For some rest and relaxation, take a Sunday drive or go on an extended road trip just to get out of town for a day or two or more. These are our choices for some of the best sightseeing roads in America.
Route AIA: Florida’s Buccaneer Trail
Travel in the footsteps of the early pirates and New World explorers along the Buccaneer Trail, also known as Route AIA. Marked by its many historical sites, AIA is one of the most scenic thoroughfares, beginning in northeast Fernandina Beach and ending in southeast Miami Beach.
Start your trip in Fernandina Beach, where shrimp boats line the Fernandina Harbor Marina. In town, explore the Victorian historic district, where antique shops, fine restaurants and a collection of late-19th century Victorian architecture abound.
Continue on to Amelia Island where you'll discover over 50 blocks of quaint antique shops in the Victorian historic district, fine restaurants, stately homes and a Civil War-era fort. Hike the Talbot Island State Park trails along the 13 miles of white sand beaches.
Tucked away on Fort George Island, visit Kingsley Plantation, the oldest antebellum plantation in Florida. Along the way, explore the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Residence or Guana River State Park where Ponce de Leon first stepped ashore America in 1513. Stroll historic St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States. Visit the impressive 1672 Spanish fort, Castillo de San Marco, to experience demonstrations of old-time firearms.
Traveling further south, visit Florida’s other attractions, including: Daytona Beach, home of NASCAR; Titusville’s Kennedy Space Center and visitor complex; Fort Lauderdale, for beach fun or a tour of Bonnet House or Butterfly World; and, Miami, for its stunning beaches and entertainment and nightlife.
It’s a road trip chalk-full of history and interesting sites.
Blue Ridge Parkway: America’s Most Picturesque Drive
For a scenic drive like no other, Blue Ridge Parkway offers miles of history, culture, recreation and beauty. Located along the crests of the Southern Appalachians, the parkway links Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks, crossing the North Carolina and Virginia State line.
More than half of the Blue Ridge Parkway's 469 miles take travelers through the rugged beauty of North Carolina and to the parkway's highest elevation at Richland Balsam Overlook (6,047 feet). Along the way you’ll see Linville Falls, a dramatic series of waterfalls.
North Carolina is also home to the parkway's most impressive piece of engineering, the Linn Cove Viaduct. Completed in September 1987, the viaduct is the most complicated concrete bridge ever built with its sweeping "S" curve architecture. The 7.5-mile road was constructed at an elevation of 4,100 feet without damaging Grandfather Mountain, one of the world's oldest mountains.
The parkway through Virginia also offers spectacular views and interesting sites. For a taste of Appalachian culture along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Humpback Rocks and Mabry Mill provide tours of Nineteenth Century buildings that provide insight into the lifestyles of early European settlers. For those more interested in hiking, the Appalachian Trail can be accessed from the Parkway at more than twenty overlooks in Virginia.
All in all, pioneer cabins, miles of trails ranging from mild to strenuous, and the spectacular views make the Blue Ridge Parkway an ideal place to simply get away from it all for a few hours or a few days.
Route 1 Big Sur Coast Highway: A View of California’s Coastline
Extending southward from Carmel (just south of San Francisco) to San Luis Obispo on the central coast, Route1 Big Sur Coast Highway is a 100-mile stretch of seacoast along the Pacific Ocean that many call the most beautiful scenery in the world . The winding, narrow, often mountainous road offers impressive views of the ocean and wilderness areas of the Los Padres National Forest.
Once a remote wilderness, the area is now popular with tourists and naturalists. Some of the highlights of Big Sur Highway include: Hearst Castle in San Simeon, world-class golf courses in Pebble Beach, the scenic 17-mile drive in Carmel, the Cannery and Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, and the famous Monarch butterfly-filled trees on Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove.
It’s a beautiful and relaxing drive you won’t soon forget!
Route 66, Chicago to the Pacific Ocean
Considered the “Mother Road” in John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, U.S. Highway 66, better known as Route 66, symbolizes the “All-American Road Trip.” Beginning at the Chicago lakefront and extending all the way to Santa Monica, California, it’s a bit of Americana with everything from malt shops, roadside motels, pubs and antiquated fill-up stations to the wide-open land and straight highways that disappear on the horizon.
Today, travelers continue to journey the “road to opportunity” that brought an estimated 210,000 people to the “promise land” of California following the Dust Bowl. Though some of the curiose roadside attractions and businessesthat made Route 66 so intriguing no longer exist, travelers can visit many quaint and historic sites, including old trading posts, gas stations, motels, tourist traps, diners and villages.
Some of the oddities along the route include: Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas where 10 classic Cadillacs are lined up nose down in a pasture; the famed hideaway of Jesse James and his gang at Meramec Caverns in Missouri; and, the world’s largest ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas.
In McClean, Illinois, along US Route 136, visitors can peruse the Route 66 Museum and Hall of Fame. The state-of-the-art truck stop tells the story of fabled U.S. Route 66. Displays, plaques, photographs, and memorabilia shed light on the people who lived and worked along the asphalt ribbon.
To gain a full understanding of Route 66 and the spirit of Route 66, there is no substitute for driving the highway.
Connecticut State Route 169
Incorporated in 1801, Route 169’s earliest use can be traced back to the 1600s. Despite widening and other improvements, travelers on Route 169 can still feel a sense of affinity with those who traveled the road before them.
An estimated 189 pre-1855 home have survived along the length of the highway, as well as several historic churces, creating visible remembrances of an earlier time. Between each town, wooded hills exhibit the seasonal beauty of Northeastern Connecticut, blazing with reds and golds of autumn, bright colors of spring and summer, and, when blanketed in snow, the pristine beauty of winter.
A 32-mile section of Route 169 was designated a State Scenic Highway in 1991, and a National Scenic Byway by the Federal Highway Administration in 1996. The 25-town route traverses one of the last unspoiled areas in the northeastern United States.
Traveling north from Norwich, Route 169 will cross through Lisbon, where the feeling of an early American community is still evident; Canterbury, where Connecticut’s interpretation of Georgian architecture is prominent ; Brooklyn, with its two historic districts; Pomfret, once known as “the other Newport” for its strong influx of wealthy summer vacationers; and, Woodstock, with its many architectural surprises clustered around a town common.
Step back into the past and enjoy the ride!