Trip Peek #99
Trip #143
Swede Mysteries of Life

Posted on November 8, 2020 by Denny

This picture is from a 2017 trip I called Swede Mysteries of Life. DNA tests had revealed a branch of the family with connections to Philadelphia previously unknown to my Ohio clan, so an uncle, two, cousins, and I headed there for some research and recreation. By spending a couple of nights near the city’s Independence National Park, we were able to include a look at some of our nation’s history along with some of our family’s. The ship in the picture is a reproduction of the Kalmar Nyckel which brought our ancestors here in the seventeenth century. There’s no question that our afternoon cruise on the reproduction was infinitely more comfortable than their ocean crossing voyage.

Trip Peeks are short articles published when my world is too busy or too boring for a current events piece to be completed in time for the Sunday posting. In addition to a photo thumbnail from a completed road trip, each Peek includes a brief description of that photo plus links to the full-sized photo and the associated trip journal.

Trip Peek #98
Trip #152
Dirk and Lincoln

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Denny

This picture is from the 2018 trip I called Dirk and Lincoln. The purpose of the trip was to see Dirk Hamilton performing at a venue he played at frequently in the 1980s with the musicians he played with there. That was all I needed to justify the trip, but the venue was in California and there was no reason not to hang around a few days. That’s where the Lincoln part comes in. I flew to Sacramento then drove to Stockton for the show. I drove down to the bizarre Winchester Mystery House the next morning and picked up some Lincoln Highway on the way back. The rest of the trip was spent following a sort of Lincoln Highway loop to the east through Carson City, Reno, and Donner Pass then back to Sacramento for a night that included a visit to the Delta King.

Trip Peek #97
Trip #45
2006 Illinois 66 Festival

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Denny

This picture is from my 2006 trip to the Illinois 66 Festival. There were three documented days preceded by an undocumented dash to Vandalia, IL. The trip journal begins with meeting some friends at the west end of the Chain of Rocks Bridge then a caravan style drive across the bridge to a big surprise. I had backed out of my garage the previous morning then driven forward through a parking spot at the motel, a gas station, and the staging area at the bridge. Parking at a stop after crossing the bridge called for reverse and I found I had none. I eventually drove all the way home using only forward gears but it would be the last trip for the 1998 Corvette. The photo is of an old Route 66 alignment that is usually a simple drive through, but, as the sign so eloquently says, was not that day. This was between the bridge and the festival and could have been a real disaster. I survived, made it to my motel, and carefully selected a place to park. I enjoyed the festival using my feet and public transportation then drove home with extreme caution — and lots of luck.

Trip Peek #96
Trip #92
Chattanooga Christmas

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Denny

This picture is from my 2010 Chattanooga Christmas trip. It was the second of my three visits to the Delta Queen while it operated as a stationary hotel in Chatanooga, TN. I’d spent Independence Day 2009 onboard and would return for Christmas 2012. One thing that made the trip memorable was the first Christmas Day snowfall in Chatanooga in forty-one years. In addition to the snow, I have memories of a remarkable young man named Jeremy. The unusual snow was enough to keep most employees, including the cook, at home. Jeremy was the desk clerk and apparently the only staff member on board. I’m guessing his age at about twenty. Once he realized that he was essentially on his own, Jeremy took it upon himself to break out coffee, fruit, and pastries so the passengers were fed. I was impressed.

I’d started the trip with seven members of the Gingerbread family courtesy of Ovenmaster Mary, but only the parents and two offspring remained when I took the Christmas morning photo above. I enjoyed walking through the surprise winter wonderland of Coolidge Park and nearby areas then headed home the next day. On the way, I stopped in Nashville and Bowling Green to look in on Belle Meade and the National Corvette Museum.

Trip Peek #95
Trip #125
JHA Conference 2015

Posted on May 24, 2020 by Denny

This picture is from my 2015 trip to the Jefferson Highway Association Conference in Muskogee, OK. The three-day conference, my first JHA event, anchored a thirteen-day trip. The outing included a bit of Route 66 and all of the Jefferson Highway in Oklahoma. I experienced some sadness on Sixty-Six as this was my first visit to the Gasconade Bridge after its 2014 closing and to Gay Parita after the death of Gary Turner, its creator, in January. The bridge’s fate is still undetermined but Gary’s daughter has stepped in to reopen the popular station for travelers. The route home included some US-82 and US-70 and Arkansas’ Dollarway Road that was built in 1914 at a dollar (actually $1.36) per foot. A personal highlight of the trip was meeting Billy Tripp of Mind Field fame.

Trip Peek #94
Trip #69
Labor Day 2008

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Denny

This picture is from my 2008 Labor Day trip. Although the trip eventually included wonderful experiences in Point Pleasant, WV (Mothman), and Marietta, OH (Lafayette Hotel), the highlight of the trip occurred right at its beginning. I took the photo at right about fifteen miles from home at the Crabfest in Blanchester, OH. That’s Gene Sullivan landing next to the spike of a 68-foot horseshoe crab after jumping over its body and through the “flaming gates of Hell”. Crabfest is no more, and neither, apparently is the church that sponsored it. But Gene and the crab survive. The crab has been moved about twenty-five miles east to Hillsboro, and Gene, at 73, has, or at least had, a 50th anniversary “Jump for Jesus” tour planned for the summer of 2020. I could find no current information on the tour so do not know whether it has been canceled or postponed by the coronavirus pandemic or has been affected by something else.

Trip Peek #93
Trip #114
Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Denny

This picture is from my 2013 trip to the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial. Even though the anniversary of the battle was the trigger for the trip, it would be over and I would be back home before the date actually arrived. The battle took place on September 10, 1813. A reenactment occurred on September 2, 2013. Watching the reenactment required a ticket that I’d waited too long to buy so I did a “bicentennial light”. I took two ferry rides to Put-In-Bay checking out Perry’s Victory Monument on one trip and a reproduction of the Niagara, Perry’s flagship, on the other. Onboard for the second trip was a Commodore Perry reenactor who provided considerable history. There was a day between the rides which I spent exploring Sandusky, Ohio. The picture shows both the Niagra and the monument.

When I left Sandusky, I headed to Canada to explore some of the sites connected with the Battle of the Thames in which Tecumseh was killed less than a month after the Battle of Lake Erie. I returned to the states to cover the bits of Michigan’s Dixie Highway that remained undriven by me. All of that had been planned before I left home. The trip’s unplanned bonus (Every trip should have at least one.) was in Canada. I stayed at a very nice B & B near Buxton National Historic Site. That this was “A Terminus of the Underground Railroad” was cool enough, but the fact that the 90th annual reunion was taking place while I was there was an extraordinary piece of luck.

Trip Peek #92
Trip #144
SCA Conference 2017

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Denny

This picture is from my 2017 “trip” to the SCA Conference. I put trip in quotation marks since the conference was in Cincinnati and I spent every night at home in my own bed. The retired Holiday Inn sign is in front of the American Sign Museum where we had dinner after the first full day of the conference. That day was spent on a bus tour around the Cincinnati area, the next was filled with presentations, and the third with a bus tour north along the Dixie Highway.

Trip Peek #91
Trip #87
Route 66 Festival 2010

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Denny

This picture is from my 2010 trip to the Route 66 Festival. It was promoted as a Joplin, Missouri, event since that was the nearest city but the main organizers lived in Kansas and most activities took place at the Downstream Casino in Oklahoma. It’s quite fitting that the featured photo is of the point where all three states meet. The first day of the festival was the sixth day of the trip. On the way there I visited Saint Louis, Missouri, and a few towns in Kansas and Oklahoma. The homeward portion of the trip is documented in a separate journal since I headed directly to my first ever Lincoln Highway conference after the three day Route 66 festival.

Trip Peek #90
Trip #134
Jefferson Highway Conference 2016

Posted on December 29, 2019 by Denny

This picture is from my 2016 trip to the Jefferson Highway Association Conference in Carthage, Missouri. Conference presentations were in a center across the road from Red Oak II and wrapped up early enough that attendees could cross over for a look. This was my second visit to the whimsical town but my first time meeting its creator, Lowell Davis. After graciously posing for the photo at right, Lowell treated me and Mike and Sharon Curtis to a tour of his home and a look at some of his classic artwork. The next day was bus tour day but I skipped it for something more important. Route 66 icon Laurel Kane had died the previous January and friends and family gathered at her beloved Afton Station this day to celebrate her life.

I drove some Jefferson Highway, of course, but I also drove some Historic Route 66, US-60, US-62, and even a little Dixie Highway. The range of stops was about as wide as any trip I’ve taken. They included Apple Valley Toyland, Gary Turner’s (reopened by his daughter) Gay Parita, the Woody Guthrie Center, an Ian Moore concert in Tulsa, Monte Ne, Eureka Springs, Branson (really just a drive-by), Cairo (IL), the Everly Brothers Museum, and Bill Monroe’ birthplace. Yeah, I can’t guess what the theme was either.

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