West from the Blowout
Comment via blog
August 21, Last Day of NOTR and PPOO Part 1
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Day 1: October 2, 2024 West from the Blowout Comment via blog August 21, Last Day of NOTR and PPOO Part 1 |
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The first order of business was returning to the point where part 1 of
this trip was aborted and the first thing I did when I got there was check
up om the tiny Ostrander door in front of the station. Then I
went inside, used the restroom, grabbed a coffee, and picked up the Pike's
Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway right where I'd left it in August.
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At this point, what was once the PPOO is now US-36. I drove the full
length of US-36 in 2011 and many of the sights that appeared in the
day 2 journal from that trip will also
appear today. One of those places is
Crabill's
Hamburgers. Indoor seating went away with COVID-19 and is not expected
to return so today I ordered at the drive through and ate ate one of the
picnic tables. Another change from 2011 is that the tasty burgers are now
$1.50 rather than 65¢
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At the western end of this drive, I will be visiting a son and grandson
named Fletcher so recording my passage through Fletcher, Ohio, seemed
appropriate. A repurposed millstone stands at roadside on the west side of
the town. I stop at this Amish store near Gettysburg, Ohio, because I can
buy unsalted and nuts there. Today I got unsalted cashews and yogurt
coated pretzels. Bears Mill is another place that I stopped in 2011 and
then I went inside. Today I just grabbed a quick exterior shot.
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In Greenville, Ohio, I photographed several spots that also appeared in
that 2011 journal. The first one is the Annie
Oakley Park in downtown. One
of the murals at the rear of the park honors another local hero.
Greenville native Zachary Lansdowne was Commander of the
USS Shenandoah, the US's first rigid airship.
The Shenandoah went down in a storm in eastern Ohio on September 5,
1925.
The third picture is a shot of Broadway from Annie's park. Across the street, the location of the Hamburger Shop, still standing but no longer a restaurant in 2011, is now a park. The Wayne Theater was not only standing but was showing movies in 2011. It is open and showing movies today but was closed for many years in between. It reopened just under a year ago and I have wanted to see a movie there ever since. I really need to get that done. |
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US-36 went south from the from where the Hamburger Shop once stood so I
went off route for my 2011 photos of the theater and the
Maid-Rite. Not so today. The PPOO went right down
Broadway and left town on OH-571. The Maid-Rite also closed down indoor
seating during the pandemic but has since reopened it. I ate inside in
2011 but this time went the more familiar to me drive through route and
ate ate the pavilion in the rear. I did go inside to buy a T-shirt and
grabbed a short of the nearly empty interior while I was there.
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Then it was off to the dividing line between Union City, OH, and Union
City, IN, where part one of this trip was supposed to end. That white
building in the first picture was a Dairy Queen back in the day. Once in
Indiana, the PPOO ducks under the railroad tracks and heads off into
farmland.
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Winchester, IN, is another town I am familiar with from my youth. Today,
some sort of street carnival was in progress. On the west side of town,
the PPOO would have gone right by "World's
fast 1/2 Mile" which opened in 1914. It was then back to Indiana
countryside.
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There was evidence of Halloween approaching near Parker City, and a
construction delay in Muncie. The lumberjack trying to hide behind those
cables in on the west edge of town.
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I did not realize, or had forgotten, that I would be passing through
Anderson, IN, but as soon as I did I thought of seeking out the
Lemon Drop. That turned out to be super easy as the
PPOO passes right by it. I was a little surprised when it popped up beside
me. Inside I was happily surprised to find the overhead train merrily
circling the dining area and more surprised to find an
article I'd written more than fifteen years ago still hanging on the
wall. My waitress, Stephanie, told me that Bill Pitts, whom I spoke with
for that article, still owns the restaurant and still comes in for a few
hours every morning. When I mentioned the train and the article, she
laughed and replied, "Bill doesn't like change."
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