roadmaven

Well, drats....this is what I get for NOT reading the entire thread before searching Google for a "Cities Service" sign! Great minds think alike, Chris. After 20 minutes searching for a good Cities Service sign, I then proceeded to go to the end of the thread....and you included the same photo I was going to use! But I'll give your theory a big . I'd be interested to know if some of those buildings in the photos looked anything like they might've been a gas station in years past.

Well, so much for that! The End

We had a fine breakfast at Adele's 3 years or so ago on our way back from Connecticut. It was there where we discussed mom & pop businesses and how you can almost never have a bad experience (food wise) in a mom & pop eatery, but a mom & pop motel is a different story. Also thanks to Adele's, they had info on their menu regarding Flight 93, which crashed just 4 miles west of there, which we had no idea we were that close to the crash site. As for the name changing, I'm mixed. I think the thing that really matters is a change in ownership. Iconic places can change for the better or worse because of an ownership change. Case in point is the Dixie Trucker's Home in McLean, IL. The place has been in biz since the late 1920's, and has been a Route 66 icon. But, a few years ago the place changed hands after being in the same family for years. The IL Route 66 Hall of Fame was in there and subsequently left, and the quality of the dining experience seemed to lose it's touch as well. Ten years ago you'd hear a lot about the Dixie in terms of it being a "must stop" on a 66 trip, but I don't hear that anymore. In recent years if we were in the area, I'd just stop there for a bathroom break. I might give them another chance to see if things have changed for the better. Besides, that gives me an excuse for a roadtrip! What's a 3 hour drive for breakfast? Heck, I've traveled 1,000 miles to Amarillo just for a steak dinner! On the flip side of this, I don't believe at all that a place should turn its back on its heritage (no pun intended) just for the sake of making a change. I don't know if Adele's was an icon (local or national) on the Lincoln Highway, but in some ways changing a name of an establishment forces you to have to start from scratch, in terms of keeping customers and establishing a new customer base. There are some folks out there who'd stop going to a place they're used to if they go through changes like that. Some don't like their "comfort zone" rocked. OK, probably a little too analytical here, but I've got nothing else to do on this cold, cloudy Saturday morning!

Wishing all of you from Seattle to Key West, from San Diego to Bangor, and all roads in between, the very best holiday season! * < | : o ) >

Something for you all to remember, BEFORE YOU VOTE! It would be wise to wait til the last day of voting before you cast your vote. Twice I've voted and a better suggestion was added to the list that I'd rather had voted for. BUT, once you've voted, you can't change your vote for a different choice!

.....and that toll house looks like this: It's very difficult getting a picture there, as it's a busy two-lane and no good place to pull over. The MR has been on my radar for a couple of years now. Thanks to a tip from Denny a couple of years ago, I found a nice segment in southern Indiana near Versailles, which runs along the Jefferson Proving Ground, and where you still can see the Indiana National Guard training in their F-16s. This is also the area where Morgan's Raid came through. There's also a really cool 1-lane stone bridge there too. I thought I had photos of it I took myself online, but I'll have to "borrow" someone else's photos of the old mile marker where the National Road and the Michigan road separate (or converge, depending on which way you're going) in downtown Indianapolis: NR/MR Jim, is it a safe bet to say the MR traveled the same route through Indy that US 421 did? My early 1960's downtown maps indicate 421 came in from the south on Southeastern Ave, piggy-backed Washington Street, then went north on West Street/MLK/Michigan Rd out of town.

Well, good news & bad news. The good news is young Zach became an Eagle Scout recently. The bad news is the sign....well, I'll let you read about it: Bummer

Not to hijack the thread, BUT, Across Indiana is a fantastic look at unique Hoosiers....I've been watching it for years. Jennifer's daughter, Amber (an American Road intern), can be see for a split second in a recent Across Indiana segment. You'll never look at Santa Claus the same way...and might even need to seek counseling after viewing it.....but Amber and her painting can be seen for about 2 seconds in this excerpt from Across Indiana at the 22:23 mark: http://wfyi.org/wvx/AIND.1805.5.wvx Use the pause button to see what I had to encounter when I came home from work several weeks ago! A little less bothersome is a nice piece from early in '07 on a gentleman from Gaston, IN who's a good friend of the Corvair community. Periodically you can see our blue '65 coupe, and at one point Jennifer & I are standing around with others (I'm wearing the gray Indiana sweatshirt wearing an AR cap). My oldest brother Mike is in there (although they spelled our last name with 2 m's instead of 1!), and his black convertible is shown toward the front of the feature. AND, my dad's light yellow '64 Spyder coupe is shown as well. That was a fun day.....the guys at Across Indiana were great to work with. Here's this one: http://wfyi.org/wvx/AIND.1705.3.wvx

Davydd & Chris, Welcome to both of you & thanks for joining AR forum! We really love it when new members come onboard and hit the ground running with posts. In case you didn't know, the forum is just an arm of American Road magazine. If interested in subscribing, info can be found by clicking on the big yellow "Ameircan Road" at the top of the page. There are some sample pages you can view there. Also Chris, the magazine is on the shelves at the Borders on US 31 South in Greenwood. There are some interesting "links" happening all around here! Chris, I read on your web site where you graduated up the street at Northwest High School and Davydd is a former Speedway resident. For those of you out there who don't know, Speedway High School and Northwest High School are just about a mile apart from one another. Speedway has its own school system and Northwest is part of the Indianapolis Public Schools. Plus, we've got Chris & mobilene both cruising around in red '03 Matrix'. Then Chris went to Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN which sits on the shoulders of the Ben Hur Route, which as you magazine readers know, is one of the routes covered in the current issue of AR. This is cool stuff and dare I say some pretty good road karma!

Les, Thanks so much for finding us and posting! There may have been some issues with tires. I read part of my great aunts journal while they were in New York City, and there were a few occasions where my grandpa "had the machine at the garage". Apparently someone they knew there owned a garage, so he did some sort of work on it a couple of times. Thanks for posting the photo of your Dodge as well. If there happens to be a photo that exists anywhere of my grandpa's, I'll be sure to let you know!

You are correct! My editor had the day off that day. Once I read the description and looked at the satellite image, I realized what I was trying to say, but it didn't look that way! I think I chose that wording "angle left" so one wouldn't "angle right" and head north on Rural Street. Just out of curiosity, is that a red Matrix in your avatar??

Chris, First of all, Looks like we have yet another Hoosier and Indy metro member on here! Thanks for bringing this post back up. After I re-read the thread from the beginning, it clicked. I must've slept through part of this, because this is a very cool find. I drive through this section daily on Holt Road. I think a little side trip on my way home tonight is in order to check out this Rockville Ave. alignment. After looking at the PPOO map and a current satellite image, I put it all together (yeah, I'm a little slow that way!).

Not only that, but the Ronald Reagan Parkway just opened a few hundred yards to the west of it, so I look for anything within 1/4 mile of that intersection (The Diner, The Cloverleaf Motel, etc) to be a thing of the past before long. I doubt if the diner itself was worth 1/10 of the asking price, though I'm not up on what Mountain Views are going for these days. I always thought it would be cool for Ray to move the old "40 Motel" sign from next door to in front of the diner and rename it the 40 Diner. I recall 10 years or so ago when the 40 Motel was still in biz. The sign had a neon shield, and the "40" was emblazened with clear light bulbs. It was a thing of beauty! Too bad I don't have a pic of it then, but it was a classic.