AMERICAN HISTORY - RUINS IN THE MOJAVE

Along the westernmost part of The Main Street of America,  Route 66 carves its way across the unforgiving desert of the Mojave for more than 230 miles between Kingman, Arizona and Victorville, California.

The opening of the final stretch of Interstate 40 between Kingman and Barstow sealed the fates of tiny gas stations and motels along the Mother Road, and their carcasses still dot the landscape for adventurous travelers willing to bypass the Bypass.

Though the section between Ludlow and Newberry Springs is rough, the remainder of Route 66 through the desert is drivable, and offers an insight into our past as the West was bursting with adventure, novelty and promise.

A few hard-scrabblers still hang on, waiting for that traveler braving the desert
 in search of the past.

AMERICAN HISTORY - THE VIEUX CARRE

Of all American cities very few can lay claim to a more individual character than can New Orleans.

A product of mixed cultures; a swashbuckling history of treasures, piracy and voodoo; and a musical tradition of experimentation and joy combine to give New Orleans a personality all its own. (Even Disney features mockups of the city as a "land" in several of their theme parks).

And if New Orleans is an entity unto itself, the Vieux Carre, or French Quarter, is its beating heart.

The French Quarter, so named for its French heritage and architecture, is a fascinating place full of history and mystery in equal amounts. Here voodoo and rum reign supreme, though in separate houses of course. Donuts have been elevated to a high art and coffee is a mainstay for mornings.

Walk through the streets at night, particularly on Bourbon Street, and you'll hear New Orleans' own brand of jazz and the blues from nearly every bar. Food is a fixture, and many of the earliest "celebrity chefs" had their starts in this town. Culinary excellence is everywhere.

We all know the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but New Orleans has picked itself up by the bootstraps and carried on. It's not yet fully recovered even now, but six months after Katrina the city's unofficial motto "laissez les bons temps rouler" (let the good times roll) already filled the streets.

New Orleans is that part of America exemplifying both the best, and the worst, of ourselves. 

Perhaps it's the urban and historic manifestation of our national Id?

AMERICAN HISTORY - TAOS PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO

Native Americans are a core part of American history, with their experiences ranging from the depths of our worst inhumanity to their own characterization of our best humanity.

I have worked with Native Americans on numerous occasions and they are truly an as-yet unrealized aspect to our history and asset for our collective tomorrow.The Taos Pueblo, in north central New Mexico, is one of the oldest continually-occupied cities in America. 

The feel for the past is palpable.

AMERICAN HISTORY - PHILADELPHIA

The City of Brotherly Love, as well as seat of the Republic.

Philadelphia. American History made here. The Liberty Bell. The First Continental Congress. Independence Hall. 

Philly.

AMERICAN HISTORY - GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

It seems appropriate to the week which contains the American Independence Day within, that we celebrate famous American historical areas.

Beginning today with Gettysburg, one of the bloodiest and worst incidents in our past. Where American slew American, and a nation's soul was tested.

In this one battle, more than 50,000 soldiers of the North and South gave their lives in a war they believed would make their lives, and the lives of their children, better. It is remembered through the silence upon those hallowed grounds, christened with the blood of men on both sides.

Standing on the meadow with a cold wind blowing up from the main battleground, a shiver works its way into your heart that takes a long time to be rid of.