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Books: Nation of Travelers and Explorers
By : Sarah Muñoz
Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip
Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns / Knopf
Ever felt like getting in your car and just driving? That universal feeling existed long before any of us got our first automobile. The urge to escape, discover, be free and explore has been part of man’s inner spirit since the beginning of time.
Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip is an intimate account of the first cross-country North American road trip, when automobiles were a curiosity and when paved roads were just beginning to appear. In 1903, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson wagered $50 that he could travel from San Francisco to New York in 90 days. Along with his wife Bertha’s funding, mechanic Sewall Crocker and Bud—a bulldog he bought along the way and fit with driving goggles to keep the dust from his eyes—Dr. Jackson set out on his adventure.
Dr. Jackson christened his Winton automobile the Vermont in honor of his home state. At the time, very few people had seen cars before—some cities had even banned them altogether. The thrill and marvel of those Dr. Jackson encountered along the way were marketing efforts you cannot buy nowadays. Dr. Jackson was an intrepid explorer; he undertook this trip not knowing what he would find the next day, following old trails, with few roads linking one town to the next. There were no gas stations at the time, and even though the Vermont’s top speed was 30 miles an hour, they still managed to get stuck in mud, lose some equipment and encounter plenty of mechanical and nature-caused delays. The 6,000-mile trip ended when they arrived in New York City 63 days after departing from San Francisco.
Horatio’s Drive is graceful and nostalgic, propelled along with a handful of letters Dr. Jackson wrote to his wife and plenty of newspaper headlines of the time (“A Real Live Auto;” “It Startled the Natives”) along with beautiful and telling photographs of their journey, back when any advance, big and small, was a source of wonder and daydreams. Duncan himself spent 10 years retracing Dr. Jackson’s journey while on family vacations, bringing his spirit back and filming the same, yet vastly changed, landscape.
Horatio’s Drive is a love story—of America’s love affair with the automobile—as much as it is a classic American adventure, one to remember each time you pack your bags and head for the open road.
The book is a companion volume to the PBS documentary film about Dr. Jackson’s trip. You can see the Vermont, Bud’s goggles and plenty of photographs of this momentous journey at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C..
Travel Historic America: The Thirteen Colonies
Fodor's Travel Publications
For another type of rediscovery, head for the colonies. Travel Historic America: The Thirteen Colonies is a handy and fascinating travel guide through American history. Packed with a play-by-play of what to see and where to go, it also serves as a reference guide to historic sites and events, from the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620 to the early 1800s.
Travel Historic America: The Thirteen Colonies celebrates America’s beginnings: the days of Pocahontas and the Mayflower, the Salem witchcraft trials, Paul Revere’s famed ride and the rise of George Washington. You’ll also find information on hundreds of museums, historic houses and sights, as well as where to stay and dine in Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.
The guide is packed with curious facts that many folks may not know—like the story of Jemina Sartwell Howe, an ancestor of one of the authors, who was captured by the Abenaki Indians in 1755. She and her seven children were taken captive and released by the French almost three years later. The guide also offers a quick review of American history, rounding up everything you could possibly need to know to plan a perfect vacation. Although many may have crossed these roads before, there is plenty to revisit and rediscover.
Book your trip today! Visit www.aa.com, call American/American Eagle reservations at 1-800-433-7300, or call your travel agent for more information.
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