As you’re probably aware, Roadguy hasn’t been spending much time in front of his BlogTron 3000 (props to old pal Batgirl for that term) this summer. But last week, he did head out on a micro-road trip to… um… somewhere. Let’s see if we can’t refresh our memory with a check of the overhead freeway signs:

Er, that’s not much help. (Maybe they’re still trying to decide between Clearview and the current font.)

Ah, here, this one’s better:

Yes, Stillwater, that’s it.

Roadguy took the scenic route, which included…

… the Maryland Avenue Bridge of Doom, which was keeping its concrete to itself that day. We also passed…

… which is in, of course, Hugo. No hunchbacks or cathedrals were spotted.

Once in Stillwater, Roadguy noted that even the price of parking has a small-town feel …

… and the guy who raises the lift bridge has his own spot:

The bridge itself looks O.K. from a distance:

Up close is another story. There’s rust…

… and if you look carefully, you can detect a slight bend where a too-tall truck crashed into some beams earlier this summer:

The bridge also has this sign:

(Roadguy confession: Many years ago, with the consent of a friendly tender, I once stayed on the bridge — the lift part — as it was raised for a small boat.)

Of course, who even needs a bridge to cross the mighty St. Croix River when you’ve got boats, except that the fuel …

… is even more expensive than gas for the car. Then again, you can always travel under human power:

(Yes, Stillwater is the Venice of Washington County.)

Finally, this vehicle, spotted at a marina, combines the best of both worlds:

A car-boat, for all your transportation needs. Stillwater has it all.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 6:05 am and is filed under Main, Scenes and stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.