I vacationed at Pennsylvania's quintessential rest stop. Its more inviting than it looks.

[modrepub]

I expected to live my entire life without price-shopping for truck-stop showers. Then I spent the night in Breezewood.

The adventure began last August when my main squeeze James and I drove to Colorado. We passed through Breezewood, Pennsylvania, as do many drivers heading to the Rust Belt and beyond.

"What do you think about vacationing here for a week," James asked. I laughed loudly and dismissed the idea.

If you've been there, you understand why. Breezewood has been a travel hub for centuries. It was a stagecoach stop in the late 1700s and then became a stop on the Lincoln Highway, America's first cross-country road. The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in 1940, and thousands of World War II veterans exited at Breezewood, stopping at what now is the Gateway Travel Plaza to trade their unit patches for meals. Today, Motorists driving between I-70 and the turnpike are forced off the highway and onto a congested half-mile stretch of expensive gas stations, fast-food joints, truck stops and motels. That's what people do in Breezewood, I thought. Get a quick caffeine fix, then refuel and get back on the road. They don't sleep there.

"I'm game," I said last summer, accepting James's challenge. "But only for one night."

By the time we finally rolled into town last month, I was excited about our adventure.

I had learned about Pike 2 Bike, a graffiti-covered, crumbling section of the original four-lane turnpike that was abandoned 50 years ago after the two-lane tunnels became bottlenecks. We packed bike shorts and were ready to explore. But on our first day, I was determined to walk up and down the Breezewood strip, U.S. Route 30, to better understand this town people love to hate.


http://www.philly.com/philly/living/travel/Pennsylvania-turnpike-Breezewood-rest-stop.html

[underpants]

1. Interesting vacation.

[RKP5637]

2. Interesting!!! Thanks for posting!!! n/t

[democrank]

3. You'll learn more about America in a place like this

or during a long distance bus trip

or from a back woods mechanic

or in a laundromat

or from a grammar school janitor

than from any speech emanating from Washington, D. C.

Thanks for posting this wonderful piece.

[packman]

4. We used to stop and eat at the Bob Evan's Rest. at Breezewood

Many decades past. It was the half-way point between our then present home, Washington, D.C. and our old hometown near Pittsburgh. They had the best breakfast sausage and fried potatoes. Then they got corporate and changed the recipe and we switched restaurants. Interesting that your article says it is still there.