The Great American Retro Road Trip

Join the Retrologist, Rolando Pujol, on a highly visual and sweetly nostalgic road trip. Traveling coast to coast and north to south, it’s an adventure into the heart of a uniquely American strain of ingenuity and creativity. Discover towering roadside figures like lumberjacks and the Jolly Green Giant. Buildings shaped like coffeepots, shoes, and baskets. Quirky attractions including Gatorland and the Blue Whale of Catoosa. Wildly beautiful signage and vintage original locations of iconic fast-food restaurants. All of it designed to catch the eye of another new breed of American—the roadtripper—and say “Pull over!” 

• “This book is a love note to the unique charms of the American landscape painted in neon signs, Muffler Men, and roadside motels. It’ll make you long to hit the open road.”
   
  Dylan Thuras, co-founder of Atlas Obscura
• “The Great American Retro Road Trip is a joyful reminder that America is so wonderfully weird and quirky, charming and strange, bizarre and magical. Rolando Pujol highlights places that aren’t simply stops on a map; they’re windows into the soul of America, showcasing the creativity and humor of everyday people. The stories and photos make a strong case for skipping the airport for an extra-special experience on the road for your next adventure!”
   
  Margaret Bienert, co-author of Hotel Kitsch and co-creator of A Pretty Cool Hotel Tour
• “I squeal with delight and excitement as I turn these pages full of color and fun that inspire me to hit the road for a creamy soft serve or savory fried treat eaten in the glow of a neon sign. These are the places that memories are made of, and Rolando’s depth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the quickly vanishing cool vintage places across the U.S. make this book a must-have on any road trip, whether driving in your home state or planning a classic cross-country jaunt.”
   
  Beth Lennon, aka Mod Betty, founder of Retro Roadmap
• “Put a crown on Rolando Pujol’s head, for this well-traveled guidebook establishes him as the king of the great American roadtrippers, sharing the stories and glories of precious, time-honored roadside landmarks, electrifying signage, and classic mom-and-pop shops from America’s golden era of car culture and mass consumerism.”
   
  Charles Phoenix, pop culture humorist and historian
• “With his journalistic sensibility, uncanny instinct for seeking out sights worth seeing, and brilliantly easy way with words, Rolando Pujol has taken on a subject as vast as the country itself and delivered a new book that brings fresh perspective to the decades-old study of the American commercial landscape, and that is as enjoyable to read as it is an absolute visual bombshell to look at.”
   
  Thomas Rinaldi, author of New York Neon