There were special guidebooks, including "The Negro Travelers' Green Book" to help them avoid the humiliation of being turned away. "But the image of a black family having to sleep in the car because they couldn't find a motel was a powerful argument for the civil rights movement," she says.

Anti-Semitism was also widespread in some places. Jews had to contend with signs that said "Gentiles Only" or "Clientele Carefully Selected," which led them to build their own resorts in the Catskills, she says. "Anti-Semitism was easing up by the '50s. The Jews were ahead of the blacks in protesting unfair treatment, but both were often excluded from mainstream travel until the '60s."

By the mid-'70s, the family road trip began to wind down. "The family vacation, along with the nuclear family, had lost its cachet," she says. There were also economic factors, such as the oil embargo of 1973 and the fact that more middle-class Americans could afford to go to Europe. There were also social factors, including the fact that more women were working and that a new generation of children rebelled against the authority of their parents.

"The travel industry let go of the image of the white, middle-class suburban family in favor of narrower niche marketing," she says.

But that doesn't mean that family vacations are not still important. "Vacations do create memories, and they are powerful memories." As she's done radio shows in connection with the book, "so many of the callers have talked about their memories of family vacations."

Her advice: Trim the budget somewhere else and take the family on a vacation. "It can have a huge impact on how they see America, how they see communities. And being there is so much more powerful than just reading about it or seeing it on TV."

Let children help plan the vacation, she advises. "And don't let them just listen to their iPods all the time. Take time to sing songs and play the license game."

After all, she says, travel is so much easier now. She looks back to the golden age, and she sees heroes. "Just think, there was no air conditioning, no seat belts. Cars were bigger, but they went slower. Roads were not as good. But those vacations were bonding experiences."

If you go

What: Susan Rugh book signing for "Are We There? The Golden Age of American Family Vacations"

When: Tonight, 7 p.m.

Where: Barnes & Noble, Sugar House, 1100 E. 2100 South

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com