From museums and historic homes to out-of-the-way bookstores and bars, your literary-themed summer roadtrip just got easier to plan.
The Northeast:
Retrace Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in the town that provided the setting for the classic tale, and visit Irving's resting place in the Sleepy Hallow cemetery. Stay for ghostly tour.
You may be familiar with Henry David Thoreau's Walden, but but did you know he also wrote about his journeys in Maine? Use his book The Maine Woods as your guide to exploring the natural wonders the Pine Tree State has to offer, such as the Penobscot River.
Spend time in the world of Emily Dickinson in Amherst, Massachusetts, whether by touring her home or by taking an audio tour of the outdoor grounds and learn more about the inspiration behind her poems.
While you're in the town of Amherst, take a trip down memory lane and celebrate the author and illustrator behind childhood favorites like The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
June Jordan and Adrienne Rich are only two of the many women whose works are archived in the Schlesinger Library within the Radcliffe Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Serving as a the inspiration for the Whaleman's Chapel described in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, the Seaman's Bethel in New Bedford, Massachusetts added the prow-shaped pulpit, which was inspired by Melville's work, and the subsequent film adaption.
Mark Twain raised his family and worked on his most beloved classics, such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, while living in this Hartford, Connecticut mansion. Take a tour and learn more about Twain's life from the rotating exhibitions.
The Midwest:
If you ever wanted to type on the same model of typewriter Kurt Vonnegut used, you'll have your chance at the memorial library in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Kansas City Public Library in Missouri may be the most Instagram-worthy library of them all with its towering facade of literary classics.
Not only can you visit the home where Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, but if you visit during the weekend of July 17th, you can participate in his birthday bash and the Hemingway 8K Running of the Bulls.
While you can't quite live in your own house on the prairie at the Ingalls Homestead in De Smet, South Dakota, you can camp on the grounds and pretend you're Laura Ingalls Wilder for a night.
Iowa City, Iowa is the only American city to be named a City of Literature by the United Nation Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Home to the Iowa Writers Workshop, take a literary tour of the city and make sure to visit the Prairie Lights Bookstore.
The West:
Jack London's Beauty Ranch in Glen Ellen, California not only includes the cottage where he wrote many of his stories; it also includes the land where London worked on sustainable farming.
Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon, has over one million books for sale. Need we say more?
A favored haunt of Beat writers like Jack Keruoac and Neal Cassady in Denver, Colorado, My Brother's Bar doesn't have a sign. But once inside, you can request a photocopied letter of Cassady's sent to the bar while he was in the Colorado Reformatory.
While the name Mabel Dodge Luhan may not sound familiar, she acted as a host of literary and artistic salons and welcomed authors like Aldous Huxley and D.H. Lawrence as guests in her Taos, New Mexico home. You can even spend the night in the same room that Willa Cather stayed in.
Located in Benson, Arizona, the Singing Wind Bookshop is on an actual ranch. Along with a wide selection of books on the Southwest, you can purchase beef directly from the owners.
The South:
You don't need to go across the pond to view Shakespeare's First Folio. View early editions of Shakespeare's plays and other classic works in Washington, DC.
Housed within Emory University's Woodruff Library, you can view Alice Walker's papers by request. The archive is part of the larger Alice Walker Literary Society, which hosts events and sponsors research center on the author.
Visit the Savannah, Georgia house where Flannery O'Connor spent her formative years and learn more about her mischievous childhood.
Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner are just two of the literary wonders who frequented the Hotel Monteleone, which has been designated an official literary landmark by the Friends of the Library Association. The revolving Carousel Bar is featured in Hemingway's short story "The Night Before Battle."
Visit the boyhood home of Alex Haley in Henning Tennessee. Following in the tradition of Haley's Roots, the museum hosts genealogy sessions for visitors.
While you can't visit the fictional Maycomb of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, you can tour the restored Monroeville, Alabama courthouse Lee sat in as child.
Go back to college in Austin, Texas and get an up-close look at the archives of Walt Whitman, James Joyce, Evelyn Waugh, Gabriel García Márquez, and many more. Just make sure to contact the archive to check for availability first!
Alaska and Hawaii:
Near Healy, Alaska, you can hike the difficult, and even dangerous, Stampede Trail to the McCandless bus, the end point of Into the Wild, which chronicled Christopher McCandless' hitchhiking journey that ended in his death. If you'd rather skip the hike, you can always visit the 49th State Brewing Company, where you'll find the replica of the bus built for the film.
Specializing in Hawaiian literature, Kona Stories is an important stop on your way back from the beach in Hawaii.