American Road Magazine

This issue of American Road is dedicated to catching some Zs—though you’ll be doing anything but sleeping.

Our adventure begins with Zane’s Trace—which may be the most storied Z road on the map. From there, we drift west (and a little sideways) to the largest Zuni pueblo, Hawikku—the site of first contact between Spanish explorers and the indigenous Pueblo peoples. We explore its spiritual and cultural traditions—including the distinctive art of Zuni fetish carving.

Our march toward zed continues with the historical Zero Mile markers in Key West, St. Augustine, and Washington, DC. We visit the Zion Park Motel in Utah, the big zipper sculpture in Vermont, Zip’s Diner in Connecticut, and the Frank Zappa bust in Baltimore. We tip an herbal cup to the Zillah Teapot in Washington state, pay literary tribute to the memory of Zora Neale Hurston in Florida, and board the 1934 “Dawn-to-Dusk” Pioneer Zephyr in Chicago.

We close out our tour with a trip to the odd, abandoned California health spa called Zzyzx—which certainly sounds like a name coined by a man who was choking on a snore. It’s weird, wonderful, and the perfect full stop to our Z-filled odyssey.

So grab this issue of American Road and follow us to the end of the alphabet—where the roads get stranger, the stories get richer, and the only thing you’ll be catching is the travel bug.