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Museums Roadtrip USA

Visual, architectural, and culinary art in every state and major city, mapped by Machine Learning

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Overview

This page lists where one can visit, see, and eat at the most important cultural artifacts in America. I created this page as “bucket list” so that even if I can’t visit each one and perhaps enjoy on-site, I can still visit their web pages. Someday soon everyone can see treasures from anywhere using VR (Virtual Reality) glasses providing 360-degree views in High Definition.

Do you have a road trip map or story? Please send it to me for posting here.

NOTE: Content here are my personal opinions, and not intended to represent any employer (past or present). “PROTIP:” here highlight information I haven’t seen elsewhere on the internet because it is hard-won, little-know but significant facts based on my personal research and experience.

Journeys

It’s a large country, so cites are listed by each state of the union, along natural geography East-to-West:

Journeys on water as she flows toward the Equator:

Journeys Northward on Cattle Drives in the 1880s.

Journeys Westward on land (The Pony Express

BTW, finding where each site is located resulted in a great geography and historical lesson for me.

References (Websites)

Extreme corners

Iron Butt motocyle rallies award bonus points for reaching the four corners of the nation:

Just Touching Each State

This Google route map was actually used by recent finishers to go around the 48 states in 6 days:

6 days

To deter reckless driving among Extreme Road-trippers, the Guinness World Records discontinued listing speed records in 1996. But that didn’t stop the All Fifty States Club website.

The US Rain Shadow Divide

VIDEO: Notice the transition between yellow to green down the middle of the country?

VIDEO: 80% of Americans live East of the (vertical) 98th Meridian, as shown by a green straight line overlaid this map from NASA’s BlackMarble satellite images of the nigh sky worldwide:
usa-frontier-1920x1800.jpg

When geologist John Westly Powell identified this phenomenon across the “pairies” in 1890, that natural line was at the 100th Meridian (vs. 98th today). Since then, “Climate change” continues to shift to the East. So expect less rain from Winnapeg (Canada) to Forth Worth, Ausin, and San Antonio Texas. Also impacted will be agriculture around Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada), Fargo, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Lincoln, Wichita, Oklahoma City.

That green line down the middle of America defines the extent wet storms reach from the East. West of that is the “Rain Shadow” of limited moisture from the Pacific West blocked by the tall Cascade Mountains in Washington state housing Leavenworth, Washington and Rocky Mountains housing Aspen, Vail, Breckenridge, Telluride, Denver, Colorado), Park City, Utah, California.

The East coast also has quaint towns well decorated for Christmas :

  • Ogunquit, Maine
  • Portsmouth, New Hampshire
  • Nantucket, Massachusetts
  • Newport, Rhode Island
  • Christmas Village, Philadelphia
  • Cape May, New Jersey
  • Atlantic City, New Jersey

  • New York, New York

  • Annapolis, Maryland
  • Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Lewisburg, West Virginia
  • Beaufort, North Carolina
  • Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
  • Natchitoches, Louisiana
  • Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

US interstate highways

East-west interstate highway numbers end with 0.
North-South interstate highway numbers end with 5.

East-West

North-South

Refueling and ReCharging

The number of Tesla Supercharger locations jumped to 2,966 in Q2 2021 from 1,587 at Q1 2019:
map tesla charging stations 650x334-c59

In 2023 Ford and GM agreed to enable their electric cars to use Tesla’s charging ports and stations.

A map of stations offering Ethanol-free premium gasoline (at higher prices) is at pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html. My wife used it to figure out where I should stop along a route from Florida to Montana. It was difficult because we had to figure out where I was on the website’s map. She also had to calculate how much further I could go with remaining gas. Somehow we managed to stay married after that.

Taxes

No sales tax is collected from residents within the states of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. The Sales Tax Institute notes: Residents from other states are often required by laws in their home state to pay out-of-state sales tax. Sellers in tax-free states still collect the sales tax for visitors and remit it to the buyer’s home state if the vendor has a presence in the buyer’s home state. Otherwise, out-of-state buyers are required to pay use tax themselves. Many don’t pay the use tax to their home state even though there can be significant fines, on top of paying the tax, for not doing so.

Some states offer sales tax-free holidays (for a limited time) to encourage spending on products that are considered to be of benefit to the state’s economy. This typically occurs in August and early September for back-to-school supplies, books, computers, and clothing.

National Parks

America’s greatest treasure is the 63 national parks managed by the U.S. National Park Service.

us-nps-ma-1500x938.jpeg The map above is missing White Sands National Park (New Mexico), Indiana Dunes, and Gateway Arch (St. Louis).

One couple visited the most significant parks in this order: us-tour-natl-park-route

map us_landmarks_roadtrip_v01_683x396

The above route through major landmarks in the lower 48 states was optimized for least driving time across 6,813 miles, using Google Maps API driven by Machine Learning algorithms run in a Python Jupyter Notebook as described by Randal S. Olson. See How to USE AI to Plan a Road Trip.

CAUTION: as COVID lockdowns relax, reservations are at all-time highs at recreation.gov/, KOA, ReserveAmerica.com, and state camping sites.

Many “Western” movies were filmed in iconic “Mighty 5” parks below Salt Lake City in Utah: Las Vegas from the South and Denver from the North us-might5-route-1682x1014322 miles in 5 hours without stopping (click for Google Map). But you’ll want to stop and marvel the views at each park:

  1. 4K 360 VIDEO: Zion (Utah’s first National Park)
  2. 4K 360 VIDEO: Bryce Canyon VIDEO
  3. 4K 360 VIDEO: Capital Reef
  4. 4K 360 VIDEO: Arches
  5. 4K 360 VIDEO: Canyonlands

Civil War Confederates

When the Civil War ended in 1865, The Confederacy included the 11 Southern states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

map-us-states-civil-war-323x227-c64.jpg

The 5 “Border States” were Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri (where “brother fought brother”).

States in white (Oklahoma) did not fight for either side. Idaho volunteers did not fight against the Confederacy. Areas in Arizona and New Mexico were claimed by both sides.

Down the Atlantic Eastern Seaboard

This is where the United States of America began as colonies of England.

Freedom Ride

The planned route of the courageous Freedom Ride May 1961 through the “Jim Crow” South to test a Supreme Court ruling against “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters at bus stations:

map-freedom-ride

The Woolworth lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, NC is now a museum.

The ride stopped on May 14 in Anniston, Alabama where their bus was burnt by segregationists.

Maine

New Hampshire

Massachusettes

Boston:

Boston is among the safest large cities in the US.

Cambridge (North of Boston):

Western Mass Turnpike 90:

Northward Mass up 95:

SouthEast of Boston on 3 to the tip:

Western Mass up 91:

Southern Mass:

Rhode Island

Connecticut

New Jersey

New York

New York City (Manhattan)

New York City (Brooklyn)

DUMBO = Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass is home to 25% of New York based tech firms, including Etsy. [tour]

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia:

Pittsburgh:

Delaware

Maryland

Baltimore had the #3 rate of crime among all cities in the US (2,027/100,000 in 2022).

Washington DC

West Virginia

Virginia

Richmond is the capital of Virginia, and the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War. In 2022 it was the 3rd most dangerous city in the US (2,027/100,000).

Williamsburg:

North Carolina

South Carolina

Georgia

Atlanta:

Florida

St. Petersberg Northwest on 75 up the Gulf coast

South down the East coast

Miami:

Down the Mississippi River

At 2,300 miles, the Mississippi River is the 4th longest in the world (after Nile, Amazon, Yangtze). It’s part of the largest watershed in the world.
us-watershedbg
VIDEO: “It’s inevitable that the US emerged as a global superpower”: the Missisippi is the longest navigable river in the world, enabling inland cities to be oceanic ports serving world markets by boat (10-39X cheaper than by road).
usa-mississippi-1920x1080.jpg

It takes 8 days for the “America Heartland” cruise between St. Louis and to St. Paul (waterfalls at the head of the Mississipi):
roadtrip-usa-viking.png
Cruise on a riverboat between New Orleans and Memphis, with stops in the Vicksburg battlegrounds. on Viking or the “American Countess”.

Cruise from Chicago to St. Louis down the Illinois River.

Illinois

Chicago:

Chicago had the #20 rate of crime among all cities in the US (1,099/100,000 in 2022).

Missouri

Kansas City:

St. Louis:

St. Louis had the #1 rate of crime among all cities in the US (2,082/100,000 in 2022).

Tennessee

Nashville:

Nashville had the #16 rate of crime among all cities in the US (1,138/100,000 in 2022).

Memphis:

Memphis had the #4 rate of crime among all cities in the US (2,003/100,000 in 2022).

Arkansas

Little Rock had the #5 rate of crime among all cities in the US (1,634/100,000 in 2022).

Mississippi

Louisiana

New Orleans had the #18 rate of crime among all cities in the US (1,121/100,000 in 2022).

Alabama

Northward on Cattle Drives

The TV series “1883” is about one of the cattle drives that brought Texas back from economic collapse after the end of the Civil War in 1865. The drive went from Fort Worth North toward Montana and Portland. Although a fictional story, the script mentions real locations: Doan’s Store Red River Crossing, established 1878 along the Western Trail to Dodge City, Kansas where trains carried cattle East.

museum-us-1883-great-cattle-750x782

In 1881 the Doan’s Cross reached a peak of 301,000 cattle driven by to Kansas shipping points. This was before the “Chisolm Trail”.

In 1884 an annual picnic, celebrating the cattle drives and cowboy tradition, began near Doan’s Store.

In 1885 long cattle drives was eliminated by both the construction of railroads across north Texas and the fencing of the West using newly invented barbed wire.

The TV series “Lonesome Dove”, is set in late 1870s. Just like the “1883” TV series, it is also about cowboys seeking to drive cattle North to settle along Montana’s Yellowstone River. Several other movies have characters doing the same.

Westward on land

“Go West, young Man, and grow up with the country!” is the advice widely (but wrongly) attributed to New York Tribune Publisher Horace Greeley, who visited the West only once.

The Pony Express

80 Pony Express riders (who include Calamity Jane) traveled day and night to deliver mail from St. Joseph, Missouri on the Missouri River to San Francisco, California in only 10 days rather than the previous 24 days. They carried news of the volatile time leading up to the Civil War.

map of Pony Express route
Photo source: Wikimedia.

The riders can run at full gallop along their 1,900-mile (3,100 km) route because they switch horses waiting at each of 184 stations, each about 10-15 miles apart.

But their service lasted for less than 2 years – from April 3, 1860 to October 24, 1861 – due to the availability of the electric telegraph along railroads.

Westward from Vermont to Kentucky

Vermont

Upstate New York

Albany/Rochester:

Adirondacks

Buffalo:

Michigan

Detroit

Detroit had the #2 rate of crime among all cities in the US (2,057/100,000 in 2022).

Ohio

Cincinnati:

Cleveland:

Cleveland had the #8 rate of crime among all cities in the US (1,557/100,000 in 2022).

Indiana

Indianapolis:

Kentucky

Down the Pacific West Coast

Alaska

NOTE: Driving from Alaska to Washington state requires travel through Canada.

Washington

Spokane:

Seattle:

Oregon

 

California

San Francisco Bay:

San Jose:

Santa Barbara (Central Coast):

West Side, Los Angeles:

Downtown Los Angeles:

East Los Angeles:

South Bay, Long Beach:

Orange County:

Inland Empire:

San Diego:

Hawaii

Honolulu and Hawaii as a whole had the lowest crime rate among all US cities and states.

Westward through Northern states

Going from New York City to Seattle takes 2,852-miles on Interstates 80 and 90, crossing 11 states.

Northern Rail

Amtrak’s Empire Builder train between Chicago to Seattle and Portland takes 46 hours.

click on red dots in travel train glasgow empire builder 650x365.png

Amtrak’s California Zephyr (named after the Greek god of the Western wind). VIDEO: from Chicago to Emeryville (San Franciso) – 2 nights through 7 states: Naperville, Galesburg, Omaha, Denver (a one hour stop) over the mountains to Grand Junction, Reno, Truckee, Salt Lake City. With no wi-fi between stations.

Lewis and Clark Trail Westward Ho

The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 to 1806 is an 8,000-mile trip to the Pacific (Portland, Oregon) returned with maps and scientific specimens for President Thomas Jefferson.

The Lewis and Clark Trail today is a set of hiking trails. “Wm Clark” carved “July 25, 1806” on “Pompey’s Pillar” 30m miles East of Billings, Montana.

Lewis and Clark Discovery Trail

The “Corps of Discovery” emboldened wagon trains traveling Westward through Northern United States.

Oregon Trail to the Pacific

The Oregon Trail was established during the 1830s by mountain men in their fur trade, before motorized transportation. It favors valleys to minimize going over mountains:

Oregon Trail Topo map NASA

The trail begins from St. Louis and Independence, Missouri through Kansas and Nebraska to Fort Laramie, Wyoming (1834-1890). It then goes through Boise, Idaho to Portland, Oregon. A map of the trail in 1907:

Oregon Trail 1907

Kansas

Iowa

Wisconsin

Milwaukee:

Milwaukee had the #6 rate of crime among all cities in the US (2,082/100,000 in 2022).

Minnesota

Duluth (North coast of Lake Superior)

Minneapolis:

Minneapolis had the #19 rate of crime among all cities in the US (1,101/100,000 in 2022).

St. Paul:

Nebraska

South Dakota

North Dakota

Montana

Idaho

Westward through the Southwest

Route 66

VIDEO: Route 66 was one of the original highways within the U.S. starting in 1924. Thus its colloqual name the “Mother Road”. It served as a military transport corridor during WWII. In post-war years, motels, diners, and gas stations along Route 66 became popular vacaction destinations.

!map beige route-66 600x200.jpg

Route 66 begins on Michigan Avene in Chicago, where you can eat at Lou Mitchell’s diner. The route goes to St. Louis, Missouri, then through smaller road-side towns on the way to Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Amarillo TX, Alberquque New Mexico, then over mountains to Flagstaff AZ before ending on the Santa Monica pier in Los Angeles, California.

However, interstate freeways built from 1956 enabled travel without the need to slow down through towns. That bypassed small businesses along Route 66.

Chisolm Trail

The Chisolm Trail was used between 1867-1884 to drive cows to market from various cowtowns in Texas through Oklahoma Indian Territory to Abilene and other railheads in Kansas. The Lonesome Dove TV series depicts that time.

Since Illinos and Missouri are already listed in our Mississippi route, here we begin from Oklahoma and take a long detour North to avoid too much desert along the way.

Oklahoma

Texas

Dallas:

Austin:

Houston:

New Mexico

Santa Fe:

Taos:

Colorado

Denver:

Wyoming

(Southern Idaho)

Utah

Arizona

Nevada



All the sights

In addition to “museums”, also included here are grand natural sights:

Technical Footnote

This rather large list was originally created to be intentionally large in order to test how well the system handles a large file (how quickly it can download and display).

This is an upgrade of my terrible Roadtrips to visit museums across the USA from 2005.

Next, I’d like to display a Google map of coordinates from a public Google spreadsheet like Jessica Lord’s hack-spots site implemented from a github repo which uses the sheetsee.js and Mapbox libraries.

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag

Museums Roadtrip USA was published on .