It's a given that road trips - that time-honored rite of passage - rule. Cruising around with your closest friends, a year's supply of beef jerky and 80 hours worth of road-trip iPod mixes definitely beats being sandwiched between a sweaty businessman and a crying baby on a charter flight. And where else can you reserve a seat simply by screaming "Shotgun!"?
Before you and your friends channel your inner Clark Griswold and embark on the mother of all road-trip missions, gauge your interests and goals to get some idea of what places you want to see and when you'll want to see them.
Road Trips for Purists
Road-trip purists care little about where their next destination might be. For them, the ends don't justify the means - the means justify the trip. They seek out highways that offer as much eye candy as possible: rolling landscapes, sweeping vistas and quaint roadside attractions. In the west, it's the Pacific Coast Highway. The PCH's charms have inspired musicians and writers to wax obsessive about the paved stretch for decades, firmly fixing its deserved spot in American lore. Appropriately designated as Route 1, or Highway 1, its roots sit near San Juan Capistrano, CA, where it then shoots north until it finally fades into the redwood forests.
Many prefer to start their trip from Orange County, not because, like oh-my-god, that's where they shoot the "reality" show 'Laguna Beach,' but because most of the breathtaking views along the PCH are located in the north - and it's nice to end the trip on a high note. As you sputter through the set of the O.C., you'll catch glimpses of the Pacific Ocean licking the shores to your left. Unfortunately, as you approach Los Angeles, clouds of acrid grime interrupt the vistas to the right. Thankfully the traffic, air and views become more bearable as you leave LA city limits.
As you near Big Sur, the cliffs, in particular, drop dramatically, astonishing (and occasionally scaring) those on the driver's side. Heading north, heads will swivel to the right as the landscape alternates from rolling brown hills to verdant green swaths of Northern California's legendary vineyards. Be sure to sample some of the region's incredible wines, before you finish the tour among the mighty redwoods near San Francisco. The natural sights along the PCH might be spectacular, but the city of San Francisco is just as impressive as the redwoods and more intoxicating than all the wine you've sampled.
Baseball Fanatics' Tour
Diehard baseball fans know summer is the perfect time to hit the road for the Holy Grail of vacations: a pilgrimage to every ballpark in the league, to catch a game. But with a current count of 30 teams in the league, you'll need the financial backing of George Steinbrenner and something faster than your beat-up '95 Toyota Corolla. Realistically, you'll need to limit the trip to a handful of parks.
As you chart your projected path, reserve tickets far in advance for certain teams (i.e., Yankees, Red Sox). If you want to have enough scratch for a hot dog and beer, buy cheap bleacher-seat tickets. You'll get the full game experience by sitting among the rowdiest and most intense fans in the stadium.
Rock 'n' Roll Road Trips
If sitting through nine innings and watching guys spit tobacco and scratch their nether regions isn't your idea of a perfect Sunday afternoon, a little music may purge those searing images from your memory. Your salvation lies to the southeast.
Thanks to the success of music festivals in this region, as well as the emergence of new cultural hotbeds, the southeastern United States remains more of a musical mecca than ever. The main draw here will always be New Orleans. Even the devastation of Hurricane Katrina couldn't keep visitors away from the home of blues for long, and the city constantly draws thousands of partiers to Bourbon Street.
Next on the must-hear list is Memphis, where many trot over in their blue-suede Converses to pay homage to The King. Unfortunately, the lot who do make the pilgrimage to Graceland are mostly members of the AARP. Younger, music-savvy travelers also stop by Athens, Ga., to see where the legendary rock collectives REM and the B-52's got their start.
Between stops in these cities, consider a three-day break to attend any of the dozens of music festivals that pop up in the area between May and September. The heavyweights - Bonnaroo (Manchester, Tenn.), Lollapalooza (Chicago) and Vans Warped Tour (various cities) - always seem to sell out, as they feature proven major label acts. Buy your tickets in advance.
In contrast, smaller festivals book bands and artists of a particular genre, making them a slightly more gratifying and less chaotic option. The cream of the crop includes Louisville, KY's Forecastle Festival in July. In the past, its organizers have invited the likes of Sleater Kinney and VHS or Beta. Those with extra time and gas money might want to venture farther north or west, where they'll find indie rock gatherings like Desdemona in Cincinnati, Intonation and Pitchfork in Chicago, and twangy acoustic at the Newport Folk Fest in Rhode Island.
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