Littourati

Literature often describes places we are curious about, regardless of whether we know them or not. This blog maps the journeys laid out in selected books and offers reflections corresponding to the various stops. Happy traveling!

Saturday, June 17, 2006

On the Road: Iowa City

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On the Road: Iowa City, Iowa

1 Comments:

Steve said...: This is a very interesting comment on the road system of the US as it pertains to small towns. I too read Blue Highways and was fascinated by William Least Heat Moons determination to travel only on the roads that offer the real bird's eye view of America.

To this day, when my family takes its yearly vacation down to the Outer Banks (or Emerald Isle)of North Carolina, when driving down route 17 or 168, for some reason my car always veers off onto the local highway that runs through the downtowns as opposed to the dreaded bypass. My wife groans every time, but I insist because I 'need' to see how things are in these towns. I hate skipping them, you never know what you might miss.

One good thing is now my kids expect these little detours and cry out "Yeah, we're turning off the bypass!" (It helps that I brainwash them with promises of stops at whatever fast food joints they desire. Oh well, not purely Kerouacian, but ya gotta make some concessions in life, right?); 8:23 AM