Fuel Road Trip Dreams with AMERICAN ROAD

In this issue of American Road, we size things up. We hit the highways in search of American giants, and we find them looming in the most unlikely of places. First up is “The Titans of US 2”—a feature that cuts a gargantuan path across the country’s northern tier. It follows a road of wide-open spaces—amber waves, mountain majesty, and lakes so clear that clouds appear to drift through them twice. If you’re searching for Paul Bunyan, you’ll find him on US 2—along with Hiawatha, Bigfoot, Big Bad John, the Knight of Leavenworth, and a sixty-five-foot Minnesota muskellunge ready to swallow you at one gulp.

No American skyscraper looms larger in the imagination than the Empire State Building. A few modern towers may edge it out in height, but none can match the ESB for lore. Thousands of “sky boys” conquered their vertigo to hot-rivet its silhouette against the New York City skyline. Upon its opening on May 1, 1931, crowds spilled into its lobby, streamed into elevators, and shot to the sunny observation decks to stand shoulder to shoulder overlooking creation. King Kong carried Fay Wray there in 1933. We’ll takeyou to the top, too—if you promise not to swat at any airplanes.

Our annual summer photo contest asked entrants to open their apertures to the widest of angles. We crown a winner, then rejoin our quest for colossi. We watch River Rick the neon cowboy light up Laughlin, Nevada. We scale El Capitan at Yosemite National Park, Captain Kirk style. Finally, we drop into little Casey, Illinois (population 2,400), which has made a name for itself by filling its streets with sculptures of the world’s largest things. Indeed, Paul Bunyan could be comfortable retiring in Casey, nodding off in the World’s Largest Rocking Chair while wearing the World’s Largest Dutch Clogs.