05Apr 2017 by David Kravetz

D is for Diners, Dives and Drive-ins – #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Alabama, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, BBQ Places, Burger Joints, California, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, People Shots, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Route 66, Selfies, Tennessee, Texas, Town Names, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia
What is April A to Z? Every April, bloggers from all over the world participate in the April A to Z blog challenge, and you can too. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a great way to meet other bloggers. To play along, all you do is make a blog post for each letter of the alphabet during April, then visit as many other bloggers as you can. Road trips would never be the same without the opportunity to stop at local diners, dives and drive-ins (OK...I gotta give credit to Guy Fieri). Food is such an important part of a road trip. Obviously, no matter where one drives they always come across the chain shops like McDonald's, Wendy's, KFC, etc. With those places, the food you get is…
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10May 2016 by David Kravetz

A to Z Challenge: Reflections #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Alaska, Alberta, Amish Country, Arizona, Arkansas, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Big Cities, Bucket List Trips, California, Car Art, City Skylines, Colorado, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Eateries, Enchanted Highway, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Giant Things, Giant Twine Balls, Horse Art, Hot Springs, Idaho, Illinois, Indian Ruins, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Landscapes, Large Statues, Lewis and Clark Sites, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Mountains, Muffler Man, Murals, Museums, Mythical Creatures, National Monuments, National Parks, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Saskatchewan, Selfies, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Uniroyal Gal, Utah, Vintage Neon, Washington, Water Towers, Waterfalls, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
During the month of April 2016 I participated in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge had each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. This was my first opportunity to really participate in this annual event, which just completed its 6th year.  It was not easy!!  I had to not only post something daily, but also create a theme and stick with it.  And, in my perfectionist way, I wanted to make sure there were plenty of photos and commentary.  I wrote in such a way to draw people to the more detailed posts, where ever possible.  It was a load of fun and I completed the challenge.  Not sure how many…
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22Apr 2016 by David Kravetz

A to Z Challenge: The S Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Antsy McClain, Arizona, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, Bucket List Trips, California, Car Art, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Landscapes, Montana, Mountains, Murals, Museums, New Hampshire, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Route 66, Selfies, Town Names, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Wall Art, Wisconsin, Yard Art
During the month of April I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge has each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. My blog is number 1337 out of 1670 participating blogs. This year my A to Z posts will take you across the back roads of America to many unique what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the link: A to Z Theme Reveal List for 2016 The S Towns Steubenville, Ohio On the banks of the Ohio River bordering the upper panhandle of West Virginia lies the old steel mining town of Steubenville, Ohio. This is the hometown of the famous actor/singer Dean Martin and is…
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09Mar 2016 by David Kravetz

Traveling US Numbered Highways – Part I: An Overview and History

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Backroads Discoveries, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Delaware, Dream Highways, Family Travel, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, National Monuments, National Parks, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Roadside Attractions, Route 66, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 101, US Highway 2, US Highway 20, US Highway 212, US Highway 287, US Highway 61, US Highway 79, US Highway 89, US Highways, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
When I was young and living in Albuquerque, NM in the 1960s, there were not many Interstate Highways.  Most of the country still relied on the U.S. Numbered Highway System. Even to this day I can recall our family drives along the iconic Route 66 out of Albuquerque to Gallup, NM and then, eventually, when we moved to Dallas in 1968 we took it all the way to Amarillo, TX.  Even at that young age I was already enamored by the maze of highways and the desire to see what lays along these long black roads with millions of white lines in the middle and endless telephone poles and wires along both sides.  I too remember the many billboards advertising Stuckey's roadside stops, gas station or unique tourist attractions. Since…
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27Feb 2016 by David Kravetz

A Trip to New England: Part III – September 2015

Antsy McClain, Backroads Discoveries, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Maine, Massachusetts, Museums, New Hampshire, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Seagulls, Selfies, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Vermont
After a pleasant night stay in Old Orchard, ME, I got up early in the morning with my grandchildren Joselyn and Rockwell to hopefully catch a sunrise and boy did we get a royal treat!! The skies were colorful with shades of pink, purple, blue and orange and then the ball of the sun rose up over the Atlantic Ocean.  One of the most amazing I have ever seen!! This was going to be a long day for us as we would drive up to Portland to see a famous lighthouse and then into New Hampshire, onto Vermont and then back to Connecticut to drop Rockwell off.  From there we would return back to Lexington...a good 20 hour day from start to finish. Following is the route map for the…
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27Jan 2016 by David Kravetz

A Trip to New England – Part II: September 2015

Backroads Discoveries, Bucket List Trips, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Large Statues, Maine, Massachusetts, Murals, Museums, New Hampshire, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Travel Blogging, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Yard Art
This is Part II of my posts about our visit to New England, most specifically Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont (with a drive through Massachusetts).  Day 2 was a nice day of travel south to Mystic, CT and then north all the way to Maine.  Following is a map with our basic route We took a fairly easy morning and went over to pickup our grandson Rockwell, who would join us on this two day adventure and off we went. Our first stop was at Wells Dinosaur Haven in Uncasville, CT.  This is actually a person's house with a huge backyard full of self-sculpted dinosaurs.  The brainchild and creation of Jeff Wells, this unique "haven" got its start in 1981. He has well over 30 dinosaurs, including a life-size…
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06Jan 2016 by David Kravetz
2015 In Review: The Year In Travel

2015 In Review: The Year In Travel

Antsy McClain, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Big Cities, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, California, Car Art, City Skylines, Colorado, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Kentucky, Large Statues, Maine, Mountains, Murals, Museums, National Parks, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Seagulls, Selfies, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Utah, Wall Art, Washington, West Virginia
The year 2015 started off with plans to travel to a couple of locations, but not the extent of the travel that I enjoyed in 2014. As it turned out, I had some great experiences and more travel than had been originally planned. It was truly a good year for my travel as I have noted in my blog posts and Facebook posts throughout the year. Unlike most of my travel, which I like to do by car on back roads, the year's travel adventures saw me traveling by airplane on a number of occasions. I don't mind flying, honestly, but I prefer driving because I can see more of the landscape. However, schedules and other things necessitated my flying to many of the destinations I went to this year.…
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24Sep 2015 by David Kravetz

Finally Made It! All 50 US States – Sept. 2015

Alabama, Alaska, Antsy McClain, Arizona, Arkansas, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Big Cities, Bucket List Trips, California, Caves and Caverns, City Skylines, Colorado, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Delaware, Dream Highways, Eateries, Enchanted Highway, Family Travel, Farmland, Florida, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Georgia, Giant Things, Giant Twine Balls, Graffiti Walls, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indian Ruins, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Landscapes, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Murals, Museums, Mythical Creatures, National Monuments, National Parks, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Rhode Island, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Route 66, Selfies, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Travel Blogging, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 101, US Highway 2, US Highway 212, US Highway 61, US Highway 89, Utah, Vermont, Vintage Neon, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yard Art
WARNING-This is a long post. It took me nearly 59 years to get to all 50 states! On September 8, 2015, I set foot on the side of the road just north of Brattleboro, VT after we crossed over the Connecticut River from New Hampshire on Hwy 9. I got out and took a selfie of myself under a Welcome to Vermont sign.  I had finally set foot in my 50th US state...a nearly 59 year journey. Stay 3 or more nights & save up to 25% now! At participating hotels Following is a state by state chronicle of my nearly 59 year journey in order of states visited. My 50 State Adventure 1- Ohio (1956): I was born in Cleveland in the Little Italy section of town to Joe…
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04Jul 2013 by David Kravetz

America the Beautiful: The Song in Photos for the 4th of July

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Backroads Discoveries, Bridges, California, City Skylines, Colorado, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Delaware, Dream Highways, Enchanted Highway, Family Travel, Farmland, Florida, Geologic Formations, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Landscapes, LDS Temples, Lewis and Clark Sites, Lighthouses, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Mountains, Murals, Museums, National Monuments, National Parks, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Route 66, South Carolina, South Dakota, States and Provinces, Tennessee, Texas, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, Waterfalls, West Virginia, Wildflowers, Wisconsin, Wyoming
I have traveled the broad expanses of this beautiful nation we call America and have seen and enjoyed this country that I call home.  On this July 4th birthday,  I would like to celebrate by adding photos to the words of the song "America the Beautiful", which was written by American Poet Katharine Lee Bates. All photography by David "Sumoflam" Kravetz AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL Oh Beautiful, for Spacious Skies For Amber Waves of Grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good, With Brotherhood From Sea to Shining Sea May we celebrate this day as we enjoy our freedom and our liberty..... Freedom LIBERTY AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
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