Day 6: Ohio

One more add on from Bethlehem, after I published my blog yesterdat, I went downtown for Dinner.  I ate on Main street, same street where the oldest bookstore in the country is located. The Moravian Book Shop has been there since 1745.  In contrast to the old mill area, downtown Bethlehem had a vibrant restaurant scene on a Saturday night.  A lot of outdoor dining with many options.

Today was all about timing. I left Bethlehem early and arrived at the Flight 93 memorial in Stoystown just before 10:00 am.  I learned the flight crashed at 10:03 19 years and 2 days ago.  The memorial is well done.  From the visitor’s center, there is a mile walk down to a wall of names of the 40 passengers and crew who died in the crash and then beyond you can see the point of impact.

From Stoystown I drove north to Johnstown.  As soon as I parked, appropriately it began to rain.  The museum had not yet opened so I went for a walk and found a place for lunch. Again, no surprise to my family, friends and former colleagues but it was a brew pub.  The workers at the restaurant were very nice and explained where the sites related to the flood were, very helpful. The museum had a good short film and pictures from that day in 1889 and I later drove to see where the damn that failed was located. The National Park Service operates a small museum at this site.  The picture of the bridge below is the Stone Bridge  that held during the flood,  but  collected all the debris in the Flood and the debris caught fire and many people were trapped and survived drowning, only to die in the fire.

Dinner in downtown Youngstown Ohio.  I couldn’t really find too many remnants of its industrial past downtown.  The big Auto plants, like GM’s Lordstown plant, now closed, were located outside of Youngstown.

A couple of things hit me today when I was driving across Pennsylvania.  I have driven across the country between Vermont and Colorado 7 times.  The first time was 1978, my friend Ted and I were both 17, heading for our freshman year in Colorado. For some reason our parents allowed us to hit the road in my little Mazda GLC, 5 speeds, no A/C and an AM/FM radio.  Ted had a AAA Trip Ticket and we had a few maps and we made it 2000 miles.  We drove 500 miles a day, switching drivers every 100 miles. Neither of us had driven further West than Burlington VT before then and there we were. I guess that’s where I developed my love for the road.  Reflecting back on that trip today, how much better is it today with GPS, A/C, cruise control, EZ pass, Satellite Radio and a little device that holds all the music, all the audio books, podcasts and is a locator device that my family can see where I am, anytime and even call me from time to time.  When Ted and I drove, I think we called our parents once on the way, and once when we got there.

Another observation is that this trip, with its side trips, gets me off the highway and lets me see more of the country.  So far, so good.

Song of the Day: Today was all Bruce Springsteen, I sure not the last day of the Boss.  I listened to The Rising Album before and after the Flight 93 memorial and then his song, Youngstown pulling into town.

Podcast: Over the Road – today, how the family run truck stop is fading away and with it the good restaurants, all the big chain truck stops just have fast food now.

Book on Tape: The Pioneers continued, today problem with the Native Americans in the Ohio territory

Beer of the Day: Penguin City Golden Ale (University of Youngstown mascot is a Penguin)

Total Miles 450