Old Things Considered

Come to think of it, this sounds like the setup for a bad joke: what do Route 15, Route 66, and Route 144 all have in common? Oddly enough, each of these three numbered routes figures into the story of my life this past week.

Even though there’s no place like home, sometimes, you just have to get out of the zip code. And so it was that Ken and I ran away last week for a few days, choosing as our destination a Beem family favorite: Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania. Never heard of the place? This could be why: it’s “America’s Last Unspoiled Resort” and “The Town that Time Forgot.” Once at the end of the train line from Philly, Eagles Mere was home to magnificent Victorian resort hotels, all of which have now been either destroyed by fire or torn down. Such a shame. My fledgling postcard collection of these Grande Dames gives only a hint of their splendor in bygone days.

Anyway, there’s a lovely country inn in town, originally built as a boarding house for the servants of the rich folk who vacationed there. Today, the updated and enlarged inn, owned by a young and talented chef, is quite a nice place. And here’s the kicker: the road leading to Eagles Mere is, for the most part, Route 15, a drive notable for its fine scenery and amazing antiquing possibilities (you saw that one coming, didn’t you?).

First stop last Wednesday was the Old Sled Works in Duncannon, just outside Harrisburg. We scooped up two vintage detective books, some 78 rpm records, and two Pyrex casseroles in our daughter’s favored pattern. Tempting was a paint-by-number of “The Last Supper,” but since it was exactly like three that we already have, we took a pass. You gotta be tough.

Following the route northward, we passed by some pretty interesting looking shops. Heading east off 15 at Northumberland, we cruised into The Point Barn, just this side of Danville. On our last visit here, we were overwhelmed by the stacks and stacks of 78s (and let me tell you, it takes some doing to overwhelm us). This time, we were prepared to tackle the mounds, and our search paid off. Louis Jordan’s “Beware” was worth the ride in itself, as well as a Spike Jones rendering of “Oh! By Jingo!” (Bertie Wooster sings the song in a P.G. Wodehouse story). Our quiet stay in the mountains was made even  more pleasant by a tour of local wineries, one of which has as its tasting room an antiques shop (does it get any better?). Homebound on Friday, we made more stops and snagged more books, including an E. Phillips Oppenheim I’ve never seen before. All in all, a great haul of books and records.

Whereas some people might get their kicks on Route 66 (and indeed, the song is an ear worm tough to eradicate), for us, it’s Route 15, even if Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters never sang a song about it (we have their rendition of “Route 66,” by the way, everything you could want in a record). And when I hear the song, it gets me to thinking of the time the 1960s television show by the same name came to Catonsville. Filming at a house on Route 144 in Paradise, the crew drew a crowd, including my Mom and me. We sat on the lawn across the street, hoping to get a glimpse of Martin Milner: we didn’t. Too bad.

Okay, so here’s where everything comes full circle. The house used in the filming of that episode still stands on Route 144. And that’s where I’ll be on Saturday, June 4 – yard sale-ing! Yep, it’s the Historic National Road Yard Sale day in Catonsville, with five miles of sales stretching from the city line to the Patapsco River. No need to drive 199.6  miles (from the Catonsville Post Office) to Eagles Mere: I can walk to Frederick Road!

But how will we get home with those PBNs, 78s, and other assorted treasures I hope to find on that day? Of course I have a plan: I’ll share it with you later.