Guidebooks follow travel themes
NEW YORK - Several new themed travel guides are out to suit different tastes and help you create niche itineraries.
One is on the country's best zoos, another on left-wing landmarks, a third on literary destinations and lastly, from Fodor's, an all-purpose guide to the U.S.
"America's Best Zoos: A Travel Guide for Fans and Families," by Allen W. Nyhuis and Jon Wassner, starts with a surprising statistic: Zoos attract more visitors annually than all U.S. spectator sports combined, but relatively few animal-lovers visit zoos when they travel. Some surveys suggest that less than 10 percent of tourists visit zoos on vacation. The book sets out to change the perception that all zoos are just like your hometown zoo. The book describes 60 zoos, emphasizing unique exhibits, rare animals and interactive activities. The book is published by The Intrepid Traveler and sells for $15.95.
"Progressive Nation" is described on its cover as "a travel guide with 400-plus inspiring landmarks and left turns." The book by Jerome Pohlen, a Green Party candidate for Congress in Illinois, lists sites like the spot where the Montgomery bus boycott was launched in Alabama; the church in Brunswick, Maine, where Harriet Beecher Stowe was inspired to write "Uncle Tom's Cabin"; the Dayton, Tenn., courthouse where the Scopes Monkey Trial took place; the Wounded Knee massacre site in South Dakota; Matewan, W.Va., where a legendary battle over unionized labor took place in the early 20th century; and the historic site in Martinez, Calif., that commemorates conservationist John Muir. The book, $18.95 from Chicago Review Press, includes sites in every state and Washington, D.C.
"Novel Destinations: Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West," by Shannon McKenna Schmidt and Joni Rendon, lists author houses and museums; festivals and tours; literary lodgings, bars and cafes; and places where "the pages of literature come to life." Those include Charles Dickens' London, Victor Hugo's Paris, Franz Kafka's Prague, Louisa May Alcott's Concord, Mass., and John Steinbeck's Monterey and Salinas, Calif. The book, published by the National Geographic Society, lists more than 500 literary locales in all and sells for $25.
Finally, for travelers with broad interests, Fodor's has just published "Essential USA: Spectacular Cities, Natural Wonders and Great American Road Trips" ($21.95). The book includes classic road trip itineraries such as Route 66 and the Pacific Coast Highway, where to stay and eat for all budgets, "best bet" tours and attractions in dozens of locales, best places to slow down (Maine coast, Western Montana, California desert, North Carolina's Outer Banks and the Florida Keys), and best destinations for foodies (New Orleans, New York, San Francisco and Texas Hill Country).