Gribblenation

Our tagline is "Every road tells a story", and our recent feature on Breezewood attempts to tell its story.  But there is more - at least on a personal level. While doing my research - I decided to look into the history of the Gateway Travel Plaza - which was the first travel/road related business to open in Breezewood back in 1941.  When I read that the Gateway Inn (predecessor to the Travel Plaza) was owned and opened by a Merle and Marion Snyder, I took interest.  My maternal grandmother's side of the family trace to the Snyder family out of Saxton.  A small town of 700 or so people 20 miles or so to the north of Breezewood.   Could I have distant relatives that pretty much started Breezewood? So thanks to facebook - I was able to ask my mom's cousin and also my great aunt if we were related to the Snyder's that started the Gateway Inn.  Alas, I am not.  However, where one lead comes to a dead end - another one appears. In talking to my cousin...

It's the Pennsylvania Turnpike Interchange most people hate - and with a passion.  The Breezewood Interchange - a junction of two Interstates (70 & 76) that became complicated due to archaic rules, rural politics and power, and an unwillingness to change.  At its romanticized best, this small unincorporated community of under 100 residents is a reminder of travel days of the 1950s-1970s; at its worst, it is a gradually dying relic of old motels and services that drivers are forced to slow down and drive through on their way to bigger and more modern destinations. The Breezewood Strip - where Interstate 70 runs along a surface street (US 30) (Doug Kerr) The Breezewood Interchange is an exception to the rule in the Interstate Highway System.  Depending on your direction, Interstate 70 joins or leaves the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) here.  However, unlike nearly every Interstate junction in the United States - Interstate 70 must traverse on a roughly 1/4 m...

People have a love hate relationship with Breezewood, Pennsylvania.  It's either loved as a unique piece of America and road travel.  (Editor's note: In writing this entry, I couldn't find any article, blog post or webpage that says how wonderful Breezewood is.) Or it is hated , despised , or even boycotted . This post isn't about my personal opinion of it. In the past five or six years, our family typically goes through Breezewood between 9pm and midnight on our way from Eastern North Carolina to Pittsburgh - and I have never experienced the notorious backups that people dislike so much.  But I digress. Earlier this week, I came across an amazing website that features aerial photos of Pennsylvania from the late 1930s to the early 1970s.  It is called Penn Pilot - and is hosted by Penn State University.  Trust me, you can waste a whole day looking at this site.  It's a wonderful resource.  So one of my first looks was Breezewood to see if they hav...