Today is the last day of my art show at Oriole 9 in Woodstock, New York – “Route 66 Revisited”! It’s been such fun to share some of my paintings from our trip last January in Arizona and California. That trip ignited a true passion for this treasured route and I have made a commitment to explore the entire road within the next few years. So, the new plan is to do the first leg of Route 66 from Chicago [...]

When you pull out of Seligman, Route 66 becomes truly “historic Route 66″! From here to Kingman Highway 40 is a beeline passing by the towns of Grand Canyon Caverns, Peach Springs, Truxton,Valentine, Hackberry, and Valle Vista. And sadly, many of these towns weren’t as enterprising as Seligman and have lost a lot of their luster. Traveling on a Sunday in January, most of the shops were closed – so we beat feet realizing we still had a long way [...]

Several years ago I accepted an invitation to attend the wedding of some good friends way up north in the Penobscot Bay region of Maine. On the way up I drove straight through in 8 hours to attend the rehearsal dinner. That was a real challenge! On the way home, I decided to make it a two day trip and I stayed in the fabulous and funky town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. (I have some great shots of old [...]

This is the greatest news! A fabulous roadside attraction died and is reborn again! Al’s Chickenette lives on: From The Hays Daily News, published on 3/6/2011 New owner plans to reopen Al’s Chickenette By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN dobrien@dailynews.net It might have a new owner. But Al’s Chickenette will feature the same menu, said Trisha St. Peter. In January, former Hays resident St. Peter bought the longtime restaurant known around the country for its fried chicken and nostalgic atmosphere, with plans to [...]

This beloved family run business met the fate of so many other small roadside attractions last fall when it closed. Here is the article from the local paper detailing their demise. Until yesterday, this special place was going into the “graveyard” division of my vanishing roadside project – when I received the news that uplifted my spirits! Stay tuned for that tomorrow: From The Hays Daily News, published on 10/31/2010 Al’s Chickenette to close its doors today By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN [...]

This enduring theme of vanishing roadside America has captured the attention of many people I know, as I’m always inviting friends to share their pictures with me. Good friend and artist, Loel Barr gave me a snapshot of one of her favorite diners in her home town and voila! it’s now a big juicy painting! I asked Loel if she would share some of her memories of the place, as part of my goal with this blog is telling “the [...]