How about visiting a region instead of a city? Try to swing through the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan (its above the mitten and frequently left off
of maps). The heritage here is amazing: Fishing, logging, mining, Native
American, and the natural beauty is outstanding. Best of all, around a
third of it is state or national forest, so plenty of low cost camping.!
The U.P. is home to three national parks and numerous Indian casino's, so
who knows, you might get lucky and be able to stay at motels. I hope this
heelps.

>Twenty years ago, when I was a teenager, my mother, father, brother and I
>spent a year working our way through the fifty states during the
>bicentennial year, traveling in of all things, a VW beetle. ('Course we
>flew to Hawaii! Or actually the plane did). My mother, a naturalized
>citizen and native of Bogota, Colombia, wanted us to appreciate our
>country and share her patriotism. Our family financed the journey by
>working as fruit pickers, migrant workers, restaurant help, etc. Although
>we started our adventure very quietly, not sure if we would be able to
>complete it, before it was over we were featured in many newspapers and
>television shows. I wrote about the adventure in Seventeen magazine. It
>was an amazing time ...
>
>I grew up to be a television journalist and publisher of small regional
>newspapers. Now I plan to repeat the adventure with my own family   my
>husband, three-year-old son, and 11-year-old daughter. Because of the
>children's ages, we probably won't be able to work ... but have to be
>extremely frugal on the road. We too want our youngsters to appreciate
>their country ... learn its history and geography first-hand ... and share
>what they learn with other youngsters. We will home school our daughter on
>the road.
>
>We plan to document this trip in print and through video ... and as we
>prepare for our July 4th departure (for a July 4 return) we are busily
>researching the country.
>
>The reason for this mega-note is to ask for your help. We want to know the
>best places to go ... especially those with minimal or no cost involved.
>Tell us about your cities and towns! We especially look forward to hearing
>about America's little known jewels. We'll probably be camping out a lot
>also, or sleeping in our vehicle, so we'll also want to know your favorite
>places for overnight stays ... especially the free ones. We're not
>picky...we just want to be successful at experiencing all of America in
>one year. We also hope to make this a cybertrip ... visiting the places
>and people we learn about through the internet.
>
>Any and all help would be appreciated! Reply here ... or e-mail
>[log in to unmask]
>
>Marlene
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "Motivated primarily by their own inner vision, a desire for riches, and
an unbounded faith in the abundance of nature, they were willing to simply
go out in the field, dig into the earth, and find out what was there"
                                        David Kruase
                        __The Making of a Mining District__




Richard A. Fields
Graduate Student of Industrial Archaeology
Michigan Tech. Univ.
[log in to unmask]