AC

Millions of Americans are hitting the road for the Fourth of July, despite the holiday landing mid-week this year. For the first time in five years, Independence Day falls on a Wednesday, making it harder to stretch a weekend into a three- or even four-day getaway. And, that's left many Americans facing a dilemma. "Unless you have vacation days to take off Monday and Tuesday, or Thursday and Friday, you're kind of left with one day off in the middle of the week," says Courtney Scott, senior editor at Travelocity. Despite that, auto club AAA estimates 42.3 million people will brave a heat wave that covers much of the country and work around higher travel costs to venture 50 miles or more from home this holiday. That's a 4.9% increase over last year. There's plenty for them to see and do, from the fireworks show above the Hudson River in New York City to the "Firecracker 5000" 5-K run in the Midwest tourist mecca of Branson, Mo. Gail Myer, whose family owns six hotels in Branson,...