Road Trip: Roadside America from Custard’s Last Stand to the Wigwam Restaurant
Universe, $29.95
Who doesn’t like a road trip?
Architectural historian Richard Longstreth likes road trips and architecture. “Road Trip” features photographs of vernacular roadside architecture that Longstreth took mostly in the early 1970s of buildings built between 1920 and the late 1960s, the so-called golden age of the American road.
When Longstreth began his journey many years ago, capturing the ephemeral architecture of roadside America, he did so, he says, out of a sense of urgency. “The interstate highway system was in its final stages of construction.” The need for motorist services was diminishing, he adds. “Soon many of these places would be abandoned … demolished or altered. …” He feared that the architectural landscape “of a whole era” soon would be gone.
As a documentary photographer, his goal was for the photographs to speak for themselves. What he discovered — and what we discover here — is just how diverse roadside architecture was before the monotony and homogenization of the current era seeped in.
The book is divided into thematic chapters: photographs of commercial strips, restaurants, gasoline stations, motels, stores and theaters. The vast majority of the restaurants featured here were locally owned and operated. During the 1920s, gas stations were considered blight on the land; consequently, many oil companies (but also independent owners) reacted to the criticism by erecting elaborately designed stations to appeal to the passing motorist, from Art Deco architecture to distinctive signs and color schemes.
Hat ‘n’ Boots gas station in Seattle, which graces the cover, is a case in point: The extravagant size of its cowboy gear was guaranteed to attract attention as much for its size as for its ten-gallon-hat ambition. Supermarkets increasingly catered to the automobile even as one local chain, Ralphs grocers in Los Angeles, attempted to make the shopping experience as glamorous as possible.
In a whimsical nod to the giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan, the distinctly spelled Bunyon’s hot dogs in the Chicago area featured an oversized man wearing a red shirt and blue jeans and holding an equally oversized hot dog. An A&W Root Beer stand in Ohio is in the form of a larger-than-life barrel. Some of the images are appealingly incongruent: the Lettuce Inn in Salinas, Calif., promises breakfast, lunch and dinner — and dancing.
From hamburger joints to drive-ins, this is an entertaining and, in its own way, sad trip down memory’s blacktop lane.
Biking Northern Michigan: The Best & Safest Routes in the Lower Peninsula
Wandering Press, $13.95
Cyclist and travel writer Robert Downes has cycled in Australia, China, Costa Rica, England, continental Europe, India, Ireland, Nicaragua, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, but he calls Northern Michigan one of the finest cycling regions “on earth.” Why? He bases his opinion on the network of more than 1,000 miles of bike routes, forests, lakes, quiet roads and “the most beautiful place in America,” Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. By Northern Michigan, he is referring, he emphasizes, to the northern Lower Peninsula, not the Upper Peninsula, “which is geographically and culturally distinct from the rest of the state.”
Staying safe is a major concern because the dangers of cycling have increased “tenfold” as a result of automobile drivers who text, talk on the phone or even watch movies while driving. Downes has grown more cautious over the years and suggests you should too. He recommends routes that include bike paths or lanes when possible. He also includes a list of cyclist tools and supplies, from fluorescent vests to bandannas.
“Biking Northern Michigan” features 35 cycling routes, including Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, Beaver Island, the Lake Charlevoix Loop and Mackinac Island as well as the best routes around the inland lakes. Each entry consists of essential information such as the distance involved and the level of difficulty. Route maps are included.
