Do people live in Breezewood?
Most maps I’ve looked at don’t show much housing in the area.
Heh…I’ll join in, though I don’t really have any animus toward Breezewood. Of course, I rarely have reason to have to travel through it, either, so…but it really IS an armpit. The few times I remember going through it when I was a kid (I grew up in Altoona, about 40 miles NW of Breezewood), I can’t remember much housing…the town is like a giant truckstop.
This is exactly why Breezewood is the way it is.
I’ll join in the pitting of the whole PA Turnpike.
Amusing story:
In college, I was with one the student government going from our college in the NYC area to a conference in Cleveland, Ohio. We were also caravaning with a group from another of the nearby colleges. All told, there were 3 of those 14-person vans for the 10-ish hour trip.
At around mile-marker 200 on the PA Turnpike, the other college’s van broke down. We all pulled over (which isn’t easy on the PA Turnpike - shoulders tend to come and go) and, after ascertaining that their van was kaput, squished into our vans and proceeded to the conference. The whole delay cost us around 2-3 hours. Not a huge deal, but we missed the opening/welcome speech and got in kinda late.
Four days later, we were returning. Alone this time, as the other college had to leave late the night before in their replacement van. Lo-and-behold, right around mile-marker 200, our van breaks down due to some leaking oil or other nonsense. We wait a good hour-and-change for a tow capable of towing this van to show up. But to get us to a garage, the truck has to proceed 13 miles further down the roadway to the next exit, turn around and drive 25-ish miles to the previous exit, then drive a few miles off of the turnpike to some tiny town in the middle of nowhere.
But wait, it’s Sunday … which means the garage isn’t open. And we can’t get a rental because the Enterprise in town doesn’t have any vehicles large enough to accommodate us and the nearest place that did was more than 1/2 way home. So the club’s advisor’s supervisor gets in one of the other school vans, drives 6 hours out to get us (where we spent killing time in a tiny, but nice truck stop - a pinball tournament can pass the time!) and then we drive about 6 hours back home, getting home somewhere well after midnight.
So yes - I wholeheartedly support this pitting of the PA Turnpike for breaking down my the vehicle I was traveling in not once, but twice, in the same trip.
On the Eastern end there is no decent connection between I-95 and the Turnpike either.
Let me know when and we’ll go.
This at least is finally being remedied. There’s a huge, multi-decade project finally getting into the “construction” (read: build something finally) phase.
I spent three days in Breezewood once. You heard me, three. days.
The u-haul I was driving from Michigan to Virginia burst a pumpkin ont he way down the pennsylvania moutnainside.
Being a bit stressed out I chose the hotel which advertised a jacuzzi int he room. When I turned on the water to fill the jacuzzi, the water was brown. Same int he tap, and the toilet, as it turned out.
The most fun I had in Breezewood was looking at the 1000’s of different shot glasses covering a wall in one of the shops. I impressed my friends by buying everyone an “Air Force One” shot glass for Christmas.
The best food I had was at the Silver Diner.
Breezewood sucks.
Nope. She drove there and back every day from a little town between there and Altoona.
I’m guessing King or Claysburg.
Neither, but reasonably close. Back roads all the way and not I-99.
Mixed feelings.
I moved to Ohio in 1971. My family home is Arlington VA. Still is.
So, I’ve driven through there(conservatively) 390 times. You heard me right.
It was worse many years ago before there were as many fast food joints as there are now.
I spent the night there only once, trapped by a blizzard. Motel Hell.
I’m glad to know the history of why.
Getting off at an exit on the PA tpk before/after Breezewood wasn’t exactly a holiday.
More fast food joints make a place better?
No, certainly not. Just that, if I’m forced to exit there, and it’s lunch/dinner time, I’d prefer to have more than 3 choices as to where I eat my slop.
It’s got a Sheetz, so it’s not as bad as it could be.
Wish I could. I probably rode through one or both of those tunnels multiple times as a kid with my parents. It would be fascinating to see them outside of a car.
Lots of people don’t remember this, but one of the reasons McDonald’s grew so fast is
because it gave people a clean hygenic alternative to greasy spoons.
It’s been a while since I’ve driven along that part of the Pennsy Turnpike. Is the neonish Breezewood: Town of Motels sign still there? The gentle pink glow made it seem so nice and friendly and comforting, rather than what it actually is: a truck stop with its own zip code.
Evidently, what happens in Breezewood, stays in Breezewood. So, progress would be if the waitresses took EZPass…? 
Breezewood, Pennsylvania: Cervix To The Midwest !!