Archive for the ‘travel’ Category
August 19, 2009
Articles in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (#2 here) and Post-Gazette report that the new owners of the Mountain View Inn plan to raze the 85-year-old portion of the historic hotel and will reopen the 59 rooms in the newer section as Mountain View Village.
The developers who bought the 14-acre site also plan a strip mall on a vacant parcel on the property with a restaurant, dry cleaner, bakery, and drive-thru restaurant.
The inn opened in 1924 along the Lincoln Highway but closed in January when the bank placed the property in foreclosure.
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, transportation, travel | 6 Comments »
August 18, 2009
From 250 yard sales the first year, to over 1,000 individual pull-off yard sale events this (fifth) year, this seemed to be the biggest BUY-WAY Yard Sale ever. Ohio Lincoln Highway Historic Byway Director Mike Hocker noted everyone said sales were up, traffic was up, and the money was up. Small communities like Leesville, Gomer, Oceola, and Robertsville were almost wall-to-wall yard sales. Many included the wonderful aroma of hot dogs and sausages on the grill, and many had coolers of bottled water…many free for the asking. There are 39 communities across Ohio’s portion of the Lincoln Highway.
Hocker said “his year’s BUY-WAY poster child was Van Wert. They have both the Route 127 sale AND the Lincoln Highway sale in town for three days. And, it was they, themselves, who extended the invitation to the Rt. 127 folks (who had never even thought of extending their yard sale that far north before), and added fairgrounds activities–flea markets, a rib cook-off, a free concert, a cruise-in, a car show, a tractor drive, making for full hotels, happily “slammed” restaurants, busy gas stations and other retails, over 300 yard sales (many as big as 30 vendors in one stop), and called it a CROSSROADS Festival.”
Next year’s dates will be determined and announced at the end of the month. For more information, go to:www.historicbyway.com.
Tags:Buy-Way, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Ohio, yard sale
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, travel | Leave a Comment »
August 17, 2009
At least three Lincoln Highway travelers have asked recently about the operating hours at the restored Niland’s Cafe in Colo, Iowa. I reported in my new Lincoln Highway Companion book that they were closed Monday — they are, and Tuesday too.
The cool cafe is open:
Wed thru Sat, 6:30 a.m – 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Check www.colo-iowa.org for current hours by clicking the Reed/Niland Corner link at left, and then the cafe link. Don’t forget there are newly restored overnight rooms too.
Tags:2-lane America, blue highway cafe, Colo IA, cool cafe, highway hangout, highway history, Iowa, Lincoln Highway, restored cafe and motel, Road trip, travel, vacation stop
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, lodging, Road trip, roadside, travel | 4 Comments »
August 14, 2009
Dedicated 2-lane traveler Denny Gibson leaves tomorrow to travel the Lincoln Highway in his 2006 Corvette for the next couple weeks, then hook up with other Corvettes heading back east. That growing caravan will depart San Jose on August 29 heading to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for the museum’s 15th anniversary party planned for Labor Day weekend. They will follow the Lincoln Highway to Denver if not literally at least in spirit, though Denny will be back on the 2-lane. That’s him below last year at the Lincoln Highway’s Western Terminus marker.
There are only five overnight stops for the Corvettes:
Aug 29 — 250 miles Reno, Nevada
Aug 30 — 520 miles Salt Lake City, Utah
Aug 31 — 528 miles Denver, Colorado
Sep 1 — 540 miles Topeka, Kansas
Sep 2 — 480 miles Evansville, Indiana
Follow along at dennygibson.com, where Denny always posts tons of great photos and info to go with them, or check out Denny’s experiment into the world of Tweeting at twitter.com/dennygibson/.
Tags:Corvette on the road, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, vacation
Posted in highways, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, travel | 3 Comments »
August 11, 2009
The blog 42N Observations comments about life near the 42N Latitude, particularly around Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This post from a while back has four photos of Lincoln Highway segments and monuments in Linn County. Click HERE to visit, and click the photos there to see them larger.
Tags:Cedar Rapids IA, highway history, Iowa, Lincoln Highway, Linn COunty IA, markers, road monuments
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, signs, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
August 5, 2009
Some people still ask if my new book Lincoln Highway Companion has been published and I’m glad to say yes, it’s available. Below is a picture from A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway producer Rick Sebak of local friend Tom Weisbecker with the book at his Isaly’s dairy store in West View, north of Pittsburgh. (And if you haven’t been to Isaly’s lately, or ever, take a trip there this week: 448 Perrysville Ave/US 19, north of Pittsburgh.)
LHC list price is $26.95 and it’s available in bookstores — if not on the shelf, they can order it for you — or get it from Amazon at a discount price of $17.35. Or get one from Tom for $19.99 and enjoy a meal while you’re there.
Tags:Amazon, highway history, Isaly's Dairy, Lincoln Highway, new book, PA, West View PA
Posted in food, highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, travel | Leave a Comment »
August 4, 2009
Carrie Kreiger, who has lived 96 years along the Lincoln Highway, recently shared her memories with Mike Hocker, executive director of Ohio Lincoln Highway Historic Byway. Hocker collects stories of the highway as a way of preserving the its history. The story was retold in the Massillon Independent newspaper.
“Eighty years ago, I sat and watched them (build the roadway).
“They took part of our front yard to widen it to four lanes. We would watch those poor guys lay bricks all summer long.”
As a recent graduate of Washington High School, Kreiger said she and her siblings would get up early every day and sit on the front porch and watch the men lay bricks that would make the dirt road into a “singing” street.
“That is when I graduated from high school in 1930,” she recalled.
*Thanks to long-time diner and highway friend Rudy Turkal for the lead.
Tags:96-yr-old recalls, brick roads, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, OH, Ohio highways
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, transportation, travel | Leave a Comment »
August 3, 2009
Loungelistener, as 2-lane road traveler Gary is known on Flickr, is following the Lincoln Highway from Clinton, Iowa, to its western terminus in San Francisco, California. He and his wife are taking their little Kia Sportage, which they call the “Trucklet” since “it’s too big to be a car, but it’s too small to be a truck.” By now they’re hurtling towards their launch point:
Geez, so much to do in only a few days. Sunday evening is when we leave, powering across Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the dark, to arrive in the morning light on the Lincoln Hwy at the Iowa/Illinois border and start west. Sunday evening looms like an stampeding elephant.
Follow along at loungelistener.wordpress.com and see all his amazing roadside photos at www.flickr.com/.
Tags:Flickr, Iowa, Kia Sportage, Lincoln Highway, Loungelistener, Road trip, roadside, travel, vacation
Posted in highways, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, roadside, travel | Leave a Comment »
July 31, 2009
• Update to recent murder of Lincoln Cafe owner: No word on the cafe itself in Belle Plaine, Iowa, but bond was set at $500,000 each for three people accused, and at a preliminary hearing yesterday, arraignment was set for August 13 in Iowa County District Court. According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, “Marengo Police Chief Galen Moser has refused to release how Bailey died and the weapon used to kill him. Police did, however, release autopsy results last week that confirmed Bailey’s death was a homicide.” According to MPC Newspapers, “Bailey and Frei purchased Bailey’s Lincoln Café in Belle Plaine in 2006. The business has not kept regular hours the last year or so, with customers often finding notes on the door indicating the café was closed due to emergency or medical reasons. News of the killing has left the café’s customers reeling.”
• On Wednesday, September 2 at 1:30 p.m, Jan Shupert-Arick, past president of the Lincoln Highway Association and past national director of the Indiana LHA, will talk about the famous road at the Center for History in South Bend, Indiana. She is author of the recently-published book, The Lincoln Highway Across Indiana, and also guest curator for the Center for History’s exhibit, Appeal to Patriots: The Lincoln Highway. A tour of the exhibit is part of the program. Admission is $3 and reservations are required by August 31. For information, call (574) 235-9664 or visit www.centerforhistory.org/.
• Sue Barr writes that “My colleague Dr David Heathcote and I are academics in London and teach at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and Middlesex University. We are working on a book on the world history of motorways and will come to the U.S. in September to look at the Lincoln Highway.”Photo by Rick Sebak
Tags:cafe, highway history, Indiana, Lincoln Highway, London academics, murder in Iowa
Posted in highways, history, Lincoln Highway, museum, transportation, travel | 2 Comments »
July 27, 2009
Lincoln Highway fan Steve Jones wrote me to mention a road food website that he manages: ridetoeat.com/. It lists nearly 1,000 eating places, some with descriptions. Steve explains below it’s not the same as a recommendation guide.
It’s not really about places to eat while on the road (that’s well-plowed ground) but more about places it is worth planning a trip around — even if it’s just a Sunday drive. It’s still a little rough, but I hope to grow it into a unique and valuable resource. The premise is motorcycle-related, but there is really nothing about the data that is bike-centric other than the tendency towards destinations that are on twisty roads.
Steve also posted the book review below to LDRider, an email list for members of the Iron Butt Assn. and other long-distance endurance motorcycle riding enthusiasts. Thanks Steve!!
Brian Butko, author of Greetings from the Lincoln Highway has a new book out called Lincoln Highway Companion.
Though its 192 pages are filled with great full-color photos on quality paper, this is no coffee table decoration designed to give you something to flip through during commercials.
It’s the ultimate detailed authority on the current and historical alignments of the Lincoln Highway, conveniently sized to fit in a tank bag or glove box (just over 8×5″).
Every mile of the Lincoln Highway is covered with detailed color-coded maps showing the following:
* Original 1913 alignments
* Intermediate alignments or sanctioned detours
* Final Alignments still in use by 1930
* Modern detours
* Gone or hard to reach
The map scale varies as needed to show meaningful detail, all the way down to 1 inch per mile.
It bursts with snippets of interesting things to see, lodging and great food along the route – but the maps are the star of the show. It is obvious that a great deal of research went into this.
The author (with whom I have no affiliation) has put together a short video highlighting the features of the book: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8liMtYjGK8
I originally bought it with the intention of putting together the “definitive” route for a Lincoln Highway Coast-to-Coast ride, but now I see there are too many variables and the decisions are just too subjective. The good news is that it gives me everything I need to choose the route I find most interesting.
I am sure some here will enjoy it as much as I am. It just came out and may not be widely available yet, but they have it in stock at Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/0811735478
Tags:biker food, destination - restaurants, eat on the road, Lincoln Highway, motorcycle, places to eat, restaurants, road food, Road trip, travel
Posted in food, highways, Lincoln Highway, Road trip, travel | Leave a Comment »
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