What I did on my summer vacation

Since it is that time of year again , howzabout we drag out that first week of school composition topic-

“What I did on my summer vacation“

Since I am the proprietrix of this here column that extoles the virtues of the independent and unique, you will not find mention of anything Disney here, nor will I be filling you in on the sordid details of my stay at a Sandals Resort. (Nevermind the fact that my salary here at the Bystander does not quite allow me to travel at all, and that my vacation was more like a few stolen days out of somebody else’s hectic schedule).Here then is what we did with a 2 day pass from the second smallest state.

For some reason my mate and I packed the car like dustbowl Oakies heading for Route 66- Two coolers, books, notebooks, guitar, tape recorder, cameras and CDs. You would think that we were afraid that there would be nothing going on during this somewhat unresearched trek into the mountains 3 hours away (truth be told this jaunt was so unresearched that I did not even realize that we would be in the mountains!)

So we loaded up the truck and drove to Beverl- oops I mean Bedford – PA that is.Home of the giant roadside teapot and cool art deco Gulf Station. Now this may not sound like enough to hinge a weekend on, but those roadside delights in Bedford were just a bonus, since the real reason we were hanging out in this turnpike exit town was its proximity to the Lincoln Motor Court in Mann’s Choice PA about 5 miles away.

For those of you not familiar with with the concept of the Motor or Cabin Court, just think of an old-timey motel where each room is a tiny little cottage. And I do mean little- little room for more than the bed and some other small furniture bits (there is a reason that I oft refer to places like this as “lil’ Monopoly Houses”. The Lincoln has been around since 1948 and has been lovingly owned and maintained by the Altizier family since 1983.

What this place lacks in size it makes up for in charm, from Daisy the cat who adopted us and guarded our car to the interiors which retain many of the original fixtures.

My fave discovery in our cabin was when I looked at the side of the 5 drawer dresser and realized that the three bottom drawers had been cut to be about 8 inches deep, so the entire dresser could fit over the old steam radiator in the room. Luxurious is not an adjective that would be used to describe the Lincoln, but I would readily substitute adorable, picturesque, retro and nicely affordable.

Once we unloaded the gear into our cottage we decided to do what most folks do when in a new area for a visit- we loaded up our car with more handouts, flyers and booklets touting the wonders of the area than we could ever possibly begin to use. While we easily ignored the siren song of outlet shopping and genuine faux historic villages, there was one flyer that pulled us in (pun intended). “GRAVITY HILL – Defy Gravity!” it proclaimed. How could we resist?

We carefully followed the twisty turny directions printed inside “THE OFFICIAL (as it gets) GUIDE” and wondered what awaited us at this mysterious place. Being the cynical girl that I am, I half expected a big gift shoppe and parking for busses. Instead we had to count telephone poles and look for lines spray-painted on a back road in Nowheresville, daddy-o. When we got to the designated place we again followed the instructions:

“Stay calm … keep cool. As you strain your ears to hear the laws of physics being shattered, put your car in neutral (after checking behind you for oncoming traffic, of course) and take your foot off the brake. Your car will roll, uphill.”

AND IT IS TRUE!! IT HAPPENED!! I am SO not kiding!! I shrieked a bit and then giggled at the strangeness of it all. We then proceeded to turn the car around – not easy as the road is narrow- and the unseen force pulled us forward too. Nobody really knows why this happens and the fact that a corporation has not had the gall to try to sponsor this bit of kitsch makes prefect addition to our wacky roadtrip guidebook.

 

There are all sorts of things I could recommend in the area- one of my faves being a drive down the Lincoln Highway after one of the torrential rainstorms swept by. For those not in the know, The Lincoln Highway is the 3400 mile road that stretches from New York to San Fran.

Another simple meandering drive brought us to the coolest looking Shining worthy hotel. Alas, the Bedford Springs Hotel, – President James Buchanans summer white house in the late 1850s is closed and a bit decrepit, but like Miss Haversham, you could see she was a grand dame in her day.

We had a swell view of a lightning storm from our perch at Ed’s Steak House, who won our vote for dinner place because of the sheer Vegasness of their neon sign.

There is no flashy neon signage to draw your attention to the Pitt Theater on Pitt Street, but it was the perfect place to dodge the raindrops. A simple old fashioned movie house, it wowed us with the size of the auditorium and screen and the fact that our snacks and drink did not put us in the poor house. Seeing Johnny Depp prance about as Saucy Jack the pirate it crossed our minds that we had found a little buried treasure of our own right here off the beaten turnpike.