March 30, 2002
3:36 PM Subscribe
When you drive across America, you may or may not want to take a picture at every mile marker, but be sure to stay at vintage motels, eat at classic diners, and, above all, visit historic mental institutions. (Then thank the site with the Interesting Ideas.)
Dang, I always wanted to do the picture-a-mile thing myself. Guess it's even more pointless now.
posted by muckster at 4:00 PM on March 30, 2002
posted by muckster at 4:00 PM on March 30, 2002
SEE, i get yelled at for pawing through this treasure trove. (shes pissed) nice post. diverse, scant yet full, brevity yet pause. nice last link and a thanks to the site. Im happy, im using this as a model.
The Wiggum:"AH.....REAL nice work there boyz"
(pulls out box of donuts)
posted by clavdivs at 4:29 PM on March 30, 2002
The Wiggum:"AH.....REAL nice work there boyz"
(pulls out box of donuts)
posted by clavdivs at 4:29 PM on March 30, 2002
An excellent post, giving me yet another excuse to hog the computer.
posted by bjgeiger at 5:05 PM on March 30, 2002
posted by bjgeiger at 5:05 PM on March 30, 2002
I Clavdivs.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:05 PM on March 30, 2002
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:05 PM on March 30, 2002
Thank you for the diner link liam, my man.
It was great to see Curley's among the listed. That place sits on Stamford, CT's rather breif bar strip. When I worked down that way, we'd all head over to Curley's after a night of carousing and the place'd be invariably packed. You'd have the prepster's from Violet's, bikers from the Villa, bohos and gays from the Art Bar,secretaries on a toot from Polly Esta's and yuppies from the joint on the corner that kept changing it's name. Everyone would be bombed out of their skulls and chowing down on Disco Fries and Bacon Cheeseburgers. I'm still amazed nobody was ever killed with that combination of people hanging around, although I did see the occasional dust-up. But that grease pit was a true tableux vivant of Saturday Night in America. Seeing that pic brought it all back.
posted by jonmc at 8:11 PM on March 30, 2002
It was great to see Curley's among the listed. That place sits on Stamford, CT's rather breif bar strip. When I worked down that way, we'd all head over to Curley's after a night of carousing and the place'd be invariably packed. You'd have the prepster's from Violet's, bikers from the Villa, bohos and gays from the Art Bar,secretaries on a toot from Polly Esta's and yuppies from the joint on the corner that kept changing it's name. Everyone would be bombed out of their skulls and chowing down on Disco Fries and Bacon Cheeseburgers. I'm still amazed nobody was ever killed with that combination of people hanging around, although I did see the occasional dust-up. But that grease pit was a true tableux vivant of Saturday Night in America. Seeing that pic brought it all back.
posted by jonmc at 8:11 PM on March 30, 2002
For more on New England diners, sadly Ted's is no longer in Milford, Massachusetts. Another victim of road "improvement".
posted by yhbc at 8:22 PM on March 30, 2002
posted by yhbc at 8:22 PM on March 30, 2002
Excellent links -- I bookmarked 'em all! Judging by the diner page entried for Atlanta, that site must not get updated too often... but still, I'm sure most of 'em are still there. Yum!
posted by spilon at 8:26 PM on March 30, 2002
posted by spilon at 8:26 PM on March 30, 2002
if anyone's not been on a cross-US roadtrip before, you must do it. the first time i did was january of this year when su and i moved in together: we drove straight up the center of the country from new orleans to chicago. it was the first time i'd seen the southern illinois plains (after living here for eight years)...breathtaking. go drive. now.
posted by patricking at 9:31 PM on March 30, 2002
posted by patricking at 9:31 PM on March 30, 2002
Gotta agree, there's nothing like a long road trip every once in a while. I wouldn't want to do it a lot, but my very first vacation was a round-tripper from Detroit to Seattle and back. Ten years later, almost to the day, I made the same trip one-way to move out here permanently. Driving through the mountains into Coeur D'Alene, Idaho at sunset is... amazing.
posted by kindall at 9:48 PM on March 30, 2002
posted by kindall at 9:48 PM on March 30, 2002
If anyone hasn't read it already, Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon is an excellent book about one man's cross-country jaunt.
posted by yhbc at 10:24 PM on March 30, 2002
posted by yhbc at 10:24 PM on March 30, 2002
The state symbol for West Virginia isn't a tire hanging on a fence post, but it could be. -- William Least Heat Moon, "Blue Highways."
Thanks for the reminder, yhbc.
And great links, liam. My favorite part (so far) is the dogs-welcome policy at a motel right in my neck of the woods. (Scroll down a bit to get to it.)
The milepost-photo site was inspiring, in that I'm taking my kids on a road trip this summer. The pics kinda reminded me of the end of "Rain Man," when they showed all the pictures Dustin Hoffman's socially challenged character had taken with his cheap little camera. Most of 'em, considered alone and not as part of a greater whole, were crap, but every once in a while there'd be one that made you say, "Cool."
posted by diddlegnome at 1:23 AM on March 31, 2002
Thanks for the reminder, yhbc.
And great links, liam. My favorite part (so far) is the dogs-welcome policy at a motel right in my neck of the woods. (Scroll down a bit to get to it.)
The milepost-photo site was inspiring, in that I'm taking my kids on a road trip this summer. The pics kinda reminded me of the end of "Rain Man," when they showed all the pictures Dustin Hoffman's socially challenged character had taken with his cheap little camera. Most of 'em, considered alone and not as part of a greater whole, were crap, but every once in a while there'd be one that made you say, "Cool."
posted by diddlegnome at 1:23 AM on March 31, 2002
Don't forget to stop at the roadside attractions (in Canada, too).
posted by transient at 9:54 AM on March 31, 2002
posted by transient at 9:54 AM on March 31, 2002
Great. One of my photo professors in college had the goal of visiting and photographing all of the "sceneic lookout" markers in all the states west of the rockies. I wonder how far along she is now?
posted by Hackworth at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2002
posted by Hackworth at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2002
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