The Big Lacuna

As you will recall from my last post, I recently flew out east to visit family and friends for a few days, after which I would travel the entire western segment of US Route 2, from St. Ignace, Michigan to Everett, Washington. The visits have been made, and I have now arrived at St. Ignace. I will be traveling Route 2 over the next 8 days. Be looking for daily posts on this site.

I did manage to drive a small portion of Route 2’s eastern segment while I was visiting as I left Cousin Bonnie’s in Vermont. That segment terminates (or begins, depending on your direction) at Rouse’s Point, NY. And (drum roll please) here it is:

I then spent the next two days making my way across Route 2’s lacuna. (Along the way I stopped at a Greek restaurant for a little moussaka. Ah, Lacuna Moussaka–what a wonderful phrase!)

Anyway, although I was technically not on Route 2 during this time, I did encounter a few noteworthy roadside oddities. And here they are:

We start with this awesome, restored, historic building in Endicott, NY which was once part of the Lighthouse Service Station chain that supposedly served much of New England. It now appears to be some kind of private office or business, though there are no signs indicating what, exactly, they do.

I also stopped a number of cemeteries (the east is lousy with ’em!), and found some notable gravesites:

Let me note here my favorite Mark Twain factoid: When he was born in 1835, Halley’s Comet appeared in the sky. It was known that the comet passes earth every 75 years or so. And so, as the next encounter with the comet approached in 1910, Twain made this comment:

I came in with Halley’s Comet… It is coming again … and I expect to go out with it… The Almighty has said, no doubt: ‘Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.’

And they did. Twain died the day after the comet emerged from the far side of the sun.

The most impressive cemetery I encountered during my Drive of the Lacuna was Lake View Cemetery, in Cleveland, Ohio. It includes these notable figures and impressive works of art:

If you’re interested in what all the fuss was about, check this out:

And speaking of recurring creatures, this Beetle/Spider in Erie, Pennsylvania very much resembles earlier encounters. Observe:

And of course, there’s this recurring fellow:

Finally, I bring you the Haunted Hydro, a so-called “Dark Attraction Park” that is open during the Halloween season.

The place looks pretty run down, even abandoned. But I’m told that it’ll be resurrected in time for Halloween. The main part of the attraction is a century-old hydroelectric power plant (hence the “hydro” part of the name). You can see it in action here.

Finally, this afternoon I arrived in St. Ignace, Michigan, where I’ll start the western segment of Route 2 tomorrow morning. By the way, the the Lacuna ended as it began, with a lighthouse–this time a real one:

Until tomorrow!