Maybe it's because I grew up on one of the greatest coast-to-coast highways in America, or maybe it's because our family's identity was so tied to the road, but I can't hardly get enough of driving the Grand Army of the Republic Highway....Highway 6. And my grandparents must have felt the same way when they shot this picture of my uncle Michael O'Leary back in the 50s when they traveled the road to the east coast.
Several weeks ago I was asked to meet on a project and I suggested this great diner I've always wanted to stop at but never had a reason to do so. The 20th Century restaurant located at 6 and 15 is a classic late-50s diner that doesn't look like its been touched since it was first opened, even as we've embarked on a new century. This fellow I met and I talked a long time about old 6 and the role it played both in our state and nation. And that led to establishing the need to survey 6 across Indiana to see what is left from its early era. More pictures to follow!
And since I've been driving 6 so much into LaPorte County, I couldn't help but stop on this little motel just east of Walkerton. The neon as dusk is a great sight. I suppose places like the 20th Century and the Bel-Air Motel have a hard time justifying their existence in the 21st, but certainly have established themselves a special place in the heart of this old soul. I was forwarded a blogsite on Route 6-it is under "Outside Links" at the left.
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