After serving 37 years as a reporter at CBS, Kuralt retired and set out on a trip to see his favorite American locations at their best. During the course of a year, he traveled across the country and stopped, for example, at Charleston, South Carolina, for the azaleas in March and Woodstock, Vermont, for the fall colors in October. In this journal, the author records the people, places, and pets he encountered. One of the most interesting chapters in the book is the final one, set in Manhattan, Kuralt's hometown, in December. Kuralt describes small-town New York, a large city composed of tiny, personal neighborhoods.