America, The Open Road Awaits!

Aug 05, 2021 at 09:00 am by robmtchl


From the first "road trips" of the pioneers lighting out for the riches of the West to the California Gold Rush to the Dust Bowl refugees of the Great Depression chasing jobs across the continent, sustaining themselves on movement, banking on hope, America has counted on the rewards of the road.

The American economy has capitalized upon this wanderlust as well. Catering to an American experience in need of speed, sound and food.

The American road trip is a rite of passage; it's a lark, a last gasp. It is the essence of optimism in action.

While we Americans claim no monopoly on the open road, the idea that opportunity waits just around the bend, over the rise, or beyond that distant horizon, is deeply embedded in who we are as a people. I would argue that to truly understand America a road trip is in order. And the more miles you put between yourself and what you've left behind, the better.

One of the essential components of any road trip is the soundtrack that emerges to accompany and help propel our movement. Invariably on my travels, one artist, or one record, asserts itself.

Music becomes a soundtrack of our lives when attached to a changing landscape through a windshield. It is a powerful purveyor of thoughts, hopes and dreams and, when revisited, has the power to transport us to a time and place of our thoughts choosing.

Food. Oh, my. Let us never forget the food on a road trip. Stopping for gas and a snack along the way is an integral part of the journey itself. I can still smell the cedar box-scented Stuckey’s stores to this day.

Can you remember your eyes searching for that familiar roof on the horizon? I craved the Stuckey pecan logs. They were a perfect blend of savory and sweet to jump you blood sugar. And the hotdogs and the restaurant inside Stuckey’s was enough than enough to take the edge off for the next 100 miles or so of driving.

I think America moves too these days and the two-week family vacation on the road was replaced with the one-week vacations. Now, most of us are forced to take long weekends or to be satisfied with day tripping.

I feel sorry for a generation that will never know the joy of pulling into a Howard Johnsons late at night to get a coffee and a quick meal at the bar before hitting the road again. Or the joy of fresh boiled peanuts bought from a roadside stand. Cracker Barrels are wonderful but, in my mind and heart, I will always long for a “Stuckey’s pit stop” to refill my gas tank, my stomach, my senses and my spirit.

America, the open roads awaits! Where will it take you and what memories will be made?

Sections: Voices