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Visit these 5 destinations that inspired America's favorite songs, books and movies
Travel stirs the soul and motivates the muse of even the most inartful explorers.
“People don’t take trips . . . trips take people,” proclaimed author John Steinbeck, who famously captured rough times on the road from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to golden California in his 1939 novel “The Grapes of Wrath.”
New lavish landscapes, first-time flavors and curious cultures inspire an itch among wide-eyed wanderers to capture the joy of new discoveries in photos, journals, social media posts and even the time-honored art of penning postcards.
FROM ALABAMA TO TEXAS, US TRAVEL SPOTS TO SOAK UP AMERICAN SCIENCE AND INNOVATION
For the most gifted and most inspired travelers, new discoveries inspire words, books, songs, images and art that plant themselves in popular culture.
Here’s a look at five landmarks of American travel inspirational enough to shape the national culture.
1. California – Big Sur
Big Sur boasts some of the most specular and isolated coastal scenery in California along State Route 1, also called Big Sur Coast Highway. (Associated Press)
Big Sur reminds visitors that California, the most populous state in the union, still boasts awe-inspiring natural beauty.
State Route 1 hangs precariously between the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, offering dramatic and sometimes nerve-wracking vistas of land, sea and towering redwood forests.
“Jack Kerouac . . . helped popularize the rugged coastal scenery with the 1962 novel “Big Sur.”
Jack Kerouac, already famous for “On the Road,” helped popularize the rugged coastal scenery with the 1962 novel “Big Sur.”
The Beach Boys, Alanis Morissette and Johnny Rivers have all performed songs with “Big Sur” in the title, while several movies have been filmed there. Famed novelist Henry Miller lived for many years in Big Sur, where the Henry Miller Memorial Library still celebrates his legacy.
Millions drive the 70-mile stretch of road through Big Sur each year, but it remains remarkably isolated, with few permanent residents or roadside amenities. Landslides frequently make Big Sur inaccessible by auto, including here in 2024.
2. Florida – Key West
A man and woman with rented bicycles outside Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The Florida Keys begin just south of Miami and extend more than 100 miles west into the Gulf of Mexico.
The spectacular archipelago of coral islands offers one of the most stunning drives in the nation, with the feeling of skimming across the ocean as autos leap from one island to the next.
The road ends in Key West, an adult paradise of boozy singalong bars, seafood shacks and leisurely nightlife. The most popular activity in Key West is watching the sun set gloriously each night from Mallory Square.
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Key West has probably inspired more books, songs and hangovers per square mile than any city in America.
Musician Jimmy Buffett turned this real-life “Margaritaville” into an entire sub-genre of tiki-cocktail flavored, sun-soaked pop tunes. Kenny Chesney and Bob Dylan, among many others, sing rapturously of Key West.
Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West when he wrote many of his famous novels, including “A Farewell to Arms,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “Death in the Afternoon.” His Key West home is one of America’s most popular literary landmarks.
3. Georgia – Savannah Historic District
Savannah, Georgia, landmark sign notes that the city was the home of “Jingle Bells” composer James L. Pierpont. It does not state that the song was written in Savannah, recognizing the mystery of the song’s origin. (Courtesy Visit Savannah)
The 18th-century south thrives today amid the verdant squares of Savannah.
Visitors love the slow-paced city, nearly 300 years old, for the colonial cobblestones of River Street; delicious restaurants highlighting the best of southern fare, such as Paula Deen’s flagship eatery The Lady and Sons and its historic layout of leafy downtown squares.
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Savannah had newfound popularity following its haunting, captivating portrayal in the 1994 bestselling book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”
That same year, Savannah set the stage for one of biggest movie hits of all time. War hero and tech tycoon “Forrest Gump” narrated his amazing tale while waiting for a bus in Chippewa Square.
Savannah also claims to have inspired one of the most popular tunes in world history. James Lord Pierpoint, a Savannah church musician, wrote “Jingle Bells” in the 1850s.
4. New Jersey – Asbury Park Boardwalk
Fortune teller Madam Marie is among the local oddities that give the Asbury Park boardwalk its festive vibe. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
New Jersey’s boardwalks fuel a festive American carnival-like culture up and down the Garden State coast. The boardwalk in the juke-joint town of Asbury Park may be the most iconic — offering scenic ocean vistas, easy access to New York City and notable contributions to American pop culture.
Bruce Springsteen burst onto the American cultural scene with his debut album, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.,” helping to fuel the city’s rep as a rock music haven.
Today’s attractions include the Silverball Retro Arcade, the Stephen Crane House, which was the home of the author of the famed Civil War novel “The Red Badge of Courage,” and celebrated music venue The Stone Pony.
“Did you hear the cops finally busted Madam Marie / for telling fortunes better than they do / For me this boardwalk life is through,” Springsteen croons to Sandy in his 1973 hit “4th of July, Asbury Park.”
Yet fortune-teller Madam Marie’s stall remains and New Jersey’s boardwalk scene still thrives.
5. Ohio – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Elvis Presley, rock & roll star of the 1950s, performs on stage. (Getty Images)
The American-born art form of rock ‘n’ roll fused artistic and cultural influences in the years after World War II. It would light the fire of global pop music in the 1950s.
The best performers of the genre are immortalized within the I.M. Pei-designed museum in Cleveland.
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The Rock Hall was sited on the banks of Lake Erie in deference to Cleveland’s role in shaping the future of pop culture.
Cleveland, among other contributions, was the home of celebrated DJ Alan Freed. An enthusiastic promoter of the new genre, he is credited with coining the globally known term “rock ‘n’ roll” itself.
Ernest Hemingway lookalike contest, Key West, Fla.; Big Sur, Calif.; and Bruce Springsteen.
Freed also hosted the Moondog Coronation Ball in 1952, widely proclaimed the first rock concert.
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The Rock Hall now wraps its arms around many other genres, including rappers (Grandmaster Flash), country stars (Bob Wills), soul crooners (Al Green) and pre-rock-era icons (Louis Armstrong), among others.
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A Florida mother killed her two children inside their upscale Lakewood Ranch home before taking her own life in what authorities ruled was a double homicide-suicide.
Deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a welfare check at the home and discovered three people dead inside. Detectives with the Manatee Homicide Investigation Unit later concluded the children were killed by their mother before she took her own life.
Authorities said there is no evidence anyone else was involved, and there is no threat to the community.
The victims were identified by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune as Monika Rubacha, 44, and her children, Josh James, 14, and Emma James, 11.
Vehicles from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office arrive in the Lakewood Ranch neighborhood as investigators probe a double homicide-suicide involving a mother and her two children. (Manatee County Sheriff’s Office)
Officials described encountering what appeared to be a “violent murder scene” when deputies entered the home.
The case remains active as detectives continue reviewing evidence. The medical examiner will determine the official cause and manner of the deaths.
According to the Herald-Tribune, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Randy Warren said preliminary findings suggest Josh James may have died earlier than his sister and mother as investigators work to establish a precise timeline.
CALIFORNIA MAN KILLS WIFE, TEEN DAUGHTER IN MURDER-SUICIDE: AUTHORITIES
Monika Rubacha with her children, Josh James, 14, and Emma James, 11, in a family photo. Authorities say Rubacha killed her two children inside their Lakewood Ranch, Fla., home before taking her own life. (Monika Karina Rubacha/ Facebook)
The outlet also reported that authorities believe there was some level of planning involved and that the mother “knew what she was doing,” citing Warren.
“This is unimaginable that two children were killed inside their home by a parent, and then she took her own life,” Warren told FOX 13.
Warren also told the station that deputies had never previously responded to the home since the family moved there from Missouri about three years ago.
SPORTS REPORTER AND HUSBAND FOUND DEAD IN SUSPECTED MURDER-SUICIDE AS 3-YEAR-OLD CHILD REMAINS UNHARMED
Crime scene tape surrounds the upscale Lakewood Ranch home where authorities say Monika Rubacha killed her children, Josh James and Emma James, before taking her own life. (Manatee County Sheriff’s Office)
“There’s really nothing there that would have indicated this would have happened,” said Warren.
The children’s father was traveling in South America at the time of the killings and returned to Florida after being notified, authorities said, calling it “an incredible emotional day for him,” according to FOX 13.
Neighbors described shock rippling through the gated community.
COLORADO MOM ACCUSED OF KILLING 2 CHILDREN AND FLEEING TO UK RETURNS STATESIDE TO FACE MURDER CHARGES
“It’s a total surprise and shock. This neighborhood is so quiet,” Paul Henne, a resident of The Lake Club, told FOX 13.
“It’s a family community with small kids. It really hits you hard when you hear about that stuff happening.”
The Lake Club at Lakewood Ranch, the gated community where the family lived, said in a statement to FOX 13 it is aware of the tragedy and that its “hearts are with the family and all those affected during this incredibly difficult time.”
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A motive has not been released.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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In divided North Carolina, Whatley and Cooper emerge for Senate battle that could tip Washington
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Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper have secured the Republican and Democratic nominations respectively to succeed retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
Whatley, of Boone, and Cooper, of Nashville, were heavily favored to win their contests in a state that has been tough for Republicans at the gubernatorial level and for Democrats at the presidential level.
Cooper faced businessman Daryl Farrow and technology sector consultant Justin Dues — both prior candidates for U.S. House — along with Pastor Orrick Quick and several perennial candidates.
Republican Michael Whatley, left; Democrat Roy Cooper, right. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images; Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images) (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images; Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Whatley faced retired Navy JAG officer Don Brown, who previously ran for Congress against Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C. Another major GOP candidate was former Wake County school board candidate Michele Morrow.
Immigration has been a key issue in the race, as Whatley has hammered Cooper for repeatedly vetoing bills from Raleigh’s state legislative Republican majority that would have compelled local cooperation with ICE.
“If Roy Cooper had not vetoed legislation that would have forced sheriffs to honor the ICE detainers, then these people would not have been on the street,” Whatley said.
ICE, along with Tarheel State-native Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, captured at least 120 illegal immigrants in Charlotte and the Triangle during operations last year.
“It’s unfortunate that the Trump administration has to go into a city like Charlotte and help to clean up the city. It would be great if the state and the local officials were to be as concerned for their citizens as they were for the illegal immigration advocates that they’re pushing,” Whatley added at the time.
Cooper vetoed at least three bills during his eight-year tenure dealing with ICE cooperation that were drafted by the GOP-majority legislature.
SWING-STATE DEM IN CRUCIAL SENATE RACE FACING HEAT FOR WEEKS LONG SILENCE ON HEINOUS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME
In August 2019, Cooper vetoed a bill from current House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Lenoir, that would have required sheriffs to honor ICE detainers and hold suspects until they could be transferred to the feds.
Cooper reportedly said the bill was trying to use “fear to divide North Carolina,” but the effort eventually succeeded as part of a package expanding private-school vouchers.
Cooper has pushed back, with a spokesman telling Fox News Digital that sheriffs in Wake, Mecklenburg and Durham counties all opposed Republicans’ legislation – and backed his own move to veto them. Eight other sheriffs backed Cooper’s veto.
“Roy Cooper is the only candidate who spent his career prosecuting violent criminals and keeping thousands of them behind bars, and numerous North Carolina sheriffs spoke out against this legislation at the time because of a lack of resources; a problem that Washington, D.C. insider and Big Oil lobbyist Michael Whatley has made worse because of his support for cuts to local law enforcement,” the spokesman said.
The race sets up a high-stakes fall general election, where Whatley hopes to maintain Republicans’ grip on the seat, and a Cooper win could throw the Senate’s Republican majority into jeopardy.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) departs from a luncheon with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building on June 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Senate is expected to take up The Fiscal Responsibility Act, legislation negotiated between the White House and House Republicans to raise the debt ceiling until 2025 and avoid a federal default. The House passed the bill last night with a bipartisan vote of 314-117. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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The last time a Democrat held a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat was from 2009–2015 with Sen. Kay Hagan, whom Tillis eventually defeated.
Before that, scandal-plagued vice presidential candidate John Edwards split the state’s representation with Republican Elizabeth Dole, the wife of 1996 GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole.
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Timeline tracks diplomat’s path from college overachiever to alleged highway ‘road rage’ mass stabber
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The diplomat accused of fatally stabbing one person and injuring three others in a Sunday highway “road rage incident” once graduated with academic honors and built a career that took him to the U.S. State Department.
Jared Llamado, 32, fatally stabbed Michele Adams, 39, and injured Dana Bonnell, 36, Mary C. Flood, 37, and Heather Miller, 40, according to Virginia State Police. Llamado also stabbed his own dog to death, authorities said. The incident happened on I-495 southbound at 1:17 p.m. in Fairfax County, about 30 minutes from Washington, D.C.
Officials said the stabbings did not appear to be targeted, and none of the victims besides the dog were in Llamado’s car at the time. Llamado, who was armed with a knife, was shot by a state trooper in self-defense and died at a local hospital, authorities said. The trooper wasn’t injured.
“A Virginia State Police trooper was called to the scene at approximately 1:17 p.m. for a reported road rage incident. When the trooper arrived on scene, he was confronted by a male suspect carrying a knife,” Virginia State Police wrote in a news release. “The trooper then shot the suspect in self-defense. The suspect, Jared Llamado, 32, of McLean, Va., was transported to the hospital with serious injuries. Llamado later succumbed to those injuries. The trooper was not injured.”
Officials said Jared Llamado also killed his dog. (Facebook/Jared Llamado)
Police respond to a stabbing on I-495 at Little River Turnpike on March 1, 2026. (WTTG)
The U.S. Department of State confirmed Llamado was a foreign service officer with the agency.
“We are aware of the tragic incident that involved a Foreign Service Officer and occurred on Sunday, March 1, in Fairfax County, Virginia,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “We extend our deepest condolences to all those affected by this tragedy.”
On Feb. 22, Llamado posted a picture with several friends on social media, appearing to be happy and upbeat.
STATE DEPARTMENT CONFIRMS FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER IS SUSPECT IN VIRGINIA ‘ROAD RAGE’ MASS STABBING
Jared Llamado was a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department, according to an agency spokesperson. (Facebook/Jared Llamado)
“Dinner with my long time friends and coworkers!” Llamado wrote, in what would be his last Facebook post.
Here’s a timeline of Llamado’s work and education history leading up to the stabbing incident, according to his LinkedIn and social media:
2011 – Began studying at George Mason University:
In 2011, Llamado began studying at George Mason University to earn a degree in applied information technology.
2015 – Graduated from George Mason University:
In 2015, Llamado graduated from George Mason University with a degree in applied information technology. Llamado said on LinkedIn that he graduated with a 3.76 grade point average, which landed him on the dean’s list for seven of his eight semesters. He also said he graduated magna cum laude.
July 2015 to June 2018 – Employed as a network engineer at OSIbeyond
Officials said Jared Llamado killed one person and injured three others. (Instagram/jared.llamado)
June 2018 to June 2020 – Employed as an IT Network Engineer at ECC IT Solutions, LLC
June 2020 to October 2021 – Employed as a senior solutions engineer at R3 LLC
November 2021 to July 2024 – Employed as a senior network engineer at LMS Technical Services
September 2024 to March 2026 – Employed as a diplomatic technology officer at the U.S. Department of State:
While working at the Department of State, Llamado said he was living in Copenhagen, Denmark, but appeared to be back in the United States recently.
March 1: Police say Llamado went on a stabbing spree in a “road rage incident”:
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Authorities identified Jared Llamado, 32, of McLean, as the suspect in a stabbing following a crash on Interstate 495 in Fairfax County, Virginia. (Jared Llamado McLean Facebook)
According to dispatch audio obtained by Fox News Digital, the stabbing incident “started out as a property damage crash,” then the suspect began “stabbing people with a knife.”
The dispatch operator said that there were “multiple victims in the roadway.”
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