Sullivan, Clinton and Broadhead Trail 1779

Day 9: September 11th, 2000 Kutztown/Allentown — Elmira

Loading 88 S10 Blazer, Allentown, PA Loading 88 S10 Blazer, Allentown, PA
Loading 88 S10 Blazer, Allentown, PA

I start early today. I am checking out at a quarter to eight and drive to the Cracker Barrel from yesterday. The restaurant is along my way anyway so I give it a try for breakfast. But before I arrive there I have a scary encounter with a deer which suddenly jumped out of the bushes directly in front of my car. Lucky me I am not driving too fast and I am able to stop fast enough!

With plenty of adrenaline I arrive at the Cracker Barrel around eight. And they serve breakfast. There is also no long waiting this time and I get my table immediately. The breakfast is great and plenty. The only thing I didn’t like is the grit for breakfast — at least I know now the English term for this. I finish my breakfast and leave the Cracker Barrel at a quarter to nine.

My destination is Easton at the border to New Jersey. This is where the John Sullivan Trail started. I plan to visit the Canal Museum first. But they are closed today. So I am heading on north. Now I am crossing the Appalachian Mountains. They are not very high. But at the old times they were real obstacles for sure. Especially when I see how thick the bushes are growing here. At Cherry Valley Vineyards I follow the nice valley. I am still driving through thick forest. Then I reach Highway 115 which I follow to Wilkes–Barre. Originally I planned to spend the night there. But I am too early because the museum was closed and I was faster on the road as planned. Therefore I decide to drive on to my next destination Elmira.

Susquehanna River, PA Susquehanna River, PA
Susquehanna River, PA
88 S10 Blazer Backroad, PA 88 S10 Blazer Backroad, PA
88 S10 Blazer Backroad, PA
Backroad, PA Backroad, PA
Backroad, PA

I follow the Susquehanna River upriver. But just past Wilkes–Barre I am no longer sure if this was the right decision. The first time I am on real backroads this year. There are big holes and washouts in the road. Even with my SUV I am only able to drive very slowly. But I am still going way faster than with a regular passenger car. With my car from last year I would have been crawling now. But with my SUV I am still able to kind of drive…

But this bad road is only for a couple of miles and I am soon back on pavement. I still follow the Susquehanna on some very small roads. This is the only way to experiance the area like John Sullivan did on his trail. When I reach Sayre/Waverly the sun is already going down. I try to find a nice motel there without luck. I take a look at my map and the motel guides. I see that my planned Motel 6 in Elmira is not too far away. It would be only around an hour of driving. Therefore I decide to take the big highway to Elmira — which is almost an Interstate.

I am checking in at the Motel 6 around 7pm. They still have rooms, but only on the second floor. This is still better than nothing. I ask at the reception for a nice restaurant. I tell them that I would like to have some steak and they recommend the Beemans Country Cooking. It ’s only a couple of minutes by car and the food should be really good there. I put my stuff in the room and give it a try. And they were right. The restaurant is really nice. Everything is build with a lot of space. Also the food is excellent. But the steak had a bit too much spice on it for my taste. I remove most of it and then it is really great!

I pay around a quarter past eight and drive back to my Motel. In the meantime it has started to rain. Hopefully it will stop tomorrow. I plan to visit the Newton Battlefield and I don’t want to do it in a rain jacket…

  • Sights
  • General
  • Breakfast: Cracker Barrel, Fogelsville
  • Dinner: Beemans Country Cooking, Elmira
  • Motel: Motel 6, Elmira
  • Distance: 272 miles