Jean Shepherd's America

Stranded during a blizzard in Wyoming, Shep and the crew romp in the snow outside the "Little America" motel while he recalls another childhood memory of cold mornings in northern Indiana, and his mother's unsympathetic reply to his plea to stay home from school.

What happens when you let a guy like Jean Shepherd loose in a place like Hawaii? He has a luau, watches the surfers and talks about his old man, the All Time Inner-Tube Specialist of America.

Tall stories -- airborne. Shep takes off at the controls of his four-seater and visits a convention that features home-made airplanes built with some interesting components.

Shep talks with one of Florida's natural wonders: Sea Weed Ernie, a hermit who lives in an old wrecked boat in the middle of a watery nowhere, trades fish stories and casts a line in the fabled Black Water Bay.

Beer, considered by some to be the universal language, is the focus as Shep travels to the archetypal neighborhood tavern in Milwaukee and presents a poetic pastiche of beer commercials -- "the folk music of our time."

Shep contrasts man's "nesting" instinct with his desire for mobility in a vision of tomorrow's styles of living.

Shep gets behind the wheel and moves out on the turnpike of life, as he muses on the mystique of the open road.

Recalling a comic-strip from his boyhood in which the hero escapes on a houseboat from the pursuing villains, Shep takes the helm of a houseboat and contemplates a nomadic life at sea.

While he cracks lobster claws, Shep cracks jokes and stories about his crazy love affair with all manner of delicacies, from rainbow trout to pecan pie.

Recalling the origins of his interest in Alaska in the second grade, Shep journeys through the Alaskan frontier exploring the captivating landscape, the sights and sounds of an Eskimo village, and the pervading silence.

While rumbling across Wyoming aboard a Union Pacific railroad car, Shep recalls a previous trip during his World War II Army days when he pulled KP duty on a troop train.

Shep loses his bait but comes up with some tall tales on a fishing trip in Maine's backwaters on the banks of the Kennebec River, with a stop at the Skowhegan County Fair to meet Bob, champion horse weight-puller.

Shep recalls the sights, sounds, and experiences of working in a steel mill at age 17, as the operations of a contemporary steel mill play out on screen.

Shep examines the life of a remittance man living off government stipend on the island of Guam, the island's local legends, its most scenic places, and the importance of family life to its residents.

What's Chicago? It's the White Sox; Dave Garroway; the White Sox; Kukla, Fran and Ollie -- and of course, the White Sox. Chicagoan Studs Terkel joins Shep in a celebration of The Windy City.

Shep supervises the assembly of his own Ford Mustang, then takes a lap around Indianapolis Speedway in a 1924 Dusenberg against racing great "Duke" Nalon.

Shep -- as the devil -- spends a weekend in New Orleans. You can see him playing chess...slurping oysters...or accompanying the Olympia Brass Marching Band on kazoo.

Shep and his trusty burro, Flower, wander among mirages and cacti as they follow the trail of the 49ers.

Shep boards the S.S. Emerald Sea in Miami in search of true romance.

Shep poses as an American tourist in order to learn more about the more popular vacation spots.

Spanish moss...stately mansions...a mint julep, fine cigar and the rocking chair on the veranda...the best of the Old South comes to life when Shep pays a visit.

Shep enjoys a leisurely cruise on a yacht -- or as the old man would say, "a boat that doesn't do anything."

Shep assumes the role of Swamp Man, searching for his roots -- and a pickerel "so big you don't dare look it in the eye" -- as he visits the Okefenokee Swamp.