I wander America on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, sleep on couches and in fifty-dollar motel rooms, eat at Waffle House and Main Street cafes, and have conversations with people whose politics I might not agree with. These are our stories.

A Breakup Letter to a Former Friend and Coworker

A Breakup Letter to a Former Friend and Coworker

americaisabeautifulthing.com Xxxxx, I’m 67 years old, I’m a US Army veteran, I've lived overseas for many years in both Europe and Asia, and I've traveled the planet including 13 months riding a motorcycle around the world, the Sahara Desert crossing sticks in my...

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Legacy

Legacy

From left: Ron, Ronelle and Sammy The Red Roof Inn in Montgomery, Alabama is a U-shaped motel facing Zelda Road, a busy four-lane thoroughfare named for Montgomery-born Zelda Sayre, a rich white woman who knew how to party, married somebody famous, took his name and...

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Metaphor Racing

Metaphor Racing

americaisabeautifulthing.com My son, Eli, and I spent the weekend at Talladega, a NASCAR track in Alabama. It was our first NASCAR event. I might love NASCAR, the wholesomeness of it, the innocence, the obliviousness, the sensuality, the Americanness; the families and...

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Hannibal to Cairo via East St. Louis

Hannibal to Cairo via East St. Louis

America is a beautiful thing… americaisabeautifulthing.com My plan was to follow The Great River Road, the Blues Highway, the Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan, from Minneapolis to Memphis then cut across to Birmingham for two days of NASCAR at Talladega with my son,...

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The Small Motel

The Small Motel

Last night a friend asked me how I find the small, locally-owned motels where I tend to stay. I told him I just wander around whatever town I’m in until I see a motel-looking building that doesn’t have a Holiday Inn Express sign on top. You don’t meet interesting...

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The Pit

The Pit

After I lost my driver's license, I started hanging out nights at the Pit & Paddock. The Pit was a 3.2 joint on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul. It was deep and narrow with a black door, black walls, black ceiling, fluorescent lights hanging on chains, lenses yellow...

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