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From the Diary of Eagle Scout Bernard R.
Queneau Member of the 1928 Lincoln Highway BSA Lincoln Highway Promotional Tour Friday - July 6, 1928 - From Holland Tunnel, with a motorcycle escort, we went to Newark and gave our first demonstration. At Jersey City, however, we met the mayor and gave part of demonstr4ation to a few Boy Scouts. We stopped at New Brunswick where we gave our only real flop of a demonstration. We saw the mayor and a veteran of the Civil War. We stopped at Trenton, but were late so were unable to see the governor. On the way we did go over on the crowded highway. We ate supper at Philadelphia but slept in the open at Wister Camp. |
Day 1 - Times Square to Lancaster
| Sunday - August 17th Brian Cassler (right), the Tour's masterful T-shirt and decal hander-outer - was displaying proper enthusiasm for the first day of the tour. Below left, J.R. Manning's 1929 Model A Ford is the oldest vehicle going the whole way on the tour. Below, right, everyone was busy getting the Lincoln Tour signs affixed - magnetic for some, and stickers for those with plastic or aluminum bodies. (Cars, not the people)
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The first day of the tour starts off
with drizzle and clouds, but a lot of enthusiasm. Everyone is putting the
Lincoln Highway Tour signs on the sides of the cars – magnetic or
stickers. Bill has to put the stickers on the Packard, as it has aluminum
doors.
The group pulls out promptly at 8 am for the trek to Times Square – we find out that the legendary New York City roads are in fact even worse than expected. In addition to potholes and bumps designed to disintegrate a lesser car’s suspension, the power failure of few days ago meant there was no garbage collection. |
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| The tour group has reserved a full city block of Times
Square from 8:30 to 9:30. The lineup of cars is pretty impressive – ranging
from a 1929 Model A to a new Hummer. By luck of rearrangement, the
Woolfitt’s car ends up on the front row. We have a visitor waiting for us –
Bill’s daughter Kim lives in the area, and came out to say hello. And one of
Marge Tillett’s neighbors was up on vacation, and also managed to say hello.
The cars are a puzzlement to the natives, who aren’t shy about asking
questions.
The drizzle gets a little harder as we get ready to leave. At 9:30, we roll out and head for the old Ferry Terminal in New Jersey. The cars get a lot of attention as we wind through New Jersey. We encounter the first of many detours looking for the terminal, but eventually find ourselves lined up where the old auto ferries used to come across the Hudson. But not for long – the guard gives us the bum’s rush – causing a bit of a panic among those who thought they had time for a potty break! |
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| Rolling back through New Jersey, we
work our way through different small boroughs that become small towns. The
lights on every block spread out, giving Bill’s knees a break from
constant brake and clutch work. The areas are very individual – we go
through Puerto Rican, Italian, and German neighborhoods – there is a
parade getting set up in the Italian sector – we see people stapling
last-minute decoration on the floats.
On the way to lunch, we run into another detour – this one is SERIOUS, however – it’s between us and the lunch stop at Good Time Charlie’s in Kingston! When we finally get back to the Lincoln Highway route, we find that we are on the far side of Kingston, and decide to head on rather than back-tracking to the restaurant. A local KFC makes a quick and inexpensive lunch stop, and I take advantage of the break to check email sitting on the running board of the Packard. Just after the lunch break, we cross the Calhoun Bridge, an original narrow steel structure still carrying traffic between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Just on the other side, we stop for gas and walk back to check out the first of the original Lincoln Highway markers on this side of the bridge. There is also a No Horses sign that seems a bit dated until you remember this is also Amish country. Next to the Calhoun Bridge is another remnant of the past – a tow canal for cargo barges with the mule path alongside. Most of the barges had living quarters not only for the owners and their families, but the mules that pulled them. |
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The route gets a bit hairy from this point – so we tried to find an alternate route. Both Ken and I have already looked at the map and identified a four-lane road that leads right to the hotel. Unfortunately, we discover that both of us made the same mistake, and end up back in the outskirts of Pittsburgh – about 20 miles the wrong way. Oh, well, after some false starts, we make our way back to Route 30, and find that the road we were looking at was actually Route 30 all along. That’s what we get for trying to cheat!
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I take over the wheel to give poor Bill’s aching legs a
rest. We head on towards the hotel, obviously late for the planned dinner
departure at 6:30. Ken, always the smart one, notes that we pass the
restaurant on the way and we decide to stop off directly. That puts us at
the Revere Tavern ahead of everyone else. What we didn’t know is that
EVERYONE came in late, so the cars don’t leave the hotel until 7:30.
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Dinner at the Revere Tavern is family style, with corn chowder and salad, turkey, ham, swordfish, different vegetables, and a table of desserts that promised a lot of forgotten diets- including mine. After dinner, Rosemary Rubin (co-host for the tour) made sure any newcomers had been introduced, then turned the floor over to John Harman, State Director of the Pennsylvania Lincoln Highway chapter. John has a special presentation for hosts Rosemary and Bob Lichty – a genuine chunk of Lincoln Highway pothole! Bob was happy to get the piece of asphalt, and said he was planning to glue it into one of the Ohio potholes when he got home! We finally got to the hotel about 10 p.m. for a well-deserved and much-needed rest. This was one of the longest and hardest legs of the tour. |
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