
Was this a Precursor of Today’s Used Car Lots?
I was driving to Staunton, Virginia (pronounced “Standtin” by the locals) on what was once a major north-south highway now displaced by the Interstate.
This stretch of U.S. Route 11 (known as Lee Highway here) is a country road now that slows for thriving little towns and interesting stops along the way, with farms and barns and majestic mountain views.
But what I love most is to see the remnants of a bygone era – abandoned gas stations, diners, pre-chain motels, and other businesses I actually recall as they were in their “haydays” in the 1950’s.
There are crumbling buildings as timeworn as I sometimes feel.
Surely they have stories to tell of lives and lifetimes.
Would that we could get close enough
and remain still long enough to hear the echoes of the past.