Travelers' Intercom USA

Stretching from Natchez, Mississippi, on the Mississippi River, northeast to Nashville, Tennessee, the Natchez Trace Parkway is a wonderful road maintained by the National Park Service.

Based on an ancient trail, its earliest users were buffalo, then Native Americans and then white settlers. Today it is a paved highway closed to commercial vehicles but open to other vehicles and bikers. There is no separate bike trail, but the traffic speed limit is 45. My wife, Barbara, and I drove...

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The Crossroads sign in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Photo by Kevin Wierzbicki

As a big music fan, I like to visit places that have played significant roles in music history or that have vibrant music scenes. On my list, for a long time, was Clarksdale, Mississippi, which totally floored me on my first visit in spring of 2021.

I had heard the oft-repeated story about how blues man Robert Johnson, a mediocre guitar player at best, dropped out of sight for a couple of years only to return with fabulous guitar-playing skills — a musical miracle.

The...

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My wife, Bonnie, and I have taken unusual road trips in the USA. We’ve driven Route 66, the Mother Road, from Chicago to the Santa Monica Pier in California. We’ve done Route 6, also referred to as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, from Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to the original terminus in Long Beach, California. In 2019, we drove part of the Lincoln Highway, the first coast-to-coast paved road in the US, linking New York City with San Francisco....

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There are two types of rainforests in the world: tropical and temperate. Everyone has heard of the tropical variety, such as the Amazon Rainforest, but there are lots of temperate rainforests.

Quietly tucked away on the pristine Olympic Peninsula of Washington state is the Hoh Rain Forest, touted by the US Forest Service as “one of the most spectacular examples of temperate rain forest in the world” (www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/hoh-rain-forest-area-brochure.htm).

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Sedona, Arizona — with its red-rock buttes, steep canyon walls and pine forests — is a favorite destination for many folks.

When my wife, Anne, and I visited Sedona, Feb. 20-26, 2021, we stayed at the Arroyo Pinion Hotel (3119 W. Hwy. 89A; 928/204-1146, arroyopinion.com). Only 20 miles away via Highway 89A are two gems in Clarkdale worth visiting: the Copper Art Museum and the Verde Canyon Railroad.

• The Arizona Copper Art Museum (849 Main St., Clarkdale; 928/...

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In southern Utah are Zion, Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef national parks as well as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Highway 12 connects Bryce with Capitol Reef, through the scenic heart of Grand Staircase-Escalante, but along the highway, from the small village of Boulder, is a wonderful detour worth the extra time and scenery: the absolutely astounding Burr Trail.

From Boulder, heading east, the Burr Trail runs from the high country of similarly spectacular Grand...

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On kayaks, we got within 75 feet of this (perhaps) 3-year-old grizzly, who seemed completely at peace with us. Photo by Steven Sugar

My wife, Sally, and I experienced a unique 2-week trip to Alaska in 2007. We flew commercial airlines, New York-Seattle-Juneau, and then the former Era Aviation from Juneau to Gustavus, the starting point of our 6-day Glacier Bay cruise on the Sea Wolf of Sea Wolf Adventures (Gustavus, AK; 907/957-1438, seawolfadventures.net).

The Sea Wolf is a 97-foot converted minesweeper that accommodates 12 passengers. Each day, we’d cruise to a new anchorage, kayak from the boat and explore...

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Chairs representing victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. Photo by Liz Fischer

My husband, Bill, and I visited family in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in mid-October 2020.

• Unfortunately, the city is known mainly for the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, focusing on the bombing, are both very poignant sights. The building site now has an empty chair for each of the 168 victims. Nineteen smaller chairs represent the children killed.

The museum (entry for seniors, $13) is...

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