roadmaven

Without veering too far off topic, I know in the St. Louis area a few years ago they were doing some excavating for a...I believe...Home Depot when they unearthed a bunch of old US highway shields. I know Jim Ross has one of them hanging on the wall of his den of, I believe, a 66 City shield. Perhaps Bliss knows more of this story??

Awesome pictures, Dave! That trestle is very much like the Tulip Trestle down in southern Indiana:

Understood! Just have never understood the fascination and how some consider them Route 66 "icons". I guess in simple terms, we don't roll that way. Our instincts were verified by some Route 66 friends who've had not-so-favorable experiences there. And for that reason, any time we hear of anyone going there, we tend to advise against it or else caveat emptor.

I would've opted for the monsoon.

Well, OK, it wasn't the real Lincoln & Dixie Highway king. But when's the last time an actor portrayed him? Ever? These four gentlemen are portraying the four founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (left to right): Arthur Newby, Frank Wheeler, Carl Fisher, James Allison. A photo of the real guys (believed to be taken in 1911) is here: They were on hand for the Centennial Era Celebration Balloon Festival's balloon glow tonight at the speedway.

I must admit Dave, for some reason I had a feeling in my gut that you were coordinating with Denny to show up last weekend. But, I'm glad to hear mom's doing well! I think there'll be an opportunity for a lot more of us to gather in the next year or so.

Just a quick note from the Shaker Inn in Lebanon, OH. Have had a great two days cruising the National Road, and US' 40, 68, and 42. We're all cruising out to the Golden Lamb for dinner....wish you all were here!

Keep me posted Friday of your progress. Perhaps meeting up at Hoosier Gym could work out in the afternoon. There's a section of National Road that vears off US 40 heading east out of Knightstown.

If it helps your schedule at all, I can arrange it to where you can join up with us after we've toured the speedway and the cemetery. As of right now, I'm guesstimating that'd be around noon (ET). Then you can cruise 40 out of Indy with us.

My thoughts would be to hit Madonna on Saturday as our "official" launch site, although we'll still have to gather before that so everyone knows how to get there. As for food, I'd give a thumbs up to BBQ on Friday night. Saturday we'd probably lean towards an "on your own" breakfast, as we probably wouldn't eat much in the morning since Joe's is set in stone and we woudn't want to skimp on the intake there, so to speak. Saturday night we'd be open for just about anything. so whether we go to the Golden Lamb or the Golden Arches, it's all fine with us!

I don't have the schedule complete yet for Friday, but as of now it looks as if we'll meet for breakfast in the morning...8 or 9...probably at Charlie Brown's on Main Street in Speedway, head to the track for the museum & bus tour (if there's interest), then head to Crown Hill Cemetery, then start working our way down to US 40 from there. I would guess we'd be heading out of Indy around the noon hour. When 4:30 rolls around, I'd guess if we're not in Richmond by then, we'd be fairly close. I plan on a stop in Knightstown, and probably a lunch somewhere in between.

This may not be feasible for most, but now that we have a lap top computer, we take it along with us and usually make our reservations for lodging from the road. Of course this applies only if we're moving from town to town ever night. A lot of places...coffee shops come to mind...have WiFi that we use to get a connection. Several hotel chains offer "Internet Specials" on rates when reserving online, so we get some savings there. We've also used priceline.com and saved a lot there, but it seems we end up with those extended stay places which I'm not a big fan of. If you can't find a Panera or Starbucks, try your luck in a hotel parking lot! You can sometimes "borrow" their connection to make a reservation. I did that recently in St. Louis when staying at a Comfort Inn. Borrowed their connection from the parking lot, saved 10% by reserving online, walked in the lobby & checked in!

Jason, We spent a week in Atlanta 5 years ago, so I know there are some places you can try...I just can't recall what they were! I'll nudge Jennifer, as I know she'll remember. But from what I recall, some must eat/see places are: The Varsity: OLD restaurant/drive-in near the GA Tech campus. Usually ends up on those "Top 10 Places to ..... " on the Food Network. Coca Cola World: Might be wrong on the actual name. It's like a museum, gift shop, etc. Worth it! I know they're moved since we were there, but I know it's still in the area. Underground Atlanta: A neat little mall below ground. There was another cool diner that began with a "Z"...I remember we took pics of it. Here are some shots from around that trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadtripmemor...57600312503968/ And if you have time, a trip south to Juiliet, GA would be cool. That's where they filmed Fried Green Tomatoes. If you saw the movie, the Whistle Stop Cafe is still open: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadtripmemor...57600311963557/

Just wanted to bring this topic back up top & let everyone know we now have 23 members on our American Road Facebook Fan Page, now including our fearless co-leader, Becky Repp! We're pretty sure Becky's become addictied to Facebook like she is coffee. She's already been busy adding some cool updates & links to the page, so check it out!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Gibson! And like they say...you're not 62....you're 18 with 44 years experience!

I made a trek over to Richmond today to get some brochures at the Old National Road Welcome Center. While out there, I stopped by the Golden Inn and made our reservation for 4/24. **NOTE**: Rooms there are going FAST. We got the last non-smoking room. Apparently there's some sort of dog show in the area that weekend. There are still a few rooms left, but RESERVE SOON. However, there are some other motels just a mile or so west on 40, so lodging shouldn't be a big issue. For those making the trek from Indy with us on 40, I've shored up a couple of stops. One of those stops will be the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown. This was the home court for the Hickory Huskers in the 1986 Gene Hackman film "Hoosiers". Another interesting spot is the site of the old Gennett Records studio, where they have a Walk of Fame honoring some of the legends who recorded there. That's the latest update....more to come!

If I see you show up in Richmond, Indiana on April 24th, you get the keys to the forum for that weekend!

Under my plan, you get lifetime deletion for just $29.99...

Thanks Dave....That makes it an Admin function. Now we wait for Guy...

If that's the case, I see that as a flaw with IPB. Members should have the ability to delete their own images. Perhaps we can nudge Becky or Guy in here.

When you're in your gallery and on the picture you want to delete, off to the right you should see a blue box with some stats. Below that there should be a blue button that says "Options?". Click there and you should see a delete option.

I'm certain it was concrete. The discoloration actually might've been rust from the bridge itself.

You know, I knew I had seen this bridge before, but couldn't remember when. Now I recall...we changed up things on a Route 66 trip to Missouri in '06 and took US 50 from Vincennes, IN and encountered these bridges. Here's our contribution:

I'll verify who all's coming this way before I announce any meeting times. I know Roaddog wants to see Carl Fisher...well, at least where he's resting. There are a few other notable tombs at Crown Hill that we'll check out while we're there. If RD's not been to the speedway, I'm going to drag him there whether he likes it or not. It's a place everyone needs to see once in their life...whether they know it or not. I'm planning on taking off that whole day, so I'll be flexible on when to kick things off. Alex has been rather quiet....I reckon he needs a little nudge. Memphis isn't *that* far for a retiree.

Greetings folks... Just wanted to add some more info. This is somewhat of the latest schedule that weekend, complete with a few more links for potential stops. Depending on attending parties, there may be a cruise along the entire eastern half of the National Road/US 40 from Indianapolis to Richmond led by your's truly on Friday the 24th for those of you coming in from the west. Friday night lodging would be at the Golden Inn Motel just across the IN/OH border on US 40 in New Paris, OH. It's a classic mom & pop and get's a big thumbs up from Denny: http://www.thegoldeninn.com/ Tentative plans calls for the fun to kick off Saturday morning with a few spots in Richmond, IN, one of which is one of the Madonna of the Trail statues. From Richmond, we make our way into the Buckeye State. We'll roll into Springfield and loosely planning a couple of tours at the Westcott House and the Pennsylvania House: http://www.westcotthouse.org/home.html http://www.pennsylvaniahousemuseum.info/ Also in Springfield, we'll be having lunch at Joe's 40 Grill: http://www.eatatjoes40.com/ We'll then head south out of Springfield on US 68 towards Xenia & pick up US 42, where we'll take an old stage route into Lebanon, OH for our overnight stop at the Shaker Inn Motel: http://www.shakerinnmotel.com/ Dinner plans will be at the historic Golden Lamb Inn Saturday night: http://www.goldenlamb.com Following dinner we'll do what roadies do when they get together: Go somewhere and swap road stories over brew. After breakfast Sunday morning at the Breakfast Club Cafe (http://www.breakfastclubcafe.com/), we'll continue on US 42 into Cincinnati where we'll have an early afternoon tour of the American Sign Museum: http://www.signmuseum.net/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/11019355@N03/...57609877455746/ (my pics from November) http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadtripmemor...57609764986114/ (Jennifer's pics from November) Following the sign museum, it'll be up in the air depending on time. We may break up there, or find a place for lunch and then split up. This whole weekend is a loosely structured event. We're leaving a lot of things open in the event we come up on something unexpected to do. Map of the route is here: http://www.mapquest.com/mq/5-FOlJyJzf6duXsWCCbRzn