Riding the Historic Highways to Bath

It is impossible for all roads to lead to Bath, but in summer all of my road-trips do indeed lead to Maine's Cool Little City! In just a few days, Joe and I will be packing up the car with shorts, t-shirts, running shoes, bathing suits, beach towels and flip-flops! Of course, we will also throw in to our 13 year old SUV two vintage chairs and an oak library table that we found at the Kane County Fair in Illinois over 20 years ago. It's clear we like to keep and treasure old things that serve us well! As we move to the future, however, we do not keep both feet stuck in the 20th Century; rather, we program the Garmin for our favorite destination, Washington Street, Bath, and joyfully set it on the dashboard of our old, but highly functioning automobile. Except for the GPS, this whole picture is reminiscent of National Lampoon's Vacation with Chevy Chase. Wait, there is another obvious difference: Joe is better looking than Chevy Chase!

To reach our Maine house, we will travel 1,125 miles. Ironically, our journey begins close to the terminus of historic Route 66, the "Mother Road" between Los Angeles and Chicago. Of all the historic highways that crisscross the United States, Route 66 is probably the most famous because of Nat King Cole's 1946 recording of Bobby Troup's song, "Get Your Kicks on Route 66." Here's a fun fact: "Route 66" was also recorded by Chuck Berry in 1961, the Rolling Stones in 1964, Michael Martin Murphy in 1989 and by John Mayer in 2006 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg2EbJy-9dc). The universal appeal of Nat King Cole's  rhythm and blues hit inspired the iconic 1960's TV show Route 66,which starred Martin Milner and George Maharis. In auditioning for the pilot, Marty Milner had to out perform Robert Redford to play the part of a young, ivy league graduate who inherits his father's Corvette and sets out to find himself with one of his father's former employees, a defiant Hell's Kitchen orphan, played by Maharis. Although the show ran for only four years, it has become an important part of television history because it was filmed all over America, and it explored the changing mores and social problems of the 60's. A few miles after pulling out of our driveway, Joe and I will cross over Route 66, and I will invariably think of the countless travelers who have driven along open roads, chasing their dreams and looking for adventure in far away places. As air travel becomes increasingly unpleasant, I find it so freeing to press the pedal to the metal and accelerate on the highway! It feels like America the Beautiful all the way!

  Route 20 is the longest road in the United States.

Joe and I will also be riding along Historic Route 20, a.k.a. Main Street, on our road-trip to Bath. Route 20 is considered the longest road in the United States. Coast to coast, from Boston, Massachusetts to Newport, Oregon it runs 3,365 miles with only a brief break in signage at Yellowstone National Park. In Illinois, Route 20 passes through historic Galena, where General Ulysses S. Grant resided after the Civil War, and then continues along the Ulysses S. Grant Highway to the south side of Chicago and on to the Chicago Skyway which takes you to Indiana. Joe and I used to live in La Grange, Illinois, and La Grange Road is in fact Route 20. Now, that is what we call highway trivia! You have probably heard of the game "Trivial Pursuit." If you have ever taken a family vacation in a station wagon, especially if you were in the way back facing backwards, you know that trivia can save your mind! Okay, let's get back on the interstate. U.S. 20 passes through Cleveland, Ohio skirting along the south shore of Lake Erie. At this point of our trip, we test our mental acuity by naming the five Great Lakes. In order to do this successfully, we rely on our grammar school mnemonic "HOMES,"and then we laugh like little kids because we feel so smart! Historic Route 20 can actually trace its origin to animal paths, native American Indian trails and early turnpikes. In fact, it was once called the "First Western Turnpike" and later the "Cherry Valley Turnpike." Today, Route 20 intersects with I-90, and it was probably the construction of state thruways that ended the golden era of the historic routes, 66, 20 and 1 that take us from Chicago to Bath.  In the 1920's, when Henry Ford was producing his Model T, the first affordable automobile, Route 20 blossomed from East to West. In 1954, however, New York started building the New York State Thruway, and motor travel was forever altered. People quickly embraced fast and direct interstate highways over peaceful and winding roads. The scenic routes with gift shops, miniature golf, drive-in movies and wishing well motels seemed to quietly disappear into the old maps of history. But once upon a time, when our children were very little, Joe and I stopped at Avon, New York along Route 20 to visit with our Uncle George. It was there that Uncle George took my favorite picture of our three children in the middle of a wide open field on a sunny August day.

Avon, New York on Historic Route 20 - August, 1990

As Joe and I travel I-90 from Buffalo to Albany, and the Massachusetts Turnpike from Lee to Auburn, we continue to crisscross Historic Route 20. (Adding to our trivial pursuit, we hosted the rehearsal dinner for Lauren and Matthew's wedding in Sturbridge at Rovezzi's Restaurant on Route 20.) Finally, after traveling on 290, 495, 295 and I-95, we meet Route 1, the oldest highway serving the East Coast, in Brunswick, Maine. After our two day trek across eight states, that U.S. Route 1 sign looks like the entrance to our Yellow Brick Road to Oz! But after each trip, we arrive with more joy than fatigue, because from the front seat of our thoroughly modern SUV, we have seen snapshots of enduring beauty, the American landscape at its finest. From tall corn in Indiana to dairy cows and vineyards in upstate New York, from birch and maple trees in the Berkshires of Massachusetts to evergreen trees and beaches in Maine, we have seen a magnificent slice of America, and the view seems to calm my anxiety over the unknown future. Somewhere in the middle of our 1,125 mile journey, I begin to relax, and I feel a sense of well being. Faced with so much change on a daily basis, our ride along the historic highways to Bath, shows us that some sweet ingredients of life remain the same. Quite simply, the view out the car window on a road-trip to Maine makes me happy, especially when I am sitting next to Joe. Let summer begin. Let's take a ride to Bath!