The Great American Road Trip: U.S. 1, Maine to Florida

by Peter Genovese

Take an unforgettable road trip down one of America’s most fascinating highways, U.S. On what highway can you find the headquarters of the FBI, Dow Jones Interactive, and the National Enquirer? What road is home to the Bronx Zoo, the Okefenokee Swamp, and Flipper? On the side of what freeway can you find the Super Duper Weenie Wagon, Larry’s Redneck Bar, and the Big Chicken Barn? Peter Genovese found them all, along with about a million other fascinating and bizarre attractions, on U.S. 1, ‘the best damn highway in America,” as he calls it. Join him for the road trip of a lifetime The Great American Road A Journey Down U.S. 1. U.S. 1 may not be America’s scenic highway, but it’s certainly the most colorful. It runs through Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Miami, in addition to Caribou, Maine, Quonochontaug, Rhode Island, and Alma, Georgia. It zig-zags along the wild and beautiful Maine coast and soars over the Atlantic Ocean as the Overseas Highway, one of the most spectacular stretches of road anywhere. The Star-Spangled Banner is on U.S. 1. Madonna lived on U.S. 1 (until she sold her house to Rosie O'Donnell). U.S. 1 is Main Street and the Miracle Mile, two-lane blacktop and six-lane expressway, straight as an arrow in some places and twistier than a Philadelphia soft pretzel in others.  Genovese spent two years on U.S. 1, talking to everyone from doughnut makers, dolphin trainers, and swamp guides to real Miami vice cops and the keeper of the national parasite collection. His resulting book is the most complete portrait of an American highway ever written. With his unerring eye for detail, sense of humor, and understanding of human nature, Genovese takes readers on a sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always illuminating 2,450-mile journey from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida.  Ride along with Genovese and grab a drink at the Last Resort Bar or the Last Chance Saloon, then pick up a paperback at the Banned Bookstore. Visit Oscar, the biggest gator in the Okefenokee Swamp, have dinner at Hog Heaven, and take in a Portland Seadogs baseball game. Tour a Budweiser brewery and go into the pit at a NASCAR race. Looking for someplace to stay? How about the world’s only underwater hotel, the Jules’ Undersea Lodge, or in a cabin made entirely from one pine tree at the Maine Idyll Motor Court? If it’s culture you seek, the highway boasts dozens of museums. While you may have heard of the Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of American Art, how about the Blacks in Wax Museum, Tragedy in the United States Museum, and the Mushroom Museum? There’s something for everyone on U.S. 1, and Genovese has written about it all in The Great American Road Trip .

Genres: Travel

202 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1999

Reviews

[Marge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but unfortunately outdated.

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first exposure to Route 1 was at the University of Maryland in the late 1970s where Route 1 ran just past campus and was the home of all things not quite official University issue--the Route 1 Book Exchange, the Varsity Grill, and lots of little sub shops, pinball arcades, head shops, laundromats, and record shops (yes they still had records and pinball in those days). Route 1 was a moving shopping mall, and carnival midway, much as Genovese documents in this coffee table book full of pictures and stories of the people and places from Maine to Key West.

Now I live in Raleigh, NC, where Route 1 is still part of the landscape, and it remains much the same, although it traverses a still-rural but suburbanizing landscape as it nears Raleigh, where the carnival atmosphere of stores, malls, car dealers, and billboards sets up shop. And I can tell you that the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theater (that's drive-in for those who remember what that means) mentioned and pictured in the book (see p. 117-119 and the gorgeous color picture of the still-the-same screen) is still in business and by all accounts thriving from our visit there this year. The bunker-like projection room and snack bar, half-submerged in the center of the parking area, looks like it might have been unchanged since Genovese's 1999 visit--and two decades before. The playground still teams with youngsters, families still arrive in vans and pickups and pile out into lawn chairs and chat with their neighbors, and onscreen are still three first-run features, the first at dusk aimed at the kids, the second at families, and a third for those still awake and still paying attention (not necessarily the same thing at a drive-in). And added bonus, the local live rock band playing obscure movie themes before the shows started on-screen! It was a piece of Americana not to be missed.

The pictures in the book are priceless. The only thing missing is a map marking the locations mentioned in the book. And of course, a book like this could always have more pictures, more places, but then that wouldn't leave room for you to find your own Route 1. Get your map, put your top down, and head south.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Great American Road Trip is a long odyssey down America's east coast highway, US1. The book's strength and weakness is that it tries to cover many bases; travelogue, interview series, and historical overview. It does all of those things successfully but not particularly well. There are photos, but not enough for a travelogue. Interviews are interesting, particularly the ride-along with a Miami patrolman, but sometimes a little far off the beaten path. Sometimes the author just rattles off the names of quirky businesses along the route.

The subject matter is interesting and the narrative well written. When the highway is boring, the narrative can be too. Mostly this is an easy and informative read.