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Koolwink Motel
The Koolwink Motel, located in Romney, West Virginia first opened in 1936. The Koolwink Tourist Home, as it was called then, sold at public auction in 1955 to the original owners’ great-nephew and his wife, and they—Wallace and Pauline Mauk—still own it today. The motel was expanded in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and now includes several small buildings, including an annex on top of the hill (where we stayed).
Romney, West Virginia is a small town established in 1762, making it one of the oldest towns in the state. The Koolwink seems to be a bit out of the way no matter which direction you’re coming from or headed to, but when my friends stayed here on a trip out west last year I put it on my wish-list. Luckily, when my mom and I started planning our August road trip, the Koolwink fit in nearly seamlessly with our plans.
We didn’t explore anything around the Koolwink, but I’m also guessing that we didn’t miss much. Directly across the street is a bowling alley, but we had to drive nearly an hour the next morning before we reached a suitable diner for breakfast. The rooms are very large in a way that you almost never see in modern hotel rooms, and although most of the furnishings are solidly vintage the room was spotless. The Koolwink claims to be “a modern facility with a retro feel,” which is the best combination in my opinion.
Whoever is in charge of branding at the Koolwink really nailed it, and their dapper, winking mascot is everywhere—on outdoor signage, the shower curtain, ice bucket, notepad and complimentary mints. I couldn’t resist buying a mug, which cost a very reasonable $4 and brings a touch of mid-century class to my morning coffee.
Koolwink Motel
24350 Northwestern Pike,
Romney, WV 26757
304.822.3595 (call for reservations)
Recent Reads
Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters, by John Waters
I love John Waters so much but I feel like there's so much of his work that I've yet to experience. I really need to get serious about seeing more of his movies (especially the ones starring Divine) but I made a tiny dent recently in his oeuvre by reading Crackpot, my first of several of his books. Crackpot was originally released in 1986, but the copy I read had a few updates made as recently as 2003. It still feels a little outdated and there were a lot of pop culture references that went completely over my head (I was born in 1985), but I would listen to Waters talk about almost anything. He's hilariously irreverent and cranky when discussing everything from fashion to death row inmates to celebrity, and surprisingly levelheaded as well—in an essay titled "If I Were President," Waters replies to the question of "what would you outlaw" with "guns and New Age crystals" making it even more painfully obvious that we elected the wrong celebrity President.
I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyoncé, by Michael Arceneaux
Occasionally I am so charmed by the author of a memoir or essay collection that I fantasize about becoming their real life friend—I have a running list in my head that includes Samantha Irby (ironically?), Lindy West, Phoebe Robinson, Mara Altman and now Michael Arceneaux. Arceneaux’s collection of essays is mostly about his life as a gay, black man from Houston—none of which I can really relate to personally, but one of the greatest joys of reading is the luxury of being able to dive into someone else’s experience for a brief time.
The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies, by Dawn Raffel
This book has a strange structure and is oddly written at times, but the story of Martin Couney, a doctor of questionable provenance that ended up saving an estimated 7,000 premature babies by exhibiting them in sideshow-type pavilions at World’s Fairs and Coney Island is fascinating material. Not much is known about Couney’s life—he changed his name several times and wasn’t respected in the medical community. It’s hard to even grasp that there was time in the not-so-distant past that premature babies were seen as lost causes and incubators weren’t widely used or trusted. That countless people and their thousands of descendants are alive today because of this one extraordinary man and his crazy “baby ovens” just proves that the truth is often times stranger than fiction.
Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an America Obsession, by Alice Bolin
I should have paid more attention to the negative reviews of this book by people who felt misled by the title, since I ended up becoming one of them. Dead Girls isn’t so much about the dead girl trope in TV and movies as it is a rambling book comprising disjointed essays on LA, Joan Didion and the author’s various struggles with depression, shitty roommates and rootlessness. When Bolin does discuss dead girls the book briefly lives up to its promise, but unfortunately not for long.
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America, by Beth Macy
I had already read (and loved) Dreamland—also about the opiate epidemic—so I was concerned that I wouldn’t find much new information in Dopesick. Thankfully this was untrue, and Dopesick was an informative and highly readable account of how we got to where we are now, and who is to blame for the crisis (pretty much everyone). If you’re not infuriated and heartbroken after you read this book, then you’re not paying attention, and I think this should be required reading for every American.
Happy Friday!
Things that happened recently:
I still believe Christine Blasey Ford (despite yet another idiotic attempt by Trump to distract us). Oh, and if you’re a man and you’re worried that you’re going to be accused of sexual assault, here’s a good hack: don’t assault women. And women? No, this is not normal.
All men might still be trash, but at least there have been some small victories lately (and for fuck’s sake, VOTE).
No, this wasn’t me but yes, I wish it was.
Things to do in New York soon:
The Film Forum is currently showing a film about compulsive street photographer Garry Winogrand, and his photos are just so good.
The annual Medieval Festival is being held this Sunday at Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan.
I’m bummed that I’ll be away for most of the Merchant’s House Museum’s spirited October events. I guess I’ll just have to wait until next year for their 1865 funeral reenactment.
Things I’ve discovered recently:
I recently finished this fascinating (true) account of Dr. Martin Couney, a man who saved an estimated 7,000 premature babies by exhibiting them in incubators at World’s Fairs and Coney Island. This puts me six books ahead in my reading challenge for the year, and I’m wondering whether I should increase it just a bit.
Creepy Co. just released their Beistle Halloween collection for the year and it’s so good (I might have to get this pillow).
Does anyone else watch This is Us? The season three premiere was on Tuesday and I’m already dying to know who “her” is!??
After talking about it pretty much my entire life, my uncle and I are headed to Egypt tomorrow for two weeks! We’ll be taking a pretty bougie tour, which includes almost every famous monument/temple/museum you can think of, including a cruise down the Nile. I’ve gotten flu, Hepatitis A and Typhoid shots, stocked up on memory cards and granola bars and I’m prepared to fully lean into the retired, luxury travel life. I’ve planned a few posts to publish while I’m gone because I’ve still somehow not finished blogging about all of my past adventures, but also prepare yourselves for the onslaught of Egyptian posts upon my return. I’m a bit sad to miss the first two weeks of my favorite month, but after what feels like years of insane humidity, I’m actually looking forward to the dry desert heat. My last international trip was less than ideal so wish us luck and have a great two weeks!
Breaking Bad
I watched Breaking Bad when it was on TV and while I loved it, I also felt that watching it was like experiencing one, five-season-long, panic attack. Upon repeat viewings I didn’t find it to be as stressful as I remembered, but I’m comforted by spoilers and in hindsight, 2008-2013 was a simpler time (I don’t recall worrying about the state of the world once while Obama was President).
While JMP and I were Albuquerque I casually asked her if she watched Breaking Bad and when her response was an enthusiastic “I love that show!” we decided to visit a few of the Albuquerque filming locations.
Walter and Skylar’s House
3828 Piermont Drive NE, Albuquerque, NM
The owners of this private house are not welcoming of visitors—and can you blame them after having to scrape several pizzas off their roof? They recently installed a fence (and traffic cones, security cameras and several signs) to discourage people from getting too close, so be respectful, park across the street and snap a quick photo.
The Crossroads Motel
1001 Central Avenue NE, Albuquerque, NM
Referred to as "The Crystal Palace" by Hank, The Crossroads Motel was featured several times throughout the series. In season one, Hank takes Walter Jr. to the motel to scare him by showing him the destructive power of drugs. In season two Jesse goes to the Crossroads (with its resident meth-head, Wendy) to stage an alibi and in season three Wendy shows up again, along with footage of the motel.
This stretch of Central Avenue was once Route 66 and it’s full of old motels with excellent signage (and questionable clientele) similar to The Crossroads. I’ve heard that management isn’t amenable to tourists snapping photos, but we didn’t encounter any pushback during our quick visit.
Jesse Pinkman’s House
322 16th Street SW, Albuquerque, NM
Originally owned by Jesse's Aunt Ginny, Pinkman lived here after she died, turning it into a meth lab and famously ruining the upstairs bathroom when he tried to dispose of a body in the bathtub (but ended up dissolving the floorboards along with it). He was later evicted by his parents but purchased the house back anonymously. In real life, the two-story Spanish Colonial revival house was on the market for $1.6 million in 2015.
A1 Car Wash
9516 Snow Heights Circle NE, Albuquerque, NM
In season one, Walter White works part-time at the car wash and later he and Skylar buy the entire thing to use as front for their money laundering. The car wash is still in operation, however it operates under the Mister brand so your chances of being told to “have an A1 day” are probably slim.
The Dog House
1216 Central Avenue NW, Albuquerque, NM
I could write an entire post waxing poetic about the incredible neon signage at The Dog House, an Albuquerque staple located on old Route 66 for more than 70 years. Despite being warned about the inevitable heartburn, we did eat their spicy-chili-topped footlongs and they were delicious (and thankfully, not as digestively destructive as I expected). The Dog House appears a few times in Breaking Bad, and I loved its moving signage so much that I came back to photograph it several times during our trip.
Los Pollos Hermanos
4257 Isleta Blvd, Albuquerque, NM
This Twisters location looks almost cartoonishly generic, making it the perfect place for Gus Fring’s (fictional) crystal meth front, Los Pollos Hermanos. While we didn’t go inside, apparently the interiors were filmed here as well and fans of the show have accounted for a 10% profit boost to Twisters, a New Mexican cuisine restaurant chain serving burgers and burritos.
All Dog House and second Crossroads Motel photo(s) by me, screencaps from Netflix and all other photos by JMP.
Gettysburg Dime Museum
The Gettysburg Dime Museum opened in May of 2016, and sadly it is set to close for good in November. The owner and curator of the museum is Mark Kosh, an Air Force veteran and retired Pennsylvania state trooper, who had spent nearly two decades collecting hundreds of oddities with the hopes of eventually opening up a museum.
Dime museums were popular during the 19th and early 20th centuries and were so named because admission cost ten cents. The “museums” featured oddities, curiosities, strange taxidermy, wax figures and anything else you might find in a sideshow. It’s never clear which items are real and which are completely made up, which is the fun of the dime museum (predecessor to the cheesy, but still entertaining Ripley’s Believe it or Not! tourist traps).
My mom and I spent quite a while gawking at the collection, which includes medical oddities, taxidermy hybrids, a full-size wax replica of Jesus and his disciples during the Last Supper, the World’s Largest (and only) Ball ‘O’ Ties and a room filled with mementos and art from notorious serial killers such as John Wayne Gacy. Because this is Gettysburg, Kosh’s collection also includes Abraham Lincoln’s last bowel movement and a plaque containing the Gettysburg Address spelled out with alphabet soup noodles.
Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates such a low-tech, out-of-the-ordinary experience and Kosh is closing the museum after just two years. He told us that tourism in Gettysburg as a whole has declined over the years and the museum—despite the $7 admission price, not exactly a dime, but still very reasonable—has been losing money since it opened.
Kosh will be selling off most of his collection when the museum closes in November, although a lot of the more desirable pieces have already been claimed (like the serial killer memorabilia). When he asked me which of the pieces I was interested in, I found it impossible to specify (I can’t make that Sophie’s Choice!). He advised that I check his Facebook page for updates, but I’m just happy that we were able to take a tour while we still could.
Gettysburg Dime Museum
224 Baltimore Street,
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Open Saturdays only, 10am-5pm through November 17th, 2018.
Graffiti Highway
Centralia, located in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, became a virtual ghost town due to a coal mine fire that has been burning underneath the town since 1962. It is the least-populated municipality in Pennsylvania and in 2013 Centralia had just seven permanent residents. The USPS discontinued Centralia’s ZIP code in 2002 and in 2013 an agreement was reached with the seven remaining residents allowing them continue living in Centralia, with the stipulation that after they die the rights to their houses would transfer to the state.
The first mines opened in Centralia in 1856, and the town’s population peaked in 1890. World War I and the stock market crash of 1929 contributed to a decline in coal production through to the 1960s. And in 1962, when a fire in the town landfill, located in an abandoned strip-mine, was not properly extinguished, it spread into a maze of abandoned mines beneath Centralia. I was told that warmth from the fire can still be felt today through cracks in the pavement, and I think I felt something, but it’s probably more pronounced in the colder months.
In 1981, 12-year-old Centralia resident Todd Domboski fell into a sinkhole that appeared in his backyard. He was pulled out by his cousin, but it was discovered that the hot steam emanating from the hole contained a lethal level of carbon monoxide. In 1983, the government provided more than $42 million to relocate Centralia’s remaining residents, with more than 1,000 people accepting the offer while 500 buildings were demolished.
In 1992 all of the remaining property in Centralia was condemned and the fire spread beneath the nearby village of Byrnesville, which was also abandoned. A section of Route 61 was permanently closed in 1994 because of severe damage from the fire. In 2018, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ruled that it could never be used again as a highway and turned ownership of the three-quarters of a mile stretch of road—now known as the Graffiti Highway—over to adjacent property owners.
This change in ownership means state police are no longer issuing citations for trespassing, and word must have spread because on a Sunday afternoon the “abandoned” road was full of families adding their own spray-painted designs to the cracked and buckled pavement. While it wasn’t quite the desolate place that I was expecting—I could have done without the bros on four-wheelers—it was still a great place to get out of the car and stretch our legs amidst a colorful, post-apocalyptic backdrop.
Graffiti Highway
Runs parallel to the current PA-61 (there is parking along the side of the road)
Centralia, PA 17921
Happy Friday!
Illustration by Lindsey Frances
Things that happened recently:
I believe Christine Blasey Ford and I still believe Anita Hill. But will it matter? Here’s a spot-on (and depressing) look at the glaring differences between how we treat the men accused of sexual assault and the women who they assault.
Ok, ok, maybe all men aren’t trash.
A Buffalo man who had been in prison for 26 years for a murder he didn’t commit was recently exonerated due in part to his artwork, which was featured in Golf Digest.
Things to do in New York this week:
The Tribeca TV Festival started yesterday and runs until Sunday. We have tickets to the premiere of season three of The Tracey Ullman Show tonight, followed by an interview of Tracey by her real life bff Meryl Streep.
The Queens County Fair is this weekend, featuring blue ribbon competitions in produce, livestock, and arts & crafts; pie eating and corn husking contests; pig races; hayrides; carnival rides; midway games and the Amazing Maize Maze.
Sunday the Merchant’s House Museum is hosting a Garden & Graveyard Walk through the green spaces of Little Italy, NoHo, Bowery and the Lower East Side. The event is free and sold out, but you can get on a waitlist here.
Things I’ve discovered recently:
I’ve always not-so-secretly wanted a micro pig but my hopes and dreams were crushed when I found out that that’s not even a real thing.
I have terrible listening comprehension but I’m always trying out podcasts to see if one will catch my attention. Dr. Death, the story of a spine surgeon who operated on 38 people—33 of whom were left either dead or with some form of permanent paralysis—had me riveted and I’m impatiently waiting for the sixth, and final, episode.
A full trailer for Mary Poppins Returns has debuted and although I have an aversion to movies that mix humans and animation, I’ll have to see this for Emily Blunt and the blink-and-you-miss-her cameo by Meryl Streep.
I’m excited to see Meryl Streep interview Tracey Ullman today—the first Meryl event I’ve attended since I moved to the city five years ago (how can this be??). Friends from Portland are in town this weekend so we have early breakfast plans on Saturday, and I have tickets to the graveyard walk on Sunday in lower Manhattan. Next Saturday I leave for Egypt for two weeks and yesterday I was properly vaccinated (no typhoid or hep A for me!) so I just have to buy a few last minute clothing items (that fit into the casual desert tourist lewk I have in mind) and start the daunting task of packing. The crushing humidity finally seems to have gone away (hopefully for good) and I can’t believe October will be half over when I get back. Fall moves much too quickly, but I’m determined to squeeze in as many delights as possible (I just bought Haunted Hayride tickets for Sleepy Hollow). Have a great weekend!
Petrified Forest National Park
I am constantly blown away by the variety of landscapes that you can find without ever leaving the US, and Petrified Forest National Park is one of those places—like White Sands or Joshua Tree—that feels otherworldly. Petrified Forest National Park is located in the greater Painted Desert in northeastern Arizona. The Painted Desert accounts for about 1,500 square miles of the park’s 150,000 acres, but the main environment is short-grass prairie.
The park is so named for the large amount of petrified wood found within—fossils of fallen trees that lived 225 million years ago when the climate was humid and sub-tropical. Streams flowing across the plain carried trees and other plants and animals, most of which decayed normally.
Occasionally, organic matter is buried so quickly by sediment containing volcanic ash that it becomes fossilized when silica from the ash forms quartz crystals in place of the organic matter. Traces of iron oxide and other substances create the color variation, and millions of years later you have petrified wood—it retains the shape and texture of the original wood, but polishes to a shine like any other crystal.
Taking petrified wood from the park—even a small chip—is against federal law, but there are plenty of places nearby to buy rough or polished specimens in all shapes and sizes. I had never really seen much petrified wood until visiting Arizona but its in every trading post and souvenir shop that we stopped at along the way. I’m shocked that there is any left in the national park. There are two large shops conveniently located right outside of the park, with restrooms, snacks and some dinosaurs that have definitely seen better days.
We mostly drove through the park, stopping to get out and take photos whenever something caught our eye (which was often). There is so much more to the park than just petrified wood, including Newspaper Rock, the Agate Bridge, the teepees (not to be confused with the Wigwam, which we had stayed in the night before), the Blue Mesa and the rainbow and crystal forests. On the Giant Logs trail you’ll find just that, including “Old Faithful,” a huge log that is almost 10 feet across at its base.
I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, but some of the sweeping views felt like we were getting close. In fact, the Painted Desert is a part of the Colorado Plateau, which includes nine National Parks—Arches, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest and Zion—and 18 National Monuments.
The park is open every day of the year except Christmas, and Arizona doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time so it’s on Mountain time all year round. It is mostly dry in the desert, of course, but I was shocked to learn that the Petrified Forest has a monsoon season and it even snows in the winter. It was bright, clear, hot and extremely windy when we went in June—so windy in fact that our map blew out of our car and I had to chase it across the plain.
Petrified Forest National Park is the only national park to once have claimed a section of Route 66, which bisected the park until it was decommissioned in 1985 (Interstate 40 took its place). The park has preserved a small grassy section of the Mother Road, marked with a rusty car and a line of small, wooden telephone poles.
Petrified Forest National Park
The park stretches north and south between Interstate 40 and Highway 180.
There are two entrances into the park.
Muffler Man: Arnold's Half Wit
The Happy Half Wit, manufactured by International Fiberglass, was originally called Mortimer Snerd after ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's puppet. The Half Wits have faces that resemble Alfred E. Neuman of MAD magazine and they are a variant on the classic Muffler Man (others include Cowboys, Indians, Texaco Big Friends and UniRoyal Gals).
The Half Wits (a name coined by Roadside America) were produced for mini golf courses along the east coast and Ohio. They came in one of two color schemes: yellow shirt with suspenders and blue pants (with patches) or red shirt and yellow suspenders with blue pants (no patches). They also have one of two hat styles: a round farmer-type hat or a conductor hat that was made by modifying the round style.
The Half Wits are much more rare than the traditional Bunyan Muffler Men and I just recently met my third one (my first was at the Magic Forest in Lake George and my second was at Mr. Bill’s in New Jersey). There were once two Happy Half Wits on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, NJ and both were damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. In 2014, one was restored and moved to Oaks, PA where it currently sits outside of Arnold's Family Fun Center.
The Arnold’s Half Wit lost his suspenders in the renovation, but he’s still the best Half Wit I’ve seen. While the one at Mr. Bill’s does have the suspenders, his complexion is a bit off—and the Amish-style Half Wit at the Magic Forest begs many, many questions. While Arnold’s Family Fun Center might not be worth the price of admission—one review is titled “What a dump!”—luckily you can see their Happy Half Wit (and his giraffe pal) free of charge.
Arnold’s Family Fun Center
2200 West Drive
Oaks, PA 19456
Middletown Psychiatric: Kleiner Center
The first building we explored on the Middletown Psychiatric campus was the Solomon Kleiner Center. The modern brick building was used for occupational and recreational activities, but closed in 2006 along with the rest of the Middletown Psych Center.
Middletown opened in 1874 but The Kleiner Center came later, dedicated in 1968. The building was named for Solomon Kleiner, clinical director at the psychiatric center for 30 years. In 2015, a building on the Middletown campus caught fire—arson or a lightning strike, the cause was never determined—and when the flames threatened the nearby Kleiner Center firefighters doused the building to keep it safe.
Used for recreational activities—as opposed to patient housing or medical treatments—the Kleiner Center has a gym, bowling alley and art rooms. Signs still posted listed directions to various areas and when I saw “bowling alley” I thought it was too good to be true. A psychiatric hospital bowling alley has been on my exploring wish-list forever—at least since I saw one in Girl Interrupted. I was most surprised to find so many shoes in relatively good condition in the shelves and a few bowling pins, balls and bags laying around.
The gym has wild, undulating, massively buckled wooden floors that I’ve seen in photos of other abandoned schools but never experienced in person before Middletown. We were surprised at just how much stuff was left in the Kleiner Center—especially when compared to the relatively empty Tuckerman Hall. I’m sure the well-meaning efforts to save the building from fire inadvertently did more damage with a few fire hoses than 12 years of abandonment ever would have.
The Kleiner Center is one of the buildings (along with Tuckerman Hall) that is slated for redevelopment by the city of Middletown. In addition to all of the abandoned buildings, the campus currently includes a small mental health facility and homeless shelter. But the city of Middletown has encountered some complications, including the fact that 100 of the acres that the city wants to redevelop are actually owned by the town of Wallkill—with the dividing property line running right through the middle of the Kleiner Center.
Happy Friday!
Illustration by Lindsey Frances
Things that happened recently:
Hurricane Florence was downgraded to a Category 2 storm, but apparently category number is not a great indicator of a hurricane’s potential danger. Despite the warnings, 84-year-old retired sea captain Skippy Winner isn’t scared, and yes, our President is still an incompetent monster.
Author of “How To Murder Your Husband” might have done just that, but all men are trash so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you’ve been in New York since March you’ve probably seen posters up for Norman the missing Chihuahua. He was lost by the “Uber of dog-walking” Wag, and he may or may not have been run over by a car but he’s definitely not the only dog Wag (or their competition, Rover) has lost or mishandled recently.
Things to do in New York this week:
The Feast of San Gennaro began Thursday in Little Italy on Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston, and lasts through next Sunday.
The (definitely haunted) Morris-Jumel mansion, built in northern Manhattan in 1765, is hosting a paranormal investigation on Saturday.
I already have plans for Tuesday night, but Madame Morbid’s Death Becomes Her lecture at Caveat about women serial killers looks fun.
Things I’ve discovered recently:
I’ve been on a good streak of books lately (all from the library) and you can see a few of my most recent book reviews here. I’m currently reading this book about the opiate crisis and while I read this book not too long ago, Dopesick is full of new and fascinating (and heartbreaking, and infuriating) information. Oh, and Purdue Pharma, makers of OxyContin just received a patent designed to treat opioid addiction.
Grab tissues before you read this from a daughter caring for her dying mother—and then go out and buy this book for yourself and every other future corpse you know.
I’ve never seen a more accurate description of the NYC subway than this one.
Well the temperature appears to be dropping to a more habitable level but I continue to feel personally victimized by this humidity. When I was in New Mexico, it was so dry that I had a massive nosebleed, but there has to be a happy medium between the two extremes. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is filming around my neighborhood today, including right next door to my apartment tonight. I fully intend to (respectfully) stalk the production and try to convince them to hire me to do anything because—despite that very bad title font—the entire show is my dreamworld (if you haven’t watched it, you should!). I have an appointment to get new glasses on Saturday which I’m excited about since I’m 33 going on 103. If you’re in the path of Florence, stay safe and have a great weekend!
Middletown Psychiatric: Tuckerman Hall
Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital, or Middletown Psychiatric, opened in Middletown, New York in 1874. It was the first hospital in the United States to use homeopathic techniques to treat mental disorders and probably for good reason—homeopathy is not based on actual science, and as it turns out, is has never been proven to be an effective treatment for much of anything.
Middletown also touted physical activity as a treatment course, and in 1888 a baseball team—called the Asylums—was formed, comprising patients, staff and local amateur players. Just a few years later the team was playing teams from the New York City region and in 1892 the Asylums only lost twice, both times to the New York Giants (the team that would become the San Francisco Giants after a 1958 move).
When it opened, Middletown only had 69 patients. The complex eventually grew to include more than 100 buildings housing nearly 4,000 patients in the 1960s. Through the years more mental health services were offered on a outpatient basis, and Middletown only had 80 patients when it closed officially in 2006. In 2015, one of the oldest buildings on the Middletown campus mysteriously burned down and several others are securely boarded up or completely empty.
Other buildings on the 232-acre complex have already been repurposed as part of the Middletown Community Campus. An article from January of this year states that the city has purchased more of the property from the state (for $1) with rehabilitation in mind, including the two buildings we explored: Tuckerman Hall and the Solomon Kleiner Center (deserving of its own post).
The photos in this post are from Tuckerman Hall, which appears to have been used for patient housing and medical services. There wasn’t much left inside of the building, but we did see a dental x-ray machine, lockers, medical cabinets labeled “treatments,” “lab supplies,” and “urine collection kits.” The walls have more peeling paint in muted institutional greens and pinks than I think I’ve seen in any of the other buildings we’ve ever explored and surprisingly few spray-painted dicks.
The small patient rooms are usually the saddest part of a place like this and when combined with the caged stairwells, I see little difference between Middletown and Eastern State Penitentiary. Attempts were made to personalize some of the rooms, but there’s no amount of colorful murals, floral curtains or uninspired artwork that can mask the suffering that inevitably occurred within these walls.
Recent Reads
Famous Nathan: A Family Saga of Coney Island, the American Dream and the Search for the Perfect Hot Dog, by Lloyd Handwerker
Even though I know that hot dogs are garbage food, nothing says New York summer to me like a hot dog from Nathan's at Coney Island. I loved this little book about the history of Nathan's (written by one of his grandsons, Lloyd Handwerker), once a humble hot dog stand selling frankfurters for a nickel (while every other restaurant in Coney Island sold them for ten cents).
The ending is a bit sad—Nathan's two sons could never get along long enough to steer the business like Nathan hoped—and today Nathan's might no longer resemble the business that Handwerker started, but the rags to riches tale of an immigrant in America is as irresistible as a Nathan's hot dog and an order of crinkle-cut cheese fries.
The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
After seeing a trailer for the movie adaptation, I reserved this YA novel from the library. I was immediately drawn into the world of Starr, a 16-year-old girl who watches her friend get shot by a police officer during a routine (but not-at-all justified) traffic stop. This is a powerful book that doesn’t shy away from some heavy topics, and Starr’s world—her school, her family, her thoughts and her words—feels so very real.
I think it’s true that you’ll never understand someone fully until you walk a mile in their shoes and reading stories that differ from our own is often the best way we can do that. Starr’s story is an essential one—at times heartbreaking, frustrating and funny like all teenagers’. It’s hard enough being a teenage girl, but Starr’s experience is one that a lot of white America (myself included) will never fully understand unless we really start paying attention.
Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders
I’ve never had such a wild turnaround when reading a book before like I did with Saunders’s first full-length novel. The narrative is described as “experimental,” which would have been helpful to know before I started reading (encouraged to do so by a friend who has been spot-on so far in his recommendations). The book comprises sections cobbled together from historical sources to set the scene—the very real story of Abraham Lincoln’s son Willie, who died from typhoid—along with a fictional narrative laid out like a play (with the name of the speaker appearing after his dialogue).
I hated this book so viscerally when I started it that I was physically angry at it—but once I figured out the unconventional structure, I immediately fell in love with Saunders’s haunting words. The story takes place over one night, in the graveyard where Willie is taken after his untimely death. The Bardo—a sort of Buddhist purgatory—is populated with so many characters it was hard to keep them straight but it didn’t matter much in the end. Saunders’s words on life and death will stick with me for a long time and I now understand why this book garnered so much praise.
Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying, by Sallie Tisdale
This book was a no-brainer for me, someone who devours anything I can get my hands on about death and dying. I hate surprises and secrecy, so I think it’s ridiculous and damaging to ignore the fact that every single one of us (and every one we know) is going to die. About half of Advice for Future Corpses details how to care for a dying loved one, and half is about what physically happens to a body as (and after) it dies. As the excellent title implies, this book is literally for everyone and I think it—and similar books Being Mortal and How We Die—should be required reading for anyone currently residing inside of a future corpse.
Gross Anatomy: Dispatches from the Front (and Back), by Mara Altman
Memoirs by millennial women that address taboo topics in humorous ways are my not-so-guilty pleasure. Every topic that Altman discusses—body hair, sweating, digestive issues, odors, genitalia, etc.—are things I worry and wonder about every single day trying to survive in this strange and confusing world of womanhood. It’s immensely helpful to know that you aren’t alone in your struggles with the human body, but it’s also frustrating to know that we’re all worrying about things that are completely normal and unavoidable.
I’m thankful for people like Altman for writing about these things with humor and grace. We could all benefit from being a little kinder to ourselves and to others who are just doing the best we can in dealing with these strange and unpredictable bodies of ours.
Muffler Man: Woodstock Hippie
My first thought after buying tickets to see Steve Martin and Martin Short’s variety show in Bethel, New York was that we’d finally get to see the Hippie Muffler Man. Bethel is located about two hours northwest of the city in the Catskills region of New York. In 1969, the Woodstock music festival took place in Bethel—not 60 miles north in Woodstock, NY—on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm.
This Muffler Man stands on Yasgur’s farm, attached to a telephone pole near the road. Before he moved to Bethel, this Bunyan-style fiberglass giant stood outside of a car repair shop in Albany. He held a large muffler, which was replaced by an ax in 1987 when he was sold to a jeep dealership in Monticello. In 1993 he moved to an ice cream shop which turned into a fish market (he then held a large fish, which I would have loved to see). In the late ‘90s, a Woodstock-loving employee gave the Muffler Man his “hippie” look.
This Muffler Man is technically on private property and at times there have been ‘no trespassing’ signs posted, but there’s enough room to pull off the road and snap a few quick photos. He has a tie-dye shirt and patched jeans and no longer holds anything. I remarked that his shirt was a strange attempt at representing tie dye, and then as we were watching Woodstock the Movie on Sunday we noticed that Joe Cocker’s shirt looked awfully familiar…
Hippie Muffler Man
Yasgur Road and 17b,
Bethel, NY 12720
Happy Friday!
Illustration by Lindsey Frances
Things that happened recently:
Who do you think wrote that anonymous New York Times op-ed? This theory is my favorite.
This story about a man who has been bussing tables at Walker Bros. Original Pancake House in Chicago for 54 years is sweet but also heartbreaking (and just one more reason why we need Medicare for all).
I wasn't familiar with Joyce Maynard's story before reading this article, but now I want to read her 1998 memoir about her relationship with J.D. Salinger (he was 53 at the time and she was 18). Side note: men are still the worst.
Things to do in New York this week:
Saturday is the 11th Annual Beard and Mustache competition at Coney Island.
Dodie, one of my favorite singer/songwriters, is playing at Brooklyn Steel on Saturday. I'll be there, even though I'm 100 years old, don't like concerts and the last time I went to Brooklyn Steel I almost wasn't allowed in because of my "suspicious" pill container (which contains contraband like—gasp—Advil).
Sunday is a New York Adventure club tour of Woodlawn Cemetery where some of their opulent family mausoleums will be unlocked (hopefully it's not rained out three times like the last Woodlawn tour I tried to take).
Things that I've discovered recently:
I received a lot of very thoughtful birthday gifts (thank you friends and family!), but I couldn't help but laugh when I picked up a box from my friend Jim via UPS that said "hippo storage ottoman" (and contained exactly that).
I have a pile of library books that I'm working through and I cried when I finished this very excellent book. I can't wait for the movie, which looks equally as good.
iAmMoshow the Cat Rapper is my new favorite Twitter follow— can you even handle Cat DJ Ravioli??
Looks like we're finally getting a break from the horrible, miserable heat but we're also maybe getting a hurricane too? David and I have plans to go to our (semi)regular bar tonight which means I'll be eating the world's best mac 'n' cheese (seriously, it's last-meal good) so I'm excited about that. Tomorrow I hope I can stay up late enough to enjoy the Dodie concert (we'll probably/definitely be the oldest people there—she's a 22-year-old Youtube star) and Sunday my mom and I will be peeking inside of mausoleums at Woodlawn (hopefully the rain holds off). My big Egypt trip is rapidly approaching so I'm trying to enjoy a few weeks in the city before I leave it again for a while. Starbucks is already selling the Pumpkin Spice Latte, I've spotted Halloween stores popping up and I am very, very ready to slide head first into fall, when my spooky aesthetic is temporarily in style again. Have a great weekend!
Soldiers' National Cemetery
Soldiers' National Cemetery, in Gettysburg, is the final resting place of 3,512 Civil War casualties, 979 of which are unknown. It has sections for veterans of other wars, along with graves of the veterans' spouses and children. An annex was added in 1968 to accommodate servicemen killed in Vietnam, but soon filled to capacity and the cemetery officially closed to new burials in 1978.
Shortly after the battle ended, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin was horrified at what he saw: "ruined farms, homes filled with injured men, fresh graves of the fallen in every conceivable place on the field. Many of the Union dead lay in unmarked graves, only the fresh sod thrown over the remains identified the site as a burial. Heavy rains had washed away the earth from many of the shallow graves. Grotesquely blackened hands, arms and legs protruded from the earth like "the devil's own planting... a harvest of death" while the stench of death hung heavy in the air."
Several citizens approached the Governor with plans for a cemetery and he agreed that the commonwealth would provide funds and help transfer the remains of the Union dead from their initial burial plots. Soldiers' National Cemetery was established on the aptly named, Cemetery Hill, a portion of the nearly 4,000 acre-battlefield.
The cemetery is perhaps best known for its dedication ceremony, which took place on November 19, 1863. Edward Everett, who served as a US Senator, Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, Secretary of State and president of Harvard, delivered a two-hour keynote address. After a brief musical interlude, President Abraham Lincoln—invited to give a few remarks—rose and in just two minutes delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.
The cemetery has traditional, plain white tombstones set in rows like other national cemeteries, as well as flat numbered markers and several large sculptural monuments. Cemetery Hill has breathtaking views and it's hard to imagine that such a beautiful place could have been host to three days of such horror.
Soldiers' National Cemetery
1195 Baltimore Pike,
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Meteor City Trading Post
Along Route 66, In between Flagstaff and Winslow, Arizona and after Twin Arrows and Two Guns is another abandoned trading post, Meteor City. Meteor City, named after the nearby Meteor Barringer Crater, has been a stop along the Mother Road since it first opened as a Texaco gas station in 1938. The original geodesic dome was built in 1979 and the post was once home to the nation’s largest dream catcher and a 100-foot map of Route 66.
I was frequently pulling over on our trip to photograph weathered and decaying billboards, but the three leading the way to Meteor City were some of my favorites. Meteor City—more than any of the other trading posts that we visited—made me wish that I could go back in time and see it during its glory days. The dream catcher is in tatters, the map is long gone and the name is barely visible underneath a load of uninspired graffiti.
In 1990, the original Meteor City dome burned down and was replaced by the structure that stands today. It was then briefly shut down in 2001 and new owners painted over the map of Route 66 in the early 2000s. The trading post was put up for sale for $150,000, but no buyers were found. In 2012, like so many other once-thriving businesses along Route 66, Meteor City was abandoned.
In March of 2017, Joann and Mike Brown purchased the property and began the slow process of cleaning up and protecting the site from vandals with the hopes of eventually revitalizing and reopening the post. We didn't see much evidence of Meteor City coming back to life when we visited in June, but I'm glad that such an iconic piece of Route 66 history has been saved from demolition, at least for now.
Meteor City Trading Post
40440 Interstate 40 Wb
Winslow, AZ 86047
Muffler Man: Camp Bullowa
I'm running out of Muffler Men to see in close proximity to New York, but this weekend I crossed two more off my list. The first one we saw on our way to the Catskills is located at Camp Bullowa, a Boy Scout and Cub Scout camp in Stony Point, New York. Stony Point is in Rockland County, about 45 minutes north of where I live in Harlem.
The Camp Bullowa Muffler Man is one of the early Paul Bunyans made by International Fiberglass in the mid-1960s. The Bunyan has been at the camp since the mid-'90s, and its whereabouts before then are unknown. He was previously located on a steep hill, but mischievous scouts would periodically push him down the hill into the lake. The hollow fiberglass statue would float, but he was moved near the entrance and in view of the ranger's home to discourage similar pranks.
The wooden axe (secured with the largest zip ties I've ever seen) is a replacement of the original, his salt-and-pepper beard is painted that way, and if you look closely you can see curly little chest hairs poking out of his shirt. I'm always happy to find that a Muffler Man is well-loved, and the Camp Bullowa Bunyan could use a little scrubbing but he's in good shape especially considering all of the unexpected lake dives he's taken over the years.
Camp Bullowa
15 Franck Road,
Stony Point, NY 10980
Go past the entrance, into the parking lot and the Bunyan is on the left.
The most fantastic thing about the New York Botanical Garden’s annual Orchid Show is the orchids themselves