Discover the cultural treasures of North America

Few cities offer more delicious cuisine than New Orleans. French, Creole and Cajun cultures combine to offer a dazzling menu of epicurean delights from the French Quarter to the surrounding parishes. Here are just a few of the signature dishes that are must-tries for visitors:

• Jambalaya
  While jambalaya has different recipes, the basic ingredients remain the same, whether Cajun or Creole: rice, sausage, stock and vegetables. It can also include seafood or chicken. Creole jambalaya features the holy trinity of vegetables (celery, onions and bell peppers) plus tomatoes, while the Cajun version omits the tomatoes and adds cayenne pepper for spice.
• Muffuletta
  Salvatore Lupo, the original owner of the Central Grocery on Decatur Street, invented this legendary New Orleans sandwich in 1906. Packed with ham, salami, mortadella, provolone and mozzarella, it is topped with olives, celery, onions and carrots between two slices of Italian bread. That might seem excessive, but it is New Orleans, after all.
• Po’ Boys
  This mouth-watering sandwich was born in 1929 at Martin Brothers’ French Market during a streetcar workers’ strike. The Martin brothers handed out free sandwiches to the hungry strikers, or “poor boys.” Originally the sandwiches included fried potatoes, gravy and roast beef on French bread. Today, Po’ Boys are more elaborate and can include fried chicken, fried shrimp, crab or oysters with lettuce, tomatoes and a slice of lemon.
• Crawfish
  This classic New Orleans seafood can be served boiled, sauteed, baked or fried. Crawfish resemble small lobsters but are freshwater fish found in the ponds and rivers of Louisiana. Boiled crawfish includes potatoes, corn, garlic, onions, lemons and hot sauce for a bit of kick.
• Andouille sausage
  A popular Louisiana sausage with German and French roots, andouille is found virtually everywhere in the French Quarter. Often served with red beans and rice or in a gumbo, this sausage is noted for its smoky, sharp flavor.
• Beignets
  Another favorite pastime in New Orleans is enjoying a beignet at Café du Monde. This decadent, deep-fried pastry was brought to the region by French colonists. These puffy treats come with a healthy dose of powdered sugar on top and are best enjoyed with coffee.

North America is home to the largest freshwater ecosystem in the world, the Great Lakes. This impressive lake network covers more than 94,000 sq mi. (243,458 sq km) along the border between Canada and the United States, comprising five lakes that contain 21 percent of the world’s freshwater: Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario.

The Great Lakes have been integral to trade and transportation in North America since long before the US or Canada were established. Indigenous people used these waterways for fishing and transportation, and the lakes later supported the first settlers from Europe after they arrived on the continent. What is now known as the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Seaway system eventually grew to become one of the world’s most vital international trade routes.

The US and Canada constructed channels and locks throughout the region to ensure that ships could safely navigate natural obstructions, including rocks, shallow water, rapids and waterfalls. Ships enter the locks through a gate at one end. Then, water is allowed to flow by gravity in or out of the lock basin to raise or lower the ship. Once the water has reached an equal level on either side of the exit gate, the ship departs the lock basin and continues on its navigation.

The Welland Canal is an engineering marvel of the Great Lakes system. It contains eight locks that raise and lower ships a total of 326 ft. (99 m) between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The canal was built because the Niagara River—the natural connection between the Erie and Ontario lakes—has impassable falls and rapids, including the famous Niagara Falls. The lock system is essential to trade in the region, given that around 3,000 vessels, carrying 40 million tons of cargo, use the Welland Canal annually.

Between Lake Superior and Lake Huron are the Soo Locks, another essential lock system that is known by their operator, the US Army Corps of Engineers, as the “Linchpin of the Lakes.” Located at Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan, the Soo Locks and the St. Marys Falls Canal enable ships to bypass rapids on the St. Marys River and safely pass through the 21-foot (6.5-m) elevation change between Lakes Superior and Huron. Two parallel lock basins operate here: the MacArthur Lock and the Poe Lock. Ships of over 1,000 ft. (304 m) in length can be accommodated, facilitating over 80 million tons of cargo each year—including more than 90 percent of all iron ore in the United States.

The automobile may have been invented in Europe, but its dominance as an industrial and cultural force is truly American. Fed by plentiful natural resources and produced at an astounding rate on assembly lines, American-based automobile manufacturers quickly came to dominate the world market. In 1913, US automobile manufacturers alone accounted for 80 percent of the world’s car production. This trend held through the Great Depression, World War II and beyond, fueling the US’s economic preeminence until the early 1980s.

There were hundreds of US automobile manufacturers during the early 20th century, but three Detroit-based companies soon dominated the industry—the “Big Three” of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Much credit to the automotive revolution can be given to Michigan native Henry Ford. His introduction in 1908 of the reliable Model T and the use of the assembly line to produce it in large numbers at a reasonable cost to consumers ushered in an era of unprecedented industrialization. Later innovations, such as the River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, further advanced mass-production methods.

During World War II, many “Big Three” factories were retooled for the war effort. Between 1940 and 1945, they manufactured some 2.6 million military trucks and 660,000 jeeps, as well as one-half of the machine guns and carbines made in the US during the war, 60 percent of the tanks and all the armored cars. Ford’s famous manufacturing plant in Willow Run, Michigan, produced 8,685 B-24 Liberator heavy bombers.

Over the ensuing decades, all three automakers jockeyed for dominance in the American market, introducing clever designs and engineering advancements to produce beloved American models, such as the Ford Mustang and Taurus, the Chevrolet Suburban and Corvette, and the Chrysler Town and Country.

The rise of the “Big Three” and the integration of the automobile into everyday life also introduced innumerable changes to living habits and social customs, including increased mobility, recreational opportunities, the use of credit and the outward growth of suburbia.

The “Big Three”—and their competitors—remain an important part of the Great Lakes region’s economic vitality, contributing heavily to the region’s annual GDP, either directly or through auto-related businesses.

Today, visitors can discover Detroit’s rich culture and creative urban development, tour the impressive Ford Rouge Factory and explore the remarkable Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, where iconic automobiles and historic artifacts tell the story of 20th-century American ingenuity.