds instead of ending up in the teeth of some bear. (www.beartoothhighway.com)
Nebraska: Strategic Air & Space Museum
During the Cold War, Nebraska was the home of the Strategic Air Command, whose job was to drop hydrogen bombs on the Soviet Union if the "red phone" rang. You can see the arsenal of aircraft that were ready to deliver the nuclear blow. My favorite: the super-sonic delta-winged B-58 Hustler of the kind that starred in the chilling "what if" nuclear-war movie "Fail Safe." (402-944-3100 or www.sacmuseum.org)
Nevada: Gambler's General Store, Las Vegas
I love the casino ephemera you can pick up here: canceled blackjack cards and decommissioned craps dice once used in the casinos, for less than $2 a set. Mechanical slot machines of the kind before the electronic video gizmos of today (expect to pay north of $3,000 - and that will get you just a copy of an original model). Lots of other Las Vegas mementos, inexpensive and luxurious. The roulette markers make for interesting desk paperweights. 800 S. Main St., Las Vegas. (800-322-2447 or www.gamblersgeneralstore.com)
New Hampshire: Dublin
Yankee Magazine feeds the fantasy of the quaint New England of white church steeples and country stores. All they need to do is look out their office windows for inspiration in this picture-perfect town. (603-563-8544 or www.townofdublin.com)
New Jersey: Hoboken
The town across the Hudson from New York was where baseball was likely invented, and where Frank Sinatra grew up. It's also where my future wife lived. We'd take romantic strolls up to Stevens Tech with its great views of the New York skyline. (201-420-2000 or www.hobokennj.org)
New Mexico: El Rancho Hotel, Gallup
Most people come to the Southwest for the wide-open space. I'm drawn to the towns that sprung up in the remotest corner of the country. Gallup is the quintessential Western town. This is no gentrified Sedona or Santa Fe. Gallup's center is a strip of bars and Indian curio shops pressed against the side of a railroad track, with the old Route 66 passing through. The El Rancho, a onetime favorite of Hollywood travelers, is now on the National Register of Historic Places. (800-543-6351 or www.elranchohotel.com)
New York: Ansonia Hotel, New York City
In a city of great buildings, I've always been charmed by the apartment house near the corner of 72nd Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side where Babe Ruth once lived. It helps that it's near where I met my wife at a party in 1983. Despite the name, it is a private residence, so you can only look from the outside. (2109 Broadway)
North Carolina: Clyde Jones' Critter Crossing, Bynum
Jones won't sell you one of his brightly painted folk art animal carvings - he only gives them away, mostly to charities for auction. But you can wander around the grounds of his ramshackle house in a small town just south of Chapel Hill and see the work of this buzz-saw artist. It can be tough to find, so get a map from the Roadside America Web site: www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/NCBYNjones.html.
North Dakota: Groundhog "city" at Theodore Roosevelt National Park
I was alone for most of my day driving around the southern portion of the national park near Medora. But at one stop, I found myself among thousands of golden-coated groundhogs, many staring at me, as they popped out from an underground "city" that stretched for hundreds of yards. (701-623-4466 or www.nps.gov/thro)
Ohio: Warren Harding's house, Marion
I've visited the simple house of arguably America's worst president on two occasions. The house and the temple-like memorial to the inept chief executive who died in office show that no matter how bad historians rate you, politicians should be nice to the neighbors if they want a shrine or two when they are gone. (800-371-6688 or www.visitmarionohio.com)
Oklahoma: Oral Roberts University, Tulsa
The giant praying hands and the prayer tower where Roberts once waited for God to take him to his eternal reward are just two of the highlights of the campus linked to one of the most famous (or infamous, depending on your frame of mind) of the golden era of televangelists. (800-678-8876 or www.oru.edu)
Oregon: Powell's City of Books, Portland
I would go to Portland just to spend a weekend prowling the multiple floors of what I think is the best independent bookstore in the western United States. A lot of Powell's fans would drop the "western." The Tattered Cover in Denver, Elliott Bay Books in Seattle and a few others could also stake a claim (but with the recent closing of Cody's in Berkeley, the list is getting shorter). (800-291-9676 or www.powellsbooks.com)
Pennsylvania: Mon Valley
This isn't a pretty place, but it's as American as it gets. The Monongahela River Valley - what locals all call "the Mon," was once the heart of the American steel industry. Many of the plants that lined a 45-mile stretch of the river are closed or torn up. But the remaining industrial carcasses, and the towns they spawned, are part of a time when "American made" meant U.S. Steel, not McDonalds. (800-359-0758 or www.visitpittsburgh.com)
Rhode Island: Modern Diner, Pawtucket
Someday I'll see the mansions of Newport, but so far my Rhode Island experience adds up to a night in a motel and a diner dinner north of Providence in the early 1980s. The eatery was the Modern Diner in Pawtucket, whose owners later memorably sued Disney for copyright infringement for using its streamlined likeness on a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. Disney settled out of court. The Modern is the most famous diner in "the diner state." (364 East Ave., 401-726-8390)
South Carolina: Maurice's Gourmet Barbeque, Columbia
Regardless of your politics, at least poke your head into this Old South stalwart, where the Confederate battle flag still flies overhead. Tracts criticizing Abraham Lincoln are sold alongside items boasting "Lee Surrendered, I Didn't." Some call it heritage. Others call it hate. Decide for yourself. (800-MAURICE (628-7423) or www.mauricesbbq.com)
South Dakota: Lead
The area around Rapid City has Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Badlands National Park and lots of other attractions and events. But my favorite spot is the small town of Lead (rhymes with reed). The Homestake Mine here was the deepest and oldest in the country when it closed in 2001. It once fueled the fortune of William Randolph Hearst, who used the money to finance his newspaper empire. (605-584-1100 or www.leadmethere.org)
Tennessee: Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, Nashville
Like much of downtown Nashville, this old honky-tonk next to the legendary Ryman Auditorium has taken on some tourist-trap trappings. But on the right night, the music, beer and mix of locals and visitors can make for a lot of fun. (422 Broadway, www.tootsies.net)
Texas: West Alabama Ice House, Houston
A tent. Some benches. An icebox filled with long-neck beers. The old "ice houses" of Houston are a longtime urban fixture giving way to the city's never-ending sprawl and real-estate speculation. The West Alabama has been around since 1927 and will, I hope, keep going a while longer. (1919 W. Alabama, Houston, 713-528-6874)
Utah: Monument Valley
The area straddles the state line with Arizona, but Goulding's Lodge, the main place to stay, is in Utah. If this collection of iconic monoliths often used as a backdrop in director John Ford's movies weren't on the Navajo reservation, it would be a national park. The lack of such a designation - and its distance from the interstates - means that you'll experience a fraction of the crowds of Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon and other parks in the region. (800-200-1160 or www.utah.com)
Vermont: Old Tavern at Grafton
Preservationists usually save a building or two. Here, they've kept a whole New England village looking much as it did 100 years ago. You can stay at this inn, built in 1801, where peace and quiet take the place of television and computers. Come on an autumn weekday when the maple-tree leaves are beautiful but the crowds are thinner. (800-843-1801 or www.old-tavern.com)
Virginia: Last Capital of the Confederacy, Danville
Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox gets all the space in history books, but the end of the Civil War also played out elsewhere in the South. This Italianate mansion owned by Manor Sutherlin near the North Carolina border is where Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet met for the last time in April 1865. It's now the local fine arts museum, but there's a good exhibit on the war in a lower level museum. (975 Main Street. 434-793-4636 or www.visitdanville.com)
Washington: Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park
I visited the lodge at Crescent Lake on a slow midweek period in early summer and seemed to have the grounds (and choice of canoes) to myself. This isn't a grand place, like the lodges in Yellowstone or Yosemite. But it is cozy and a bit off the beaten track. (360-928-3211 or www.lakecrescentlodge.com/)
West Virginia: Harper's Ferry
I came late one summer to see the site of the famous battle in Oct. 1859 between abolitionist John Brown and U.S. troops led by future Confederate rebels Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. But I also enjoyed the beauty of the old town on a steep hill leading down to a riverside where the days were still warm enough for children to inner-tube in the waters but cold enough at night that the leaves were beginning to turn. (304-535-6029 or www.nps.gov/hafe)
Wisconsin: Johnson Wax Building, Racine
A bold, warm, humane office building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It still seems futuristic, even though it was begun in 1936. The open-plan main room with its lily-pad columns is one of Wright's signature structures. One of the few buildings that makes you wish you worked for a major corporation. Tours on Fridays only (reservations required). (14th and Franklin Street, 262-260-2154 or www.scjohnsonwax.com)
Wyoming: Irma Hotel, Cody
A little bit of the Wild West, modern-style, goes on many night at the old hotel's street-corner bar, where rowdy modern cowboys and cowgirls who work for the area's local outfitting companies whoop it up. Take the time to at least have a slab of prime rib and a beer in the dining room, where you can see the ornately carved cherry wood bar that was given to the onetime owner, Buffalo Bill Cody. (800-745-4762 or www.irmahotel.com)
*****
Warner can be reached at 714-796-7771 or by e-mail at gettinga-way@ocregister.com.
