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Strange, very strange
I grew up with roads. Stone. Struble. Olmstead. Nickel Plate. Westbrook. Steadman. Crandall. Knight. All roads of my youth, some paved but mostly just dusty byways of a mostly rural Michigan county.
I hiked along them and their overgrown fringes with buddy Carl. Rode my old balloon bomber over them. And traveled them with Dad in his Ford pickup to reach nameless creeks where we seined minnows and wigglers to fish for perch and bluegills at Loon Lake—on yet another road, Fenwick.
Thousands of such roads are still out there and along them you can still find some strange, fascinating and sometimes unbelievable things.
Strange, very strange
Near Chardon, Ohio, there is said to be a hill with an optical illusion that was once included in a “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” article. Traveling out of Chardon on Mentor Road, you will reach a point where the road becomes King Memorial Road.
A hundred yards or so past the intersection of this road and Little Mountain Road is where you should stop to experience the phenomenon. Although the road in front of you appears to be an incline, if you slide into neutral, you will roll forward—seemingly uphill.
Outside Metamora, Michigan, is what’s known locally as Blood Road. Witnesses claim that the surface of the road sometimes becomes covered with a thick red substance. But this is only one of the many oddities attributed to this road by local legend. Others include trees that chase vehicles, white-robed figures and unexplained lights.
A ghost is said to patrol Stone Church Road near Bartonville, Illinois. According to the story, a man died on the road and his spirit remains trapped there with his wrecked car.
Witnesses claim to have seen strange yellow lights and the figure of a man who mysteriously appears and disappears without warning.
Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman have made a career of collecting oddities of this sort. They’ve gathered them in an aptly named book, Weird U.S.
Destination, no. Side trip, maybe.
Clearly, these oddities are not likely things you would travel to see. But you might venture a few miles out of your way to take them in if you’re in the area, right? If that’s the case, keep this in mind. Chardon, Ohio, is just east of Cleveland where you can visit the spectacular Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Metamora, Michigan, lies east of Flint and north of Detroit. In addition to the numerous travel and shopping destinations available in these cities, visiting Metamora would put you reasonably close to two of the largest and best known Christmas retail stores in the Midwest.
One is Bronner’s in Frankenmuth, the largest in the world. Lake Orion is home to the second, Always Christmas at Old World Canterbury Village.
Bartonville is near Peoria, Illinois, so it could be a whimsical side trip if you’re traveling from Chicago to St. Louis on I-55, for example. It is also near Springfield, with its well known Lincoln attractions and the lesser-known Dana-Thomas House.
This is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright at the turn of the century for a local socialite. It includes more than 100 pieces of furniture designed by Wright. For more information, call 217-528-4311.