By Judy Laurinatis | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette July 19, 2007

It's summer and sometimes writers' fancies turn to road trips on historic highways lined with quirky things to see.

At least that's what happened with two writers who will sign their new books from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at one of those quirky sites -- Ligonier Beach on Route 30 just east of downtown Ligonier in Ligonier Township.

Mr. Wallis, a native of Tulsa, Okla., along with Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Michael S. Williamson, took off on the Lincoln Highway, or U.S. Route 30, from New York City's Times Square to the State Line Truck Stop in Wyoming to the California coast in Sutro Heights.

Some 300 color photos are included in Mr. Wallis' new book. He also wrote "Route 66," which has sold more than 500,000 copies.

Mr. Butko, who edits the magazine Western Pennsylvania History for the Sen. John Heinz History Center, traveled west with his wife, Sarah, on Route 66, stopping at dinosaur parks, the largest ball of twine shrine, the stand dedicated to petrified wood and more.

On the return trip, the couple, who live in West Mifflin, took Route 30, the highway Mr. Butko featured in his earlier book, "Greetings from Lincoln Highway." He has written more than a half-dozen books featuring travel through regional history, including one about Pennsylvania's roadside eateries, "Diners of Pennsylvania."

The signing is part of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor project, a preservation effort that has given new prominence to a Bedford diner's two-story coffee pot and some old-time gas pumps. The Ligonier-based LHHC primarily focuses on the Route 30 corridor from the Allegheny-Westmoreland County line to beyond Gettysburg.

Olga Herbert, whose preservation group set up the signings, said she became interested in the LHHC project several years ago when she realized there was the danger the Route 30 sites and stories might just fade into history unless something was done.

"I realized that no one under 55 knew [the history]," she said.

Take Ligonier Beach, for instance. It was opened in 1925 and many a Westmoreland County resident beat the summer heat by dipping into the large swimming pool and picnicking under the trees. Many famous people visited there, including Dean Martin, who performed at the site before he made it big, Ms. Herbert said.

Mr. Butko said the old highways have so much more character than the interstates, on which drivers speed through nondescript landscapes on their way to their destinations.

In "Roadside Attractions" the stories of more than 50 travelers of the historic highways are included.

In Mr. Butko's Lincoln Highway book, he mentions the Lincoln Motor Court in Bedford, which has old fashioned, one-room tourist cabins aimed at the traveler with a yen for the past.

"They're not too fancy, or large," Mr. Butko said. But they are filled with history and are one of his favorite things still there.

He blames, or credits, his father with planting the seed for adventurous driving when the family piled in the car and set out for road trips.

"He never took the same route twice," Mr. Butko said.

Originally published online here: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07200/802656-59.stm