Chicago and points east

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I recently returned from my trip from Chicago to the East Coast, during which I took some pictures of things I saw along the way. I thought I'd share some of them with you. I hope you enjoy them. The planning thread for my trip is here, just in case you're interested in the precise route and other details: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=12759.0.


This is a rotating railroad bridge, located in Zanesville OH. A bit of a serendipitous find. It looks very rusted, but the sign says that they will open it upon request on Fridays before noon.


Here is the relatively famous Y-Bridge of Zanesville OH. It's hard to get a shot of it that clearly shows its Y-ness, but I thought this one was pretty interesting. Zanesville is also the area where the land started to get hilly. A nice change of pace of hundreds of miles of flatness.



In my other thread, someone told me to go see this bridge in Wheeling WV, and I'm quite glad I did. It's an old bridge, but I was happy to see it's still in service. Much more picturesque than the I-70 bridge, which was also under construction at the time. As you may know, this bridge is one of the first suspension bridges ever built, created to carry the National Road over the Ohio River.



Two shots of the infamous Breezewood section of I-70. The first faces west, the second east. I invite you to shake your fist at them for a moment or two. There was not a lot of traffic there at the time, which was nice, but I do admit that I did buy things in one of the stores, thus contributing to the clout of the Breezewood business owners.


This is the official Mile Zero marker of Washington DC. It's more symbolic than anything else. I also have a picture of the kilomètre zéro marker in Paris, if anyone's interested.


Verbena and East Beach is the northernmost intersection of Washington DC. I'm not sure why I was compelled to go there and take this selfie, but I was and I did. I did cut through Rock Creek Park on the way there, which may have saved me a bit of time in traffic. I then proceeded to sit in traffic on US-29 and I-95 for way, way too long.

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This is a picture of me at the eastern terminus of I-70 near Baltimore MD. I had visited Cove Fort UT, way on the other side of the highway, about a year ago. I know that this terminus will be moving soon, but I was a bit surprised at how overgrown the Park and Ride was, which goes a long way toward explaining why I took no pictures of it.


A truly awful picture of the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore, the lowest point on the Interstate system. I thought about going through again to get something better, but the toll dissuaded me. I also have a similar picture of the Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado, which is the highest point on the Interstate system, so this made for a nice bookend.


Here's a better picture of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, connecting Delaware with New Jersey. I was happy that there was no toll in the direction I was traveling. (I had shunpiked the tolls on the Maryland and Delaware sections of I-95, except for the tunnel.)


This is not really a road picture, but I thought it was interesting. It's the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures in Paterson NJ, an institution founded by Alexander Hamilton on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. The company sought to use the water power of the local river as an energy source for manufacturing. 



The George Washington Bridge spanning New Jersey and New York. I did not cross the bridge in my car, having been repulsed by the $11 toll, but I did walk across (and back). That turned out to be wise since I got a fantastic view of the New York skyline, which you cannot see here.


Here is the portal to the O'Neill Tunnel in Boston MA. I took this picture to make up for the terrible Fort McHenry Tunnel pic and also because I like tunnels that open up to bridges, like this one does, as you can see below.


See?  Anyway, this is the bridge at the end of the tunnel. My picture is nowhere near as good as the one on the main page of this web site, but I figured I'd include it for purposes of completeness.

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After continuing on to Maine, I turned west and back to the mountains, this time the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There I travel the Kancamagus Highway, which was a bit busier than I would have liked, but I did get to eat lunch with a stunning view of the area near this pass. I also caught a glimpse of the Appalachian Trail near here, and I have to admit I regret not taking the time to hike a small bit of it.


This is the Brick Store, the oldest continuously operating general store in the United States. It was not worth visiting. Visiting Wall Drug while on valium would be more exciting than this place.




Covered bridges in Northfield VT. I've always wanted to cross a covered bridge, and in Northfield I got to do so five different times. Here's some pictures of the most impressive one. Unfortunately, all five bridges have been reinforced with steel and concrete, but apparently, elsewhere in the state there are wooden bridges capable of withstanding the full weight of a modern vehicle.


Finally, a bit of a shout out to the car that got me to all these places. It's a bit old, but it runs like a champ. It's currently registered in California, which I hope helped out other travelers playing the license plate game.