April 15, 2012
Posted by Fox Van Allen
Boston to Los Angeles: Choose my adventure
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for a social media experiment. In one month — May 25, tenatively — I’ll be moving from Boston to Los Angeles. That 3,000 mile road trip is an epic journey in and of itself. But I want to make it more epic. I want to take you with me.
Now sadly, my 2005 Honda Civic is only a five-seater at best, so I can’t take you along in a literal sense. But I will be live blogging the whole trip both here and on Twitter (@Foxvanallen). To keep it interesting, I’m going to stop at some of the more unusual places America has to offer. But which ones? Well, that’s up to you.
Here’s how the experiment will work. From now until May 20, I’ll be taking your suggestions as to places you want me to visit. Anything is fair game. Want me to stop by the World’s Largest Ball of Twine? Done. Have a drink at the best bar in Austin? Why not? Meet up with you and shake your hand under the St. Louis Arch? If you insist. Take a zip line off America’s highest suspension bridge? Why do you hate me? But no matter — from casual stops to intense challenges, nothing is off limits.
Once the suggestions have all been submitted, I’ll draw out the tentative route. Now obviously, I can’t visit all the suggested places — there’s a 10-day time constraint on the trip, and I can’t do anything that costs a ridiculous amount of money (I’m living off a blogger’s salary here). But I will map out the route that contains the most interesting suggestions, and use that as my guide. Along the way, I’ll be tweeting, recording short videos, and blogging about my adventure. And I’ll even be taking your real time suggestions as to places to eat lunch, places to visit, and deviations from the planned path. I’ll do my best to make it as if you’re right there with me, even though you’ll be sitting behind your computer screen thousands of miles away.
This is probably not the first fully interactive road trip, but this may very well be the most awesome. To suggest a place to visit, simply tweet at me or reply to this blog posting below. So, what do you think, folks? Are you in?
[Image credit: Tomoryd]
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April 15, 2012
Of course you could drop by where I live in Little Rock, AR. I feel like I’m obligated to make that suggestion. I-40 is a popular interstate and cuts right through Little Rock.
OTHER than that:
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky http://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm which is off of I-65.
Royal Gorge in Colorado near Canon City. http://www.royalgorgebridge.com/ was the world’s highest suspension bridge when it was built.
A nice spa in Albuquerque http://www.tenthousandwaves.com/
Of course, there are spas in Hot Springs, AR also. Get a nice massage after all that driving. http://www.hotsprings.org/things_to_do/baths_spas/default.aspx
Mesa Verde, which is near the 4 corners region, is pretty neat. http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm
That’s all I can really think of right now. I’ll comment again if I can think of more.
April 16, 2012
Mammoth Cave National Park
http://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm
April 18, 2012
Milwaukee. The Bronze Fonz. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Fonz
April 18, 2012
You should start off going completely perpendicular and hit up DC for the History of Video Games exhibit
April 18, 2012
I say you have to visit Legoland, CA at least once. I’d love to meet up with you there and see the famous awesomeness in person, but even if that’s not possible, you should go there. It’s cool.
April 28, 2012
Tourbooks are nice and all but I would let the Zagat restaurant guide sway me.
If you liked Cars the movie, get off and see some of the Route 66 remnants that have been passed by.
Flagstaff/Sedona, Grand Canyon, Pikes Peak
I assume Vegas is a spiritual home.
You have to pick your crossing of the Rockies, n/s of Grand Canyon, and Sierra crossing and that dictates what’s on the way.
April 29, 2012
Fox,
Tons of ideas for places to visit are here: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/location/
Here’s a few highlights:
PA
Congruity – World’s Only Drive-Thru Strip Club
Hamburg – Cabela’s High Temple of Taxidermy
Hershey – Chocolate World
OH
Berlin – HIstory of Cheesemaking Mural
Marion – Popcorn Museum
IN
Elkhart – RV Hall of Fame
Fairmount – James Dean grave
Santa Claus – Santa Claus Museum, Santa’s Candy Castle
IL
Charleston – World’s Biggest Lincoln Statue
Collinsville – World’s Largest Catsup Bottle
Des Plaines – McDonald’s Museum
Metropolis – Superman’s Hometown and Museum
IA
Burlington – World’s Crookedest Street
Riverside – Future Birthplace of James T Kirk
Waukon – House of Clocks
NE
Alliance – Carhenge
Hastings – Kool-Aid Museum
Omaha – World’s Largest Ball of Stamps
CO
Antonito – Cano’s Beer Can Castle
Four Corners – where four states meet
Genoa – Wonder Tower
UT
Copperton – Biggest Pit in the World
Vernal – Dine-a-Ville (dinosaurs!)
NV
Elko – World’s Largest Polar Bear
Hiko – Alien Research Center
Las Vegas – Heart Attack Grill
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