Day 45 -- Gettysburg to Coatesville, Pennsylvania -- 85 Miles

Our goal was simple today: drive Pennsylvania Route 30 from Gettysburg (photo left is our Gettysburg KOA camp) to Philadelphia and find a camp reasonably close to Philly so we could tour the city tomorrow. Our chosen route roughly corresponded to the old Lincoln Highway which, starting in 1913, ran from Times Square in New York City, to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. You may remember that we drove a short section of it west of Council Bluffs, Iowa, some weeks back.

Everything started out okay when we left our camp southwest of Gettysburg. A quick retracing of yesterday's route to our camp, and we were soon rolling through the narrow streets of that famous village where General Meade defeated General Lee and changed the course of the Civil War. We had no intention of visiting the battlefield this time, and we had decided at the last minute against dropping in at Dwight Eisenhower's home. All we had to do was take our time and follow the Lincoln Highway east for the next 150 miles or so.

But suddenly we realized that our beloved narrow lane road that ran through tiny villages and rolling farm fields had turned into four lanes of traffic nightmare. I wasn't sure just where we'd gone wrong as the road signs continued to proclaim that we were driving Route 30. Hoping for some future clue, we soldiered on.

It wasn't until we spied the famous "giant shoe" from the freeway that I realized what direction the REAL Lincoln Highway lay, and we took the very next opportunity to get off the freeway. Thinking I could navigate us back to the giant shoe fairly easily, I turned onto the first road we came across heading west, which turned out to be Pennsylvania Route 462, and we drove a couple of miles just scanning the treeline to catch sight of our quarry.

Now you're probably wondering what the heck I've been talking about when I say "Giant Shoe." During Lincoln Highway days (actually shortly after) it was a well-know tourist attraction in Pennsylvania. Here's what Wiki has to say about it:

"The Haines Shoe House is a shoe-shaped house in Hallam, Pennsylvania, along the Lincoln Highway. Modeled after a work boot, the house was built by shoe salesman Mahlon Haines in 1948 as a form of advertisement. Among his various companies, he owned one that liked to claim that they raised boots "hoof-to-hoof" because the company did the boot making process starting with raising the cattle."

"The house, which is 25 feet (7.6 m) tall and contains five stories, was once rented out to couples, and is now open for public tours. It is located on Shoe House Road."

"Haines had the building built by handing a work boot to an architect saying, 'Build me a house like this.' He lived in the shoe house for a short while but ended up moving into a house across the street. The renters were served by a maid and butler and then received free pairs of shoes when they left. A Shoe House vacation contest was held in 1950 and all expenses were paid by Mahlon Haines. Fire escapes were added to the house in the 1960s."

"The living room is located in the toe, the kitchen is located in the heel, two bedrooms are located in the ankle, and an ice cream shop is located in the instep. When Mahlon decided to sell the house, it started going to ruin until it was bought by his granddaughter Annie Haines Keller in 1987."

"The current owners are Jeff and Melanie Schmuck who bought the house in 2015. The house received a small renovation and new paint in 2007. There is also a stained glass panel that shows Mahlon holding a pair of shoes with a message below it that reads, "Haines the Shoe Wizard". During the 2004 opening after the Farabaughs bought the property, boy scouts ran Easter egg hunts there. Mahlon's family told stories about their relative and a local author sold copies of his book, 'The Life and Times of Mahlon Haines.'"

"The Shoe House was visited in the eighth season of the reality television series The Amazing Race, and was featured on HGTV's What's With That House?. The Farabaughs were happy about the publicity, though not permitted to talk about the house's appearance on The Amazing Race until two years later."

I first saw the shoe house around 1994 when the Lincoln Highway Association held its first nationally-attended conference in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and largely through a fluke I was able to learn about it and attend. I had chanced to catch a presentation on the Lincoln Highway that year at the Reno historical Society and was so jazzed I started researching the topic. As fate would have it, I stumbled over a chap named Brian Butko in my search for information, and he told me about the upcoming conference. It would be the association's first. I got to attend the conference, become a charter member, and have remained a member every since.

That conference year we sojourned by bus on the old highway and, once we reached the city of York, participants were invited to explore the shoe house from top to bottom, something Concetta and I were not able to do today since it was closed for the season. But back in 1994 conference attendees had a great time climbing the narrow staircase, checking out the "round rooms," and getting our complimentary ice cream cones.

Once we had determined that Pennsylvania Route 462 was really the old Lincoln Highway for a good stretch, we were in business. In 1794, long before the Lincoln Highway, today's route of 462 was called the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike. By 1796, the road ran from Philadelphia and across the Susquehanna River to York. The state took over the turnpike in the beginning of the 20th century. In 1913, the road between York and Lancaster was incorporated into the Lincoln Highway. In 1924 the Lincoln Highway through Pennsylvania became PA 1, then US Highway 30 west of Philadelphia in 1926. If you want to see what the travelers saw in the teens and 1920s, just look for Route 462 in Pennsylvania. You won't be sorry.

Of course, as you travel the narrow roads on the early Lincoln routes you have to be patient with sometimes potentially irritating traffic congestion and wait times. But if you like buildings that date to the mid nineteenth century and before, picturesque roundabouts, and wonderful roadside Americana, the Lincoln Highway is the way to experience those things.

Once we were back on the road headed east we just took our time, listened to our current CD detailing the Presidents' lives, and enjoyed the journey at 45 miles per hour. About 11:30 we started keeping an eye out for a scenic place to pull over and have our lunch. It was only a short time later that we came to a stop sign, and while sitting there saw a roadside sign proclaiming that the "National Toy Train Museum" was just two miles away. Well, I thought, that beats "The World's Second Biggest Ball of String Museum" any day of the week. Sounded to me as though we'd found our lunch stop.

Taking the next left, we motored happily out into the countryside and before long were pulling up beside a simply fabulous-looking, modern building on the edge of a myriad of farm fields. The building was so beautiful that I thought I'd better get out of the truck and go over and shoot it before the sun dashed under a cloud or something. All morning we had been enjoying a rare bit of sunshine in Pennsylvania.

After happily snapping a few photos, I turned to a vista just to the south that had caught my eye as soon as we'd pulled into the parking lot. Located just adjacent to the Toy Train Museum was a collection of Railroad Cabooses that seemed to go on forever. At the time I estimated that there were at least 50 units on the property, as well as a number of larger passenger-style cars. I wasn't sure what the caboose collection had to do with the train museum, but I thought I better snap a few photos of them, too, before I lost the sun.

Unfortunately, I had been in such a hurry to explore the caboose collection, that I failed to notice that the Toy Train Museum was only open on the weekends. Right out front there was a very large banner, placed there to inform anyone who cared to look that the place was CLOSED! Not realizing that I was ultimately going to be disappointed, I retraced my steps back to the rig, Concetta and I had our lunch, and then I told her that we should tour the caboose collection first while the sun was shining.

Turns out that the cabooses all belonged to a company called "The Red Caboose Motel." I borrowed the following from the LancasterPA.com web site:

"Sleep in a Real Caboose!"

"The Red Caboose Motel is just that – a motel where the guests actually spend the night sleeping in their own caboose. Imagine how much fun this could be! The kids would love it. Many of the units (an employee told us he thought they owned 38 of them) have multiple beds. Some have bunk beds. One even has a jacuzzi. Some of the units have their own private decks overlooking the Amish countryside. This motel is great for families, groups, even romantic getaways."

"The Red Caboose also has its own restaurant in a full-size railroad car, and the kitchen is a box car. The restaurant overlooks the tracks of the Strasburg Rail Road – you can watch the train pass by while you enjoy your meal. When Thomas the Tank Engine is in town, you might see him, too. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"The Red Caboose Motel is just north of Route 741 and two miles from downtown Strasburg. From the motel you can look across the cornfields and see all the commotion at the Strasburg Railroad’s yards. The motel is right next door to the National Toy Train Museum and around the corner from the Choo Choo Barn and the Strasburg Train Shop."

"So, you and your family can pack in a whole bunch of train-related fun here in Strasburg, and then retire your own caboose to spend the night. Sweet dreams!"

We found out first hand that you can sit in the restaurant and watch the Strasburg Railroad trains go by. Concetta and I got to do just that, and we didn't even have to buy a meal. The train came by right when we were checking out the south end of the grounds

After we photographed the Cabooses, we headed for the Toy Train Museum next door. This is when we finally noticed the "closed" sign. I was tremendously disappointed, but since it's only open on weekends it just turned out to be bad luck. Had we been a day earlier we would have been fine.

I found the following information on the Toy Train Museum on Wikipedia:

"The National Toy Train Museum (NTTM), at 300 Paradise Lane, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, USA, is focused on creating an interactive display of toy trains. Its collection dates from the early 1800s through current production. The building houses the Toy Train Reference Library and the National Business Office of the Train Collectors Association. It is located just around the corner from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania."

"The NTTM is owned and operated by the Train Collectors Association (TCA) and serves as its headquarters. The museum's mission is to promote train collecting and to preserve the heritage of toy trains. Founded in 1977, part of the museum's ongoing appeal is that it brings children and adults together. The museum features five working train layouts and a Toy Train Reference Library with reference and archival materials serving model railroaders. The nearby Choo Choo Barn 'features a more than 1,700-square-foot model train layout with 22 operating model trains and more than 150 animations'."

During lunch we had come to a decision on a campsite for the night. The KOA located in Coatesville, about 30 miles away from where we were sitting, offered van service to Philadelphia. For a semi-reasonable amount of money they take you into the city and give you a guided tour that lasts most of the day. That way you can leave your rig in the safety of the RV camp, and not have to try and find a place to put it while battling the congestion of the city.

The camp sounded wonderful, so we programed the GPS to get us there, and set off. Let me just tell you that finding the Coatesville camp exposed us to more of rural Pennsylvania than I think we had seen yet. Although I suspect there was a far less complicated route, the GPS had us wandering up hill and down dale, turning left and turning right, and even retracing some portions, until I thought that she might be just having fun with us. In fact, when she announced that we only had 2/10 of a mile to go before we were supposed to arrive, I could see NO evidence of a camp anywhere ahead.

But a camp there was, and soon we rounded the last curve and climbed a hill, and there it was (photo right). As it turns out, they are not doing a tour tomorrow, which really disappoints us. But when they offered to give us a free day if we'd hang around and go on Wednesday we could hardly turn that down. We're not sure just what we'll end up doing tomorrow. Supposedly there's a wonderful garden twenty minutes from here that can be toured if the rain doesn't return. It's already rained a few minutes since we arrived, but we're hopeful that tomorrow will be clear. If not, I guess it's laundry day and reading for us.

So, stay tuned to see what tomorrow brings. We wish you Happy Traveling!