Fork in the Road Centerport, Pennsylvania

If you find yourself at the fork in the road in the tiny town of Centerport, Pennsylvania, which way will you go? If you're like us you'll choose the road that gives you the quickest opprotunity to turn around and get a photo. At the intersection of Main st. and Centerport rd. you'll find a large 8 foot fork.

Suspiciously the fork just appeared in 2004, leaving borough officials and townsfolk confused. After some investigative reporting a local resident came clean. The small concrete island is an old family property, that he felt needed a bit of charm. The man has no plans of removing the giant fork anytime soon., the residents and myself couldn't be more pleased.

Lost Riverboat in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania

Marooned not too far from the wondrous attraction known as Roadside America lies an old riverboat looking oddly out of place. The dilapidated boat lies detached in an open field, far from the days of entertaining guests off the coast of New York and New Jersey. Originally the riverboat was built in Minnesota and was named the "Suwannee Belle." The riverboat spent slightly more then a decade elating tourists from all over the world. It was eventually decommissioned in 1991. After a failed attempt as a restaurant the "Suwannee Belle" sat in a New Jersey storage unit until 2003. At this point the riverboat was purchased and was finding a new home in rural Shartlesville, Pennsylvania. The original owner had planned to use the riverboat as a tiki bar, unfortunately his dreams never came to fruition. Since then it has sat in this remote field never fully living up to the potential it seemingly had just a few short years ago. The new owners of the nearby restaurant continue to pay homage to the lost riverboat, having named their venture the Riverboat Saloon.

Roadside GIANTS- The Rootbeer Barrel

Back in 1969 while enjoying a few beers with a friend, Bill Schwarz popped off an idea that would change his life and his neighbors life for a long time. He decided to build a snack stand and sell roadside munchies near the resort town of Mt. Gretna. What set his stand apart from the others was it's odd structure. He chose to build a giant root beer barrel to set his shop up in, and of course one of their specialties was root beer right from a tap. The local landmark had become a roadside favorite for travelers along route 72.

After many years of wear and tear the barrel began to fall into disarray. Fortunately a local Eagle scout, with the assistance of Bill, were able to rebuild this roadside giant using much of the original lumber. For this Outta the Way would like to send a toast to Bill for his creative imagination, and to the local scouts for making sure a dream never dies!

Watch the barrel's return!

Roadside GIANTS: Bedford Coffee Pot

While most towns seem to shy away from the odd, the county of Bedford in Pennsylvania seems to embrace it. Driving along the Lincoln highway through the many small towns you'll encounter it first hand. From roadside giants to gravity defying roads, you'll find it in this rural, peaceful area.

In 1927, David Koontz built a two story roadside lunch stand unlike any other. Hoping to attract weary roadside drivers in need of a perk, he designed an 18 feet high and 24 feet in diameter giant coffee pot. Just ten short years later the place would be delegated to a dive bar. With the arrival of the Pennsylvania turnpike in the 1940's, so came the demise of the coffee pot. By 2003 the coffee pot had become so run down the county of Bedford bought it for $1.oo. After lots of TLC, the coffee pot was back in shape and relocated across the street where it now serves as a visitor's center.

Bedford County, Pennsylvania

In the April zine of Outta the Way we take you for a ride on the lost highway. An abandoned stretch of turnpike complete with tunnels. You'll be daring each other to pass through these dark hollow monsters. We'll also travel on a road where the laws of gravity no longer seem to apply. Soon you'll be rolling bottles, cans, balls, and even your car uphill. And finally we'll point you to some odd roadside attractions, including a giant coffee pot, and an old abandoned amusement park nestled in a wooded area adding a very creepy feel to a child's storybook imagination. So get outta the way, we're going Outta the Way.

Giant Amish Statues Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Amish Statue
Originally uploaded by B.B. Bellezza

When you have been as many roadtrips as we have around Pennsylvania, you start to wonder what the fascination with strange giant people is, especially giant Amish people.

This statue is located at the Holiday Inn off of Route 30, Greenfield Exit. Address: 521 Greenfield Rd., Lancaster, PA

It seems sort of menancing at night, if you ask me.