These days the mere mention of a road trip is enough to make your pocketbook shudder. Luckily you're only a gas tank away from many delightful getaways that lie along America's Byways. For a fun and exciting close-to-home vacation, take a drive and explore a byway near you.
One nearby getaway is the nine-mile-long Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway. This byway runs through southern California’s urban Los Angeles area, but isn’t without natural attractions. Along the byway’s midsection is the Lower Arroyo Seco Park, an outdoor haven with dirt trails, bridges over natural waterways, and grassy fields surrounded by lush, shady trees. Please the sports fan in your party by hiking or biking up the park’s trails to see a football game at the Rose Bowl Stadium about three miles away, or take the byway south for five miles to watch Major League Baseball at Dodger Baseball Stadium in Elysian Park. Stroll through the neighborhoods and shopping districts along the Parkway and browse one of the many contemporary galleries that are part of the Northeast Los Angeles Art (NELA) scene. Along the way, look for evidence of California’s early 20th Century Arts and Crafts Movement in the natural building materials used in area homes and businesses. Too far to walk from place to place? Park your car and ride the rails! The Metro Gold Line mass transit system runs along (and crosses over twice) much of the byway between Pasadena and Los Angeles. It is a great way to save gas and reduce emissions!
If you live in Washington’s Puget Sound area, the Mountains to Sound Greenway–I-90 can take you on a close-to-home vacation. Come to the heart of downtown Seattle where the byway begins, and explore the stunning variety of marine life forms at the Seattle Aquarium or join in the hustle and bustle of the famous Pike Place Market. Get on the Greenway and drive five miles east to the City of Mercer Island to go swimming off one of the Island’s many beaches, picnicking along the shoreline, or boating from the boat launch areas. Or take the byway 27 miles east of Seattle to Snoqualmie Viewpoint Park, the Washington Department of Transportation’s “Best Special Project” winner for 2008. In addition to fresh air, wildlife habitats, public forests, and the Snoqualmie Native American history that is so much a part of this area, the view at this park is jaw-dropping. Enjoy great shopping, nature, and history without worrying about your next fill-up along the Mountains to Sound Greenway.
Folks near Boise, Idaho can travel through our country’s pioneer heritage on the scenic and historic Payette River Scenic Byway. Start your byway trip just 10 miles west of Boise in the small town of Eagle. Here you’ll find the Eagle Historic Museum where displays of clothing, farming artifacts, blacksmithing tools and more are windows into a rich pioneer past. Less than a block away lies Heritage Park. Let the kids cool off from a hot day with a splash through the park’s water feature. Bring a summer picnic and join your friends and neighbors at an evening concert in the gazebo. Or take the byway north for half an hour to Horseshoe Bend, ID where you can board the Thunder Mountain Train, for a two and a half hour round trip adventure through the scenic Payette River Valley and the settlements of Gardena and Banks. As you chug along enjoying your fellow travelers’ company and the magnificent views, gas prices will be far from your mind.
Spending your summer in the Midwest? With two science centers and an abundance of culture, Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan will take you to new intellectual frontiers without depleting your gas tank. Many cultural attractions in downtown Detroit are within a few blocks of each other, so park your car and walk to Hart Plaza, the Detroit Opera House , and the Fox Theater. Explore scientific realms with a visit to the Detroit Science Center. There you can watch electrifying demonstrations in the DTE Sparks Theater, see fascinating educational films at the IMAX dome theater, experience the stars at the planetarium, or experiment with the many hands-on exhibits. For additional scientific fun, take the byway to the Cranbrook Institute of Science’s Museum of Natural History in Bloomfield Hills, five miles south of Pontiac. Spend the day immersed in natural science exhibits about dinosaurs, ice ages, native cultures, astronomy, and more. Learn about physics, minerals, and light with captivating, hands-on labs and displays. The museum also features gardens, nature walks, a planetarium, and an observatory to express the interconnectedness of nature.
The South has gas-saving trips, too. Along the Ashley River Road in Charleston, South Carolina, pick up a Heritage Passport to enjoy discounted, year-round access to 12 historic, botanical, and cultural sites in and around this charming city. Drayton Hall, America's oldest plantation house, is only 30 minutes out of the city along the byway. Tour the home, a stunning example of Georgian-Palladian architecture from the 18th Century, take a walk along the banks of the Ashley River, and look for souvenirs in the museum shop. A few miles northwest of Drayton Hall use your Heritage Passport to enter Middleton Place, a plantation founded before the United States earned its independence. Explore the gardens, wander the stable yards, and tour the plantation house to fully experience this important American relic.
English Boxwood Garden at Mount Vernon Estate (VA) [10]
A hop across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., the George Washington Memorial Parkway steers you along some of America’s most treasured landmarks, monuments, and reminders of our history. Just southeast of the byway's northern junction with I-495, you can enjoy the simple pleasures of the quiet outdoors at Turkey Run Park in Virginia. Stop for a picnic or wander its hiking trails before making your way immediately south of the park to the Claude Moore Living History Farm. Come during special events such as the summer market and autumn’s tobacco harvest, or experience colonial times by dressing up in period costume, cooking over an open fire, sleeping in a tent, and performing other colonial pastimes in the ultimate gas-free weekend. Twenty minutes southeast, the Parkway passes Washington, D.C, with its wealth of parks, museums, and memorials. For more early American history, drive to the byway’s southernmost end and tour the Mt. Vernon Estate and Gardens, George Washington’s residence for 45 years. Peek inside the mansion home, peruse the plantation grounds, hike the Forest Trail, and pay your respects to the Father of Our Country at the Washington Tomb.
With gas prices fluctuating and long-distance vacation plans becoming tougher on the pocketbook, close-to-home attractions along America's Byways mean you can still have plenty of fun this summer!
