Road Trips

What could be more American than the road trip? From the trailblazing covered wagons of the old west to the SUV’s and mini-vans of today, Americans have been criss-crossing this country since its inception with a frontiersman-like thirst for exploration. And while America may be famous for its Grand Canyon, its Hoover Dam, its Time’s Square, its Golden Gate Bridge, it is also teeming with other lesser-known pit-stops that really have to be seen to believe.

Plenty of Room for Your Socks

Having trouble finding space for your three-thousand pairs of pants? Not enough room in your walk-in closet for a giant to walk into? Then you might find yourself in need of a chest of drawers (the world’s largest) like those found by Realtravel bloggers, Teamedwards in High Point, North Carolina. High Point claims to be the “Home Furnishings Capital of the World”, home to a large number of furniture manufacturing operations and outlets. But the true focal-point of the town is its 38-foot tall outdoor, freestanding dresser, complete with two socks (one brown and one argyle) dangling from a drawer, which are said to represent the town’s hosiery industry.

London Bridge Was Falling Down

The London Bridge is perhaps one of the most famous of its kind, but did you know that there are two of them? By 1962, the London Bridge had withstood so much traffic that it was actually falling down. The famous Thames-River-crossing bridge was to be torn down and re-built to better support the ever-increasing traffic in London. The old bridge was put up for auction and bought by Lake Havasu City, Arizona, town-founder, and chairman of McCulloch Oil Corporation, Robert McCulloch. The bridge’s stones were skipped across the ocean, re-joined in Lake Havasu City, and opened to the public in 1971.

I Once Saw a Fish: This Big

It’s four stories tall, as long as a jumbo jet, green with fearsome-looking teeth, made out of fiber-glass, and shaped like a fish—a muskie, to be exact. It’s also the home of the Freshwater Fish Hall of Fame, charged with recording and displaying the world’s records in fishing. Entry is granted through the muskie’s tail, where visitors can then climb to the monster-fish’s mouth that doubles as an observation deck. The scaly museum proudly displays 5,000 lures, 200 rods and reels, 400 mounted fish, and a room filled with outboard motors all located somewhere within its ribcage. The Freshwater Fish Hall of Fame is located in Hayward, Wisconsin and is open to the public year-round.

Check out a few other less quirky (but still interesting!) road trips and destinations we’ve spotlighted in the past:

Big Sur Coast, California
Walking and Cycling Across the United States
Bryce Canyon National Park

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The road-trip is the quintessential adventure mode for anyone touring their country, but why stop there? Why not take a road-trip on the other side of the planet? This week, our editors are highlighting some of the best sites to see not by train, not by plane, but by automobile, and today we’ll be talking about a couple of bloggers that have driven across, around, and through New Zealand.

Known by many as one giant sound stage for Peter Jackson’s film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, New Zealand is packed with incredible beaches, rolling hillside vistas, and plenty to see and do from your driver’s-side window.

For any families interested but unsure of where to start on your New Zealand road trip, here’s some advice from RealTravelers Travelling Family. These worldly London-based road-trippers visited New Zealand in April of 2007, and have plenty of insightful tips for families with small children planning for the trek. The family of four suggests getting to bed early and trying to sneak in an afternoon nap, renting a large motor-home, and taking your time driving through this beautiful country. One attraction the family enthusiastically recommends is the Abel Tasman Park located in the South Island of New Zealand, “You could mistake Abel Tasman for Thailand, it is so exotic. An absolute must to visit - you’d be surprised how many people we met who had bypassed it”.

Another pair of RealTravelers, James and Natalie, set out on their four-month adventure last year, spending one of those months traveling from Auckland (big JRR Tolkien fans, they called it Orcland) to Christchurch and seeing everything in-between. The couple went sky-diving, saw the glowworms at Waitomo Caves, visited a few of the locales used in filming The Lord of the Rings, and surfed along the black-sanded beaches of Raglan, “Raglan is one of the best surf breaks in the world” comments James, “…beautiful, quiet, small, low key and just lovely. We could have stayed here for a fortnight.”

So whether to see the beaches, the vistas or the any of New Zealand’s other stunning and widely diverse terrains, definitely try road tripping when you get there. It’s worth the time and effort, and you’ll get to see a huge amount of what this famously beautiful country has to offer. Here’s a few useful resources to help you plan your trip to some of New Zealand’s most popular destinations:

Auckland Hotels
Christchurch Hotels
Queenstown Hotels

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