Day 5 - PA Cars at DennyGibson.com

Day 5: September 20, 2021
Field of Honor
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I backtracked into Bedford for breakfast at the 220 Diner. Cincinnati has goetta. The rest of the world has scrapple. I think it may be most common in Pennsylvania. It was in Bethlehem, PA, that I'd tried it and been unimpressed. I've now tried it twice and remain unimpressed. It does not, in my biased opinion, compare favorably with goetta at all.

Of course, the real reason I backtracked a little was to get my gas tank filled and my windshield cleaned without the need to get out of the car. I'm out of the car because I WANT to be out of the car.

I've definitely noticed the Lincoln Highway Farm as I drove by but I don't know if I've ever photographed it. I'm fairly certain I've never photographed the cabins a little east of the farm and not at all certain that I've even noticed them before. The white building is more or less across the road from the former site of the S.S. Grandview Ship Hotel which is in the fourth photo. It has been on the brink of collapse from the first time I saw it, and I'm always a little surprised when I look over and see it still standing.

ADDENDUM: Sep 24, 2021 - Being only fairly certain leaves room for escape, and I'm taking advantage of that now that Carol Ruth has jogged my memory. Quoting from the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor driving guide for Bedford County, those cabins were "Once part of the SHAWNEE CABINS TOURIST CAMP, they now house seasonal farm workers."

I reached the Flight 93 National Memorial around 9:00 AM and went directly to Memorial Plaza. At first, very few others were there so that it almost seemed I was alone. Just a little more than a week earlier the plaza had been filled by people observing the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy. There were flowers and other items at each of the panels in the Wall of Names and I suspect the recent anniversary had something to do with that.

The Wall of Names is the row of white marble panels in the pictures. It is aligned with the path of Flight 93 and contains the names of the forty passengers and crew members who perished in the crash. A sandstone boulder marking the impact site can be viewed through the hemlock "gate". The long walkway and wall in the second and third photos replaced a fence that protected the crash site. At one time, the sloped wall had several shelves where visitors could leave mementos. Today just one remains.

I was first here in 2004 and again in 2013. My memory thinks I was here another time between those dates but can produce no evidence so is probably wrong. In 2004, the only structure was a small shelter for volunteers tending to the site. By 2013 the plaza had been added (2011). On this visit, there is a new Visitor Center (2015).

The Visitor Center is a natural starting point and people more energetic than I can walk from there to Memorial Plaza on a two or so mile long trail. No photos are permitted inside. Much information is presented on the 2001 terrorist attacks and especially Flight 93. There were a couple of school buses in the lot and many of the visitors were high schoolers. They were learning new facts while I was recalling memories. It's a situation I find myself in more and more frequently but here the difference seemed extra sharp.

An even newer addition to the memorial is the Tower of Voices that was dedicated in September 2020. The text on that sign can be read here. Apparently it is an engineering and sonic marvel. It's certainly eye catching and close enough to to the entrance to catch eyes passing on US-30/Lincoln Highway. It was silent as I walked to and under it. It remained silent as I walked back to my car then emitted a single boing just before I got in to drive away. The sign says it will create "both harmony and dissonance" but I think at least two simultaneous boings are required to create either. No verdict yet.

This is the Lincoln Highway Experience which is sort of home base for the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. The Corridor is described as a "200 Mile Roadside Museum" while the Experience is a museum of the more common sort. It provides information on attractions in the corridor. There is a bicycle to get to -- virtually -- attractions in the corridor and beyond. It's said that if you peddle long enough, you can light up those lights all across the country. I made it to New Jersey.

One of the organization's projects placed five new roadside giants beside the Lincoln Highway. I took a picture of one of those giants yesterday. The "ship" in the glass case connects to a photo taken earlier today. It is a model of what used to be in that open space in a picture four panels back.

All of this is in an area of the museum that didn't even exist when I was last here. It is a typical Lincoln Highway village with a faux gas station and motel and a very real diner. The diner is a 1938 Jerry O'Mahony originally operated by Lou and Joe Serro. Today it was operated by Vickie who served up some very real pie and coffee.

I stayed with US-30 to Pittsburgh then picked up US-22 with the intention of taking it all the way home. An accident and resulting traffic snarl prompted me to move south to I-70 which carried me to Columbus and I-71. That's where I encountered the first real rain of the trip which continued all the way home. But, as I've often said, rain at the end of a trip is not a bad thing. I'm just glad I wasn't in a Model T.

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