From Sea to Shining Sea (and then some)

Cookies and Milk Robot Delivery machine, Caesar’s Palace Casino, Las Vegas

My 50x50 is complete!

Cue the balloons and Woohoo’s 🎂🎈🎉🥳 or if you want to do what I did, take your first surfing lesson at age 50 with Jamie O’Brien, get pampered by the Ritz Carlton, get lost in a Dole Pineapple Maze, go on rum tastings with Ko Hana Agricole Rum & whiskey tastings at Sazerac House, create your own “royal” necklace with Beachwalk Gallery, and shoot cookies & milk in Las Vegas! (See robot cookie assist to the right).

Fun fact, most people complete their 50x50 in North Dakota. Personally that was my 49, as I chose Hawai’i as my 5-0 (Get it? Very punny 🤪)

Does that mean I’ll stop traveling the US?  Nope, sure doesn’t. You know why? THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO SEE! I’ve merely scratched the surface.

If you’re still pondering how to go, or why to go, here are a few categories (landscape, climate, culture, food, tradition, landmarks) of inspiration to get you out there, and to help you personalize new and exciting ways to complete your 50x50.

Landscape

Did you know that Yellowstone National Park is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined?! I was shocked that 1. I had to enter Grand Teton National Park first; then 2. I had to travel thirty minutes to the South Entrance of Yellowstone, and 3. I wasn’t about to just walk over to Old Faithful or the Grand Prismatic Spring for a few choice photos. I still had an hour and a half drive ahead of me! But it was worth every twisty, turny, mountainous mile (and I was super grateful I bought the America the Beautiful Pass which paid for itself on these 2 parks alone)! On the way I saw a baby moose butt as he turned tail and ran away from my car, rams descending rocky cliffs, steam vents, boiling streams, and tumbleweed tumbling as whistling & spurs echoed in my mind.

Climate

I am your basic swamp creature. Most people complain about humidity, but take me out of the moisture, and I suffocate! Literally. On one of my journeys I actually had to push towards the sea sooner than anticipated because I couldn’t breathe the dry air, thick with smoke from wildfires that raged from California to Montana. People say, “it's a dry heat” as if that’s better. That’s when I know we’re not the same 😉. But whatever you need is right here. Within our country’s states and territories, you can experience a frozen tundra (Alaska), Tropical Rainforest (Puerto Rico), Boreal Forests (Northern Minnesota), Alpine Tundra (in our tallest mountains, including Colorado), Plains (many states, but I’ll give you Oklahoma), Deserts (more than just the Mojave), Mediterranean (not a typo, start in Washington State), Highlands (check out the Ozarks), Sierras (they don’t call ‘em Sierra Nevadas for nothin’), and I’ll end with Temperate Forests that cover nearly all the midwest to the east coast. Just one country folks!

This isn’t an exhaustive list of biomes and ecoregions!

Culture

As innumerable as our ecosystems. There’s so much culture to be appreciated right down to the county, city, & neighborhood levels. Our states & environments have a way of infusing meaning into who we are. In my travels, I have self-defined a few (this is not text book material):

  • Ohio - Ode de College Football. Every sports fan can finish this sentence if I simply start with
    “The ____ _____ __________.”

  • Minnesota - The nicest folks. Can’t you just hear the accent as you read this?

  • Maine - Solitary, Free, and trying to avoid the Massholes.☺︎ No offence meant to Massachusetts because I love you, and I’m sure you can laugh at the cleverness as well.

  • Georgia - A beautiful lady with a slow southern drawl. I’ll never be able to say the name without singing it (Thank you Ray Charles).

  • Florida - It's such a long and glorious state, I divide it into three categories: 

    • North Florida = The Midwest of the South (See also Snowbirds)

    • Central Florida = Farmers that love a good theme

    • South Florida = Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

*This cross-cultural ice cream based beauty is the Baked Alaska dessert, created and coined by Chef Antoine Alciatore of New Orleans, celebrating the US purchase of Alaska in 1867.

Speaking of…

Food

You know that if Gordon Ramsay finds a U.S. Roadtrip for food worthwhile, we have some serious cuisine contenders. Give us your BBQ (Texas, Memphis, Carolina or otherwise), Po Boys, Gumbo, & Bananas Foster (Louisiana), Wild Blueberries (Maine), Sweet Corn (Indiana), Huckleberries (Montana), Avocado Sourdough Toast (California), Fried Bologna & Goetta (Cincinnati, OH), Cherries (Washington), Spam Musubi (Hawaii), Deep Dish Pizza (Chicago), Coney Island Hot Dogs (New York), Pepperoni Rolls (West Virginia), Peaches (Georgia), Cheese Steaks (Philly), Biscuits & Gravy (Southern Fare), Key Lime Pie (Florida), and who can forget a great American Apple Pie. The USA will get to your heart through your stomach!

Tradition

Here’s one you may not know, but it's the definition of a travel tradition. Everyone thinks of Route 66 as the quintessential American Roadtrip, and it is! But if you leave “The Mother Road” from the eastern terminus in Chicago and head northwest across I-90 instead, you’ll find Wall Drug. As Americans left the east to find fortune and new lives in unknown territory, Wall Drug was (and still is) the spot where weary travelers could get a free cup of ice water, 5 cent coffee, and a homemade donut to refresh and refuel for the journey left ahead. You can still grab the store’s travel trifecta to this day and join the millions of parched & hungry travelers who have crossed the American West.

Note: I love a good Bucee’s, and IYKYK, but Wall Drug put out roadsigns miles ahead of their shop too, many moons before the modern chain “borrowed” this genius advertising tactic.

Landmarks

So many! Each one will have a different meaning for you personally.

I took the ferry to Ellis Island armed with just enough knowledge of the timing & name of one ancestor who passed under Lady Liberty & through those gates. A 30-minute reservation to search the archives with Docent help is $5. We actually found the boat my great grandfather came in on from Ireland as an 8 year old with his brothers, sisters, & mother. When I say boat, I mean boat, not ship. I honestly don’t know how they survived. I was the first person for which this docent had ever located an ancestor, and we both hugged and cried.

Your Personal Journey

There are some very well known tourist spots and even tourist traps that you must visit and experience for yourself at least once! No picture or post will ever do it justice, but I do try (see my X and TikTok accounts for more quick travel hits). There are also undiscovered gems that you’ll only come across if you are open to the journey and ignore the voices who tell you to skip the “fly over states.” I hate that phrase by the way because it implies a lack of worth. I can vouch for the fact that every state has a worthwhile landscape, climate, culture, food, tradition, landmark and/or something else not yet defined. It's what YOU make it that counts.

I saw a post recently from the National Park Service, and it seems to have disappeared, which makes me sad because it was poignant, accurate, and not meant in any political way. It said something like: If you hate this country, you’re watching the news. If you want to love this country, get out and travel it.

The point is, there’s no need to consume second-hand information to define the USA. Go see your country. It's your land, it's my land, it's our land, and exploring with all your own senses, your own first-hand sources will give you all the meaning you need.

~Safe Travels ❤️

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