The American road trip is a powerful idea.

But Americans often choose speed over the journey.

Cheap plane tickets make flying easy.

Drivers usually stay on big highways.

They rush past small towns they say they like.

Historian Susan Rugh says the family road trip was biggest after World War II.

It ended before the oil crisis in the 1970s.

More families joined the middle class.

Many had paid vacation for the first time.

More people bought cars.

The government also spent money on highways.

So long drives became more comfortable.

Many veterans wanted to show their children what they had fought for.

Washington, D.C. became a popular place to visit.

Families also visited historic sites and battlefields.

Visits to national parks rose by more than 650% from 1946 to 1966.

Rugh writes that these trips made families closer.

They also taught children to be good citizens.

But the open road was not free for everyone.

Black families faced separate facilities.

This happened even outside the South.

Professor Allen Pietrobon says their trips were not carefree.

A gas station might refuse to serve them.

Some national parks still treated people badly.

They had separate campgrounds for Black families.

Guidebooks like the Green Book listed places that welcomed Black travelers.

Rugh writes that these problems helped build support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Business people built motels, restaurants, and roadside attractions for these travelers.

Route 66 turned 100 this year.

It was one famous example.

Later, the interstate system pulled traffic away.

Many small towns disappeared.

Richard Ratay says Americans traded unexpected discoveries for speed and convenience.

Still, experts say travelers can take older highways.

There they can find those experiences again.