'Blue Highways' is Kentucky native Linda Bruckheimer's Bluegrass love letter

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As a best-selling author, magazine editor, photographer, filmmaker, preservationist and the wife of one the most successful producers in Hollywood, Linda Bruckheimer could easily book all her travel on a private jet. 

But that's just not how this Kentucky gal rolls. 

"I love the open road. I grew up in a family that loved taking road trips," said Bruckheimer. "Whether it was going to markets, vacations or my grandmother's house in Kentucky, we always tried to take a different route — which meant sometimes we didn't end up where we intended to go."  

Give Bruckheimer a full tank of gasoline, a paper map, a bag of potato chips and an icy cold soda and she's content to take the road less traveled.

Her latest photography exhibition, "Road Map to Heaven," opening this week at the Frazier History Museum, 829 W. Main St., is an homage to motor travel along America's "Blue Highways" — the federal roads which predate today's interstate system.  

"Blue Highways," like Route 66 and Dixie Highway, got the nickname because of their designated blue color on road maps.

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Bruckheimer was 15-years-old when she was first introduced to travel along the "Blue Highway" and the "Great American Roadtrip." In 1959, her family loaded up the 1954 Packard and set out from their home in southeast Louisville to start a new life in Los Angeles, California.  

"I remember initially not being happy, not wanting to be moving from Louisville but once we were on the road, I loved everything I saw," remembers Bruckheimer. "The cafes, the motels, the odd shops, roadside attractions, and the scenery — it was an adventure and I realized road trips let you experience the personality of a town as well as the people who live there."

Years after moving to the Golden State, Bruckheimer met her husband, movie mogul Jerry Bruckheimer — you know, the man behind "Flashdance," "Top Gun," "Beverly Hills Cop," "The Rock," "Armageddon," "Black Hawk Down," "Pirates of the Caribbean" and hit TV series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," and "The Amazing Race" ... just to name a few. 

The couple may jet around the world for both work and pleasure but each year Linda Bruckheimer makes time to return to the open road.  

For longer trips, she travels with one or two family members, always brings a camera and has a loose idea of where she'd like to end up — but nothing is ever for certain. 

"There is no feeling of freedom better than having your hands around a car steering wheel and being able to turn it any way you want to go," she said.

The 150 photographs in her exhibition at the Frazier are a combination of planned destinations along Route 66 and to attractions like the "Lady in the Lake" in Elberta, Alabama and "Cadillac Ranch" in Amarillo, Texas. And just as intriguing, the show includes unexpected places and people she encountered along her journeys. 

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The images span 15 states and for the price of admission, offer the curious onlooker a journey through America you'll only get from a car, bicycle, motorcycle or possibly a horse.   

"There are towns that have stayed exactly the same as they were 60 years ago. They are ramshackle but they are authentic and that is very appealing to me," she said. "Then there are other towns which are completely demolished and then there are places like Williams, Arizona, which have embraced who they are and what they can give the world and it's a fantastic little spot."

"Road Map to Heaven" is Bruckheimer's second exhibit at the Fraizer. "Family Gathering: Linda Bruckheimer's Kentucky" was on display from Oct. 2017 through Jan. 6, earlier this month. Besides the photographs of her journeys, the new exhibition is filled with nostalgic pieces from the "Blue Highways," like a 1950's dinette, advertising signs, a Good Humor ice cream cart, Wild West furniture and two vintage automobiles, including a 1954 Packard similar to the one Bruckheimer's family drove from Louisville to Los Angeles all those years ago.

"Linda is always working and creating whether it's writing, preservation or photography," said Penny Peavler, president of the Frazier History Museum. "As far as photography, she is an artist who has an incredible way of seeing the world and she has a deep love for Kentucky."  

During one of her ambling drives through the Bluegrass state, Bruckheimer came across Walnut Groves, a 200-year-old Greek Revival house just outside of Bloomfield. She bought and restored the 1,600-acre farm in Nelson County about an hour drive from where she grew up. 

Today, the Bruckheimers split their time between their homes in Bloomfield and Los Angeles. They have bought and preserved several other old buildings in the town and when celebrity friends come to visit, they are sure to receive a tour of the Bluegrass with Linda Bruckheimer stationed solidly behind the steering wheel. 

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And it's not a coincidence that her two best-selling novels — "The Southern Belles of Honeysuckle Way" and "Dreaming Southern," both include cross country treks either from Kentucky to California or vice-versa. Road tripping, after all, is in Bruckheimer's blood and "Road Map to Heaven" is a very public way to share some of the best road trip offerings along lesser traveled arteries of the country."I hope this inspires people to get off Google, MapQuest, Waze and grab a paper map and take a road trip," said Bruckheimer. "It's a very liberating and exhilarating feeling."   

Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com or Twitter @kirbylouisville. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/kirbya.

Road Map To Heaven: Photographs by Linda Bruckheimer

WHAT: The 150 photographs in this exhibition are a combination of planned destinations along the "Blue Highways" of American and roadside attractions.

WHERE: Frazier HistoryMuseum, 829 W. Main St.

WHEN: Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 12-5 p.m. from Jan. 22 to April 14

COST: Adults (18+), $14; military, $12; Seniors (60+), $12; Students (with valid college ID) $10; Children (5-17) $10; children under four and museum members, free. 

MORE INFORMATION: fraziermuseum.org.