Retrologist Day Trip: Destination Pennsylvania -- roadside Americana, vintage malls and more

Patron exclusive: Big Dixie cup, Norge Ball, classic Arby's, 1970s mall with 1989 twist, John Updike country and more -- vintage spots in NJ, PA you'll want to explore, too.

Hello friends!

On Saturday, March 16, a dear friend and I took a quick jaunt to Reading, Pennsylvania, and explored many vintage spots on the way there and back.

This is a quick overview of the places we visited. This is by no means meant to be a complete itinerary of roadside America in these parts — that would be an arduous undertaking outside the scope of this piece. However, I’m always ready to help patrons plan a retro trip anywhere in the United States. Just DM me!

We started our trip in New York State, and began with coffee and baked goods at the Art Cafe in Nyack. It’s not old-school but it’s a nice spot in a lovely community, and it could be a springboard for a restorative walk to admire the Victorian homes, the downtown and even the Edward Hopper Museum & Study Center nearby.

Had we more time, breakfast at Strawberry Place would have been in order. We hopped on the New York State Thruway north to I-287 south and then I-78 west toward the Lehigh Valley.

I briefly contemplated stopping at the Clinton Station Diner, where I’ve enjoyed a meal or two over the years, but we pushed on and made our first stop in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

I checked in on the Key City Diner, which is undergoing renovation after closing after a fire. As you can see, it’s a modern building, not a replica of the old diner, but I’m happy to see they are coming back. The old sign with its giant key is also there, though the letters have been removed.

Nearby, I checked in on the shuttered Toby’s Cup, which, last I heard, was set to become a location of the Windmill hot-dog chain. It will be interesting to see what happens to this historic structure, as the Windmill buildings have their own distinct look, so I’m glad I visited Toby’s one more time before anything happens here.

We then crossed the bridge into Easton, Pennsylvania, and it took great self-control not to head downtown and visit the Carmelcorn Shop, which I haven’t photographed in several years. But I wanted to check out a few spots I’ve never seen before.

We stumbled upon an intact Norge Ball—one of the holy grails of roadside travel — at the Wilson Wash-A-Teria. That was a pleasant surprise indeed.

Fisk Camera Shop on a quiet residential street (I thought the GPS was leading us astray at first) had been family owned since the 1920s. Nearby, I finally got to photograph the giant Dixie Cup atop the former factory, which, last I heard, was targeted for conversion to apartments.

We then pushed on before poking around Hellertown in search of a refreshment. Lacking time and certainly imagination, we grabbed some Dunkin’ and passed spots like Yaeger’s Pharmacy, and checked out the entrance to the Lost River Caverns.

On any other day, preferably a very hot one, I would have killed a few hours exploring Lost River, but we had places to go, and soon we were back on the road toward Reading, passing my old hometown of Allentown, where I spent four happy years toiling for the Morning Call newspaper.

As we approached Reading, I snapped a quick car shot of Schell's in Temple, a place I’ve shared with you. It looked glorious under the midday March sunshine. Temptation beckoned, but we had much more to see.