Blast From the Past! 5 Retro Road Trips for the Family

Remember woodie station wagons? A time before GPS when unfolded maps lay draped across your dashboard? The guilty pleasure of trailing billboards to unimaginable, delightfully tacky roadside attractions?

There's something deeply fulfilling about following your curiosity (and back roads) to a new destination. There’s no need to check online reviews or stress that the roll of film in your camera only holds 24 shots. You just go.

Even without firsthand experience, you know what these bygone travel pleasures signify—the great American road trip. At these five destinations, you can turn back the clock and inhabit a retro vacation vibe.

Get your kicks on Route 66

You can still travel segments of this legendary highway, which ran from Chicago down to St. Louis then west through Tulsa and the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona on its way to Los Angeles. Mid-20th-century cafes, drive-ins and other vintage landmarks stand as relics of the postwar boom. Fittingly, Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas—the halfway spot of this historic route—beckons travelers with fried bologna sandwiches and slices of Midpoint Ugly Pie. (Try the Tennessee whiskey chocolate pecan pie. Thank us later.)

See mermaids in their natural habitat

These legendary aquatic creatures have entertained visitors in Florida’s Weeki Wachee Springs State Park since 1947. The park’s submerged, 400-seat theater holds daily shows of classics like Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. Pro tip: Weeki Wachee is about an hour north of Tampa, so why not take a Gulf Coast vacation and spend time in both?

Ride a wooden roller coaster

A retro theme park adventure awaits at Belmont Park with its wooden coaster, the Giant Dipper.

A must-ride for wooden coaster lovers, the Giant Dipper has stood in San Diego's beachside Belmont Park since 1925, and it’s been a National Historic Landmark since the ’80s. Beyond the old-school coaster, this park thrills visitors with other throwback rides, like the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Liberty Carousel. If your posse isn’t on board with going completely retro, there are modern attractions as well, including the Vertical Drop and the Octotron.

See the burger. Be the burger

Fill up on burger history at the Burger Beast Museum in Miami, which houses a collection of more than 3,000 items.

The staple of countless backyard cookouts, this classic American dish comes in all sizes, from bite-size sliders to towering multipatty beasts. Whether it’s topped with American cheese, ketchup, chili or kimchi, every burger is celebrated at the Burger Beast Museum in Miami. This curiosity, located in the Magic City Casino, claims to be America’s only museum dedicated to burgers and comfort food.

Take a pocketful of quarters to the arcade

Feeling more nostalgic for the ’80s or ’90s? The Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, Illinois, just under an hour’s drive from Chicago, boasts hundreds of classic games, such as Joust, Street Fighter and Area 51. Funspot in Laconia, New Hampshire, claims to be the largest arcade in the world; in addition to the video games, there's bowling and indoor putt-putt. And if that's not retro enough, Musée Mécanique on Pier 45 in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf features some seriously antique games, nearly all of them in working condition and some of which are actual penny arcade machines. That’s seriously retro!

Ready to travel? Search for hotels near these retro vacation destinations.

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