Best Autumn Trips

WHY GO Americas first transcontinental highway coincided with the dawn of its love affair with cars. Fall in love with the road all over again as you navigate some of the most unusual sites while traveling from New Yorks legendary 42nd St to San Franciscos Lincoln Park.

Like the rumored real America, the Lincoln Hwy exists somewhere in the ether between myth, memory and capitalism. Begun in 1913 and completed by 1925, it allowed cross-country road-trippers (as opposed to wagon trainers) to make the epic trip from sea to shining sea. Today the original route has been merged with a smorgasbord of others, making a strict adherence to the 1920s version nearly impossible. But this northern auto trail (even when you fake it a bit) still manages to trace a unique path through the heart of the USA. (Route purists should consult one of the many local Lincoln Hwy organizations or investigate the resources at http://lincolnhighway.jameslin.name.)

It seems only appropriate for such an iconic highway to begin at the Crossroads of the World: Times Square at 42nd St and 7th Ave. Grab a bagel and some coffee and head west out of town towards the Holland Tunnel, the original route out of New York and into New Jersey. If you woke up this morning and got yourself a gun, then youll want to light a cigar as you trace the winding labyrinth of highways to the New Jersey Turnpike, made famous in the opening credits of The Sopranos.

The Lincoln Hwy heads south through Newark, Elizabeth and into Princeton, home of nattily dressed professors, and with a picture-perfect town center that is ideal for strolling. The big iron gates of Princeton University, one of the eight Ivy League universities that dot the Mid-Atlantic and New England, abut the highway. The campus is a delight to behold and is easy to explore. Make sure to check out the art museum.

For lunch, pop into Lahieres, where youll find a thoughtful yet whimsical continental menu to go with your dry white wine and dog-eared copy of Proust. A recent visit offered up pork belly BLT sliders as part of an affordable prix fixe lunch menu. This place has been serving the local cognoscenti since 1919.

At this point, route purists will want to head southwest through Trenton and into Philadelphia, following the original highway. But were going to keep on trucking past Philly to find the Pennsylvania Dutch in Lancaster. Yes, its Amish country. Get your inner Kelly McGillis and Lukas Haas on when you play witness in the land of Mennonites. If you like quilts and old-timey farming equipment you are going to be in hog heaven. If not, you will still find a burgeoning arts community and some great dining.

Rest your weary head at the Lancaster Arts Hotel, a boutique inn thats in a renovated tobacco warehouse and filled with works by local artists. Added bonus: it has a bar and restaurant in the lobby! Or head to downtown Lancaster to the chic Belvedere Inn for an equally top-notch dinner in this dimly lit romantic restaurant in a garland-decorated townhouse with a roaring fireplace. Pumpkin ravioli, grilled shrimp, steamed mussels and more provided one of the finer meals we came upon along the highway.

Shove off west again towards York and Gettysburg, both along the original Lincoln Hwy, which in this part of the country is more or less interchangeable with Rte 30. Just west of the Civil War supersite youll find the perplexing, captivating Mr Eds Elephant Museum, which boats thousands of elephant-shaped curios large and small one of them even talks to you. This textbook distillation of the roadside attraction also has an entire room devoted to Pez grade-A strange, so obviously a must.

All along this section of Rte 30 you will notice several murals and Roadside Giant sculptures decorating the 200-mile Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor Roadside Museum. Markers designate the historic route and lead you past intriguing sites such as the Shoe House (outside York, Pennsylvania, along Rte 30) and the creepiest mountainside girlie bar weve ever encountered.

Eventually youll pull into Pittsburgh, where we invite you traveling maniacs to feel like a steel town girl on a Saturday night. Allow us to point you in the direction of the Andy Warhol Museum, celebrating the hometown hero. Lovingly archived time capsules packaged by Andy during his storied career are highlights and add fascinating context to the iconic works of art that cover five floors in this industrial space.

The Lincoln (aka Hwy 30) rolls into Ohio after brushing a wee section of West Virginia, then crosses the Ohio River to East Liverpool once the nations pottery capital thanks to its rich clay deposits. If that isnt enough to warrant a stop, the death mask of Pretty Boy Floyd is. The FBI caught up with public enemy number one near East Liverpool in 1934 and Floyd lost the ensuing shootout. The local mortician embalmed him at Sturgis House now an antique-stuffed B&B where you can see spooky gangster artifacts in the basement.

From downtown, take scenic Hwy 267/Lisbon St northwest, which reconnects to Hwy 30 as it climbs steeply toward Lisbon. On the road beyond, football-crazed Canton, cute collegey Wooster, haunted Mansfield and cornfields flash by. Then, just before the border, a neon sign beckons in Van Wert: Young Fried Chicken Day and Night. The Davis family has been cooking bird here at Balyeats Coffee Shop for almost 50 years. Youll hurt their feelings if you dont stop and indulge, at least for a slice of butterscotch pie.