While the historic Lincoln Highway stretches from Times Square in New York City across the country to San Francisco, we feel one of the most inviting areas of this cross country Highway is the 200 miles from just east of Gettysburg to just west of Greensburg, PA.  Forget Mapquest or Garmin – with the Lincoln Highway, you only need to travel west to east/east to west.  It doesn’t get any easier than that.
 
Plan to take home something special from your road trip that was made in this area; not something from another state, or worse yet, another country!  Our PA Artisan Trail ~ Handmade along the Highway artisans were juried into this select program.  The marketplaces that exhibit their fine old world crafts were also specifically selected because of their knowledge of the craft and of the process the participating artisans use to create those one-of-a-kind fine crafts.  For a complete listing of all participating marketplaces, click on Find the Art.

Select from Tour A or Tour B.  If your schedule permits, do both!

Tour A – Irwin, PA to Bedford, PA – two days
Day One, Morning – Irwin

  • Irwin is a community that has a vibrant historic downtown – from the unique shops (like …according to Reen) and cultural opportunities, to the three-story mural that graces a building on the historic Lincoln Highway (75 Pennsylvania Avenue).  Muralist Wayne Fettro captured the community’s strong ties to the mining industry, the four streetcar companies that operated in Irwin, and the first stoplight.  Reen has a number of Handmade along the Highway items in her Main Street Shop; convenient parking lot across from shop.

  • If it’s lunch you are ready for, go to the Red Star Brewery (at end of Harrison Avenue in the restored Greensburg Train Station).  What was once the City’s eyesore, has turned into a fun microbrewery and gathering spot.  It is still a functioning Amtrak stop.  Seton Hill University has an arts partnership with the City of Greensburg; you’ll see construction of the University’s new cultural center across from the Station.

  • Take the exterior stairs up to Pennsylvania Avenue and head north on Main Street to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.  This is one art museum that is people friendly and very inviting.  Check out their An American Marketplace for take home gifts/souvenirs.  This is one of the select marketplaces for the PA Artisan Trail ~ Handmade along the Highway program.

  • Before you leave Greensburg, spend some time strolling the Pennsylvania Avenue specialty shops.

  • As you head east by car on Pittsburgh Street (the old Lincoln Highway), watch for the beautiful mural at 112 West Pittsburgh Street.  This mural tells the story of Greensburg being the very first community in the Commonwealth to have a PA State Police unit.

  • To stay on the old Lincoln Highway, follow the Lincoln Highway road signs.  It is somewhat of a challenge in this area because the historic route criss-crosses with Route 30. 

  • After rejoining Route 30 East from Mountain View Inn, travel to traffic light at entrance of Saint Vincent College.  Make a LEFT and follow road to new security building at stop sign. (If you are visiting in late July or August, you might be able to catch a glimpse of the Pittsburgh Steelers Football Team who uses the Saint Vincent College Campus for their training camp!) Make RIGHT to end; followed by a LEFT.  You'll see the 1854 Saint Vincent Gristmill on your right.  In addition to the great Gristmill video, you'll be able to purchase Monastery Bread.  Head around back of the Gristmill for a cup of coffee that would rival any national brand.  Retrace your route back to Route 30/Lincoln Highway. Other lodging options include the Wingate Inn near the intersection of Route 30 and 981 in Latrobe.  If Ligonier is your destination, make a reservation at Campbell House Bed and Breakfast on East Main Street, Ligonier.  You’ll be able to walk to all town shops from this B&B.  Looking for a Lincoln Highway-era experience?  Check in at the ABC Motel on Route 30 in Ligonier.

Day Two, Morning – Latrobe to Bedford

  • At Route 981, leave Route 30 to remain on the Lincoln Highway and head south for a bit and then turn LEFT onto Arnold Palmer Drive (yes, that Arnold Palmer).  You’ll not only pass Arnie’s home, but you’ll pass his country club as well as you head into the community of Youngstown.  The two hot spots in this town are the Arts n Ends Gallery on Main Street, and right next door is The Tin Lizzy Restaurant and Lounge.  Chef Dato made it to the finals of a Food Network Contest and was flown to Hollywood, thus the name of his Hollywood Burger (there’s nothing fast food about it!).  Be sure to ask Arts n Ends Gallery owner and artisan to explain the amazing process she uses when creating Lost Wax Jewelry.

  • Heading east through the beautiful Loyalhanna Gorge you’ll enter the beautiful Laurel Highlands.  To remain on the Lincoln Highway, make a LEFT to enter the Borough of Ligonier.  Make time to stroll around historic Ligonier and its great shops.  One of the great shops is right at the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor office at 114 S. Market Street.  Stop in and say hello.  Before leaving the Ligonier area, cross Route 30 to 711 South and visit the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art.  Their paperweight collection is outstanding.

  • Now it is up and over the mountain towards Jennerstown – only a 12 minute drive barring any coal trucks – for lunch at Green Gables Restaurant.  Take a LEFT at the light in Jennerstown and travel ¼ mile north.  This dining experience will surely become your favorite; ask for a table by the waterfall.  After lunch, see if you can spot one of the vintage reproduction gas pumps painted by professional artist Nat near the parking lot.  Next to the Restaurant is the Mountain Playhouse, PA’s oldest professional stock theatre company.  If touring in the summer/early fall, get tickets to see professional theatre at its finest – from Broadway musicals, to British farces, or original screenplays – all in a refurbished Grist Mill.

  • Continuing east, turn RIGHT at Duppstadt’s Country Store in Buckstown to visit the temporary Flight 93 Memorial; it is truly hallowed ground.

  • After heading up and down the mountain, you’ll see a herd of bison on your left, as well as a beautiful three-sided mural on the large bison barn.  Across the street is the Bison Gift Shop, another painted pump and interpretive exhibit.

  • Next up is Schellsburg and its myriad antique shops.  You’ll get a bang out of the Vincent Van Gas pump located outside the Lincoln Highway Garage on your left.

  • You may think your eyes are playing tricks on you when you spot a 2½ story Coffee Pot structure that is located at the entrance of the Bedford County Fairgrounds.  A few years ago, the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor saved the 1927 building from demolition, moved it less than ¼ mile from its original location, restored it, and had it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  A photo op for sure!

  • Tour downtown Bedford (Fort Bedford Museum), the shops, and a hop, skip and jump north of Bedford is Old Bedford Village.

  • If you were unable to purchase that special gift made by a Lincoln Highway artisan during this trip, visit handmadealongthehighway.org to learn more about the participating artisans and their fine crafts; all the participating marketplaces; and other PA Artisan Trails throughout the Commonwealth.

There are several overnight options for lodging on Day Two:

  1. For a Lincoln Highway-era experience, stay in one of the retro tourist cabins of the Lincoln Motor Court just east of Schellsburg.  When is the last time you slept in a cabin where the crickets sing you to sleep?

  2. Looking for a Bed and Breakfast that offers fine dining and spirits mixed in with lots of history?  Call the Jean Bonnet Tavern B&B (between Schellsburg and Bedford).  The aromas from their fine dining room will lure you downstairs for breakfast.  Their little Log Cabin Gift Shoppe carries Handmade along the Highway items.

  3. For deluxe accommodations, there’s nothing like a room with a view at the Bedford Springs Resort and Spa, just a couple of miles of Bedford.  This experience will knock your socks off!  And, their Marketplace Gift Shop offers our Handmade along the Highway fine crafts.

Tour B, Everett, PA to Abbottstown, PA – 3 days
Day One, Afternoon – Everett

  • Driving east from Bedford, you may be tempted to take the bypass around Everett.  Don’t….follow the Lincoln Highway into downtown Everett and experience the charm of this community.  Find out why its original name was Bloody Run.  Check out another Wayne Fettro mural on Main Street (which is the Lincoln Highway).  Just across from the mural is the Union Hotel which was recently carefully restored.  Looking for a great place to stay overnight, grab some breakfast, lunch or dinner, hang out in the authentic tavern?  The Union Hotel will serve all your needs.

  • Need overnight lodging?  Check in at Travelers Rest, an authentic Lincoln Highway motel situated between Everett and Breezewood.  Proprietor Bowman will show you what real Pennsylvania hospitality is all about!  You’ll see one of the 22 reproduction 1940s painted gas pumps in front of the motel. 

Day Two, Morning – Breezewood

  • Great homestyle breakfast next door at Travelers Café. 
  • Unless you need gas, carefully navigate your way through Breezewood, an area still serving the travelers’ needs in a super-sized way.
  • As you weave your way up and down, and around and round the Lincoln Highway, you’ll end up in the historic district of McConnellsburg.  Settled in 1760s, McConnellsburg was a popular stopping point for travelers.  Head straight to the heart of town to see another Fettro mural, the 18th century Fulton House, and an authentic 1928 Lincoln Highway cement marker.  Antiques are plentiful in this town.

  • Now, it’s up, up and away again until heading down the mountain into the town of Fort Loudon, once a busy stagecoach stop.  Not so today.  The old Lincoln rejoins Route 30 just east of Fort Loudon.

  • Heading east, you’ll see how the landscape and geography change.  After motoring between, and up and down mountain ranges, the land levels out and you can see the bounty of Pennsylvania farms.  It is no wonder that this area is rich with fruit orchards and vegetables.  Stop by a roadside stand to take home the freshest apples or peaches.  In the village of St. Thomas, a mural perfectly captures the importance of agriculture to this area.

  • After coming through the commercial strip west of town, you’ll enter Chambersburg.  In 1864, confederate troops burned the town when it refused to pay a ransom demand of $100,000 in gold.  Over 500 structures were left in ruins.  Today, it boasts a lovely historic district with an active Main Street.  To orient yourself to this region, stop and tour the Chambersburg Heritage Center at the town circle with fountain.

  • For lunch, try the Main Street Deli on Main Street (where else?).  Perhaps the Capitol Theatre is offering an afternoon matinee next door.  Adjacent to the Theatre is the Council for the Arts; they always have an interesting exhibit in their gallery.  Or, walk a block north and tour the 1818 Old Jail.

  • Continue east on the Lincoln Highway and as the Lincoln veers off to the left through Fayetteville, you’ll see another mural on the Lincoln Lanes building.  However, if you are looking for antiques, stay on Route 30; the yellow buildings on both sides of the road are loaded.

  • Soon you’ll be traveling through the scenic Caledonia State Park and Michaux State Forest areas.  The Appalachian Trail crosses the Lincoln Highway here.

  • As you head towards Gettysburg, one stop to make is at Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum, which sits between the old Lincoln Highway and today’s Route 30. Not only will you see more than 6,000 elephants, but you’ll be tempted by fresh roasted peanuts, fresh fudge made on the premise, and a variety of candy.

  • To remain true to the Lincoln, cross over Route 30 and travel to the village of Cashtown.  The Cashtown Inn is a great place to stay overnight and/or have dinner.  Be on the lookout for some of their ‘spirited’ guests. The Adams County Winery is only 3 miles from the Inn; take home a bottle of their Tears of Gettysburg wine, a 9-time award winner.

Day Three, Morning

  • The Lincoln Highway runs straight through the National Park Service Gettysburg Battlefields.  While touring the battlefields could alone consume two or three days, the area offers so much more than the battlefields.  This area has some of the most prolific apple orchards in the state.  But, you’ll need to leave the Lincoln to experience this fantastic bounty of row after row of apple trees.

  • Just as you enter Gettysburg, watch for a mural on the side of the Gettysburg Shopping Center.  Trying to stay on the Lincoln Highway in Adams County is easy, but the signage is tricky – it is called Chambersburg Street on the west end of Gettysburg, and continuing after the roundabout, it is called York Street!

  • Downtown Gettysburg’s Main Street (Chambersburg and York Streets) is chock full of shops, restaurants, and souvenir shops.  Make time to stop at Gallery 30 and Artworks.  Both these shops offer the Handmade along the Highway products, as well as other interesting artwork for the home and clothing/jewelry.

  • Need to fit in eating with shopping?  Look no further than the Blue Parrot Bistro Restaurant.  Or, if you want some diner food, check out the Lincoln Diner on Carlisle Street.

  • Right across from the Lincoln Diner is the beautifully restored Majestic Theatre, which offers both independent films and live performances.

  • In the heyday of the Lincoln Highway, the 10 miles between Gettysburg and New Oxford were dotted with tourist cabins and motor courts.  Today, the road is dotted with antique shops.  They are just a warm-up, because once you get to New Oxford, antique malls abound, and they are all within walking distance.  Likewise, there are many Bed and Breakfasts.  Be careful navigating around another roundabout.

  • Continuing east to Abbottstown (the oldest town in Adams County), you’ll see a few more antique shops and yet another roundabout.  Another mural graces the front of the Abbottstown Fire Department building.  For a really special dinner, eat at the Altland House, right on the circle.  Lovely rooms are also available upstairs. 

If you would like more information about traveling the Lincoln Highway, order our 60-page Lincoln Highway Driving Guide for only $2.50 (includes shipping/handling); and visit www.LHHC.org  to see how the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor is making a difference along this 200-mile corridor.  LHHC, P. O. Box 582, Ligonier, PA  15658    724-238-9030.
Home  |  The Artisans  |  Find the Art  |  Experience the Arts