Layoffs are rampant, gas prices are volatile, airlines are cutting flights, and Americans are feeling the economic pinch of a recession. As much as we hate it in this country of big dreams, big cars and Big Macs, we have to find a way to cut back. For many Americans, that means turning the Great American Vacation into a “staycation,” which is the big buzzword of the year, having appeared in articles everywhere from www.CNN.com to Newsweek. But what does a staycation really mean? Newspaper humor columnist and frequent staycationer Matt Wixon shares with readers the definition of a staycation as well as: Rules for a successful, satisfying vacation at home or nearby Motivation and encouragement for people who can’t afford the big, traditional vacation Ways to make the most of time off from work Strategies and experiences from more than a dozen staycationers, as well as hundreds of Internet links and specific ideas to help plan a vacation in your hometown. From alternatives to destination theme parks to making the most of out local amenities to reigniting the flame in a relationship, Americans will find this guide a humorous and invaluable guide to staying home on vacation.

Fuel your wanderlust with America’s best travel destinations and get inspired to explore the natural beauty and rich history of all 50 states. The title says it all: Get the top road trip vacations the United States has to offer, all in one book. From small-town pit stops and off-the-beaten-path adventures to renowned historical sites and breathtaking parks, the destinations highlighted in this volume emphasize the unique beauty and history that each state has to offer. Whether you are a nature lover, history buff, or veteran road warrior, the incredible photography in this volume, along with the included recommendations for nearby attractions, lodging, recreation, and more, will inspire you to get packing. Jump in the car or RV and share these experiences with the ones you love! WEST Road Trips from Anchorage, Alaska Pacific Coast Highway, California Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway, Colorado Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii City of Rocks, Idaho Glacier National Park, Montana Lamoille Canyon, Nevada John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon Scenic Byway 12, Utah San Juan Islands, Washington Yellowstone, Wyoming SOUTHWEST Catalina Highway, Arizona Mesilla, New Mexico Elk City, Oklahoma Piney Woods, Texas MIDWEST Shawnee National Forest, Illinois Nashville, Indiana Northeast Region, Iowa Elk Falls, Kansas Tunnel of Trees, Michigan Caledonia, Minnesota Hannibal, Missouri Sandhills, Nebraska Casselton, North Dakota Ashtabula County, Ohio Black Hills, South Dakota Amish Country, Wisconsin SOUTHEAST Appalachian Highlands, Alabama MONAH, Arkansas Sanibel and Beyond, Florida Savannah, Georgia Horse Country, Kentucky Cane River, Louisiana Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, Delaware Neshoba County Fair, Mississippi Flat Rock, North Carolina Hunting Island, South Carolina Cocke County, Tennessee Chincoteague, Virginia New River Gorge, West Virginia NORTHEAST Mystic Country, Connecticut Bayshore Byway, Delaware Highlands, Maine Quabbin Reservoir, Massachusetts White Mountains, New Hampshire Millbrook Village, New Jersey Finger Lakes, New York Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Trustom Pond Wildlife Refuge, Rhode Island Mad River Valley, Vermont NATIONAL PARKS Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska* Lake Clark National Park, Alaska* Denali National Park, Alaska* Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii Glacier National Park, Montana Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Everglades National Park, Florida* Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee* New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, West Virginia *mentioned within a wider story

During the thirty years prior to the Civil War, Americans built hotels larger and more ostentatious than any in the rest of the world. These hotels were inextricably intertwined with American culture and customs but were accessible to average citizens. As Jefferson Williamson wrote in "The American Hotel" ( Knopf 1930), hotels were perhaps "the most distinctively American of all our institutions for they were nourished and brought to flower solely in American soil and borrowed practically nothing from abroad". Development of hotels was stimulated by the confluence of travel, tourism and transportation. In 1869, the transcontinental railroad engendered hotels by Henry Flagler, Fred Harvey, George Pullman and Henry Plant. The Lincoln Highway and the Interstate Highway System triggered hotel development by Carl Fisher, Ellsworth Statler, Kemmons Wilson and Howard Johnson. The airplane stimulated Juan Trippe, John Bowman, Conrad Hilton, Ernest Henderson, A.M. Sonnabend and John Hammons.. My research into the lives of these great hoteliers reveals that none of them grew up in the hospitality business but became successful through their intense on-the- job experiences. My investigation has uncovered remarkable and startling true stories about these pioneers, some of whom are well-known and others who are lost in the dustbin of history.

Backroads of the Great American West describes and details with full-color photos and maps the most scenic routes in the Rocky Mountains, Texas, Desert Southwest, California, and Pacific Northwest.

In this next bestselling title from Mark Teague, Ike's plans for a peaceful cruise with Mrs. LaRue are thwarted when their neighbor, Mrs. Hibbins, falls suddenly ill. While she recovers, Mrs. LaRue is taking her cats on a weeklong road trip vacation. Ike is beside himself and quickly takes up his pen to tell us why! Join award-winner Mark Teague on this romping road trip across America. Readers can follow along on the maps of the U.S. that span the endpapers. Teague drives us to the story's satisfying conclusion, and we are left with one profound question: Can cats and dogs really be friends?

A surreal, lyrical work of narrative nonfiction that portrays how the largest domestic oil discovery in half a century transformed a forgotten corner of the American West into a crucible of breakneck capitalism. As North Dakota became the nation's second-largest oil producer, Maya Rao set out in steel-toe boots to join a wave of drifters, dreamers, entrepreneurs, and criminals. With an eye for the dark, absurd, and humorous, Rao fearlessly immersed herself in their world to chronicle this modern-day gold rush, from its heady beginnings to OPEC's price war against the US oil industry. She rode shotgun with a surfer-turned-truck driver braving toxic fumes and dangerous roads, dined with businessmen disgraced during the financial crisis, and reported on everyone in between -- including an ex-con YouTube celebrity, a trophy wife mired in scandal, and a hard-drinking British Ponzi schemer--in a social scene so rife with intrigue that one investor called the oilfield Peyton Place on steroids. As the boom receded, a culture of greed and recklessness left troubling consequences for investors and longtime residents. Empty trailers and idle oil equipment littered the fields like abandoned farmsteads, leaving the pioneers who built this unlikely civilization to reckon with their legacy. Part Barbara Ehrenreich, part Upton Sinclair, Great American Outpost is a sobering exploration of twenty-first-century America that reads like a frontier novel.

"The Great American Hot Dog Book" reveals the inside story of how the hot dog became one of America's favorite food icons. This collection is also loaded with frank recipes from across the nation as well as recipes for out-of-this-world fries, sauces, sides, and more.

"It is no secret that America is the No Vacation Nation. Our vacations nowadays consist of nothing more than a few long weekends a year...when we're not on staycations. Workplace stress and burnout in America are at all-time highs. That Americans are over-caff einated and sleep deprived is not surprising given that our work-leisure balance is so severely lopsided. Depression is epidemic. Chalmers' estimates that these seemingly isolated, yet wholly interconnected cultural data points cost the U.S. economy a trillion dollars a year in lost productivity...and may be shortening the life spans of Americans too! But it wasn't always like this in America...and it surely doesn't have to be either. A stunningly well-researched book, offering readers an explanation of why Americans are suffering from an acute case of Vacation Deficit Disorder...and what the unintended consequences mean to every American couple, parents, families, workers, bosses, and our nations economy. It explains clearly why Americans dont travel...and why they really should! What really makes humans happy; and offers profound insight into how the lucky few Americans who do take vacations can enjoy them better and reap their life-enhancing benefits. And it passionately explains how all Americans would benefi t from his 4% Solution prescription. This book offers a compelling American centric cultural narrative that explains in great detail and with erudite analysis just who stole our vacation.

The Negro Motorist Green Book was a groundbreaking guide that provided African American travelers with crucial information on safe places to stay, eat, and visit during the era of segregation in the United States. This essential resource, originally published from 1936 to 1966, offered a lifeline to black motorists navigating a deeply divided nation, helping them avoid the dangers and indignities of racism on the road. More than just a travel guide, The Negro Motorist Green Book stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and resistance in the face of oppression, offering a poignant glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of the African American experience in the 20th century.

The idea of "the great American novel" continues to thrive almost as vigorously as in its nineteenth-century heyday, defying 150 years of attempts to dismiss it as amateurish or obsolete. In this landmark book, the first in many years to take in the whole sweep of national fiction, Lawrence Buell reanimates this supposedly antiquated idea, demonstrating that its history is a key to the dynamics of national literature and national identity itself. The dream of the G.A.N., as Henry James nicknamed it, crystallized soon after the Civil War. In fresh, in-depth readings of selected contenders from the 1850s onward in conversation with hundreds of other novels, Buell delineates four "scripts" for G.A.N. candidates. One, illustrated by The Scarlet Letter, is the adaptation of the novel's story-line by later writers, often in ways that are contrary to the original author's own design. Other aspirants, including The Great Gatsby and Invisible Man, engage the American Dream of remarkable transformation from humble origins. A third script, seen in Uncle Tom's Cabin and Beloved, is the family saga that grapples with racial and other social divisions. Finally,mega-novels from Moby-Dick to Gravity's Rainbow feature assemblages of characters who dramatize in microcosm the promise and pitfalls of democracy. The canvas of the great American novel is in constant motion, reflecting revolutions in fictional fashion, the changing face of authorship, and the inseparability of high culture from popular. As Buell reveals, the elusive G.A.N. showcases the myth of the United States as a nation perpetually under construction.