The Ongoing I-69 Project

The ongoing project to extend Interstate Highway 69 south from Indianapolis to the Texas-Mexico border continues to move along slower than rush hour traffic. The plan has been surrounded by a number of controversies, with people fighting against it for anti-NAFTA reasons to conspiracy theories to environmental opposition. In Texas, the project is the Trans-Texas Corridor, and will run southwestward from Texarkana to an eventual triple fork running to the towns of Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville, all on the Rio Grande and the Mexican border.

The Houston Chronicle reports today that TxDOT has changed plans to route the highway through rural areas to the north and west of Houston, instead using existing US 59 (the Southwest and Eastex Freeways), the 610 Look (West Loop and North Loop), or the Grand Parkway (Texas 99). Through most of the state, US 59 will become the new I-69, and while much upgrading is needed, a lot of this highway is already up to Interstate standards, particularly in the Houston area.

However, running the new "I" either straight through on US 59, or worse, putting it on 610 (the busiest highway in Texas, and possibly the U.S.) seems to me to be a bad idea. If this gets Grand Parkway completed, it will be a much better routing, in my opinion, although the new road will quickly become as developed and congested as the others. Still, it is far enough on the outskirts of the city to avoid running the Mexico to Canada traffic into the Bayou City's rush hours.

I-69 already exists from Indianapolis to the Canadian border in Michigan, and upon completion, this will be a major trade route from Mexico to the markets in Canada such as Toronto, Montreal, London, and other major cities. For more on I-69, check out the following links:

I-69 Article on Wikipedia

Keep Texas Moving

Snopes debunks a sexy I-69 myth

Houston Chronicle article about the routing of the highway

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!!

Well, it is June 1, and it has been a while since I posted anything dealing with roadgeekery. Therefore, it's time to do so!

I took this picture in late April heading back to Colorado from Houston. It is a stretch of Texas Highway 6, just a few miles to the north of the towns of Bryan and College Station. Highway 6 is a major state highway that runs from Galveston County on the Gulf Coast, to the Red River where it crosses into Oklahoma to become Oklahoma Highway 6. Major cities of note on the route include Houston, College Station and Waco.

The thing that makes this stretch of highway interesting is the fact that there is not one center stripe, but two...one for each lane. But that's not all. Notice that there are not only rumble strips in the pavement on the outer edges of the roadway, but between the center stripes, there is also a rumble strip. This is a great idea, as it would give a loud, audible warning if a driver veers across into the oncoming lane. Such a simple thing could easily result in saved lives by warning inattentive drivers that they could be about to cause a deadly head-on accident.

This is one innovation that should be considered for all roads where oncoming traffic shares the pavement without benefit of an esplanade.

Ding Ding!

This week I have noticed a number of traffic counters deployed on various thoroughfares around Parker, Colorado. I am not sure why the counts are occurring, but I have to assume that a study is underway for planning which roads may need upgrades. These counting devices consist of a pressure hose stretched across the roadway and every time a set of tires rolls over it, a counter is incremented.

This got me thinking about another pressure hose device that used to be very common. Back when gasoline was purchased at a "service station" (they actually pumped your gas and performed other maintenance checks), there was a pressure hose across the vehicle paths that was connected to a loud bell. When a car entered the pump area, a loud "ding ding" was heard, notifying employees that a customer had arrived. I don't remember when the last time I encountered one of those was, but it has to be years, maybe even decades ago. Still, the sound is indelibly written into my memory to the point that I would instantly recognize it if I heard it today.

This makes one think . . . how many of today's adult drivers have no recollection of this once-familiar sound? Many people cannot remember a time when the station personnel pumped gasoline, checked fluid levels and tire pressure, washed the windows, and wore uniforms with the oil company's logo on their shirts. For that matter, how many people now driving remember gasoline selling for less than 35 cents per gallon?

One other thing provided free by service stations were roadmaps. One thing I have always loved is maps, and as a young kid, I was always glad when I could pick up a new road map at a service station.

Speaking of gas stations, I recall that the more expensive gas used to be called "High-Test" or "Ethyl". I believe Ethyl Corporation made an additive that boosted octane. However, it contained lead, and was eventually phased out of motor fuels. Every brand of gasoline tried hard to differentiate its product from the competition. There was Texaco's Fire Chief and Sky Chief brands. Super Shell with the mysterious additive "TCP" was also available. I remember my dad joking that TCP stood for a "TeaCup of Phillips". Phillips 66 future merger partner used the slogan, "Conoco! Hottest Brand Going!" Many other brands have been merged out of existence, such as Skelly, Apco, D-X, Gulf, and Sohio/Boron. Humble, Esso, Enco, and others were rebranded Exxon. Cities Service is now Citgo. Atlantic and Richfield became Arco, and now is part of BP if memory serves. More obscure brands included Gibble Gas, Hess, Fina, Pure, and Clarke.

Ding Ding!

Sunday at the Meat And Three

Well, this has been a rather busy month for me, hence the lack of posting on the blog. But so as to not disappoint my few readers, it's time for another post.

Last night I returned from Tennessee courtesy of Southwest Airlines. My company had its annual retailer conference at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville. What a crazy five days! And what an enormous hotel. Last year, we were at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas, and the Opryland facility is much, MUCH larger than that one. The lush foliage and waterfalls inside the biodome give the appearance of being in a tropical jungle, and it is really weird. It feels like you are outside, but you are really inside a glass dome. Pretty, but it doesn't feel quite right to me.

Anyway, the trip afforded me the opportunity yesterday to see my uncle, aunt, and cousin who live just outside of Nashville. They took me to lunch at a type of place that Nashvillians love . . . generically known as a "Meat and Three", called this because they serve a meal of a choice of meat and three side dishes for a fixed price. This is apparently a common type of establishment in the southern United States, but I don't recall having heard of them as this before. These places are typically family owned and serve what I consider home-style cooking. If you think Cracker Barrel or Black-Eyed Pea, you get the idea of the kind of food, only these are little hole-in-the-wall joints, rather than bland, cookie-cutter, corporate-owned chain restaurants.

The place we went was The Dinner Bell Restaurant on Lebanon Pike in Donelson, Tennessee. The service was fast and the food was delicious. I had a fried boneless chicken breast for the meat, and selected for brocolli and rice casserole, fresh sliced tomatoes, and cooked cabbage as my three sides. Oh man, was it ever tasty!

There was a steady stream of customers, but with the fast service and table turnover, seating was not a problem. We arrived just before the "after church" Sunday diners started coming in.

I don't know if there are any real Meat and Threes here in Colorado, but I now plan to see if there are any out there.

Drive to Houston

Over the weekend, the lovely spouse and I drove down to Houston from Colorado to try to help out with my father now that he is home following his triple bypass heart surgery. As it was a rather hurried trip down, I didn't take any pictures as I usually would on such a road trip. However, I did notice some things to get shots of during the return trip, if possible.

This was almost the trip that wasn't, as the spouse came down with a case of pneumonia in one lung, and I had to stop by the urgent care clinic in Parker on the way out of town due to a persistent cough and sinus problem. Not wanting to make my dad sick during his recovery, I wanted a professional opinion of the situation. The doc said my problem was a virus, but he said I should wear a mask when close to Dad, and be sure to wash my hands often. My father's doctor said he was in less danger around us than when in the hospital, so we drove on down, albeit at a later hour than we had hoped. It was around 10 am Saturday (11 am in Texas) by the time we got on the road.

Last year, I wrote about the speed trap cop in Estelline, Texas, so I was curious to see him. I even considered trying to get him to pose for a photo with me. As we approached Estelline just before dusk, a big 18 wheeler blew by us, so I thought I might get to see Estelline's finest in action. But much to my dismay, he was nowhere to be found.

We kept going until we got to Wichita Falls, where we shut down for the night at about 10 PM. We stayed at the Candlewood Suites at the Madeline Street exit. The hotel clerk, a very nice woman named Linda, looked for the best rate we could get. She got us in for $75. Now I must say that this hotel was very nice, very clean and very nicely appointed. It is a new facility with a kitchenette in each room, and the most comfortable beds I have ever experienced in a hotel. The room had a flat-screen, high-definition television, and was the cleanest room I have seen at any lodging facility. I highly recommend this facility if you are in need of a place to spend a night or more in Wichita Falls.

So we ended up driving about 650 miles on Saturday, and today we traversed the remaining 400 miles through Fort Worth and Dallas, and on to Houston. Along the way through the Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex on Texas 114, we passed the Texas Motor Speedway, the north end of DFW International Airport in Grapevine, through Las Colinas and on by Texas Stadium. By about three o'clock this afternoon, we were in Houston.

Dad was released from the hospital on Saturday, so he is home for further recuperation. He is doing well, but he still has a long road ahead. I am so very glad that they found this problem before it was too late. He said he felt himself having a problem that was making him feel worse every day just before the surgery.

My mom has very limited mobility, so this is a difficult situation. It is also difficult to know what to do to help. However, I am glad to see my mom & dad. But as always when we go to a different environment, the lovely spouse's asthma acts up, and with her still getting over pneumonia, I am hoping we don't have to cut this trip short.

They Don't Make Cars Like This Anymore!

I imagine quite a few ladies in the 1950s bought this car . . .

Cell Phone Picture of the Day

Unusual font for a stop sign

Stop signs have changed a lot over the years. Sometime in my childhood they went from being yellow with black letters to the current red with white letters. Red probably makes more sense, as they now match the color of stop lights.

This particular stop sign is on private property, a shopping center in Parker, Colorado, thus likely explaining the unusual typeface displayed on it. There are several just like it at this shopping center.

On another topic, today is the first day of spring, and it is a gorgeous one along the Colorado Front Range! The mountains have a fresh cap of snow from their last storm to move through, and it is sunny with just a few clouds scattered around a blue sky. The six weeks of winter predicted by Punxatawney Phil on February 2 have passed, and spring really does look like it is here. No doubt, a few more snows will pass through during the remainder of March and in April, but no worries about that. Living where we get almost 300 days of sunshine a year does have some advantages!

Red Light Cams - Cell Phone Photo of the Day

The red light camera installation at Yosemite & Arapahoe

As I have noted before, there is a lot to like about my Motorola Q cell phone, from its ability to pull down my work and personal email, schedules, and surf the web. Of course it can make and receive phone calls too. The one feature that is a bit on the weak side is the camera. Still, since it is always in my pocket, why not feature some more of the daily sights I encounter taken with the Q?

Today's photo is a bit of a roadgeek shot. This was taken looking west down Arapahoe Road while waiting to turn onto it from northbound Yosemite in Centennial, Colorado. Cameras to automatically cite people who run through red lights are becoming more common all over the country, and the Denver metro area is no exception. There was an identical installation diagonally across the intersection. Here we can see not only two of the cameras, but also between the traffic lights is a strobe that illuminates license plates for the cameras when they snap a photo of a traffic offender.

In the distance are the Rocky Mountains and a sky full of interesting clouds.

Fill 'Er Up?

An old service station in Hempstead, Texas

One thing that has always held a fascination to me is service stations. My dad tells me that when I could barely talk, I could recognize and name the various brands. Over the years, the architecture of stations has evolved, including some very nice art deco style stations in the pre-World War II era. Even though the "service" is long gone from what are today self-serve pumps, the basic idea of an refueling island has remained a constant.

The photo above is a vintage service station that is situated on old US 290 in Hempstead, Texas. As new 290 (Houston's Northwest Freeway) has finally bypassed the town, it is having an impact on businesses on the old route. I don't know how long it has been since gasoline has been dispensed from here, but the pumps are long gone. It appears to be a tire business, but has no sign; and the post that once held a sign proclaiming a brand of gasoline, now holds a tall stack of old, painted tires. The ubiquitous Halsey Taylor water cooler is plugged in, but as this was taken on Sunday afternoon, it is hard to tell if there is still a business operating at this location.

Regardless of its current status, I hope this example of roadside American architecture ends up being restored rather than falling to demolition. A coat of white paint and a bit of TLC could make this a great home for some small business.

Moo!

A white Texas Longhorn wonders what is going on.

On Sunday, I took a drive from Houston, Texas to Bryan, Texas for a lunch with about 14 other family members. Along the way there, I noticed this beautiful animal standing in a pasture beside Texas Highway 6 just north of the town of Hempstead. As we had a rendezvous time with the others, I made a mental note of where he was so that I could return on the way back to Houston to get his picture.

So on the way back, I found him still grazing, and pulled over to the side of the highway. My sister got out and started calling loudly to him, "Hey! Hey bully!", so when he looked up to see what all the commotion was, I got a few pictures. Given that a longhorn steer this size could be dangerous, we didn't stray too far from the car.

One thing I noticed is that his head seems disproportionately small when compared to his massive body. Perhaps he is still young, but those are a fine set of horns on this big boy!

Atlanta Signs

What does this place sell?

Monday night I landed at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport for a series of business meetings the following day. While it was a very short and busy trip in and out of town (just over 24 hours), I am always on the lookout for interesting things. Knowing the brevity of the journey, I didn't bring my good cameras, but as always, I had my trusty Moto-Q smart phone with me, and managed to pick up a few photos with its camera.

The photo above is the storefront for a newsstand on Concourse D in Atlanta. It seems that it probably is called "News Exchange", but with the "S" being a little larger, along with undefined spacing on the sign, and it looks like it could be "New Sex Change". Not sure if I want to go in there or not! Yikes!

The next picture was taken from the middle row of seats in a minivan that our entourage had rented, so it is not as good as I would have liked, but these signs called out to my inner road geek. The font is unusual. It doesn't look like either standard Highway Gothic or Clearview. It looks like a bold and tall version of Highway Gothic, and I have to say, I found it easier to read than either of the other two normal fonts found on Big Green Signs. Very legible!


Big Green Signs on northbound stretch of duplexed I-75 & I-85 in downtown Atlanta

While not an official sign of any type, this next one made me laugh. It was posted above the urinal in the men's room at the company we were visiting. It looks like it originally admonished you to "respect your peers", but some strategically applied white-out had changed the message.


Respect your pee and it will respect you!

Finally, there was the sign I saw on a building in Buckhead that had been similarly changed. We went by too fast for me to get a photo, but you can imagine what the Buckhead sign said!

A Couple of Signs

Not much to say about these, I just liked them. The first picture is the sign for the Fat Frog Cafe in Littleton, Colorado. The second is an old 7up sign that is still in use. I wonder what its story is. Looks like it's been around for a few years. Pretty cool old logo, isn't it? Yeah, I remember when it was the current logo!

Roadside Comfort Food

One of my favorite special series on Food Network is Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt, where Alton and his crew trek across America on motorcycles with the express purpose of avoiding the Interstates and sampling the regional culinary delights at small, usually family-owned restaurants along the way. During the trip to West Virginia, I tried out a place that Alton needs to visit on a future show.

Just four days before I stopped in, the Stagecoach Family Restaurant #5 had opened for business. This family-operated eatery along US 50 advertises "Home Cooked Food" on its signboard, so who'd want to miss that?


The signs beckon the hungry traveler on US 50 near Grafton

This particular afternoon, the lovely spouse, her lovely mother, and I were out running an errand, and decided it was time for lunch. So we decided to try out the Stagecoach to see if the food was a roadside hit or a roadside dud. So into the unpaved parking lot we go, crowded as it was. We pull the rented Chrysler Pacifica into a spot and head toward the door to the restaurant's austere roadside building.


Lunch inside! The Stagecoach Family Restaurant, simple and functional

As we walked inside, a spartan salad and soup bar was positioned to our left. The ingredients appeared fresh, but what drew my eye was the largest pot of hot broth and noodles I have seen anywhere. There was also an equally big pot of chili, steaming and emitting a wonderful aroma.

The dining room was simply furnished and the walls were paneled in a rough, light-colored wood. A table in the middle had been prepared for a larger party which was to enter shortly.


The main dining area of the Stagecoach

The placemats were simple, laminated affairs, covered with advertisements for local businesses, including two for the local hospital and one for a company that sells tombstones. My hope was that I would not be needing the services of either of these fine companies after eating at the Stagecoach! As it turns out, that is not likely to happen here.

The portions coming out of the kitchen appeared to be significantly generous, so I took it easy at the soup & salad bar. I had to try some of the noodles & chicken broth, so I selected just a little lettuce, bell peppers, cheese and dressing for my salad. As I love noodles, this made a great appetizer.


The simple salad and bowl of noodles & broth I ate. Tasty!

Perusing the menu was an appetizing exercise by itself. There were so many home style delights from which to choose, that it wasn't an easy choice. Since they are a small operation, the specials run out quickly. Much to my dismay, one that I had my eye on was the honey-dipped fried chicken. However, the lovely spouse wanted that, so I told her to get it and just let me have a bite. The waitress went back to the kitchen and found they had one serving left, so that went to the "LS", who did give me the drumstick. Oh my goodness! That is some of the best tasting fried chicken anywhere. Colonel Sanders, you are a pretender!


The Stagecoach's honey-dipped fried chicken

Since we wanted to sample different dishes, my mother-in-law went for the hot roast beef sandwich lunch. WOW! All I can say is she chose wisely. I only wish the taste of these yummy items could be posted online for all to sample.


There was nothing to beef about in regards to the hot roast beef sandwich

Since it is autumn, I felt like a real holiday-style dinner. Therefore, I selected the turkey and dressing plate. Let me tell you, it is delicious. The mashed potatoes were made from scratch, the glazed carrots I chose were perfectly cooked and coated with a wonderful glaze. A thick slab of homestyle dressing and good pieces of tender turkey breast were also in attendance, and covered with a generous amount of gravy. Some may not like that much gravy, but it was just right for me.


The turkey dinner was also a good choice

The Stagecoach also offers homemade pies and cake, but by the time we ate our lunch, there was no room left for dessert. Of course, that required us to stop in again a couple of days later just to sample the pie and coffee.

So the bottom line is this: If you enjoy home style comfort foods and are traveling on US 50 through West Virginia, I would recommend stopping by the Stagecoach. You won't be disappointed. It is located on the south side of the highway on the west end of Grafton.

One more thing . . . you might want to slow down for a different reason. Just about every time I passed the place, there were Taylor County Sheriff Department vehicles parked out front, with the officers themselves inside enjoying a hot meal. You don't want to be the cause of making one of them mad for having to get up from the table and go after you!

Roadgeekin' in the Alleghenies - Part II

Yesterday it was back to the Pittsburgh International Airport for the flight back to Denver. Since we got a few shots from Pittsburgh to Morgantown on the way in, seems only fitting to get a few on the way back. As always, click the photo to see a larger version.


WVDOT loves big highway shields!


Mismatched Interstate shields. The I-68 has a big number font and no state name, while the I-79 uses a thinner, smaller font and includes the state name.


Driving west on I-68, approaching the end of the highway where you can go either north or south onto I-79.


There is no END Interstate 68 sign, but this is it! West end of 68.


Now we are northbound on I-79. That change in pavement is where WVDOT maintenance ends and PaDOT takes over...in other words the state line. This is also the Mason-Dixon Line that demarcates the borders between southern Pennsylvania and West Virginia; Pennsylvania and Maryland; and where it turns southward, the border between Maryland and Delaware. The defining of the line also finally settled for good the issue of dispute in Cresap's War, a shooting war in the early 1700s between Maryland and Pennsylvania.

I also call this picture, "Welcome to Pennsylvania, Land of Lots O' Signs".


Buckle up for safety!


Slow down partner! PA maximum speed limit is 65, instead of the 70 we could legally travel in West Virginia.


Finally! Pennsylvania sees fit to welcome me a few hundred feet into the state.


Nearing Washington, PA, we see where we will join I-70 for a short duplex of the two highways through town.


Clearview font in view.


La la la...just drivin' along.


Told you we were on a duplexed stretch of road! So there!


Interesting coincidence...Exit 19 is US Highway 19.


End of the duplex. I was tempted to keep going on I-70 on to Denver, but alas, I had a rental car that had to be returned to the good folks at Thrifty at Pittsburgh International. Oh well! Onto the ramp we go to continue up I-79 North.


Wow, I didn't know I was this close to Houston! The other town mentioned on this sign, Eighty Four, PA is famous as the namesake of 84 Lumber.

Long Live the Drive-In Theater!

A rapidly disappearing bit of American life is holding on in Grafton, West Virginia . . . the drive-in theater. There are not many of these outdoor movie venues still operating across the country, and even in Denver, the Cinderella Drive-In has met its demise just a few short weeks ago. Land is just too valuable in urban areas to make operating a drive-in profitable. Plus, there are so many other things that are vying for our entertainment dollars, including the ability to buy and rent movies at home.

Yet, the drive-in remains in a few places, and seems to particularly have its best chance in small towns. The Grafton Drive-In still operates to the best of my knowledge. However, it is closed for the season. This small theater is across US 119 from the Mail Pouch Barn in the previous post. Here are some pictures. As always, click the photo for a larger version. Enjoy.



Marquee for the Grafton Drive-In


Entrance / Box Office and "big" screen


Projection building and movie screen - Notice the red barn in the background

A Roadside Advertising Relic

Mail Pouch Tobacco barn just outside Grafton, WV - Click photo for larger view

One thing generated by a capitalist economy is advertising. I would not be surprised to learn that the Roman Colosseum could have had signs advertising "Flavius' Chariot Repair Shop". Wherever people are trying to reach markets and sell products, advertising is inevitable.

One place where advertising has been prevalent over the years is the American highway. Everything from the sequential roadside poetry for Burma Shave to billboards encouraging motorists to stop and see the two-headed calf, have graced the side of the highway over the last century. One such advertising medium has been the sides and roofs of barns.

I remember seeing such barn signs promoting Meramec Caverns (Jesse James' Hideout) in Missouri; to "See 7 States from Rock City"; to the product whose ad is still barely visible on this barn in Grafton . . . Mail Pouch Tobacco. For 102 years, starting in 1890, the Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company of Wheeling, West Virginia, advertised their Mail Pouch brand on barns across several states. The farmer lucky enough to have a barn near a highway would get his barn painted, along with a small payment, to allow the tobacco firm to use the barn as an advertising sign.

I don't know the vintage of the sign on this barn, but I imagine it has been many years, since the sign is so faded. Still, it was an interesting find. This one is visible on US 119 South just before you come to Grafton.

CLICK HERE to read more about the Mail Pouch Barns on Wikipedia.

Dilapidated Building

An old building that has seen better days

Despite its immense natural beauty, West Virginia is a state that has struggled economically over the years. This fact is very evident when you look at the state of disrepair of many homes. They are left with paint almost entirely gone, bare wood, broken windows, and neglect. There are beautiful old homes that have been improved and kept up, right next to ramshackle houses that may have once been very nice, but are crumbling down around their occupants.

The same is true of many agricultural outbuildings dotting the countryside. These are less of an eyesore than the homes, as these buildings don't house people. In fact, they have a picturesque quality all their own, and make interesting photographs of times gone by.

This photo's subject is a small barn or storage building standing in a field on the north side of US 50 on the west side of Grafton.

Yet Another Highway Terminus

Here we are with yet another highway terminus sign. Tracing a path of just under three miles, West Virginia State Highway 279, also known as the Bridgeport Bypass, or Jerry Dove Drive, is a short highway between US 50 on its south end, and Interstate 79 on its north end. This likely ranks as one of the shortest numbered highways in the nation, but by no means the absolute shortest. I didn't notice an "END" sign at I-79, but the photo above is heading south at the junction with US 50. WV 279 is a nice, new four lane divided road for its entire length, and passes near the Harrison County Airport. New development along the road include a couple of hotels and a new Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. For motorists heading west on US 50, it is a much less congested route than taking 50 all the way to I-79.

End of the Road

West Virginia State Highway 310 is only about 15 miles long, and runs from a junction with US 50 in Grafton on its southern end, to a junction with US 250 in Fairmont on its northern end. About halfway between the two towns is the Valley Falls State Park, where I took the photos from a couple of posts down the page. It is a narrow, winding, mountain road for most of its journey, but passes through some very pretty scenery.

This picture is taken on 310 South at US 50. If you look closely, you will notice little marks in the lower right-hand corners of each sign. I thought the one on the 310 shield was a bullet hole at first, but when I examined the high resolution picture from my camera, I saw it is a sticker with the shape of the state of West Virginia on it, probably a WVDOT asset sticker of some sort. The other signs also have a sticker, but it appears to be different from the other one. Even at 8 megapixels, I couldn't tell what they say.

Grafton's US 50 Drive Ins

Let's take a little tour of the drive-in fast food establishments along US 50 in Grafton. Of course, what is a fast food tour without a stop at Dairy Queen? This DQ has an old sign that is in great shape, showing an Eskimo girl in a parka, holding a cone of DQ Ice Cream. Unlike a lot of places where people eat ice cream year round, this DQ was already closed for the winter season. It would seem to me that the first half of the "Hot Eats, Cool Treats" slogan would apply all year long, but not here. It makes me wonder how the owners get by during the winter with a commercial building not producing any revenue for much of the year.

Our next picture is the other half of the Dairy Royalty, the Dairy King. The King is about a mile or less from the Queen, so maybe that is convenient for their late night frosty rendezvous. Makes me wonder if the Dairy Queen has bigger cups than the Dairy King! Yeah, it IS a bad attempt at humor.



In between them lies one of Grafton's oldest drive-ins, Biggies Hamburgers & Hot Dogs. Biggies has been around for a long time, and continues to serve both local Graftonians and hungry travelers motoring down Route 50.




Finally, we come to the T&L Oldies Diner. T&L has several locations, and this one is located beside the roadside cabin motel pictured in one of my earlier posts. In fact, the restaurant is where you rent the cottages, as noted on the banner.