Ok people.. I'm planning a cross country road trip! Destination ideas??

Question

I'm planning a trip across the great U S of A for next summer. Can anyone name some must-see destinations? I've got some major tourist spots written down but i need some more ideas. I don't have a specific route planned yet, so any ideas are game!

Answer 1

You didn't say what part of the country you were starting from and if you were planning on traveling N-S or E-W.  You didn't indicate how far you wanted to go and for how long.  So I can't make any specifics.  But here are my rules of thumb.

Things to look for:

The *insert cool item here* capitol of the world.

Scenic overlooks.

Historical preserves (battlegrounds, forts, museums, gardens).

Long winding roads through mountains and parks.

Places with unusual or specialized culinary attractions.

Things to avoid:

Worlds largest *insert lame item here*.

Cities where their entire tourism attraction is based on the unusual name someone decided to call the city.  

Freeways (Boring!)

Carnivals.

Historical figures carved into mountains.  (Kind of a letdown, and they're out in the middle of nowhere)

Casinos.

Answer 2

Besides the major cities/destinations I think it's fun to go off the beaten path and see the cheesy old tourist sights.  The House on the Rock, Wall Drug, Winchester Mystery House, Giant Ball of Twine... it's hard to say where to go without knowing your itinerary but anything with a road sign is always corny fun.