ON THE ROAD WITH BARRY LOUIS POLISAR

Underwear is Everywhere! My Brother Threw Up on My Stuffed Toy Bunny! Diaper Rash! …… and who can forget that immortal anthem- Don’t Put Your Finger Up Your Nose! Yes friends, these and many more delightful ditties celebrating the joys of childhood, warped or otherwise, sprang from the creative mind of children’s singer/songwriter and author Barry Louis Polisar. Barry and I have been friends and collaborators for over 35 years ( I’ve illustrated 3 books with Barry & several albums and CDs) so when he called and suggested I accompany him on a short roadtrip to Mifflinburg, PA. I of course jumped at the chance! We of course, swapped stories and compared notes over breakfast at the West Shore Diner in Lamoyne before arriving in Mifflinburg, where a charming street festival was in full swing, with wine tastings, traditional German cuisine, and buggy rides and demonstrations of the fine lost arts of the wheelwright, blacksmith, and buggy maker, recognizing the town’s long heritage as an American mecca for the production of fine buggies. Barry helped kick off one of the inaugural performances in the town’s new cultural arts center, located in a lovely old former church, situated in sight of three, count ‘em three cemeteries. The audience was excited and appreciative, and of course, who can’t relate when Barry says” I’ve Got A Teacher, She’s So Mean!” ….. and did I mention, Barry wrote the opening theme song to the movie “Juno“?

Every musician needs a good cup of Joe to start the day

a bit of tasty festival food in Pennsylvania

If I had a hammer, I guess I’d be a smithy

Mifflinburg is historically a center of the buggy makers art

The many faces of Barry Louis Polisar

….and of course the happy faces in the audience! Hey, wait a sec, isn’t that guy with the spiked hair in the heavy metal band, Ministry? Guess Barry has a wide fan base!

….and so ends another happy day on the road!

SHOEFEST

The day dawned overcast and cloudy as we left our quiet suburban Maryland town and hit the road for a return trip to the Amish country of nearby Pennsylvania, but as we neared our first destination, the Prospect Diner in Columbia, the sun broke through and cast its warm rays over the meeting place of another of Mod Betty’s Retro Roadmap get togethers. Betty & her amiable spouse, Retro Roadhusband once again played host to a meeting of the local lovers of the great, but vanishing American roadside, graciously coordinating a day of fun and exploration a stone’s throw from York, PA. Diner aficionados from as far away as upstate NY made the journey, and there was a feeling of goodwill and camaraderie shared among the participants celebrating the spirit and vision of the small town American entrepreneur. After a breakfast meal that couldn’t be beat, and enough coffee to sustain an army, we set out to explore, and unearth the treasures in the local antique stores. Bargains and treats galore awaited the patient and practiced eyes of our intrepid shoppers, and afterword we retreated to lunch at the classic American lunchcounter at Hinkle’s Pharmacy , celebrating 120 years of service to the local community, and was this place hopping on a Sunday afternoon! After fortifying our crew, we set off again for our special tour at the Haines’s Shoe House in nearby Hallam. The brainstorm of local shoe salesman Mahlon Haines, this charming bit of wacky architecture was built in 1948, and , though never actually inhabited by an Old Woman with so many children, is surprisingly cozy and quite comfortable inside. A satisfying find for any commercial archaeologist! We took the boot, bid a sad farewell to our roadside friends and returned to our antiquing, while many of the adventurers had a last bite to eat at the yummy Maple Donuts before setting sail for home. Our thanks go out once again to the ever vivacious Mod Betty for putting it all together. So, till next time, put on your traveling shoes and be on the lookout for that wonderful bit of America while it still exists!

Breakfast at the Prospect Diner

A braintrust of the great American road experience

The Retro Roadmasters outside the Prospect Diner

Scouting for treasures

Strange things from another time uncovered by our intrepid archaeologists

A full house for lunch at Hinkle’s Pharmacy

The Shoe House

NEW JERSEY-THE GARDEN STATE

It was a gray and dreary day as The Diner Hunter and I set out for an impromptu road trip to the Garden State. Although many folks associate New Jersey with refineries, turnpikes and the likes of someone named Snooki, we chose to view a different version of the Jersey shore, although our journey did ultimately lead us to Seaside Heights, to see the roller coaster and surrounding damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy. Once off the highway, New Jersey is home to a huge diversity of small towns, scrub pine forests and cranberry bogs. Along the way we saw our usual roadside collection of abandoned buildings, darkened neon and diners. Jersey is the repository of hundreds of diners of every shape and style and we barely made a dent in the list.

After breakfast, Wildwood was one of our first stops. A piece of beachfront history suspended in time, every manner of so called “DooWop” motel and retro signage exists here, and their amusement park’s roller coaster rose out of the morning mist like a vision from a bygone era, a hole in the old space/time continuum.

If you love vintage style neon, this is THE place to be-

More retro neon in Wildwood – I need a shower, now!


The Caribbean ( design art from the Library of Congress)

This part of New Jersey is also home to re-purposed Muffler Men & all manner of strange creatures from the Land of the Giants- must be all those chemical mutations

The most beloved giant of all is Lucy, The Elephant who has made her home in Margate, New Jersey since 1881.

American Roadside architecture at its zaniest- Even the municipal offices are cool

Pennsylvania seems to be the state that my wanderlust feels compelled to visit, so for the second time in a week, I’ve laced up my traveling shoes, cranked up the old jalopy, and headed west to the Keystone State and a new adventure out along America’s highways and byways. This was a leisurely journey, with no real destination or objective in mind, so my beautiful traveling companion and I settled for the scenic area around Lancaster county, home to a substantial community of Amish and Mennonite families, as well as Jennie’s Diner, in Ronk’s PA.

Jennie’s is THE place to go if you have a hearty appetite and appreciate friendly service and delicious food.

Although only a minute from strip malls and an amusement park & putt-putt golf, you’ll see the old ways practiced directly across the street from this busy diner.

Another few minutes down the road and you’ll run into the Strasburg Railroad, and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, always fun for young and old alike!
And darn, wouldn’t you know it ( because, after all, this is a blog about neon & diners & roadside stuff) we luckily happened upon some great old neon and motel signage along Rt. 30, The Lincoln Highway


This is Amish country, and, as anywhere around the world, kids will always be, well, you know…..kids! The Amish are private people, and generally avoid photographs, so this was taken from a discreet and respectful distance.

On a sunny spring day like this, all the other cultural rituals play out as well, and this wedding party in downtown Lancaster seems to be having a great time clowning around prior to the big event.Beauties every one!

The many styles of architecture in Lancaster County

Of course, no roadtrip would be complete without ending the day as it started…..at a great diner.

THE RETURN OF SMILING JOHN

Since he was a young lad, my son Spencer has always delighted in his trips to the barber shop, not a stylist, not a designer salon, not the Hair Cuttery, but a real and true barber shop! Living in the Nation’s Capitol as we do, such a relic of bygone times has become harder and harder to find, especially if the head in question demands a haircut in a style of a decidedly bygone era. A few years ago, at a event known as Sledfest, we discovered the amazing husband/wife duo of Devon “Di-Di” Shilling, and her husband, Smiling John! They run a friendly, affordable and always welcoming shop in York, Pennsylvania. Although it is a bit of a haul from stuffy old D.C., it is always worth the roadtrip through the back roads of the Keystone State. Spencer gets a great haircut, we have a good time on the road, we get to share tales of razors, hot rods & Rockabilly, and of course, there always seems to be a diner of lunch counter somewhere along the way. It is, after all, the land of Texas Hot Weiners. In PA. Go figure!

The man, the legend, an artist with a straight razor- Smiling John Shilling

Nothing better than a hot towel & lots of lather

Always under the watchful eyes of THE KING

Going to DiDi & John’s is like a trip to the local art gallery- Body art, that is

Would YOU trust this man with a straight razor? You bet!

You can always count on a stylish look in York!

YOCCO’S – EMMAUS, PENNSYLVANIA

Good Morning, Gentle Readers! Nothing especially artistic, creative ( artistically or musically) or newsworthy this time around, just a wacky roadtrip stop at Yocco’s, a friendly little hot dog chain in the Allentown area that the Dinerhunter & I had lunch in while on photo assignment at the Artinger Guitar workshop. Although the Dinerson scooped me, using my own pictures, I thought this was worth a quick post, if for no other reason than the aggresively cheerful anthropomorphic hot dog. Yum! Yum! Glad to see that our friends from around the world all feel compelled to stop in and bite the dog!
See? Even our friends from Finland make the trip to Yocco’s!
The Diner Hunter says ” That’s the King of Hot Dogs!”
We had the small meal-

THE ROAD TO GETTYSBURG

Whenever Bing , Bob & Dorothy hit the road in those fabulous classic movies of the 40s, you could be assured of a madcap good time, when no quip was ever wasted, and hilarity and adventure ( not to mention plenty of asides to the camera, or a talking camel) were the were the watchwords of the day. Well, while they were not quite the original classic roadtrippers, this was undoubtably a meeting of some of the best & brightest stars in the galaxy of classic American roadside bloggers and writers as Beth Lennon, Spencer Stewart, Kyle Weaver and the elusive Roadside Wonders met in Gettysburg, PA. for a summit meeting, coffee and Texas Weiners, as well as a sad farewell before the ruinous demolition of the Gettysburg Cyclorama.
A delicious breakfast and plenty of hot coffee at the Lincoln Diner – Kyle, Beth & Spencer

A rare Matthew Brady photograph of two Union officers confiring over johnnie cakes and java at The Lincoln

A day of mischief with the roadside elite
The iconic Gettysburg Cyclorama, a masterpiece of 60s architecture by Richard Neutra, to be demolished by a short-sighted National Park Service. This historic building is considered by some to be a dated eye-sore, detracting from the hallowed ground of the Gettysburg Battlefield. I’m sure the revered memory of our fallen forefathers can be better venerated by a big bucket ‘o chicken and some fries next door at McDonald’s.

Coffee thick enough to stand a spoon up in-

Few Americans realize that the Civil War was also fought to preserve the dignity and rights of another marginalized faction of 1860s Society- Unattractive Crossdressers- Examples from the Gettysburg American Civil War Wax Museum

Highlights from the new exhibit-” Bad Hairpieces in American History”

No trip to historic Gettysburg would be complete without capping the day off at Ernie’s! for a dozen or two Texas Hot Weiners!

SIGNS OVER AMERICA

The late Lady Bird Johnson was never big on the art of the roadside sign. In fact, she devoted a considerable amount of time and effort to rid America of the pox of neon signs, billboards and other bits of the art of commerce along our Nation’s highways and byways. Ultimately, we are better for it, and I applaud her efforts. Today, of course, we are smothered by the crushing weight of electronic advertising, and the simple regional attempts at exterior self-promotion lay rusting on their own walls, forgotten reminders of a less sophisticated time. Ah, but plenty of examples still remain, in small towns and cities across our great country, and I am always on the lookout, along with my fellow commercial archaeologists! Here’s a quick romp in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

ROADTRIP EATS

This week’s roadtrip was to the beautiful, yet chilly town of Newport, Rhode Island. As is my usual custom, breakfast was always at whatever diner was close at hand, a haven of coffee, bacon and homefries, served by a friendly, yet saucy waitress, in my mind at least always going by the name of Bernice or Flo. Here is a brief photo essay of breakfasts served up on the frost of those brisk New England mornings.


It’s all about where you sit your weary butt down.

Variations on a theme of bacon and eggs

Al Macs ( awaiting re-opening ) Joe’s and Bishop’s

SEASON’S GREETINGS

For all of you who didn’t receive an actual card this year, please accept my wishes for a Happy Holiday & Prosperous New Year-