Visit These Five Destinations That Inspired America’s Favorite Songs, Books, and Movies

Travel awakens the soul and motivates the muse of even the most ingenious explorers.

“People don’t take trips… trips take people,” proclaimed author John Steinbeck, who described the hard times on the road from the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma to golden California in his 1939 novel “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Stunning new landscapes, unfamiliar flavors, and curious cultures inspire wide-eyed wanderers to capture the joy of new discoveries in photos, journals, social media posts, and even the age-old art of postcard writing.

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For the most gifted and inspired travelers, new discoveries inspire words, books, songs, images and art that become entrenched in popular culture.

Here’s a look at five American travel landmarks that are inspiring enough to shape the nation’s culture.

California – Big Sur

Big Sur reminds visitors that California, the most populous state in the Union, still has impressive natural beauty.

State Route 1 hangs precariously between the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, offering spectacular and sometimes harrowing views of land, sea and towering redwood forests.

“Jack Kerouac… helped popularize the rugged coastal landscape with the 1962 novel “Big Sur.”

Jack Kerouac, already famous for “On the Road,” helped popularize the rugged coastal landscape with the 1962 novel “Big Sur.”

The Beach Boys, Alanis Morissette and Johnny Rivers have all performed songs that included “Big Sur” in the title, and several films have been shot there. Famed novelist Henry Miller lived in Big Sur for many years, where the Henry Miller Memorial Library still honors his legacy.

Millions of people travel the 70 miles of road through Big Sur each year, but the area remains remarkably isolated, with few permanent residents and few roadways. Landslides often make Big Sur inaccessible by car, including here in 2024.

Florida – Key West

The Florida Keys begin just south of Miami and extend more than 100 miles west to the Gulf of Mexico.

The spectacular archipelago of coral islands offers one of the most breathtaking drives in the country, with the sensation of flying over the ocean as cars hop from island to island.

The road ends in Key West, an adult paradise with sing-along bars, seafood shacks and a laid-back nightlife. The most popular thing to do in Key West is watch the sun set gloriously each evening from Mallory Square.

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Key West has probably inspired more books, songs and hangovers per square mile than any other city in America.

Musician Jimmy Buffett has transformed this real-life “Margaritaville” into a subgenre of sun-drenched, tiki-flavored pop songs. Kenny Chesney and Bob Dylan, among many others, sing enthusiastically about Key West.

Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West when he wrote several of his famous novels, including “A Farewell to Arms,” ​​”For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “Death in the Afternoon.” His Key West home is one of America’s most beloved literary landmarks.

Georgia – Savannah Historic District

The 18th-century South thrives today amid Savannah’s leafy squares.

Visitors love this slow-paced, nearly 300-year-old city for the colonial cobblestones of River Street, its delicious restaurants showcasing the best of Southern cuisine, like Paula Deen’s flagship restaurant The Lady and Sons, and its historic layout of leafy downtown squares.

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Savannah found renewed popularity after her haunting and captivating portrayal in the 1994 best-selling book, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”

That same year, Savannah was the setting for one of the biggest movie hits of all time. War hero and tech mogul “Forrest Gump” told his incredible story while waiting for a bus in Chippewa Square.

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Savannah also claims to have inspired one of the most popular melodies in world history. James Lord Pierpoint, a Savannah church musician, wrote “Jingle Bells” in the 1850s.

New Jersey – Asbury Park Boardwalk

New Jersey’s boardwalks fuel an American carnival-style party culture along the Garden State’s coast. The juke-joint town of Asbury Park’s boardwalk is perhaps the most iconic, offering panoramic ocean views, easy access to New York City, and notable contributions to American pop culture.

Bruce Springsteen burst onto the American cultural scene with his debut album, “Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ,” helping fuel the city’s reputation as a rock music haven.

Today’s attractions include the Silverball Retro Arcade, the Stephen Crane House, which was the home of the author of the famous Civil War novel “The Red Badge of Courage,” and the famous concert hall The Stone Pony.

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“Did you hear the cops finally arrested Madame Marie / For predicting the future better than they did / For me, this life on the boardwalk is over,” Springsteen sings to Sandy in his 1973 hit “4th of July, Asbury Park.”

Yet Madame Marie’s fortune teller’s stand remains and the New Jersey boardwalk scene still thrives.

Ohio – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Rock ‘n’ roll, an art form of American origin, merged artistic and cultural influences in the years following World War II. It ignited the fire of global pop music in the 1950s.

The genre’s best performers are immortalized in the IM Pei-designed museum in Cleveland.

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The Rock Hall was built on the shores of Lake Erie as a tribute to Cleveland’s role in defining the future of pop culture.

Cleveland, among other places, was the birthplace of the famous DJ Alan Freed. A fervent promoter of the new genre, he is credited with inventing the term “rock ‘n’ roll”, known throughout the world.

Freed also hosted the Moondog Coronation Ball in 1952, widely heralded as the first rock concert.

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The Rock Hall now welcomes many other genres, including rappers (Grandmaster Flash), country stars (Bob Wills), soul crooners (Al Green) and pre-rock icons (Louis Armstrong), among others.