I just finished the book, so fun to see this. Where’s the cat? Lol

Thanks for sharing this video and text description with the additional information from his letter. I grew up just across the river in Sunderland where my Family's dairy farm. I occasionally drove up Pine Nook and used to look for birds in that orchard. Nice shot of the Turkey Vulture from the Rock! Around the same time I was reading and writing a "Book Report" on Travels with Charley in High School, I saw an article written in the Greenfield Recorder (newspaper), probably in ~1994 about the farmer along Pine Nook Rd. I think the title was "Steinbeck Called Him 'Contented' ". I don't recall his name, though. I found this paper on the Discontentment of America in Steinbeck's later writing. Kind of surprising that the farmer isn't mentioned as he was clearly a noteworthy exception to the discontent that Steinbeck found in America, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/steinbeckreview.13.1.0036

Travels With Charlie contains a liberal amount of fiction, but it's still enjoyable to read.

Thanks for the pictures.

I love New England rural architecture. I just retired days ago and I'm re-reading "Travels with Charley" 50 years after the first read.

if you like lettuce romaine

Please look up! I met you in Mrytle beach with you friend Chad? We agree on a lot. I live your books! Angie, Angela Farrell 412-304-3477!

Great to see another video from you! I bought your Kindle version of your book "Dogging Steinbeck" when it first came out and gave away my printed copy to my brother. You sent me another autographed/signed copy, I have it put up with my favorite books. TJ

So you didn't sleep in the truck?

Excellent video, thank you very much.

Thanks for the documentary film, I had never seen it. I am reading your book again and found your KZbin clips. (You autographed a book for me and sent it to me as I had bought the Kindle version and wanted a print copy for keeps) Terry, Lenoir City, TN

Great video Bill I need to watch all of them I have subscribed Terry Jones (You signed a book for me when they first came out)

Into dogging? Connect with singles and couples on www.dogging-dates.co.uk

I went here in 1990 while on a long weekend visit to Sag Harbor. I love Mr. Steinbeck's writing and I made my pilgrimage here alone, to see his home, while my friends slept at Baron's Cove. A fellow was doing some yard-work and I politely asked him if he knew where Steinbeck's house was. "Right there," he pointed across the street. "Elaine just got back, why don't you go and knock..." Taking his advice, I knocked. Elaine opened the door and was thoroughly nice. She had curlers in her hair. She actually let me in John Steinbeck's and her home, gave me a beverage and spent some time with me. What a surreal and wonderful experience. I was 25. And I'll always be grateful to her. RIP, Elaine and John

Up to the 70's, The Westgate Motel used to have a beautiful neon sign with a glow that would add a touch of color to the dark gray of night. It was a beacon out to the automobile adventurer that there existed respite from the lonely, open roads of the plains. It can be supposed that, with the completion of Interstate 94 in 1977, it was easier for these wandering souls to drive right on by this oasis on the prairie. But, maybe not. There certainly was not much out there once a motorist committed to continuing either east or west from Beach, so a savvy adventurer would have had their paper map marked and their stops would have been well forecasted. This little area in Beach had it all for those who just needed a little gas and refreshment before continuing onward. I'm going to try to break this down from memory, and dial the wayback machine to the 70s. If I'm wrong, I will gladly admit and accept criticism. Where the videographer, Bill, is standing is about half a block west of Central and 4th Street NE. - The video starts out facing west, with the Westgate Motel in view. - In the 70s and 80s, outside the frame, the building immediately to the left of Bill would have been the Mobil gas station. A traveler, coming into Beach on - At 0:05, Bill pans to 1st Avenue and 4th Street. The red building behind the stop sign used to be a Dairy Queen into the 80s. It was a confection specialty shop (as opposed to the Brazier fast food model). You could get a hot dog there and, perhaps, a burger. That Dairy Queen was connected to a house to the west via a below-level passage, allowing the proprietor to traverse between residence and business without going outside. Beach's Dairy Queen was the North Dakota answer to Wibaux, Montana's Tastee Freez (now, Tastee Hut) shop, 15 minutes away. In the 90's, the DQ became a Hot Stuff pizzeria. It is now a hair salon, which moved from its original location on Main and 1st Ave. Also in that frame, to the left, was a gas station with service bays. I know it was a Sinclair at some point during the 80's, but I suspect it was something else before that. Keep in mind that this was still a time where a pump jockey would come out, fill the tank, check oil, tires, and wash the windshield at no extra cost. - At 0:15, Bill pans to an area where some cabins used to be. I can't confirm that to be true, but I do know that it was a trailer park for a number of years in the late 70's. It may house some residents, still. Unknown. I imagine Bill has accurate information. - At 0:33, the video shows a hand-painted Westgate Motel sign. The Motel is now named Badlands Westgate Motel. I do not know when that changed. - At 0:43, you can see a vehicle coming into town. Just west of there is the most recent fairground. Built in the 50's, it grew into a exhibition and carnival that was quite lively for such a small town. Alas, the festivities only lasted about 25 years or so and the carnival was cut from the fair. The fair deteriorated and it never returned to it's old glory. - Outside of the frame, to Bill's right, was the newest restaurant to be built in Beach until the Flying J burned down in 2005 and was rebuilt. The restaurant was, for the most part, a pizzeria, with a few sandwiches. It was named Mary's Corner, and was pretty successful during to 80s. Mary's Corner was a stop for kids after school, which was only two blocks north. It had a small candy store and an arcade. It also had a nice, new laundromat, which directly competed with Johnson's "Dime-a-Time" laundry, which is two streets west of this spot, and still exists today. Later on, the Dairy Queen moved into the building that housed Mary's Corner. DQ folded and was briefly replaced by an Asian restaurant, which was quickly followed by a bar called "Doubloons". I do not know if Doubloons ever even opened. Central Avenue, just behind Bill, used to have a beautiful, thick canopy of trees, which shaded Central from the high school down to what used to be the old SuperValu grocery. At some point, fairly recently, those trees were cut down. The aesthetic of Central suffers pretty badly without those big, old trees. Trivia: The 2001 movie Wooly Boys shows a scene shot in the defunct Bob's Lanes (now Beach Alley (shuttered)). When Stoney is eating his "birthday bear claw", you can see the original lettering on the back wall that reads WELCOME BOB'S LANES. It was THE hangout if you didn't hang out at a bar. TL;DR: www.readinghorizons.com

I am currently living there

I am his & Elaine's granddaughter, Anderson. It's lovely to see the Sag Harbor house where I used to spend my summers as a child. His widow, Elaine raised me from the age of 12 on. I miss her terribly. Steinbeck died right before I turned 6, but I have many memories of our "Fa." Let's keep Steinbeck & his works alive!

It seems as if Steinbeck maintained his desire for a simple life, as is suggested by such a humble abode. If I had all the gold in Fort Knox I believe I would be the same. I have never coveted money for the mere sake of having it. I am just as comfortable sleeping at a Motel 6 than a grand Hilton. I am fortunate to be that way and I would not change it for the world.

My old school .. its fixed up now, just saw it last weekend

Should be a monument.

I love Steinbeck's story about the Maine State Trooper he encountered while trying to find Deer Isle, Maine.

Steinbeck was entirely correct about one thing; we all dream about doing what he did. The old bastard (said lovingly and with respect) did it and then shared it with the world. Some fact, some fiction, all great. :)

Thanks for this- very nicely done. A brilliant writer, and a Man's Man. We are a better people for having had John Steinbeck.

I have lived in this town my whole life! The dairy queen was behind you though. The other place was a pizza place. :)

That is our house in brown. The place you say had cabins!! Nice video!! My mom and dad lived in that house for 50 years. It had cabins and later Dad made it into a trailer court. My mom died in 2006 and we sold the place after that.

Really great. Thank you for doing this. You have made the trip come to life for me. Interestingly I live in Spokane (a mentioned stop in Steinbeck's trip (he took Charley to see an incompetent vet). My wife is from Amarillo, Texas which is also a stop (and seen in a much better light by Steinbeck than Spokane). Again, thanks for your efforts.

Thanks for the video. I found this same place on rt 2 in 1998 and it was a truck stop back then. The spooky cabins were long gone. I grew up in Sag Harbor and lived two blocks from Steinbeck'shouse when he left on his trip in Sept 1960. Saw him around town a lot till he passed away in 1968.