Pennsylvania

Gifts and Things Found Along the Lincoln Highway

December 23, 2013 by Cece

Happy Holidays Everyone!

The nomad in me never stops moving, hence my silence on this blog. After I finished the tour this fall, my husband and I took the plunge and moved 2,000 miles from Chicago to Portland, Oregon where we’ve both never lived before! We’ve been here now for a few weeks, and are spending the holidays here on the West Coast. So far my time has been great here, and I look forward to exploring the area more very soon.

But enough about non-Lincoln Highway things! I know many of you out there have been enjoying and celebrating your holiday season amidst the hustle and bustle that comes along with it. I wanted to stop and take stock of the many gifts blessings I’ve received from people along the road this year, and I wanted to share these roadside finds with you all. Below you’ll find some really neat and unique items that were given to me as well as things I found along the way. You’ll also see a plethora of t-shirts in this collection as well from across the country (when you live on the road and laundry is scarce, new t-shirts are pretty much a necessity).

Without sounding too hokey, the biggest gift of all is nothing pictured in this gallery. It will always be the new friends I made while on my journey; they now have become “old” friends to me in such a short time. They are the true legacy of the Lincoln Highway, and I feel honored to know them. You will hear more about these extraordinary people in future blog posts as well as my book about my travels. So stay tuned-this is only the beginning!

Old Lincoln Highway Sign from Iowa. It was a gifted to me by someone from the Iowa LHA Chapter. These signs hung on the original route until they were replaced by Iowa’s Heritage Byway signs a few years ago.

Being the musician I am, CD’s were a welcome gift and soundtrack for my travels. Some CD’s were given to me by complete strangers, others by longtime friends. Everything from Classical to Country Music is included in this collection.

From left to right: 1) Hand-created Lincoln Highway Miniature Marker 2) Snowflake Christmas Ornament created with salt from the Great Salt Lake 3) Piece of Petrified Wood found at Middlegate Station in Nevada 4) Ornament from Rock Springs Historical Museum 4) Root Beer Growler from Gottenburg Brewery, Columbus Nebraska 6) Tote bag from Grantsville, Utah

Detail of Handmade Lincoln Highway Marker made by Bob Owens (Jefferson, Iowa). He told me that he puts 6 coats of sand on each marker to create the desired effect.

Detail of Rock Springs Historical Museum Ornament, Rock Springs, Wyoming

Detail of Snowflake Ornament, Grantsville, Utah

Handmade Pin on antique hankerchief, made by Janet Von Toussiant of the Livermore Heritage Guild in California.

There were several books presented to me on my travels. From Art Deco Paper Dolls to the Book of Mormon, all of the books play a part in the story of the Lincoln Highway.

The two books in the back were both written by my friend and Lincoln Highway guru Brian Butko. Both were published this year to commemorate the highway’s centennial. In the front you can see some fun sheet music from the 1910’s and 20’s that was given to me by people along the way too. I just love those old song titles!

You’ll find this old-time country store along the Lincoln in between Bedford and Pittsburgh. Definitely stop and take the time to walk around the store, you never know what you will find there!

I absolutely love the mission of the Music Village, and if you are in/near the South Bend area please check them out! They are doing great things for the community along the Lincoln Highway.

When I was staying in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this t-shirt was given to me as a great surprise from my host! I guess the road warrior in me was already shining through. :-)

About 30 miles outside of Cedar Rapids, IA, you’ll find the Youngville Gas Station and restaurant. Entirely run by volunteers, this place is a lovely stop along the Lincoln Highway.

Thanks to Bob and Joyce Ausberger not only for giving this t-shirt to me, but for inviting me to perform in Jefferson, IA for their huge Bell Tower Festival.

This wonderful shirt was a gift from the Music Director at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Laramie, Wyoming.

One of the most unique performances on my tour was to be part of the annual Rockport Dam Jam. I got to learn new music for this concert, and the players were an absolute delight to perform with.

T-shirt of the Eureka Opera House. If you are in this part Nevada, please do yourself a favor and spend the afternoon (or night) here.

Middlegate Station in Nevada is a fanstastic place to stop, walk around, and get a bite to eat.

One of my favorite finds at the Nevada Historical Society’s gift shop: A t-shirt showing all of the hobo signs and symbols.

Until then, may the rest of 2013 be merry for you all! –Cece

Driving the Lincoln Highway in Western Pennsylvania: A review of sights from Stoystown to Ohio

May 20, 2013 by Cece

To all my faithful readers out there, I apologize for the delay in posting this. Between server troubles and a lack of internet access, this post has been re-written over 5 times. Argh! But I won’t let that get me down.

The fun continues in the Keystone State for this post! I was in this section of Pennsylvania for about ten days and did two shows, and I have to say I loved my time in this part of the state too. What also made this part of the journey so wonderful for me was all of the great support that I got from local Lincoln Highway enthusiasts. After my short time there, I feel I can now call them good friends, which is the best gift anyone can have.

One of these people is author and local history buff Jennifer Sopko, who not only wrote a wonderful article about me for the Latrobe bulletin but she also talked about our day out and about in Westmoreland County on her website. Click here to read that post. I won’t replicate all of what she wrote, but I will definitely include a few pictures of our adventure below. She mentions Louise with Westmoreland Heritage, who is another valuable resource for the area. Do check out her website if you plan to explore this part of state.

I actually did two performances in this area, one in Ligonier at the Town Hall (an amazing place to perform), and the other was for the Lincoln Highway Festival in Latrobe which were both fantastic performances. The new Lincoln Highway Experience museum is a must see for any Lincoln Highway fan, so plan to make a stop if you are driving in the area.

After staying in Greensburg, I then went to Pittsburgh for several days to get caught up on all of the wonderful things I had seen so far on this journey. I had the honor of not only having lunch with Jennifer but also with two great Lincoln Highway giants: Brian Butko (one of the foremost experts on the road) and Rick Sebak (Producer of the show “A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway“). I did some more Lincoln Highway exploring and all in all took stock on this great part of the trip.

Now, without further ado, here’s some photos from this part of the tour. Enjoy the pictures, and I’ll be posting about my time in Ohio very soon!

This is the outside of the Ligonier Town Hall, which is right off the Lincoln Highway in downtown Ligonier.

Right outside of the town hall is a Lincoln Highway marker, telling you to head straight ahead.

Here’s the front of Ligonier’s LH marker, which is still in pretty good shape.

Here’s me performing at the Ligonier Town Hall! My accompanist is Aaron Gray, and the song I’m performing is (Preparing for) The Lincoln Way by Nolan Stolz. This piece and one other were composed by him specifically for this tour.

While I was staying in Greensburg, I was able to go to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. There’s a lot of great exhibits there, so definitely check it out! This is painting is of course President Lincoln himself, this time without a beard.

As Jennifer talked about in her blog post, our first stop on our adventure was at Hanna’s Town. Here’s a picture of one of the original cabins from the late 1700’s.

Hanna’s town not only has structures from the 1700’s, but tour guides dress and live from that time period as well. They grow an extensive garden in raised beds, which was common practice for that time period. Our tour guide noted the new resident in one of the beds-a toad. Louise’s daughter named him Frank, and in my mind he will always be Frank the toad.

Louise with Westmoreland Heritage and her family have been active with Hanna’s town for several year. This is her daughter showing off her awesome stilt-walking skills.

This was the opening day for Hanna’s Town this season, so there were some extra fun things going on, including some re-enactors showing off military drills for the late 1700’s.

As Jennifer noted, we stopped by the Lincoln Highway exhibit in the Ligonier Library on Saturday. There were so many wonderful things to the whole collection, including this collection of vintage clothing. It’s there until the end of June, so make sure you go down to basement to check it out!

This awesome barn mural is located outside of Stoystown, PA. I love the middle section; it shows that women were taking to the roads just as quickly as the men did a century ago.

There’s a lot of cool Roadside Giants along the Lincoln Highway, but I think this one is my favorite. You can find this one near where Route 30/219 Interchange.

I couldn’t find this mural on my initial expeditions in the area, but Jennifer and I found it! This mural you can see driving Eastbound through Stoystown.

This Pop-Art gas pump can be found by the Mountain Playhouse/Green Gables in Jennerstown.

This giant sculpture can be found just outside of Ligonier.

This gas pump is across from Idlewild Park, which is the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and the third oldest operating amusement park in the United States.

This is the back of the gas pump found at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Every single pump was painted on every side, and I personally like the back of this one better than the front of the pump.

This pump is at the Lincoln Highway Experience museum.

The Ship Hotel was an important fixture along the Lincoln Highway in this part of the country until it was destroyed by a fire. Many artifacts and souvenirs were donated to the Lincoln Highway Experience Museum, including this chair from the restaurant within the hotel.

I had an awesome time at The Lincoln Highway Festival! I met Michaela, who has dressed up for school as W.A.C. woman. The day of the festival she wore her awesome “civilian” gear, shoes and all.

I had a great time having lunch with these folks. From left to right: Me, Brian Butko, Jennifer Sopko and Rick Sebak.

This Mural can be found in the Strip District of Pittsburgh.

This is statue of Abraham Lincoln, which can be found at the intersection of the William Penn and Lincoln Highways in Wilkinsburg. It was erected in 1918, stolen in 1982, knocked loose in 1992, and then restored and returned to its rightful place in 2002.

This old firehouse is in Pittsburgh along the Lincoln.

This part of the Lincoln Highway in Glenfield is a yellow brick road (about 1.5 miles). It had rained that day, hence why it has the extra shimmer.

Thanks to Jan (my friend and host for the week while I was in town) for bringing me to this spot. Watching the city turn from day to night was pretty amazing.

No more brick in this section of the highway! This was shot right outside of Ohioville.

“The Beginning Point” is a monument at the border between the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, on the north side of the Ohio River. It is significant as being the point from which would open what was then the Northwest Territory for settlement in 1785. It is located near the three-way intersection of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the northern tip of West Virginia.

Driving the Lincoln in Central Pennsylvania: A review of sights from Malvern to Stoystown

May 9, 2013 by Cece

As I’ve noted before, I’ve not ever been to this part of the country before. With no relatives in Pennsylvania, there’s never been a reason to come out here. My week I spent in this area was wonderful. I felt like I was living in a mix of both Colorado and Ireland again. The mountain lifestyle combined with the stone buildings made it easy for me to feel “at home”.

I stayed at two different places along this part of the highway, including the famous Lincoln Motor Court (more on my stay there in a future post), and The Gettysburg Hotel. But what made the drive so memorable besides the scenery are the unique murals, artwork installations, and memorable shops that make the Lincoln Highway worth the drive [thanks in part to the great effort of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor (LHHC)]. You feel like you’re discovering a local secret, which has still been untapped after all of these years.

I have hundreds of photos that can’t even come close to encapsulating how awesome and beautiful this part of the road is, but I’ll try. Here’s some of the highlights from this leg of the tour:

The Dutch Haven gift store has been a fixture in Lancaster County has been a fixture on the highway since the 1920’s.

This is part of the original store at the Dutch Haven, which has since expanded into a store that carries around 10,000 items.

This is a close up of a statue of Lincoln in Gettysburg. This statue is accurate in every way, including the detail of Lincoln’s hands.

Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum and Candy Shop is a MUST visit. This place is a lot of fun, and there really is something for everyone here. Free admission.

This is just one excerpt of Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum, which contains over 10,000 elephants of all shapes and sizes.

One panel of a Lincoln Highway Mural. You can find this mural in Chambersburg on the Lincoln Lanes building.

There are several huge Roadside sculptures along the highway, but I think this one is my favorite. You can find this one near Shatzer’s Fruit Market heading West out of Chambersburg.

There’s lots of boom and bust along the Lincoln, and here’s an old probable house/business ruin just outside of St. Thomas, PA.

Another great Lincoln Highway Mural, this one can be found near Bingham’s Orchard.

There are dozens of these decorated gas pumps along the route, and this one of “Vincent Van Gas” can be found at the Lincoln Garage in downtown Schellsburg.

One of the most famous fixtures of the Lincoln Highway was the Ship Hotel, which sat at this mountain overlook on Allegheny Mountain for 69 years before it was destroyed in a fire.

You can see a picture of what the Ship Hotel looked like at this mural not too far away from the site at Route 30 Antiques in Central City.

Also at Route 30 Antiques, this gas pump was dedicated to the Ship Hotel as well.

About 5 miles south of the Lincoln Highway sits the memorial for Flight 93. It’s a solemn but beautiful place, and definitely a must visit. While you are not allowed to walk on the crash site (nor should anyone!), you are welcome to photograph it.

Duppstadt’s Country Store Sign, found in Buckstown/Stoystown

This gas pump can be found at Duppstadt’s Country Store, a fixture on the highway since 1904.

I think this barn mural about the Lincoln speaks for itself.

Up next, I’ll be writing about my stay at the Lincoln Motor Court, which is truly a wonderful step back in time. Until then, happy travels wherever you may go!

The General Warren Inne: A Hidden Treasure

May 8, 2013 by Cece

My stay and performance at the General Warren Inne was an amazing stop on my journey on so many levels. I first heard about the General Warren through my friend Jamie over at My Lincoln Highway, and when I contacted the Inne about my project, the proprietor contacted me back immediately and the rest is now history.

The Inne started operating in 1745, and has been either a tavern, hotel or both for most of its 268 year existence. Not only has it been a pivotal place for three wars (including the Paoli Massacre), it also served as an important part on the Conestoga Wagon Trail in the 1800s long before the Lincoln Highway ever existed. The 1913 route went right past the hotel under some railroad tracks until it was rerouted in the 1930’s. Patrick Byrne, the hotel’s proprietor (and part-time historian for the hotel) hopes that it this part of the Lincoln can be reopened as a walking trail. You can see in these pictures where the route used to be on both sides of the railroad underpass (look closely through the trees and brush):

From the time I walked into the door, I was made to feel at home – period. I saw this same customer service with both hotel guests and tavern patrons (see the smile on my face below). It is clear that people at the GWI enjoy what they do, and who wouldn’t want to be a part of that in some way? Each of the eight suites have their own theme, and are decorated beautifully. You can see pictures of all of the suites here, and here’s a couple pictures of my suite I stayed in, the General Wayne Suite:

View from my window. Love the original panes of glass!

My room had a separate TV/Couch/Office area from the bedroom/bathroom area. I loved the flow, and slept really well here.

Here’s me with the Lamb Porterhouse-yum! For those of you who have dietary restrictions, their kitchens will definitely accommodate you. I never got sick once!

The night of my performance in the tavern was unique in that I was able to perform all 20 songs that night, so people who stuck around for the first two sets got to hear everything. It was a great crowd, and it was lovely to meet all of them. Here’s a few shots of the tavern:

Fireplace Tavern — Here’s the fireplace in the Tavern.

100_5786 — View of the Dining Room, just off the Tavern.

Again, whether if you are a local looking for a new spot, or a person not from the area, you should definitely visit this place! Visit their website: http://www.generalwarren.com/

*Note: While I did perform at the tavern, I was not compensated for any part of this review. These opinions are completely my own.

Summary of Eastern Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Surroundings)

May 7, 2013 by Cece

Hi all!

I apologize for the delay in posting. I was in an area of Pennsylvania where internet access was hard to come by for most of the week. Combine that with hearing about the loss of a dear old friend/American Songline supporter and two performances this past weekend, I now have the time to update you on my travels. Expect a lot of posts over the next few days, and then I’ll go back to a more weekly schedule on here.

I was in the Philadelphia area for about a week, and I loved my time there. It was my first time in the area, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The neighborhoods in Philly and the surrounding areas are quirky, fun, and there’s plenty to see and do. I look forward to performing there in the future, and I have to give a big thanks to my hosts Dot and Zosia for making my stay an unforgettable one. I can’t wait to come back!

I’ll write a separate post about The General Warren Inne (where I performed) in my next post, but in the interim here’s some photo highlights from my time in Philadelphia:

Inaccessible part of the Lincoln Highway near Langhorne PA — Inaccessible part of the Lincoln Highway near Langhorne, PA

The Poquessing Creek Bridge was built in the 1805 and was used in the original 1913 LH route until the bypass was created in the early 1920s. Note the mix of brick and old concrete with the stone bridge.

Side of Poquessing Creek Bridge — Side of the Poquessing Creek Bridge.

The Divine Loraine Hotel has a fascinating past. Built between 1892-1894, this building on the Lincoln Highway housed some of Philadelphia’s Wealthy in the early years, and then became the first hotel in the city to be racially integrated. Today it is not in use.

Valley Forge Cemetary — One of my many headstones found in Valley Forge Cemetery. While not directly on the Lincoln Highway, Valley Forge National Park should not be missed. It is truly a beautiful place to see our country’s history.

Valley Forge Chapel — These stained glass windows tell the story of George Washington’s life at Washington Memorial Chapel (Valley Forge). It is biggest non-religious dedication in this medium.

Detail Chapel Gate — The tour guide told me his favorite artwork in the Washington Memorial Chapel was the hand made iron gate in front of the chapel. Here’s a close up of that gate.

My view of the Liberty Bell (only a couple blocks off the LH route in downtown Philly). While it is free to get in, you have to wait a long time to see it.

LH Marker Gone — This is the site where an old Lincoln Highway concrete marker was in Malvern, PA. As you can see by the fresh dirt, this change happened recently. The yellow marker notes a gas pipeline is now going through here.

Mural Fairmont Art Crawl — Mural on Fairmont Street in the Arts District in Philadelphia.

Thanks again for all of your support over the last few weeks and I hope things are going well on your path, wherever it may be.