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Constructed almost 100 years ago, at the beginning of America's love affair with the automobile, and reinvented as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge, the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is a MUST VISIT attraction for every Historic Route 66 pilgrimage.

It is a two-mile round trip easy hike or bike across this historic old bridge that soars high above the Mississippi River between Madison, Illinois, and St Louis, Missouri, at one of the river's most scenic locations near its confluence with the Missouri River. Even if you can't go the complete distance, you can drive down the road to the left just before entering the parking lot, where you can admire the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge from the base of the Mississippi River.

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During my Missouri Route 66 planning, I made a note to visit Red Oak II since I wanted to see the cottage-style Phillips 66 service station that had been relocated there and restored from the ghost town of Red Oak, Missouri. That was the extent of my research on this location, and while I knew there were a few other restored buildings on-site, nothing I read prepared me for the magnitude of this Route 66 treasure.

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Get your kicks on New Mexico's Route 66 National Scenic Byway!

New Mexico has one of the most varied landscapes in the United States, and Route 66 crosses all of its land regions. Enter New Mexico in the Great Plains at the ghost town of Glenrio, where the landscape is flat and grassy. As you reach Tucumcari, the land begins transitioning to the high desert with broad valleys, deep canyons, sharp cliffs, and flat-topped mesas. It is both harsh and majestic. Nearing the middle of the state, you’ll wind through the mountain pass of Tijeras Canyon as you work your way to Albuquerque in the valley below. Nine Mile Hill brings you up from the valley toward El Malpais, the stark lava landscape near Grants. Approaching the Continental Divide, the lava gives way to breathtaking red-hued cliffs. Those beautiful red cliffs keep getting better and better as you pass through Gallup shortly before exiting the state.

Along New Mexico's section of the Mother Road, you will experience the charm of adobe villages in a land heavily steeped in Spanish and Native American culture alongside an eccentric collection of roadside architecture ranging from motels, 50s diners and gas stations, and colorful neon. Discover why New Mexico is known as the “Land of Enchantment.”

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There are very few places left in America that are so pristine that they have been virtually untouched by man. Nebraska Highway 2, AKA Sandhills Journey National Scenic Byway, is one such place. Located in the north-central section of Nebraska, the Sandhills cover a little more than a quarter of the state. This 272-mile long National Byway starts in Grand Island and ends in Alliance, passing through the middle of an area of world-class natural wonders. It’s home to the completely hand-planted Nebraska National Forest, the Loup River, abundant wetlands created by the Ogallala Aquifer, and brilliant night skies. Being in the Central Flyway for migratory birds, it’s teeming with wildlife, and you can’t forget the Spring Migration of the Sandhill Cranes.

​The Nebraska Sandhills is a place of wide-open spaces where undulating windswept dunes have been stabilized by a sea of prairie grass that only has a fragile hold on the land, and where cowboy hats and cowboy boots are a way of life and not just a fashion statement.

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I recently spent a weekend in Texas photographing Historic Route 66. As luck would have it, we had a wind storm the first day I was there. But, after making the long drive, I wasn't about to spend my weekend hunkered down in a motel room like a sane person. So, I was out shooting in it. The 50+ mile an hour wind gusts stirred up the dirt in the more rural areas and made for interesting atmospheric conditions. Even so, we ended up having so much fun, much more than I ever expected.

What I have compiled in this blog post are what I think are the "Must See" spots along Texas Route 66. That may be because of the story a location tells, its fantastic architecture, or maybe it's just a unique or fun piece of kitsch. Do your research. While this is far from an exhaustive list of Texas Route 66 sites, it's a great starting point for planning your road trip on the Mother Road.

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At 468 miles long, the Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway with the designation of All-American Road, the highest classification in the National Scenic Byway system. Starting at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, the Parkway follows the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains, winding its way through North Carolina before terminating at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park's Cherokee entrance. At its highest point, the Blue Ridge Parkway reaches 6053 feet in elevation near Mount Pisgah in North Carolina and at its lowest 649 feet along the James River in Virginia. Along the way, you will see spectacular mountain and valley vistas, quiet pastoral scenes, sparkling waterfalls, and colorful flower and foliage displays.

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Sometimes what's going on behind the scenes is just as good as the image created...


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What do the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum, a Dentzel antique carousel, and graves of Gypsy royalty have in common?

All three are located in Meridian, Mississippi. In my opinion, this eclectic mix of sites is some of Meridian's more interesting locations dating back to the city's Golden Age.

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The year 2021 is the 50th Anniversary of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park becoming part of the National Park System. This park preserves the historic 19th Century transportation canal from Washington D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland. Since 2019, it has been ranked as the 11th most visited United States National Park, with Great Falls being the most visited location along the canal's 184.5 mile-long towpath. Many visitors stop at the Great Falls Tavern but never explore more than the canal's first 14.5 miles.

No road follows along beside the C&O Canal. For that reason, the towpath is most popular with hikers and bikers. However, I decided to stay out of the city and explore some of the lesser-visited C&O Canal highlights. Wanting to see as much as possible and knowing that I didn't have time to see it all, I decided to drive to different locations along the canal, doing a series of short hikes along the way.

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National Geographic calls the spring migration of the Sandhill Cranes through central Nebraska “one of the greatest wildlife phenomena in North America”. If you are a birder, a wildlife photographer or just a nature lover, I really consider this a “must do” for your bucket list!

In 2017, I was lucky enough to spend the entire migration season in Nebraska with the Sandhill Cranes. It had been on my bucket list for quite some time. I had gotten a small taste of it about 10 years ago when my husband completed a 2 month assignment in Grand Island. That year, we left at the beginning of March when the cranes were just starting to arrive but what I saw in those first few weeks literary blew my mind!

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