Road Trip 2026 - First leg reflections

The first leg of the journey is complete. While I did not travel exclusively along US-11, I did drive some extended portions of that route. As a reliable source for popular culture, Wikipedia has an excellent article on the highway, with links to specific descriptions of each state's section.

Wikipedia article 

Here are some of my observations based on a data set of one, and a journey of approximately 1,700 miles -- so far.

Roads 

Because these highways go from community to community, they do not always take the shortest route, and as a result mean that the travel takes longer. This is the way we (as a nation) navigated around the country after the development of the automobile and prior to the construction and completion of the Interstate highway system which so many of us take for granted.

Traveling these routes have some important reminders:

• There is still a great deal of rural America where it is more than a 5 - 10 minute drive to the nearest commercial establishment.
• There is still a great deal of agriculture going on -- even in places where you do not expect to see it. The agriculture will vary with region. (I started in the warm South where cotton and sugar cane are grown, and ended in the north of corn, soybeans, and other vegetables.

The roads themselves are not monolithic. There are a variety of styles/structures:

• Two-lane (double yellow line), small shoulder, often curving highways through agricultural and forest areas;
• Four-lane with median, often through agricultural areas, and connecting larger communities;
• Four-lane limited access highways, these can be with limited cross-traffic and with no cross-traffic; 
• Four-lane, double yellow line roads often through spread out commercial areas, the edge of an urban area;
• Two-lane roads through a community, often with housing and commercial establishments on the side of the road, and often with parking (usually parallel) along the road; normally these also have sidewalks.

Any given highway can shift from one style to another in a very short distance - and with corresponding changes in speed limits.

Institutional Names 

In each of our communities there are institutions whose names are family and symbolize certain attributes or products. One thing I noted was the changes over the geography. Some national brands were not geographically dependent. For example, Target and Walmart in the store category, MacDonald's and Burger King in the fast food area. In the South, Waffle House is a familiar and reliable site while Dunkin' is spread across the north. (They are both favorites of mine, and unfortunately for me there seems to be only a small sliver of geography which has both.) Gas stations are an interesting arena. There are the national brands (Exxon/Mobil, Shell) and then there are others which seem to be large but regional in nature (RaceTrac is a Southern one which comes to mind). Banks are a different anomaly. While there are some which claim to be national in service and scope, there are parts of the country where any given bank can be under- or un-represented. There seem to be many local and some regional banking systems. I suspect that this is an area of flux.

Hotels, generally the major chains are reasonably well-represented along the Interstates, and less so in the smaller communities. Areas that have longstanding travel destinations also seem to have fewer national chains and more local establishments.

Personal reflection 

Driving the "old roads" takes longer. Between the lower speed limits, and the drop in speed limit for more heavily developed areas, and the longer distances, it simply takes longer. It can be a wonderful view and a great opportunity, but when time is of the essence, the Interstate is the way to go.

 

I also noted that my fuel efficiency was better on the "old road." I was regularly getting 30-31 mpg when traveling exclusively on the US highway, and 27-29 mpg on the Interstate. I wondered why...but I think I know. Back in the days of the first gas shortage (late 1970s) speed limits were dropped to "force us" to improve our fuel efficiency. It seems that automobiles are engineered for maximum efficiency at a certain speed, and that speed is less than what I drive at on the Interstate. [Again, please remember that this is a data set = 1 ... and technically is an anecdote, and not even "anecdata"!]

 

I have greatly enjoyed this part of my journey ... I recently picked up a brochure on the Great River Road, which I am committed to drive all or part of over the next year or two! 

 

 

 

Road Trip 2026, #5 & 6

Not many photos ... some may be found on my Facebook page, but it was a light photo part of the journey.

 Day #5

After arriving in Gettysburg for the night, I got up the next morning with a Dunkin' stop and headed to the battlefield visitor center to visit the gift shop. Mission accomplished, I headed out to Connecticut. Initially the trip was along US highways (2 and 3 digit roads) until reaching Harrisburg. The remainder of the trip was Interstate. The only precipitation of the trip (and it was sporadic and light) was while driving in New York State. It was generally uneventful. Arrived at my daughter's home and spent a nice quiet evening with the family there.

Day #6

Up and moving relatively early, and headed to get gas ($3.99 a gallon, thanks US Government and war in Iran) before heading to the beach. Traffic was pretty uneventful -- even the stretch in I-95 which can be notoriously crowded on summer weekend days. Now settling in for a week at the beach. The park across the street is where our mother used to visit in her childhood. In preparing to link to articles about this, I found that the Wikipedia article (usually pretty authoritative) talks about the park being started in 1940. However a local news article refers to the City as purchasing the land in 1893 -- that was before either our mother or her parents were born!

Next

I'll post some general reflections and observations ... with the trip resuming in a week-ish.  

Road Trip 2026 #4

 Items I should have noted yesterday ...

Drive-in movie theaters! There were several, the one pictured to the left was convenient to stop and take a photo. And it is still active!

 

While I have seen a lot of cows, I did see at least one herd of sheep. I had to take a second look, because it was clear that they had been recently shorn! The second agricultural item I forgot to mention was the poultry barns. Suddenly, I began seeing poultry barns - which I recognized from having seen them growing up. These were different, they were constructed of blocks rather than the wood-framed shingled barns of New England. I am guessing that this was to help keep the poultry cool. From the size, I am guess that they were for chickens, and most seemed abandoned. I did see a couple of newer metal clad ones currently in use, and at one intersection there was a chicken processing facility which let me know that this poultry was raised for meat rather than for eggs -- although the latter is still a possibility.

The morning was devoted to Luray Caverns. A separate set of photos will be mounted on Flickr later (and this will be edited with a link). The caverns were amazing, and needless to say, it was much cooler underground. It seems to me that they are still developing ... there were many places which were damp (more than condensation from warm air hitting cold air), look at the photos.

After leaving the Caverns, the next decision was where to spend the next night. I chose Gettysburg. Waze took me via back-roads on a circuitous route. Among my revelations was how close the Caverns are to Maryland, and also how close Gettysburg is to the Maryland border. The route took me through Harpers Ferry, and if I had planned a little better, I might have spent some time there either at the National Park or at the headquarters for the Appalachian Trail.

 

Dinner was at a "real" diner in downtown Gettysburg! {Formatting note: I am having difficulty getting the text to wrap around the photo the way I want. Right now I am suspecting that there was an "upgrade" to the software which makes that less intuitive - or no longer possible.}

Day 5 will be the last day on the road for the trip north! 

Road Trip 2026, #3

I dilly dallied this morning, and then headed out to Dunkin! (Yay, Dunkin!) It just happened to be on US-11 as I was leaving Bristol. (I'm still not sure if I was in Tennessee or Virginia!) Leaving town, I saw the cabbages.

The route was scenic. This part is definitely in the hills. The terrain is no longer flat, and there are real mountains in the distance. (Note to self: Get some shots of the mountains.) Today had lots of agriculture: corn, cows/cattle, and soybeans or cotton. It's hard to tell from 55mph whether those plant are soybeans or cotton -- from a distance they look very much the same.

There continue to be lots of churches. Fewer Baptist churches, and more Lutheran with an occasional Catholic church. Also a good number of Church of Christ. They often appear near an intersection with a smattering of houses (6 - 10) and sometimes an open (and often a closed) gas station. Occasionally there is a closed general store, and even more rarely an open one (without gas pumps).

The first big town I went through was Abington. It is an incredibly cute town. It seems larger than what Wikipedia reports for its population (8,375). A nice downtown. Architecturally, it seems to have almost every style represented. There are early settlement buildings (hewn logs with daub between), classic wooden Colonial era buildings, solid brick homes and storefronts, and the more modern. (On reflection, I am not sure I can identify a 21st Century style, but all the others were present.) Lots of arts and crafts stores and Main Street (Lee Highway) seemed pretty active for a mid-week morning. But, that could be because it is summer!

I kept on US-11 all the way to Wytheville. Another cute downtown where I stopped for lunch.

Driving along had me thinking about the businesses I was seeing. (I think it was the Ashley Furniture on Main Street Wytheville that set off this chain.) There are national chains everywhere: CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Target. The first two often in the business district the other two more likely to be on the outskirts of town. There are churches (see above). There are the banks. Most of the banks are local or regional often with names like {ordinal number}{optional place name} [State/National] Bank {of place or region}. Which makes one of my favorite names Fifth Third Bank. While there seem to be regional grocery stores, they tend to be more regional. I know saw one Kroger, and have seen several Food Lion. Any other chains are not familiar enough for me to remember.

Driving on US-11 yesterday was not particularly quick, and after Wytheville, I decided to get back on the Interstate to make time to Luray Caverns. The universe had other ideas. There was an accident on the Interstate and Waze helpfully navigated me off. But, I think I put a lot more miles, and I know it felt much less direct. As a result ... no caverns. That will happen as the start to Day #4. 

 

Road Trip 2026, #2

 After a solid night's sleep, I headed out on I-59, through Birmingham and beyond. The last several years there had been much reconstruction between Birmingham and the Georgia border, but most of it has been completed, and the road was in great shape, a pleasant drive. As I approached Fort Payne, the signs for the "Alabama Museum" intrigued me, and I headed off. It is technically the "Alabama Fan Club and Museum" and is a collection of memorabilia (and gift shop) for the band Alabama (not the state!). 

From there, I headed out on US-11 North, through the remainder of Alabama and into Georgia (23 miles). Downtown Fort Payne was definitely cute, and when Flickr returns, I'll be adding all my photos including one of the downtown murals there. I am not sure what drives the economy in Ft. Payne, but it was interesting to watch the transition as I headed North (actually, northeast, but the road is labeled N-S). There were some very nice, new homes, and a country club, and a new development. This was followed by more modest homes, and eventually a return to the rural. The land forms are definitely different, having moved from the low flat land of southern Mississippi to the hills of northern Alabama, but there were some notable similarities in the small towns, remnants of past commercial activity, and the clear economic divides. Going into Georgia, I lost an hour as I transitioned from Central Time to Eastern Time. 

I also decided to try to find Lookout Point in Chattanooga (again). After returning to the Interstate, I stopped at the Welcome Center and the nice staff member gave me some good hints. The previous time I tried, I must have missed a turn somewhere ... This time I had success. I'll post the plethora of photos from that visit in a separate Flickr folder. [7/29/2026, 9:05am -- Flickr seems to be having issues, but I will come back to it.]

After that exploration, I headed out to Bristol (VA or TN, I am not sure. The city straddles the border! They share a public library system.) The hotel I chose to stay at is next to the Interstate and adjacent to a car dealer with an interesting way to advertise.
 

Road Trip 2026, #1

This will be a series ... I am headed for a week in New England, but since I am retired, I don't have time pressures. I'll be driving as I usually do, but I decided it was time to see the sights.

Last year I noticed something about my route ... I normally take I-10/I-12 to Slidell (LA) and pick up I-59 which goes all the way to Chattanooga - part of it concurrent with I-20, part concurrent with I-24. I then pick up I-75 to I-40 through Knoxville and on to I-81 which goes along the "back spine" of Virginia through West Virginia and Maryland and into Pennsylvania. Last year I went all the way to Scranton to pick up I-84 to traipse into Connecticut. What I noticed was that even with that variety of Interstate routes, and numbers, I seemed to be paralleling US-11.

 In its inimitable way, Wikipedia, that source of all good pop culture info, has a comprehensive article on US-11. In that article it notes: "U.S. Route 11 or U.S. Highway 11 (US 11) is a major north–south U.S. Highway extending 1,645 miles (2,647 km) across the eastern U.S. The southern terminus of the route is at US 90 in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in eastern New Orleans, Louisiana." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_11)

 I had a dentist appointment in the morning, and my dentist is in New Orleans, so I decided to start this year's trip by heading out on US-11 from the beginning! 

Here's my intrepid traveling companion, Chickie, on the car roof with the intersection in the background. The starting point has no marble marker, nothing to indicate that it is the beginning of such a long route!

Getting there involved taking Claiborne Avenue through the City and then catching up with Chef Menteur Highway on the other side of "the high rise." The early part of the journey on US-11 goes though the swamp ... parallels some waterways, and works its way through Irish Bayou before crossing I-10. The bridge for US-11 is low, but not unreasonably low to the water. It runs across Lake Pontchartrain between the railroad tracks and "the Twin Spans" of I-10. I saw a freight train headed to New Orleans as I headed towards Slidell. {No photos, I was driving!}

 The route through Slidell goes through some of the more water-focused neighborhoods before becoming a major street headed through the city. Eventually, it joins for a bit with I-59 to get into Mississippi. I went back on US-11 and followed it through Mississippi to just north of Laurel. It served as a reminder of how rural so much of the country is. There were large stretches of just vegetation. I saw areas where timber harvesting had taken place -- and saw about a dozen loaded log trucks along the route. Many small communities with older abandoned gas stations and other businesses. Some nice houses, and some trailers. Some were very well kept, and others, not so much.

I was charmed by downtown Hattiesburg -- although the route signage disappeared after the business district. I thought it was a cute little city. I had heard much about Laurel (MS) and the charming houses. However, it must be that US-11 does not travel through those neighborhoods, and I was underwhelmed.

After Laurel, I got back on the Interstate, and reached Tuscaloosa for the first night's stay.

More tomorrow! 

ALA Annual 2026 - Where is Michael?

 It's been a couple years. ALA stopped doing the January event a couple years ago (and I had stopped attending before that). Last year, with retirement imminent, I did not go to Philadelphia. But this year, I am in Chicago! It has been a few years since Aaron Dobbs and I pushed the envelope of Google Calendar and the ALA-provided scheduling app. [Google Calendar has (or had) a maximum of 42 events a day!]

 Here's what my Chicago schedule looks like -- always subject to change:

 I am having issues in getting this to show as an agenda ... so you may have to click on the icon in the upper right to see that format.

Books Read 2025

This list is, once again, really, really late! I have sort of abandoned this blog. And, for whatever reasons, I have not been reading books -- lots of reading, but mostly email, newspapers, social media. Here's the 2025 list:  

Lonely Planet: Panama by Rosie Bell, Ryan ver Berkmoes, Alex Egerton, Jen Ruiz, Jesse Scott

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Kingfish U: Huey Long and LSU by Robert Mann [Author signed/LLA 2025]

You Are My Sunshine: Jimmie Davis and the biography of a song by Robert Mann [Author signed/LLA 2025]

America Redux: Visual stories from our dymanic history by Ariel Agerg-Rigger [LRC selection 2025]

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck [in the Library of America edition]

A Bitter Wind A Billy Boyle World War II Mystery by James R. Benn ARC

The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics by Tim Harford [Work topic]

Killer Underwear Invasion: How to spot fake news, disinformation [,] + conspiracy theories by Elise Gravel [LYRC 2023 noninee]

Note that prior year reading lists are linked from this page:

https://michaelgolrick.blogspot.com/p/previously-read.html