10Apr 2017 by David Kravetz

H is for History – #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Adventure, Arizona, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Colorado, Cross Country Road Trips, Family Travel, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, LDS Temples, Lewis and Clark Sites, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Museums, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
One cannot travel any road in America or Canada without running into some sort of historical site, monument or building.  That is part of the fun of a back road adventure.  Our country of 2017 is defined in great part by the history of the country dating back to the 1600s (and earlier if you count the Native Americans). Dotting the roads of America are historical markers that tell about events that occurred in that exact location or nearby. There are literally 1000s of these. In the eastern US many of them are about Civil War incidents while in the west many are related to Indian Wars, Lewis and Clark or pioneers.  They are often interesting to stop and read.  As a History/Geography major in college, I have found these…
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01Sep 2016 by David Kravetz

Roadside America Celebrates 20 Years on the Web today

Backroads Discoveries, Big John, Bucket List Trips, Car Art, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Enchanted Highway, Family Travel, Giant Things, Giant Twine Balls, Large Statues, Muffler Man, Museums, National Monuments, National Parks, Roadside Attractions, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Uniroyal Gal, Vintage Neon
My friends at Roadside America (www.roadsideamerica.com) are celebrating 20 years on the World Wide Web today (September 1, 2016.) I have actually been using their site since the beginning and over the years have submitted stories, updates and photographs from my travels to the 50 United States and parts of Canada. There are many travel sites on the web, but this, in my opinion, tops them all!! If there is a quirky, offbeat, unique roadside attraction on the back roads of America, chances are you can read about it and see photos on its site. I am honored to know one of the founders and to work with these guys! check out the whole story at https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/54539  
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27Jul 2016 by David Kravetz

Bike Trails: Ohio Erie Towpath Trail, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, OH

Backroads Discoveries, Bike Trails, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Museums, National Parks, Ohio, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places
This is the second in a continuing series of Bike Trail posts.  Like the back roads of America, the recent interest in bike paths and rails-to-trails paths provides a new insight on "back roads".  Each Bike Path post will include surrounding information, vehicle support info and trail ratings as provided by my wife Julianne.  One bike pump equals a "poor" rating while five pumps equals an "excellent" rating.  We'll also provide links to the RTC TrailLinks overview of the trail. Complete Trails Overview Post is HERE Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail – Cuyahoga Valley N.P., OH Click here for RTC TrailLink Details The Ohio Erie Towpath Trail runs along the old Erie canal towpath and covers approximately 85 miles. It has trailheads in Cleveland and continues south through the…
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05Jul 2016 by David Kravetz

An Afternoon in Pittsburgh

Backroads Discoveries, Bridges, City Skylines, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Murals, Museums, Pennsylvania, People Shots, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Street Art, Train Bridges, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Wall Art
As noted in my previous post about Prosperity/Canonsburg/Washington areas of Pennsylvania (see post HERE), we took an afternoon with my wife's sister and her family to take a drive around Pittsburgh.  Obviously, an afternoon does no justice to a large beautiful city like this, but that was all the time we had. Fortunately, I have been to Pittsburgh before and have knocked out a few places worth visiting (see my post which includes some Pittsburgh sites HERE).   Our drive took us past the amazing glass structure built by PPG -- their headquarters.  Some call it the "Glass Castle" and indeed, it looks like one. Actually named PPG Place,  this amazing building is one of six structures designed by architects Philip Johnson and  John Burgee and completed in 1984.  The…
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03Jul 2016 by David Kravetz

Finding Prosperity near Canonsburg & Washington, PA

Backroads Discoveries, Bike Trails, Birds, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Flowers, Found Metal Sculptures, Geese, Giant Things, Landscapes, Murals, Museums, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Swans, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 19, US Highway 40, Wall Art, West Virginia, Wildflowers
Just a week after a nice three-day visit to northern Ohio (see post HERE), Julianne and I made our way to Canonsburg, PA, which is south of Pittsburgh. Julianne's sister Laura recently moved there from Idaho with her husband and daughter and wanted us to visit. From Lexington, Canonsburg is about a 5 Hour drive. We loaded Julianne's bicycle onto the bike rack and were off shortly after she got off of work. We also took our first trip with one of our grandchildren, our oldest named Autumn.  She has traveled with her mother and me on a long trip to Wisconsin, but this is her first trip alone with Grampz and Grandma. Most of the trip was fairly uneventful as we headed east on Interstate 64 into West Virginia and…
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22Jun 2016 by David Kravetz

Ohio Travel Stops: Dublin and Wilmington – Museums and Murals

Backroads Discoveries, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Ghost Signs, Large Statues, Murals, Museums, National Parks, Ohio, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 22, US Highway 68, Vintage Neon, Wall Art
In May, I had occasion to take my wife to Kirtland, Ohio for a conference and spent time myself in my birthplace of Little Italy and Cleveland. I've covered most of this in some previous blogs (Little Italy post   Cleveland post   Kirtland/Novelty post), but wanted to touch on a couple of other places that we passed on our way to Kirtland and on our way back home to Kentucky. Visiting Dublin, Ohio On the way up, we had a friend to visit in Dublin, Ohio and so made our way there. While my wife was tied up at her friend's house for an hour or so, I made a drive over to Wendy's headquarters. Dave Thomas got his start here in Dublin with the first Wendy's in the company which…
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17Jun 2016 by David Kravetz

Northern Ohio: Kirtland, Novelty, Chagrin Falls & Cuyahoga Valley NP

Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, Bike Trails, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Ghost Signs, Landscapes, LDS Temples, Murals, Museums, National Parks, Ohio, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Wall Art, Waterfalls
During a trip in May 2016 I visited my birthplace in the Little Italy neighborhood (See Little Italy Post) of Cleveland and then spent a day with family driving around Cleveland and catching a few sites (see post about Cleveland).  On my final day I picked up my wife in Kirtland, OH.  She had been there for a conference with her sister.  While there we visited a few places and I also had the opportunity to drive a few back roads while they were busy on the conference.  Actually, some of the locations I visited on one of the mornings prior to returning to Cleveland, but they are all compiled here. On the Sunday morning I was there we got the special opportunity to ring the Temple bells at 9…
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13Jun 2016 by David Kravetz

A Super Day in Cleveland

Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Bridges, City Skylines, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Large Statues, Murals, Museums, Ohio, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Street Art, Television Shows, Train Bridges, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Water Towers, Yard Art
I recently made a trip up to Cleveland to visit family in Little Italy (see the post about the Little Italy neighborhood HERE).  While there, I got to spend a day with my sister and her husband visiting sites in and around Cleveland as well as a few small treks on my own.  With the challenge of only a couple of days, I made it a point to visit some of the quirky and offbeat sites as well as a couple of historic things.  We saw a good deal of Cleveland and also visited the Kirtland area, which will be added to a different post. I started off one of my mornings by going to Lake Erie at Kenneth J. Sims Park in Euclid, which is right on the lake…
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10May 2016 by David Kravetz

A to Z Challenge: Reflections #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Alaska, Alberta, Amish Country, Arizona, Arkansas, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Big Cities, Bucket List Trips, California, Car Art, City Skylines, Colorado, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Eateries, Enchanted Highway, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Giant Things, Giant Twine Balls, Horse Art, Hot Springs, Idaho, Illinois, Indian Ruins, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Landscapes, Large Statues, Lewis and Clark Sites, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Mountains, Muffler Man, Murals, Museums, Mythical Creatures, National Monuments, National Parks, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Saskatchewan, Selfies, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Uniroyal Gal, Utah, Vintage Neon, Washington, Water Towers, Waterfalls, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
During the month of April 2016 I participated in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge had each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. This was my first opportunity to really participate in this annual event, which just completed its 6th year.  It was not easy!!  I had to not only post something daily, but also create a theme and stick with it.  And, in my perfectionist way, I wanted to make sure there were plenty of photos and commentary.  I wrote in such a way to draw people to the more detailed posts, where ever possible.  It was a load of fun and I completed the challenge.  Not sure how many…
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30Apr 2016 by David Kravetz

A to Z Challenge: The Z Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Backroads Discoveries, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Landscapes, Montana, Museums, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 2, US Highway 40
During the month of April I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge has each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. My blog is number 1337 out of 1670 participating blogs. This year my A to Z posts will take you across the back roads of America to many unique towns. To see what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the link: A to Z Theme Reveal List for 2016 The Z Towns Zelienople, Pennsylvania On a trip to New York to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant (see my P Towns for Palmyra), we returned home via Interstate 79. We eventually got off at Exit 88 as…
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