roadmaven
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Posts posted by roadmaven
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As a special treat for the legions of fans of this thread, I'm happy to report we've recruited Richard Moeur to the American Road forum! Hopefully within the next couple of days Richard will find his way to the thread and add to the discussion from an insider's perspective. So from all of us here at the AR Garage,
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It's also a week after I close on a house!
Well, in that case....go on the trip to celebrate your new home ownership! Might ye be heading out of Marion County?
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After reading the info on the site I know I'd love to go, but the timing is terrible for me. :-(
C'mon, Jim....it's *only* a job!
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Hey all....I got to thinking, we need to bookend another AR forum drive with the one we had in April. Since there'll already be strong forum representation at the Rt 66 Association of Missouri Motor Tour in September, how about riding its coat tails and making it part of an AR forum get-together? I'm pretty well sure I'm heading there, and I know fellow forum folks Bliss, Kip, and Fran will already be there. How about it? Anyone interested? Dates & times can be found on their website at: http://missouri66.org. Thoughts welcome!
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And since the mayor isn't from my party, some speculated that it wasn't accidental that I flattened his campaign signs.
Jim, I KNEW I liked you for some reason besides your road knowledge!
Oops, I think politics is a Speed Limits No-No! This is me reprimanding myself: 
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Looks like Steak n Shake is going to try going less than 24 hours in a few of its restaurants.
Get yer Steakburger w/cheese here!
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That was a good time. And the cake was tasty, too. But I understand that Pat the Party Animal
was still going long after I left.Quite true. I had to make sure the place got cleaned up or else we would've lost our deposit.
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Greetings! My name is Bob Orlandini. I live in Terre Haute, Indiana, the original "Crossroads of America." I guess my love of traveling by car began because of the lack of trips when I was a kid. The only "family" vacation we took when I was a kid was when I was 5. We went to Branson, Missouri, before Branson was Branson. My dad spent the week fishing, except for one day when we went to Silver Dollar City. (I took my 9-year-old son to Silver Dollar City last summer ... boy, how things have changed!) Anyway, from that 1968 vacation, fast-forward to May 1981 ... the day after I graduated high school, three buddies and I took off for St. Louis for several days, going to a Cardinals game, Six Flags, the Arch, Laclede's Landing. Later that same year a co-worker invited me to go to Atlanta for the Peach Bowl football game on New Year's Eve. I realized from those two trips just how much I enjoyed jumping in the car and going off to explore new places. Since then, I've managed to visit 36 states and have been able to find the time to get off the interstate and explore some back roads in most of them.
Earlier this year, my girlfriend Susan and I decided to start documenting some of our excursions. And so Redhighways.com was born. However, both of her daughters decided to have babies this year, so most of our travels this summer have been to Effingham, Ill., and Indianapolis to see the grandkids.
OK, I've already spent a couple of hours reading the posts just in this thread (thanks to the side trip to jimgrey.net ... great stuff Jim!). It's time to go explore the rest of the forums.
Bob,
We've got quite a group of midwesterners here on the group, so you should feel right at home. Ahh, how lucky you are to live in the same town as the Clabber Girl Bake Shop, Square Donut, and the National Road! Everyone, be sure to check out Bob's www.redhighways.com site. I perused it Thursday upon getting his request to join us. Good reads!
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Just when you might've given up on future generations having a little civic pride, I give you Zach Razor. This young Speedway, Indiana resident just did a nice Eagle Scout project that you'll notice on your next Dixie Highway (west alignment) cruise through Speedway, IN. No mention of the DH in the story, but since Crawfordsville Road is the DH-west, I figure this applies.
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Please join us Thursday, August 9 @ 9pm ET for a special chat to celebrate the *new* American Road magazine forum's 1st birthday. Just click on the "Live Chat" link up in the top right corner and join the fun!
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I'll be there with a cake from Long's Bakery.....since they did so well with the donuts for the Saturday garage meet.
And yes, Long's is on the former DH and US 136, for those of you playing the American Road Home Game. I don't think I'll be anywhere else but inside Thursday night, as it'll be up in the upper 90's in the Circle City, so there won't be too much activity outdoors except escaping from it!Get yer hot do-nuts here!: http://tinyurl.com/23wwkd
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As moderator of this forum, I want to just thank all of you publicly for the way you all handle yourselves here. Some of you who are members of a particular Route 66 forum know what I'm talking about. The differences in the attitudes are astounding, and I'm quite grateful to ALL of you who post here daily and do it with maturity and respect for your fellow members. Rest assured, you will NEVER see what is going on with that group happen here. I won't guarantee we won't get tested in that regard someday, but as long as we have members who are concerned with our purpose of discussing road issues and not insults, then we should be in good shape. And, I believe you all share the same goals as we do, so I like to think this sheriff has a few deputies to police things here as well. I'm sure I speak for Thomas & Becky Repp, and fellow forum administrators Denny Gibson and the lovely & talented Jennifer Bremer when I say "thank ya" and keep up the good work!
Pat Bremer
American Road Forum Administrator
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Here are a few photos from Grubb's Diner from last Monday, July 23:
Darren Grubb & daughter in front of the sign he designed in 1991.
What a lonely image....
Where the stainless steel diner used to sit.
The end....
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Well, as you can see by the notes in this thread, it's been a while since anything's been posted on it. I made a bonsai 1700 mile round trip drive to Connecticut for my grandma-in-law's 100th birthday. Left Indy Friday night at 6 and just got back at 11:30 Monday night.
I stayed in Scranton, PA Sunday night and thought I'd take the long way back so I could check on the status of Grubb's. There was some bittersweet luck in that decision, as when I arrived in Huntingdon, the stainless steel diner was gone and had been cut out of the remaining portion of the diner. The adjacent Days Inn, which the Grubbs also own, was noticibly closed and was in the process of being gutted as well. There is a retail plaza behind the motel that I drove around to get a better look at the diner situation. Surprise!! Behind the motel in the plaza's parking lot was the diner, cut in half and sitting on two flatbed trailers. There was some activity going on on the grounds of the diner, as the neon Grubb's sign was being hooked up to be loaded onto a flatbed tow truck. I inquired at the gas station across the street as to the status of Grubb's, and the gal said they weren't going to reopen it anywhere. A little discouraged, I drove into a parking lot next to the motel, and walked over to where the Grubb's sign was being hooked up to a boom. I talked with a now-former employee of the motel about things and she said today was the last day they had to have everything they wanted off the property. In the midst of our conversation in the gutted lobby of the Days Inn, I noticed Darren Grubb was one of the folks working on the sign, along with his dad Jerry. So I made my way out and reintroduced myself to Darren. We talked for a while about the events of the past 9 months. His dad Jerry, who owns Grubb's, wanted to retire and Rite-Aid came along with what he was looking for. So now Jerry's retiring and Darren's not sure what he's doing yet. The last day was July 9th.
I asked about the status of the diner and the sign, and Darren couldn't really tell me what the plans were, as it sounded as if there was some sort of deal in the works that he couldn't share with me. However, he did say the diner won't be back as a working diner, but he did mention that they won't be destroyed and the sign and diner will be back together down the road. I don't know exactly what it will be, but after mentioning to him about the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, he kinda smiled and said something to the effect of Grubb's Diner future is not too far from what the sign museum does. So I get the feeling it'll be reconstructed somewhere (not in Huntingdon, as he said), but it won't be a business. Maybe a display of some sort? Hopefully we'll find out down the road. He's seemed really proud of that sign too, as I found out he designed it himself in 1991 when he was in his mid-20's.
I asked Darren about his future and he didn't know yet. But he did say he didn't want to get back into a business like this. In a nutshell, he wants a job that's easier on him. He sounded as if it was tough on him always being there, always having to fill in when someone called in, etc. So he seemed relieved to a degree.
There was a Family Dollar in the plaza behind the motel and diner. I picked up a $5 disposable Fuji camera and snapped several pics of the scene. Even got one of Darren & his daughter in front of their sign. I'll get those developed soon and scanned.
So that's the scoop on Grubb's. A sad day indeed, after 52 years in business. I planned on stopping there for lunch today, but after I drove up, I lost my appetite.
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Hey folks, I have it on good authority that someone about to make a trip to Connecticut from Indiana in the next four hours might be planning a journey on the Mohawk Trail within the next week. This person, who shall remain nameless, was seen on his or her computer last evening looking up Mohawk Trail info. This person, who shall still remain nameless, is also a pretty good "pitcher taker", so I would suspect images will be available within two weeks. You heard it here first.....and last!
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The frequently cited vistas along the trail include, the “Famous Hairpin Turn,” the view of North Adams, the Elk statue, the War Memorial on Greylock Mountain, “Hail to the Sunrise” which is a statue of a Mohawk Indian, the Deerfield River Bridge, Bridge of Flowers, and French King Bridge. I also recall an observation tower on top a restaurant as being popular somewhere on the road. Roadmaven, anything familiar there?
Oh man, do I remember that "Famous Hairpin Turn"! I was driving my mother-in-law's 15 passenger Ford Econline van. Westbound MT was downhill and you have to make a HARD left turn. Fortunately, there's a restaurant with a parking lot at hairpin to drive off into if you're coming down the hill a little too hot (hot is "fast" in racin' terms). And as I recall, once you've made the turn, it was a decent drop off the side of mountain, though there was a guardrail there to protect you (although I sure wouldn't want to test its strength!). The hairpin is east of North Adams, MA. I'd really like to get back to it again. We really didn't get to enjoy it too much because of the fog and rain that day. Too bad I'm not heading to CT next week with Jennifer, as we'd probably have to give it another shot!
If any of you have Google Earth, I'd view it from there. The detail is MUCH better than the other satellite images. You can really zoom in on the hairpin and even see the lines on the road.
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I've driven the Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts. We were in Connecticut a few years ago visiting Jennifer's family when we headed north to check out the basketball hall of fame before heading west to Albany, NY to visit with Route 66 roadie Steve Rider. I insisted we take the Mohawk Trail so I could visit mecca: Clark's Corvair Parts in Shelburne Falls, MA. As I recall, it was quite rainy and quite foggy that day. But, from what I could see, the scenery was fantastic.
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For those of you not in the Indianapolis frame of mind, Carmel is a north suburb and is considered the high-rent district. Greenwood is a south suburb and considered more average-man.
That is a very good assessment of these two towns. And I'd go further to say in general each town looks down on the other equally. I recall a few year's ago on April Fool's Day, the "Welcome to Carmel" signs were replaced with "Welcome to Greenwood" signs, or vice versa. To add further to the anaolgies, Carmel can be described as the wine & cheese district while Greenwood is the beer & pretzels district. But hey, the cardiology group I work for treats those beer drinkers, so I'm not complaining.
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Funny, my toe hurts this morning.
I don't subscribe, but it's only because I'm looking to buy a new house. I am just waiting until I've moved before I subscribe.
jim
Ahhh, but you're in luck! American Road is ON THE SHELF at Borders on US 31 South in Greenwood, IN! I know this because I, uhhhh, I mean someone seems to "rearrange" the shelf so AR is more prominently visible to those browsing the travel magazines.
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To get an idea of how our forum members receive American Road magazine, please choose one of the answers above. Your answers will remain anonymous, so if you choose #3, the American Road gnomes won't come out at night and kick you in the toe while you're sleeping.
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The new W & W book is formatted much like "Route 66: The Mother Road", full of many fine images across the route. Most of us road dogs know a good deal about the L.H., but I think this and Brian's "Greetings from the Lincoln Highway" are really going to make Route 66 look over its shoulder (no pun intended), because the L.H. will soon be making up ground in the battle for attention. I would say it's already starting to take off, as it's being talked about by many 66ers. Granted, it's because of the author, but it's getting talked about like never before. I know a former editor of this magazine and staunch 66er is heading on a L.H. journey into Nebraska and into Nevada later this month, so the interest is there, though I wouldn't say it's soley because of the book. I think a lot of folks in the 66 community who've been in the movement for nearly 20 years have seen just about everything there is to see on it and are wanting a new, fresh adventure, and the L.H. offers that....plus you get several hundred more miles out of it than 66 offers. I think in the next five years you're going to see even more L.H. books, videos, maps of abandoned alignments, keychains, hats, decals....you name it. And believe me, this ain't a bad thing!
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Dave, as one who has the utmost admiration for then & now photos, I tip my proverbial cap to you! Cool how it looks like they lowered the level of the road over the years. I've toyed with then & nows several years ago and have a few up on my web site. Russell Olsen put a fine book out about three years ago of Route 66. I think it's called Route 66 Lost & Found. I believe he came out with a follow-up on it a year ago.
US 40 guru Frank Brusca is in the process of publishing a 50 year follow-up to the George Stewart book, and painstakingly working to take every one of his pictures at the same location and same angle as Stewart's. Last I heard he was nearly done with retracing, but I think a week or two ago he posted a note about it on the Route 40 Yahoo Group about doing some work on it out west and was looking for anyone interested in tagging along. I'm too lazy to look up what he said, so I'm sure Denny can fill in the holes of my story.
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Paul, thanks for joining and
Be sure to check out our latest poll under the "Polls" section of the forum for best road songs. It's right up your alley! -
Roadmavern,
Interesting map overlays. Wouldn't it be great to have them for a larger area!
It was fun to see the development west of the city over the years.
Do you know of any on line historic topos for Indiana?
Keep the Show on the Road!
If they exist, I'm not aware of them. But then again, there's a lot I'm not aware of.
It's amazing on the newer photos on that site how close you can zoom in and the clarity when you do. My yard looked a little tall that day.
Michael Wallis On Colbert Show
in General Discussion
Posted
Even though MW tried to stay on topic, I thought he was really out of his element and to that degree, it showed. It's probably the first time I've ever seen MW not being the one driving the bus, so to speak.