Alexander Bay New York

[Dave Reese]

I will be driving up from Allentown PA to Alexandria Bay New York during the last week in June. We plan to head up pretty directly and will spend four days on the Saint Lawrence in a cottage type motel. If you have any restaurants or sights to suggest, please let me know. We have a few days to meander on our way back, and I am considering Watkins Glen as a possibility, and maybe Corning NY or the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. Please add any alternatives you have found interesting that we can consider.

Thanks.

 

Please note that the title should be AlexandRIA Bay, not Alexander. This aging is causing more brain fade than I like to admit.

Edited May 27, 2007 by Dave Reese

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

I will be driving up from Allentown PA to Alexandria Bay New York during the last week in June. We plan to head up pretty directly and will spend four days on the Saint Lawrence in a cottage type motel. If you have any restaurants or sights to suggest, please let me know. We have a few days to meander on our way back, and I am considering Watkins Glen as a possibility, and maybe Corning NY or the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. Please add any alternatives you have found interesting that we can consider.

Thanks.

 

Please note that the title should be AlexandRIA Bay, not Alexander. This aging is causing more brain fade than I like to admit.

 

Dave,

 

I suppose you know that you will be traveling the old Lackawanna Trail route of the teens and 20’s. It parallels the “direct” interstate route so it might be a nice substitute for all or part of the trip.

 

I have never set rubber to road on the Lackawanna, but how bad could it be with a name like that? I can send you a map (both 1920’s and modern) of the route if you are interested and are not already familiar with it. I may have a guide or two to the old road, and I certainly have descriptions of the route in one form or another from the “old days” which I would be happy to share.

 

BTY, in New York it is also US11.

 

I hope you will share your adventure will those of us “less fortunate.” As I look at your planned travels, it make me want to plan a trip to visit my wife’s family who live in upstate New York.

 

Let’s all Keep the Show on the Road!

[Dave Reese]

I used to drive US 11 through Central PA in my the mid-70's, but often at 5 am on the way to a job when I worked out of Harrisburg. I normally did not go north of Williamsport, and have not driven it in NY at all. I did not know that this was known as the Lackawana Trail. Thanks for that information. As we are starting out around 6 pm on Sunday after I sing in a concert Sunday Afternoon, we will have some time to explore on the way to Alexandria Bay on Monday before checking in. It will be about a month till we go, so resource materials will be appeciated. I will email you directly and hope that I can come up with some good reports and photos when I get home.

Thanks!!!

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

I used to drive US 11 through Central PA in my the mid-70's, but often at 5 am on the way to a job when I worked out of Harrisburg. I normally did not go north of Williamsport, and have not driven it in NY at all. I did not know that this was known as the Lackawana Trail. Thanks for that information. As we are starting out around 6 pm on Sunday after I sing in a concert Sunday Afternoon, we will have some time to explore on the way to Alexandria Bay on Monday before checking in. It will be about a month till we go, so resource materials will be appeciated. I will email you directly and hope that I can come up with some good reports and photos when I get home.

Thanks!!!

 

That’s great! I’ll do a little research on the Lackawanna. I have so much stuff around here that I forget what I have! I vaguely remember buying an original Lackawanna Trail guide a few years ago, but even if my memory is off, I can still provide maps and the like. I’ll enjoy doing a little armchairing.

 

The 1925 map I was looking at labeled the road all the way between Easton PA Watertown, NY on your route as the Lackawanna (or maybe I misread it), but the 1926 Hobbs guide says the Lackawanna “strictly speaking” runs between Delaware Water Gap and Binghamton NY, which I am inclined to accept.

 

The 1926 AAA Official Tour Book of Pennsylvania and New Jersey has some nice old ads for places along the route. You might pass one or more in your travels. For example, Allentown where you are starting has 5 ads. I see that there was a comfort station located in the southwest corner of Center Square at 7th and Hamilton Streets!

 

http://www.pair.com/davepaul/americanroad/...AAAllentown.jpg[/url]

1926 Allentown, PA Ads

 

These copies are a little large so I will not have them show in the post unless you click on the link.

 

Just for the sake of information, the Hobbs Guide is for 1926. The Mohawk – Hobbs was sponsored by the Mohawk Tire Company for some period of time. The two sections of their guide here cover the Lackawanna “strictly speaking,” to use their term.

 

http://www.pair.com/davepaul/americanroad/...Lackawanna1.jpg

http://www.pair.com/davepaul/americanroad/...Lackawanna2.jpg

Lackawanna Trail in 1926 Hobbs

 

I enjoy the Hobbs guides because they list so many old establishments and often give charming descriptions of towns along the way. They typically are relatively inexpensive on Ebay and I think undervalued, primarily because they are relatively unrecognized.

 

The 1926 AAA Official Tour Book for Pennsylvania and New Jersey from which I took the Allentown item, and will later take strip maps and ads for towns along the Lackawanna is also inexpensive. It has the strip maps characteristic of AAA guides up through the early to mid 1940’s

 

Well, you see my weakness. I have a sizable collection of old maps and travel guides, and too little time to travel everywhere they show (not that I don’t try). Maybe they will spark a discovery in your travels.

 

More will follow if you are interested.

 

Let’s Keep the Show on the Road!

Edited May 28, 2007 by Keep the Show on the Road!

[Dave Reese]

Thanks so much,

The Allentown information was fun to read. I remember the Comfort Station in Center Square, but it has been sealed for years. The Hotel Traylor still exists, and with some work could again be elegant. The Shankweiler Hotel was just a restaurant when I grew up, but was known for its Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken and Waffel dinners. Alas, it now is a very nice looking bank branch, but the building is still basically still complete.

I will start to print out and study the route to see where it matches up with our plan so I can do a good bit of two lane travel during our jaunt.

I have stayed away from the collection of old maps and tour books, mainly because I already collect local school yearbooks, auto history and racing history items, and way too much other stuff. So your resources are Greatly Appreciated.

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Thanks so much,

The Allentown information was fun to read. I remember the Comfort Station in Center Square, but it has been sealed for years. The Hotel Traylor still exists, and with some work could again be elegant. The Shankweiler Hotel was just a restaurant when I grew up, but was known for its Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken and Waffel dinners. Alas, it now is a very nice looking bank branch, but the building is still basically still complete.

I will start to print out and study the route to see where it matches up with our plan so I can do a good bit of two lane travel during our jaunt.

I have stayed away from the collection of old maps and tour books, mainly because I already collect local school yearbooks, auto history and racing history items, and way too much other stuff. So your resources are Greatly Appreciated.

 

Sounds like a plan! When you have decided your basic route, let me know. THe Lackawanna poped up because my mapping program connected your start point and end point with a route along the interstate that follows the Lackawanna and US11.

 

I have plenty of stuff, so it is likly that I will have something that fits whatever route you take.

 

The old stuff doesn't tell you where the best places to eat might be (I enjoy the suggestions we often get here) but it does give a little ambiance to any two lane trip. And when you toss out that "We went to Alezendria Bay, following the Lackawanna" it is sure to get you attention in any conversation!

 

Keep the Show on the Road

[BabyBoomerBob]

Thanks so much,

The Allentown information was fun to read. I remember the Comfort Station in Center Square, but it has been sealed for years. The Hotel Traylor still exists, and with some work could again be elegant. The Shankweiler Hotel was just a restaurant when I grew up, but was known for its Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken and Waffel dinners. Alas, it now is a very nice looking bank branch, but the building is still basically still complete.

I will start to print out and study the route to see where it matches up with our plan so I can do a good bit of two lane travel during our jaunt.

I have stayed away from the collection of old maps and tour books, mainly because I already collect local school yearbooks, auto history and racing history items, and way too much other stuff. So your resources are Greatly Appreciated.

 

 

Just north of Scranton on US 11 is the town of Nicholson. There a truly dramatic railroad viaduct jumps between two mountains. and you won't have to hunt all over the place to see it. It's just east of the highway. I about dropped my teeth when I saw it back in 1982:)

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Just north of Scranton on US 11 is the town of Nicholson. There a truly dramatic railroad viaduct jumps between two mountains. and you won't have to hunt all over the place to see it. It's just east of the highway. I about dropped my teeth when I saw it back in 1982:)

 

That’s a terrific bit of information!

 

I looked at some old postcards of the Lackawanna Trail and that bridge or viaduct is a prominent feature along the old road. Your description is quite apt as I think it is 240 feet high! I didn’t know it still existed.

 

It is also known as the Tunkhannock Viaduct and is quite an engineering marvel. It was started in 1913 and finished in 1915 and it is still in use according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (asce) website. I hope Dave manages to visit it, as he is quite a good photographer.

 

Your knowledge and information help Keep the Show on the Road!

Edited May 28, 2007 by Keep the Show on the Road!

[Dave Reese]

Since our start of the trip will be starting late (after eating the evening meal) on a Sunday, it will probably be I476 to I81 to Binghamton NY without much chance to sight see. The next day we will meander north to Alexandria Bay. It looks like we can do a good part of this on US 11 instead of I81, but in Watertown we would branch off onto 37 and then 26.

 

After our time in Watkins Glen and Corning, I plan to head down on US 15 to Mansfield, go west on US 6 to Wellsboro, and then double back on US 6 to Scranton before heading home.

 

At least that is the tentative travel plan, although weather can always change the course of our trip as well.

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Since our start of the trip will be starting late (after eating the evening meal) on a Sunday, it will probably be I476 to I81 to Binghamton NY without much chance to sight see. The next day we will meander north to Alexandria Bay. It looks like we can do a good part of this on US 11 instead of I81, but in Watertown we would branch off onto 37 and then 26.

 

After our time in Watkins Glen and Corning, I plan to head down on US 15 to Mansfield, go west on US 6 to Wellsboro, and then double back on US 6 to Scranton before heading home.

 

At least that is the tentative travel plan, although weather can always change the course of our trip as well.

 

It sounds like a fun trip! We have the US expert on US6 among us, Russ L. He is the executive director of the US6 association, so he should be able to connect you with the great sights along that section of your route.

 

As you probably are aware there is a Pennsylvania US6 tourist web page at http://www.paroute6.com/index.cfm.

 

You will be briefly on the Susquehanna Trail between Painted Rock, NY and your junction with US6. I’ll see if there is anything of interest there.

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

Edited May 29, 2007 by Keep the Show on the Road!

[DennyG]

I plan to head down on US 15 to Mansfield, go west on US 6 to Wellsboro, and then double back on US 6 to Scranton before heading home.

Assuming it's still there, Wellsboro has a great old Sterling diner and if you're willing to go just a few miles west of Wellsboro there's the "Grand Canyon of Pennyslvania" - great scenery. About three years ago in Mansfield, I ate at an old house converted into a restaurant called Mark's Brothers. Good food, as I recall, and a fairly interesting building.

[Dave Reese]

Well, we are home from an abbreviated trip. My father in law fell and cracked his hip at the Alzheimer's unit where he lives and had to go to the hospital for surgery. I failed to get to a lot of the places we wanted, but had a great few days on the bay at Hill's Motor Court. I posted a couple of photos in the gallery in the Reese's Photo Pieces album, but will try to write a summary with photos in the near future...

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Well, we are home from an abbreviated trip. My father in law fell and cracked his hip at the Alzheimer's unit where he lives and had to go to the hospital for surgery. I failed to get to a lot of the places we wanted, but had a great few days on the bay at Hill's Motor Court. I posted a couple of photos in the gallery in the Reese's Photo Pieces album, but will try to write a summary with photos in the near future...

 

Dave,

 

It looks like Hill's Motor Court offers some beautiful views. And the "main street" shot is interesting. I look foward to more!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!