Continuing west on US-56, we drove through Scranton (population: 724). Not much was going on… One building of note: a former Methodist church converted to a garage (you can just make out the big roll-gates on the right): Across the street was this abandoned gas station, and I was really intrigued by the sign on…
I’ll come clean: I’m really embarrassed to admit that, prior to arriving this morning, I thought Kansas City was in Kansas, when in fact it’s in Missouri. Hence, my celebrations at finally reaching Kansas turned out to be a bit premature (thanks to commenters below, I’ve now learned that Kansas City actually exists in both…
We cruised into St. Louis in the late morning. At this point, US-50 has merged with the Interstate. We only had a few hours to spend, so of course, the first matter of business was to see the Arch. We were about to Google Map it on my iPhone when we realized it actually wasn’t…
For most of the journey from Salem, Illinois, to St. Louis, this was the view out the window: Literally, endless, endless fields. Most of the towns we passed through were little more than a collection of houses, a commercial business or two, and then more fields. As we came to Carlyle, Illinois (known for its…
After swinging through Aurora, we decided to take a detour from US-50 and follow Rt-56, which winds along the Ohio River. Route-56 is a beautiful drive, with amazing views of the Ohio River (and Kentucky beyond): Below, the path we took: Often, the view of the river would be replaced by cornfields… It was on…
After the seven hour Interstate drive the previous day, I woke up Saturday dreading the thought of hitting the bland four-lane pavement for another long haul. I don’t think anything in the world is as mind-numbingly boring as Interstate travel, and even at 80+ mph (thanks, West Virginia!), to me, it feels like you’re moving…
Our 2010 roadtrip began where all the great expeditions of history have set out: White Plains, NY. You’re not going to get very far on a road trip without a car, and as neither I nor my girlfriend own one, we had no choice but to rent. I spent much of last week researching the…
Recently, I’ve been scouting New York looking for Detroit (don’t ask), a search that ultimately led to me to northern Jersey. As I was driving down down Tonnele Ave in Jersey City, I had to pull over and shoot what has to be one of the coolest diners I’ve ever come across, The White Mana…
Today, some friends and I decided to hike out to Long Point beach – essentially, the very last tip of the Cape Cod hook. Starting at the end of Rt-6A, you climb over a very long breakwater (the dotted line), then continue on up the beach. It’s was about a 1.5 hour hike out. Sure,…
While in Cape Cod, I’ve explored a bunch of ancient graveyards, and am always intrigued by their distinctly Cape-ish history: sea captains, lost-at-sea deaths, the high birth mortality rate (you often find infant graves beside a mother’s, both having died on the same date), etc. In trying to find some info on them, I came…