PBS producer Rick Sebak alerted me that Jay Leno mentioned his new program, A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway, on last night’s show. At 8:29 into the show, near the end of his monologue, Leno says “it was a pretty good show,” then tries to joke about the title having a questionable double meaning. The joke is pretty odd and falls flat, but any publicity is good publicity.
Click the screen image above to go to the full episode.
What are the must-see places along the Lincoln Highway? It’s impossible to answer, as everyone has their favorite things. Some like natural scenery, or good eats, or wacky attractions, or shopping, or water towers. I veer towards vintage roadside attractions like the Shoe House, seen below being repainted.
Rick Sebak, producer of A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway, commented last time I brought this up, “Isn’t every stop different depending on weather, time of day, people you meet, your mood and the temperament of everybody else in the car?” Yep, that’s why the well-known attractions might not even be on your list of favorites.
Nonetheless, I charge ahead with my top 10 places from East-to-West that will make you feel like a Lincoln Highway regular:
1 Shoe House/Dunkle’s Gulf/Coffee Pot/Lincoln Motor Court, PA
2 Balyeat’s Restaurant, Van Wert OH
3 Ideal Section, IN-IL border
4 LHA Headquarters, Franklin Grove IL
5 LH concrete bridge, Tama IA (image above)
6 Scout’s Rest Ranch, N Platte NE
7 Virginian Hotel, Medicine Bow WY
8 Salt Lake Desert route, UT (image below)
9 Carroll Summit road, west of Austin NV
10 Donner Summit, west of Truckee CA
That’s 10 if you don’t mind my PA quad pick (and that’s leaving out the fabulous Poquessing Creek Bridge and Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum).
So what must-see sites did I leave out?? I already can think of more places that I can’t believe didn’t make the list. But the ones above would be a great start to a lifetime of Lincoln Highway touring.
The Lincoln Highway can be a great idea for a road trip: its length makes it close to much of the county, you can drive as little/much as you want, and even remote sections are never far from an Interstate for a quick return trip or a family who need modern amenities. I’ve never driven it non-stop from coast-to-coast but have driven most of it in every state. The adventures are still endless — as PBS producer Rick Sebak said on his road trip this summer, “We could do this for the rest of our lives!” That’s his picture of Green River, Wyoming.
Our kids have been along on most of the trips and will be with us again next summer as we head from Pittsburgh west to the Pacific Ocean. There was a time when 5 of us could fit on one bed — not by choice but when a motel’s double rooms were full! Now they’re nearing driving age, and though none are roadside devotees, they’re more excited about the trips than we are. The trick is to keep it fun for them too.
Along with old-fashioned car games, they bring along their favorite electronics. We mix in some familiar restaurants along with lots of cafes and diners (advertising draws them to fast food but they always remark how good diner food tastes). We ask them each to keep small trip diaries to help them (and us!) remember where they’ve been, stayed, and eaten. We visit bookstores and toy stores along with cool old attractions like Fort Cody Trading Post in North Platte, Nebraska. Next trip we may visit a skatepark and snowboarding hill. We also stay in a cool variety of rooms, from tourist cabins to chains (we like Quality Inn) to wacky places like the Wigwam Villages. We see a lot of the country and its people, who have been overwhelmingly friendly.
About that trip next summer — my Lincoln Highway Companion will be published in Spring 2009 and we’ll be using it ourselves to drive the road and do some signings. This book was meant to coincide with Sebak’s A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway but our schedules got out of sync. The publisher is finishing the design now but here’s the first peak at the cover. It will list many cool places to visit, eat, and sleep, but if you want info now, check my Greetings from the Lincoln Highway book, or the Lincoln Highway Association site, or old posts on this blog.
Reviews have been coming in for the PBS program A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Toledo Blade, and The Truth Newspaper in Elkhart, IN, all used the Scripps story
So did Salt Lake City’s Deseret News, which missed a great opportunity to interview three leading LH historians in its area, two of them prominently featured in the program
Pittsburgh Tribune Review commented on the show and its music
Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Journal among others used the same text and made it tonight’s Must-See
Our friend Ron Warnick reviews it on his site, Route 66 News
Finally, USAToday compliments the show but it’s obvious the reviewer skipped the preview DVD when he writes, “Sebak sometimes allows his passion for roadside stands to overwhelm the road itself.” Once you’ve seen it, you too will wonder “what roadside stands??” and then guess that the reviewer made an assumption based on past shows.
The above images are from producer Rick Sebak. Learn more about the show here.
Rick Sebak and his crew filmed dozens of hours but only had room for about 15 stories in A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway. Five stories that were finished but couldn’t fit in the hour-long program will be on the DVD as extras. And starting today — not only are they available online but so are 21 more outtakes from the show.
The five feature stories are on Woodine Iowa’s Brick Street Station, a bookstore in North Platte NE, a garage-turned-tavern in Lyman WY, a woman in Morrison IL with a yard full of lawn ornaments, and a farmer’s market in Belle Plaine IA.
The 21 outtakes cover a wide range of people and places, from Bernie Queneau recalling his Boy Scout life-saving demonstrations on the famed 1928 safety tour to Michael Wallis describing the genesis of Radiator Springs for the movie Cars and how it represents towns not only on Route 66 but along any old 2-lane. You’ll also see familiar faces from the LHA as well as folks from along the road who you’ll meet in the program.
It won’t ship till after the show airs nationally, but A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway DVD is available for pre-order from PBS.
The DVD includes 5 extra segments as listed on the back cover below plus we’ll have more information about them later this week. Above is a screen shot from the end of the program; note the cover has changed slightly since the program was finished, as seen in these images provided by producer Rick Sebak.
Time to hit the road and visit stands along the Lincoln Highway selling fruit, jams, gourds, and pumpkins. Here’s Bingham’s Orchard, 9823 Lincoln Way West, St. Thomas, Pennsylvania.
Denny Gibson wrote to say that Phil Rosenstein is running across the US on a path that will cover part of the Lincoln Highway. “He’s currently running eastbound on Route 66. His schedule is here but he’s well ahead of it and has just entered Missouri. Although he doesn’t mention it (and may not realize it) it looks like he’ll be following the LH from Indiana through Pennsylvania.”
Indeed, Phil told me, “Route 30 is the one part of my run that I’ve no pre-knowledge about. I don’t think I’ve ever been on it.” Of concern is whether the road has shoulders and reasonable speed limits.
On his website, Phil writes that he is “running the entire Route 66 from Santa Monica, CA to Chicago, IL and then continuing on to Atlantic City, NJ to complete the transcontinental run. I will be alone and I am prepared to do it on my own every step of the way. But, this run will go much easier with a little help from a few people along the way.” Help could come in the form of lodging, publicity, and his ultimate goal, raising attention and money for The Mario Lemieux Foundation (www.mariolemieux.org).
Here’s a photo Phil at the statue of Andy Payne in Foyil, Oklahoma.
Payne won the 1928 “Bunion Derby” transcontinental footrace along the newly created Route 66. He was born and raised in Foyil, which is on 66.
Here are Phil’s Lincoln Highway check points:
November 8, 2008
Plymouth IN
Columbia City IN
November 8, 2008
Fort Wayne IN
November 9, 2008
Van Wert OH
Upper Sandusky OH
Bucyrus OH
November 12, 2008
Mansfield OH
Massillon OH
Minerva OH
November 15, 2008
East Liverpool OH
November 16, 2008
Pittsburgh PA
Latrobe PA
Reels Corners PA
Breezewood PA
Gettysburg PA
November 22, 2008
York PA
Lancaster PA
Coatesville PA
Dennis Crowley continues his story as journeys across California:
California traffic presented some concerns, like that is hard to believe. I had to always be on the alert that someone wasn’t pulling on to the shoulder. Thankfully I had the foresight to install mirrors on the rig which I constantly monitored as well as installing a caution flag. The only time I had any real concern was along the stretch through James Canyon. For anyone not familiar with this stretch it is a slithery, windy, narrow, death trap with narrow and in some places no shoulders. Common sense told me to grab a fanny pack and leave the trailer behind which is precisely what I did. By the time I reached the eastern end of the “gauntlet” the traffic was bumper to bumper and I was doing what I now affectionately call “The Manly Shuffle” meaning that I was walking sideways. Thanks to Paul Gilger’s knowledge of the area I avoided jail time by crossing over the interstate on the railroad tracks west of Cordelia when faced with the onramp to the freeway.
Last but not least there are always concerns with injuries. Given the ground I cover (anywhere from 10-20 miles a day) they do happen and at times in the most inconvenient places. I was pushing so hard to get across the Mojave Desert on old Route 66 a few years ago that by the time I reached Victorville I sprained both ankles. I spent a month off my feet which was still not even enough for full recovery. I had events to attend in Southern California so I picked back up and limped my way to the Santa Monica Pier. In case you are feeling sorry for me hold on to that feeling because it gets worse. Outside San Bernardino a bee stung me in the corner of my eye. He died “an untimely death” but it didn’t make me feeler any better or look any better. The left side of my face swelled up and I looked like the Elephant Man. Looking back maybe I should have made that little stroll down Rodeo Drive. Thankfully I escaped any injuries on my first leg of the Lincoln Highway as well as any “encounters.”
As you can expect everyone I encountered was curious about what I was doing. They were also kind and encouraging and displayed their support of me with everything from a “God bless you” to cold water bottles. All in all I don’t think I could have asked for a better time.
Now I turn my thoughts to May 2009. I will take what I have learned on this leg and prepare over the next seven months to make the trek from West Sacramento to the Reno over the infamous Donner Pass. I pray it will be as much of a success as this journey was.
A complete description of this first leg will be appearing on Dennis’ journal page of his website over the next few weeks at www.walkingamessage.com/.
Top: Lincoln Highway sign in Dixon, California. Above: Pony Express Station at Rockville Rd in Cordelia, and two views of the Bicycle/Pedestrian Pathway in Davis.
A mentioned in my post of 9/3/08, Dennis Crowley is walking across America on the Lincoln Highway, breaking the trip into manageable segments. He’s completed leg one from San Francisco to Sacramento and sent a round-up for our enjoyment. Now back in Arizona, he writes that “It seems like only yesterday that I first conceived of the idea to walk across America on the Lincoln Highway. Tired muscles, a collection of photos, and a pile of credit card receipts are telling me that the first leg of my walk on the Lincoln Highway is over.” Here’s part one of his note, with more to follow later this week:
After completing a walk across America on Route 66 in 2005 doing another walk was the furthest thing from my mind. Getting back to living a “normal” life was the only thing on my mind and that is precisely what I did, but it would only be short lived. In the spring of 2006 I received a phone call asking me to meet someone who was walking across America. When this man, also named Dennis, arrived at my home he was pulling a wheel barrow with his gear in it. It was quite a novelty to be sure, but it got me thinking. What he had was crude, but he had a good idea and I knew I could improve on it. As I watched him leave in the middle of the night the wheels on his “rig” were not the only ones turning.
Over the course of the next two years I worked with a graphic designer developing a logo, pestered custom bicycle builders for ideas on how to build a lightweight trailer, befriended some folks with the Lincoln Highway Association, planned, strategized, and tossed and turned at night. Before I knew it I was at Lincoln Park in San Francisco strapping myself into the harness of my trailer.
No crowds gathered and no bands played. It was just a quiet beginning, but an encouraging one. Kent Laak and Carlos Toste with the Mountain Hardwear Company showed up to wish me well. They presented me with tent compliments of their company and an acknowledgement of their support. And as representatives of the athletic shoe company Montrail they informed me that they would be providing all the shoes I needed. It would prove to be the sign of how things on this first leg would go.
I am not saying that everything went perfectly, but given the type of undertaking this is I certainly can’t complain. I do wish though that I would have been more attentive with my maps. Thankfully I learned that lesson early on. As I told people along the way, “It’s one thing to have to back track when you are driving and quite another when you are walking.” Soon after leaving the Presidio over looking the Golden Gate Bridge I had a bad feeling that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. I quickly got on my cell phone and called my niece in Oregon to have her check a map. Sure enough, I was ten blocks south of where I was supposed to be. I turned myself around and made my own contribution to global warming with the continual utterance, “I can’t believe I did that!”
There was also one other “learning experience” as I would prefer to call it that I also have to share. Someone at one point recommended that I install brakes on my trailer. I didn’t think that would ever be necessary. Was I ever wrong! I can’t even begin to tell you how difficult it is to walk down the steepest streets in the world pulling a trailer behind you. My friend Paul Gilger nearly fell out of his chair laughing when I told him about it, but I am feeling much better now. (Grin)
Looking back I wish I had a camcorder mounted to myself as I walked. The attention the trailer got was unbelievable and at times even hysterical. Heads turned, people stared, and some people even pulled over just to ask about it. Of all the comments that were made my favorite was from a man in Berkley who said, “Now that’s manpower!” Because the Lincoln Highway coincides with parts of the Pony Express Trail I affectionately deemed my rig, “The “Manly Express.”
The full story of this first leg will appear on his journal over the next few weeks at www.walkingamessage.com, or visit it to learn more about “Walking America The Lincoln Way.”
Above photos are at Dixon and Fairfield, California.
Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
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Click the Greetings book below to purchase the ultimate guide to the history and route of the Lincoln Highway!
Another fun book! The Ship Hotel: A Grand View along the Lincoln Highway recalls the greatest roadside attraction along the coast-to-coast road.
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