Across America, Route 66 and Beyond

The Globe Trekker series, which usually spans the world, sticks closer to home here, presenting host Justine Shapiro on a road trip through America's heartland, from Lynchburg, VA, to Arizona, much of it following the famed former "Mother Road" of Route 66. From Lynchburg, Shapiro meanders south, visiting the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's large slaveholding estate) and a civil rights museum at the Lorraine Motel (the site of the 1968 killing of Martin Luther King Jr.). On a lighter note, the program pays homage to Graceland, noting that Elvis's home is the second most visited residence in America (after the White House). Shapiro stops at Oklahoma City's massive stockyards, learning a little bit of the art and spiel of auctioneering, and then turns west on to Route 66, marking a recreation of the westward "Trail of Tears" taken by Native Americans who were forced from their tribal lands. Route 66, which opened in 1926, went on to win fame as the way west for Dust Bowl migrants seeking a new life in California. Today, this historic road exists only in bypassed fragments, but travelers can still find interesting sites and bits of roadside architecture. Shapiro ends her journey at a mammoth meteorite hole—some 50,000 years old—near Winslow, AZ. Along the way, music and cooking emerge as recurring themes, including southern barbecue, country and mountain music, the Nashville sound, and blues music by way of Memphis's Beale Street. Likely to appeal to history buffs and armchair travelers, this is recommended [Note: this is also available in the 5-disc boxed set Globe Trekker: Around the World, priced at $89.95, which also includes East to West: Istanbul to Vienna, Pacific Journeys, The Silk Road and Conquistadors, Aztecs & Incas]. Aud: P. (S. Rees)