Roadside attractions from Motor City to the Big Easy

Summer is the time for road trips, and in the west that can mean desert highways, teepee motels and giant dinosaur sculptures. But we’re not the only part of the country that boasts the distinctly American tradition of the roadside attraction. Last summer, Journalist Marissa Gawel grabbed her camera, hopped in her car, and took a 3,000 mile drive from Detroit to New Orleans. She stopped along the way to talk to the proprietors of the Monster Mart, the Bonny and Clyde Ambush Museum and the World’s Largest Ball of Paint, and her photos are featured in National Geographic Magazine’s August issue.