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| FSA photo by John Vachon. Kansas-Nebraska border. |
Whether you call us “highway
buffs” or “road geeks,” our numbers are growing.
There may never be as many of
us as there are “railroad buffs.” And certainly, we won’t rival the Civil War
buffs, but we need to be recognized with our own category of fanaticism.
What is a “buff?”
I recall this snippet of
dialogue from a classic Seinfeld episode:
GEORGE: Wow, Keith
Hernandez! He’s such a great player.
JERRY: Yeah, he’s a real
smart guy too. He’s a Civil War buff.
GEORGE: I’d love to be a
Civil War buff. What do you have to do to be a buff?
JERRY: …Well sleeping less
than 18 hours a day would be a start.
Dictionary.com defines a
“buff” as “a devotee or well-informed student of some activity or subject.”
I’m a highway buff and proud
of it.
What exactly is a highway
buff then? Well, I’m not the arbiter of such things, but to me it is a person
who prefers traveling two-lane highways, and/or studying the history of old motor
vehicle trails that pre-dated them.
We like looking at pictures
of old gas stations, motels and diners, and imagining (in my case) or
remembering for the older generation, what the country looked like about when
Jack Kerourac was hitchhiking his way West during the trip that inspired his
novel, On the Road.
A highway buff can be a
person who simply enjoys savoring a drive down the back roads of America. For
us, driving on an Interstate is like being forced to walk in a park while
wearing a ball and chain. We want to pull over and take in the scenery, or stop
at some backwoods barbecue whenever we damn well feel like it. A federal shield
sign beckons us to leave the drudgery of driving four-lane Interstates.
We can also be students of
highway history. In 1926, the federal highway system was created, and the
distinct shield signs began popping up along the roads. Prior to then, there
were some 250 motor trails— local and national—crisscrossing the nation. This
was not long ago when one considers the course of human history. But today,
much of the knowledge of where these first highways traversed has already been
lost.
The Lincoln Highway was the
first transcontinental road, then came the Bankhead, which took a more
southerly route. The Old Dixie Trail, Yellowstone Trail, Lee Highway, the
National Road are just a few of them.
The Lincoln just celebrated
its centennial last year, with highway buffs, or Lincoln Highway Buffs, making
the trip. The Bankhead’s 100th anniversary is coming up in 2016. Attempting to locate, or retracing, the paths of these old trails is a favorite activity of highway buffs.
I am a devotee of Highway 83.
I have found references to a Great Plains Highway that was near it in South
Dakota and Nebraska, but I know little else about it. I know there must be an
old map out there somewhere. I will search for my remaining days.
No highway has the cachet of
Route 66, though. There are dozens of Facebook pages devoted to it, some with
tens of thousands of members. Travelers from as far away as Japan and Europe
plan whole vacations around road trips retracing its original path. It has been
featured in books, TV and documentaries.
Highway buffs may go so far
as collecting, too. Check out the prices for old federal shield-style highway
signs on eBay. They don’t come cheap. And signs that marked those old pre-1926
motor trails. Too rich for my blood!
The members of Facebook pages
devoted to the Lincoln, Bankhead, U.S. Route 83 are minuscule compared to Route
66, but numbers are growing. Here are links to a few pages I have joined:
Backroads in general:
Specific Highways:
There’s no need to start a
rivalry with other “buffs.” Railroad history and highway history go hand in
hand. Many of the small towns you can explore on your travels owe their
existence to the railroads. The development
of the rails and the highways made this country what it is today. Old West buffs, Civil War buffs: we all love U.S. history and the best way to explore the sites are on the backroads.
And embrace the Harley buffs.
Some of the biggest supporters of backroads over Interstates are
motorcyclists. The same goes with the lovers of classic cars.
I don’t have any statistics
to prove that we are growing other than the proliferation of pages and members
on Facebook. Those in the tourism industry, who are trying to lure travelers to
their small towns and less traveled states need to take note, though.
So the next time you’re at a
party, or some other social gathering, proudly say, “I’m a bit of a highway
buff.”
Spread the message:
Half the fun is getting there.
Half the fun is getting there.
Stew Magnuson is the author of The Last American Highway: A Journey Through Time Down U.S. Route 83: The Dakotas, now available at Amazon.com in paperback, or Kindle eReaders. To learn how
to order signed copies, message him at stewmag (a) yahoo.com.
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