That's the Meeny as we headed home, parked in a junkyard lot and covered in dust, grime and more bugs than a Microsoft product peppering the entire front end. Needless to say the first thing I did when I got home was scrub the car down. But it was a great trip, first to Gettysburg battlefield, then through the expanse of West Virginia to visit Hillbilly Hotdogs and the Mothman Museum, over the bridge into Ohio, a misstep to Pittsburgh, then back home along the abandoned remains of old I-76 and passing through Amish country. Overall it was over 1200 miles, averaging 55mph and 32.5 mpg, including 5mph rolls through auto tours. Not bad for having the windows and sunroof open the whole time.
Not long after we left Jersey on I-78 into Pennsylvania we came across this little town. I didn't have to shart, so we didn't stop.
We also stopped at the famous Red Rabbit Drive-In, making a 45mph hairpin turn into the parking lot, after I nearly missed the sign. It's the first time I've made the tires squeal that loud. Milky was impressed. Sadly they were closed, as they only open on the weekends. Always call first!
Thankfully Gettysburg doesn't close until 10pm! We stopped at Garryowen's Irish pub in town for food, and then into the park to get an Auto Tour self-guided CD. These are very cool, guiding you around the town and battlefield to marked stop points with parking spots, so you can hear a historian give an exciting description of the events, with cannon fire and all!
This is a memorial put up in the '30s and inaugurated by President Roosevelt (FDR, duh). A few thousand remaining veterans attended the ceremony.
The Meeny parked in the Devil's Den, looking up at Little Top, a strategic observation post much fought over. The Devil's Den was supposedly named after a snake that lived in the rocks.
Looking down at the Devil's Den from Little Top, you can see a parking lot next to the rockpile. The rocks were a favored hiding spot for snipers as the infantry charged the field to take Little Top. We came back again at night, hoping to get spooked, but it started raining. As I drove away, a large black snake slithered in front of the car and was the trip's only casualty.
This was the site of a famous photograph of a Confederate sniper's corpse next to his rifle. According to the park documents the photo was staged, but the wall was an actual bench rest used for sniping.
This is the Wheat Field, site of the bloodiest fighting of the war. The battleground was so littered with wounded and corpses that it was said you could walk across it without touching ground, and men waited for days to get medical attention while wild hogs feasted on the dead. Truly one of the most terrifying battles in history. There was a memorial to Robert E. Lee, with signs reminding you of the fines for vandalism.
This is the Pennsylvania memorial to its soldiers who fought in the war, and their names are all recorded on the brass plates around its perimeter. It's quite impressive.
We toured the park until sundown, and climbed several of these observation decks to view the battlefield. The Mini was a great car for this tour, able to zip up the steeper roads and tight corners.
Our next stop was West Virginia. We stuck mostly to interstates and enjoyed the mountains, and the changing of the leaves. We drove all the way to a small town named LeSage, home of Hillbilly Hotdogs, a colorful greasy spoon on the Ohio River. They make some great hot dogs with fantastic topping combinations, all in what looks like a junkyard or a hillbilly's front yard. There's an abandoned school bus you can eat in, and so on. It's a bit out of the way, but if you're ever in the area you ought to stop in. It was worth the 7 hour drive, to me! The full review of the food will be on
Pluck You, Too! soon.
Not far from there is Point Pleasant, home of the Mothman Museum. If you've seen
The Mothman Prophecy or read the book, you'll know the story of two couples driving at night in the late '60s when something large with red eyes followed their car. Not long after, the Silver Bridge connecting the town to Ohio collapsed during a traffic jam, killing 46 people. A book was written linking the events, which was turned into the movie. There is a museum in town collecting all sorts of information and items regarding the event and the movie, and a huge statue outside.
Of course we drove across the new bridge into Ohio, and then decided not to go to Monticello as originally planned, but to Pittsburgh, because Milky is a ketchup whore. He sucks that stuff down like a pig on gravy. And the Heinz company is HQ'd there. He also got tired of being in small town America for two days and wanted some city, so I hauled ass up to P-burgh. Little did we know that the G20 Summit was being held there, and the downtown area was under martial law, blocked off by Humvees and National Guardsmen, lest we mingle with the world's aristocrats. We later read about the protesters getting pepper sprayed. It was a total clusterfuck, with tons of out of town cops brought in, so no one could direct us back out of the city! The GPS of course kept sending us toward blocked off streets. Milky used a big map on his iPhone and I used my trusty Rand McNally Road Atlas to get us out to the sleepier suburb of Greensburg, where we found an overpriced hotel and headed to the Rialto Cafe, the town's only late night bar. A college bar, with $1 Yuengling and a bustling crowd.
In the morning, well rested, we headed east toward home. I had emailed my friend Sonny, who'd done an exhausting exploration of the abandoned tunnels of the old I-76 highway a few years ago, and he sent me directions to one conveniently located by the Breezewood rest area where it meets I-70. After eating at a Bob Evans- the food was better than Cracker Barrel but the folks were decidedly unfriendly- we headed up Mountain Chapel Road to find this tunnel. Loaded with teenage graffiti and busted beer bottles, but still quiet but for a couple of large ravens, the tunnel beckoned.
As you head in, the light falters and only just before it gets dark do you see the light at the other side. I guess it was a quarter mile or more underground. Pretty cool. Another 8 miles on I-30 there's another one with a service station, but we didn't have time. Milky had a plane to catch! We instead hauled toward Lancaster, so I could get some Whoopee Pies for Sarah. Right into Amish Country, we passed a few horse and buggies, but didn't get a good picture. Hershey Farms sells delicious baked goods, and after a quick pit stop we grabbed some tasty pies- Shoo Fly and a lot of li'l whoopies- and hit the road for home on the I-376 bridge. The back roads were brief but fun in the Meeny, and I had a great time driving. It's been a long time since I drove this much, and the Cooper makes for a comfy ride. Can't wait to do it again in October, when Sarah and I drive to Niagara Falls, hit some eats in Buffalo and Toronto, and then head to Western Massachusetts to visit friends Kim & Andy in their new home!
That's the Meeny as we headed home, parked in a junkyard lot and covered in dust, grime and more bugs than a Microsoft product peppering the entire front end. Needless to say the first thing I did when I got home was scrub the car down. But it was a great trip, first to Gettysburg battlefield, then through the expanse of West Virginia to visit Hillbilly Hotdogs and the Mothman Museum, over the bridge into Ohio, a misstep to Pittsburgh, then back home along the abandoned remains of old I-76 and passing through Amish country. Overall it was over 1200 miles, averaging 55mph and 32.5 mpg, including 5mph rolls through auto tours. Not bad for having the windows and sunroof open the whole time.
Not long after we left Jersey on I-78 into Pennsylvania we came across this little town. I didn't have to shart, so we didn't stop.
We also stopped at the famous Red Rabbit Drive-In, making a 45mph hairpin turn into the parking lot, after I nearly missed the sign. It's the first time I've made the tires squeal that loud. Milky was impressed. Sadly they were closed, as they only open on the weekends. Always call first!
Thankfully Gettysburg doesn't close until 10pm! We stopped at Garryowen's Irish pub in town for food, and then into the park to get an Auto Tour self-guided CD. These are very cool, guiding you around the town and battlefield to marked stop points with parking spots, so you can hear a historian give an exciting description of the events, with cannon fire and all!
This is a memorial put up in the '30s and inaugurated by President Roosevelt (FDR, duh). A few thousand remaining veterans attended the ceremony.
The Meeny parked in the Devil's Den, looking up at Little Top, a strategic observation post much fought over. The Devil's Den was supposedly named after a snake that lived in the rocks.
Looking down at the Devil's Den from Little Top, you can see a parking lot next to the rockpile. The rocks were a favored hiding spot for snipers as the infantry charged the field to take Little Top. We came back again at night, hoping to get spooked, but it started raining. As I drove away, a large black snake slithered in front of the car and was the trip's only casualty.
This was the site of a famous photograph of a Confederate sniper's corpse next to his rifle. According to the park documents the photo was staged, but the wall was an actual bench rest used for sniping.
This is the Wheat Field, site of the bloodiest fighting of the war. The battleground was so littered with wounded and corpses that it was said you could walk across it without touching ground, and men waited for days to get medical attention while wild hogs feasted on the dead. Truly one of the most terrifying battles in history. There was a memorial to Robert E. Lee, with signs reminding you of the fines for vandalism.
This is the Pennsylvania memorial to its soldiers who fought in the war, and their names are all recorded on the brass plates around its perimeter. It's quite impressive.
We toured the park until sundown, and climbed several of these observation decks to view the battlefield. The Mini was a great car for this tour, able to zip up the steeper roads and tight corners.
Our next stop was West Virginia. We stuck mostly to interstates and enjoyed the mountains, and the changing of the leaves. We drove all the way to a small town named LeSage, home of Hillbilly Hotdogs, a colorful greasy spoon on the Ohio River. They make some great hot dogs with fantastic topping combinations, all in what looks like a junkyard or a hillbilly's front yard. There's an abandoned school bus you can eat in, and so on. It's a bit out of the way, but if you're ever in the area you ought to stop in. It was worth the 7 hour drive, to me! The full review of the food will be on Pluck You, Too! soon.
Not far from there is Point Pleasant, home of the Mothman Museum. If you've seen The Mothman Prophecy or read the book, you'll know the story of two couples driving at night in the late '60s when something large with red eyes followed their car. Not long after, the Silver Bridge connecting the town to Ohio collapsed during a traffic jam, killing 46 people. A book was written linking the events, which was turned into the movie. There is a museum in town collecting all sorts of information and items regarding the event and the movie, and a huge statue outside.
Of course we drove across the new bridge into Ohio, and then decided not to go to Monticello as originally planned, but to Pittsburgh, because Milky is a ketchup whore. He sucks that stuff down like a pig on gravy. And the Heinz company is HQ'd there. He also got tired of being in small town America for two days and wanted some city, so I hauled ass up to P-burgh. Little did we know that the G20 Summit was being held there, and the downtown area was under martial law, blocked off by Humvees and National Guardsmen, lest we mingle with the world's aristocrats. We later read about the protesters getting pepper sprayed. It was a total clusterfuck, with tons of out of town cops brought in, so no one could direct us back out of the city! The GPS of course kept sending us toward blocked off streets. Milky used a big map on his iPhone and I used my trusty Rand McNally Road Atlas to get us out to the sleepier suburb of Greensburg, where we found an overpriced hotel and headed to the Rialto Cafe, the town's only late night bar. A college bar, with $1 Yuengling and a bustling crowd.
In the morning, well rested, we headed east toward home. I had emailed my friend Sonny, who'd done an exhausting exploration of the abandoned tunnels of the old I-76 highway a few years ago, and he sent me directions to one conveniently located by the Breezewood rest area where it meets I-70. After eating at a Bob Evans- the food was better than Cracker Barrel but the folks were decidedly unfriendly- we headed up Mountain Chapel Road to find this tunnel. Loaded with teenage graffiti and busted beer bottles, but still quiet but for a couple of large ravens, the tunnel beckoned.
As you head in, the light falters and only just before it gets dark do you see the light at the other side. I guess it was a quarter mile or more underground. Pretty cool. Another 8 miles on I-30 there's another one with a service station, but we didn't have time. Milky had a plane to catch! We instead hauled toward Lancaster, so I could get some Whoopee Pies for Sarah. Right into Amish Country, we passed a few horse and buggies, but didn't get a good picture. Hershey Farms sells delicious baked goods, and after a quick pit stop we grabbed some tasty pies- Shoo Fly and a lot of li'l whoopies- and hit the road for home on the I-376 bridge. The back roads were brief but fun in the Meeny, and I had a great time driving. It's been a long time since I drove this much, and the Cooper makes for a comfy ride. Can't wait to do it again in October, when Sarah and I drive to Niagara Falls, hit some eats in Buffalo and Toronto, and then head to Western Massachusetts to visit friends Kim & Andy in their new home!
Will it blend? Who cares? Will it fit in a Mini Cooper!?
YES!
White Mana hamburgers, since the 1939 World's Fair. In Jersey City on Tonelle Ave. Watch for potholes, li'l Coopers. This road is a nightmare. Not as bad as the Palisades Parkway...
Exchange Place, Jersey City. I parked a bit away from here and we walked to the waterfront to see the NYC skyline. This white horse was having lunch.
View from the piers.
The big Colgate Clock and Ellis Island in the background.
Another event of 1939 was Stalin's betrayal of Poland when he allied with Hitler. This memorial elegizes the Polish soldiers killed in the Katyn massacre, and the prisoners sent to Siberia after the invasion.
We also went to The Deserted Village of Feltville to have a picnic. Ended up on an unmarked hiking trail. Above is the restored church and company store. It is located in the Watchung nature reservation in Union County, New Jersey.
Some of the unrestored buildings have trees growing on them. The village dates to the 1850's and there is a Revolutionary War era cemetery on the grounds. The hiking trails are relatively low in elevation and the White Trail circles 10 miles around. I've hiked it, it takes about 5 hours to really explore with time for photos of abandoned mills, rock formations, and neo-Nazi graffiti.
Some of the houses in the Village are now occupied. Lucky folks, but you have to deal with people hiking past your house all year long. The roads around the reservation are nice and curvy, Cooper worthy. I had a blast circling around looking for the exit until Sarah told me to use the damn GPS. My way was more fun!
Thanks to my friend Darius Whiteplume over at Adventures in Nerdliness for this Classic Mini and classic mini skirt!
A black Classic Mini Cooper and black lingerie. A fine combination from the excellent flickr stream of Chris Selby.
A Classic Mini articulated semi truck. Too bad there's nothing for scale, but that trailer has got to be chest high or less.
Kristen Stewart of Twilight (bleh) but also Panic Room, Into the Wild and this year's biopic of The Runaways - she plays Joan Jett - drives a modded Mini Cooper S. Sweet ride, maybe we'll forgive you for that lame defanged vampire stuff.
You gotta admit, Mini does have some of the best ad campaigns ever. I usually hate commercials, but they make ads for people who hate ads...
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