With the rise of automobile travel in the early part of the 20th century, so came the rise of novelty architecture and attempts to attract motorists into businesses along the road. Travelers through Bedford, Pennsylvania may notice this giant coffee pot which is a remnant of that era.
Built in 1927, this coffee pot was a gimmick to draw customers to a service station and restaurant owned by David Bert Koontz. According to a historic marker next to the coffee pot, the early menu included hamburgers, ice cream and Coca Cola. Not only did this quick fare appeal to motorists on the Lincoln Highway, Greyhound passengers took advantage as well when they stopped at the bus depot next door.
It was actually built in another location than its current one but was purchased by the Bedford County Fair Association, relocated to the county fairgrounds, and restored for future generations to enjoy. That was in 2004.
At 18 feet high and 22 feet in diameter, it’s hard to miss and a real treat for us vintage roadside junkies who pretty much live for this kind of thing.
You can’t go inside anymore but it’s free to walk around outside. Here’s a fun fact: if you filled it with coffee, it would hold 819,000 8 ounce cups of coffee!
While it doesn’t serve coffee, it does serve a great lesson in roadside history and the value of creative marketing during the early days of car travel.
I’m home after a few days of adventures with my Pittsburgh pal. She gives me the insider tour of her city and, this time, we also took a day trip over to historic Bedford, Pennsylvania.
This was my first real adventure of the year and it didn’t come a moment too soon. I was feeling restless, deprived, and yearning for something more interesting than my own four walls. I have a good life but it’s better when I step away occasionally to see what else the world has to offer.
We did a book crawl, ate at a historic tavern, and looked at art and historic buildings. We shopped, contemplated the sacrifices made by our veterans, and browsed a middle eastern food market near her home.
It is never lost on me how different her life is from mine because of where we live.
There are about three dozen independent bookstores in the Pittsburgh area. There are radio stations that play more than top forty country and pop music. I listened to some jazz radio while in the area and was sad to lose the station as I traveled away from the city. There are markets and restaurants that cater to ethnic cuisines and her very nice neighborhood of tree lined streets is filled with people who have come from afar. There are more jobs, more money, more educational opportunities, more museums, more of everything really.
The contrast between urban and rural is surprising sometimes.
Yet, where I live is beautiful. We have a shared sense of community that comes from everyone attending the same high school, shopping at the same grocery store, and being so small we tend to know each other.
Where I live in the country, there are no sidewalks or streetlights. There’s also no traffic unless you count school buses, farm equipment, and the occasional road construction.
I can hear a variety of birds and frogs in my yard and my closest neighbors are far enough away I don’t really hear them.
Quality of life is awfully good in many ways here but it’s also nice to leave and to have different experiences.
At one point, I stood before a mirror in the ladies room at Bedford Candy. My hair was a mess and I had the wild eyed look of someone who was so busy running around and looking at stuff that time didn’t matter.
It’s true, I spent almost the entire trip without any idea what day it was or what time it was. I was in my element and didn’t give a gosh darn what the clock said.
I have missed that version of myself. Planning and schedules have nearly crowded her out.
Yet, all good things must end. I’m home safe. The people in my life are thrilled to have me back. My little house panther couldn’t be happier. I keep catching him staring at me like he just wants to make sure I’m really here.
I am really here, a country mouse tucked away in my country house with a few stories to share and a mess to clean up. Not only do I need to unpack, there are groceries and fun purchases that still need to be put away today.
For now though, I can take my time, enjoy my little cat’s company, and savor the memories of experiences that helped me remember who I am.
When we travel, we often see things that look intriguing but that aren’t accessible to us at that time. There’s simply never enough time. When I was in Colorado Springs for a conference last year, we got to venture out for a couple of side trips including a ride on the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway. We also were supposed to take a Jeep tour of Garden of the Gods.
Neither of these things went as planned thanks to an absolutely wonderful snow we received the night we arrived. I found the snow magical in this already beautiful place but there were consequences. The top of Pike’s Peak was closed so the train didn’t make it to the top. Plus, Garden of the Gods was closed as well.
Our Jeep tour guide handled it like a champ, taking us to places that were accessible including around Manitou Springs and telling us stories about the area.
The original plan was better but this was a great plan b.
One of the places we went was to Glen Eyrie, an English tudor style castle. This historic castle was built in 1871 by General William Jackson Palmer. General Palmer was a Union General during the Civil War and was the founder of Colorado Springs.
It’s open for tours and has a nice little cafe and gift shop with clean restrooms and a delightful view – at least when blanketed by snow!
We weren’t able to take a tour because the timing simply didn’t work. We had to get back for the conference and flew out early the next morning.
We did, however, get to look around the grounds some and learn interesting things about the place. Our guide talked about how it was quite advanced for its time. Some features include fire hoses stationed around the castle in case of fire and a primitive intercom system. I thought it was fascinating that there’s a system that uses a lever to direct smoke, depending on the direction the wind was blowing, to send the smoke out of the valley.
With hundreds of acres, the property is home to much wildlife including a large herd of bighorn sheep, birds of prey, wild turkey and deer. There are also places to stay around the property including in the castle.
It is owned and operated by a worldwide Christian organization called The Navigators.
Incidentally, Eyrie means Eagles nest and the property is still know to be home to Eagles.
Maybe I’ll get to see inside someday. Meanwhile I’ll continue thinking of it as the one that got away!
Last night I stood in the middle of the living room, holding a precarious stack of books and despairing over what to read next.
I was paralyzed with indecision.
Have you ever struggled in this way when faced with too many choices?
I consistently struggle in three main areas:
Books
Getting rid of things that I might need someday
Choosing a travel destination
When it comes to books, there literally are too many interesting books being released every year on top of all the things written in the past to ever feel like there’s enough time.
Issues with letting go of things seem to be genetic and related to my Appalachian roots where holding on to stuff has been an economic decision. My ancestors knew the value of a dollar, of a thing, and of having a stash of stuff for when you need it. Packrattery is a survival mechanism.
And travel decisions are hard because, like books, there are finite resources (time + money) and an infinite amount of places to go. How do we begin to choose?
These areas have felt like an uphill battle for some time now.
When it comes to travel, I typically take longer trips with adventure pals and shorter trips with my fella. Life circumstances for my adventure pals have made it harder for them to go on those longer journeys. And honestly, I’ve just been lazy about getting some shorter trips on the calendar. I used to have adventure ideas in my back pocket every week. I need to get back to those roots but am often torn by the multitude of places to visit and other life things to do.
But I digress.
Back to that stack of books last night,
I am not an especially fast reader but I am a devoted one. I watch little tv and carry a book nearly everywhere including to the dentist’s office yesterday. Most nights I fall asleep with a book in my hands and wake up to the thunk of it falling on me.
How my face isn’t black and blue is beyond me.
When I finish a book, I pick up another, switching genres to keep things interesting and prevent any ruts from forming.
I like the feel of a physical book in my hands and the smell of a book is one of my very favorite things. If you ever see me smelling a book, keep moving. There’s nothing to see here.
I did finally choose something and I have high hopes for it. All the same, I had reservations when walking away from that stack I had pulled. By itself, that stack represents about a month of reading. We are already about a third of the way through the year. When will I get to them and all the others?
Clearly, there needs to be more reading hours in my day along with more time to travel. And perhaps some time for therapy because I do sound like something of a basket case.
This I know.
We are the culmination of our habits. If we want to do more of something we need to prioritize it and build our habits around that thing.
What do you wish to do more of? Does indecision ever interfere? Please tell me not the only one!
Today it houses medical offices but this fabulous art deco building was once home to one of the country’s most popular automats.
What is an automat? I’m so glad you asked.
Basically it was a self-serve restaurant with a wall of food behind glass plated doors. You would insert your coin, turn a knob and remove the single serve plate or bowl of food. It was sort of like a giant vending machine only the food was fresh made and delicious dishes like mac and cheese, casseroles, soup, salisbury steak and mouthwatering desserts.
It combined the convenience of fast food with affordability and a pleasant atmosphere.
It is very possible you’ve seen automats in old movies and there’s a great scene in the show The Marvelous Mrs Maisel where the two main characters are eating together in a truly spectacular automat. I also recall Sylvester the cat visiting one once.
We were going to or fro on Philadelphia’s Chestnut Street when I spotted this place and snapped a quick photo.
This building was the home of the old Horn and Hardart Automat and was the first of its kind in this country beginning in 1902. These places were especially popular during the Depression when diners with just a little change in their pocket could get cheap, hearty food.
This concept didn’t survive for even a full century as our last automat closed in New York on April 9, 1991.
Personally, I would like to see these places make a come back. It seems like there’s room for them in our dining landscape and the idea is just fun.
This public domain photo of a Horn and Hardart Automat illustrates the concept.
Want to know more? This CBS News story tells the story really well and includes some great imagery.
