Road Trip (non tiki) ~ Please Recommend - Beyond Tiki

T thejab Grand Member (1 year) Tradewinds Apartments, Alameda, CA Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 2992	T thejab Posted posted on Fri, May 7, 2004 12:53 PM By far the best I have found (and I have bought a lot of travel books) is Road Trip U.S.A. by Jamie Jensen. He traveled two-lane highways year-round for several years before writing the book. It's huge, and organized by East-West and North-South routes (like old Highway 50). The best thing about it is it highlights non-chain motels when possible, old cafes and restaurants, small museums, etc., so it covers what many guidebooks miss. It only scratches the surface of major cities because those are covered better elsewhere. The same book series (Road Trip U.S.A.) also has regional guides (California and the Southwest, New England) and some Getaway Guides for short trips to areas outside major cities (San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans). http://www.roadtripusa.com/discover_the_books/ The same company, Avalon, puts out the excellent Moon Handbooks series. When available for an area, they are the most thorough books around. They vary in quality. For example, the Nevada, Wyoming, and Hawaii guides are terrific and updated frequently. However, I found the California guides to be less complete (even though there are two - Northern and Southern) and not updated often enough. The books don't have pretty color pictures but make up for it with content. I have found many older places to stay and eat by careful reading of these books. http://www.moon.com/ For on-the-road dining you can't go wrong with Jane and Michael Stern's book Roadfood. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0767908090/ref=pd_sim_books_1/103-7307242-0409469?v=glance&s=books For major urban areas, the Zagat guides are useful for older restaurants. I look under Senior Scene and Historic Interest categories in the index. John Margolies makes great books about roadside stuff but many of the places are now closed, so they aren't great for planning a trip. I like the book Roadside America, but as a book to bring along on a road trip or to plan a trip it's lousy. It's not organized well and it's way out of date (the "New" edition is from 1992). The web site isn't any better. Until I write my book you'll have to make due with these.

By far the best I have found (and I have bought a lot of travel books) is Road Trip U.S.A. by Jamie Jensen. He traveled two-lane highways year-round for several years before writing the book. It's huge, and organized by East-West and North-South routes (like old Highway 50). The best thing about it is it highlights non-chain motels when possible, old cafes and restaurants, small museums, etc., so it covers what many guidebooks miss. It only scratches the surface of major cities because those are covered better elsewhere. The same book series (Road Trip U.S.A.) also has regional guides (California and the Southwest, New England) and some Getaway Guides for short trips to areas outside major cities (San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans).

http://www.roadtripusa.com/discover_the_books/

The same company, Avalon, puts out the excellent Moon Handbooks series. When available for an area, they are the most thorough books around. They vary in quality. For example, the Nevada, Wyoming, and Hawaii guides are terrific and updated frequently. However, I found the California guides to be less complete (even though there are two - Northern and Southern) and not updated often enough. The books don't have pretty color pictures but make up for it with content. I have found many older places to stay and eat by careful reading of these books.

http://www.moon.com/

For on-the-road dining you can't go wrong with Jane and Michael Stern's book Roadfood.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0767908090/ref=pd_sim_books_1/103-7307242-0409469?v=glance&s=books

For major urban areas, the Zagat guides are useful for older restaurants. I look under Senior Scene and Historic Interest categories in the index.

John Margolies makes great books about roadside stuff but many of the places are now closed, so they aren't great for planning a trip.

I like the book Roadside America, but as a book to bring along on a road trip or to plan a trip it's lousy. It's not organized well and it's way out of date (the "New" edition is from 1992). The web site isn't any better.

Until I write my book you'll have to make due with these.

Post #90219 by thejab on Fri, May 7, 2004 12:53 PM