The World’s First Ever Wendy’s Restaurant is Closing

by Jamie Rhein on

The original Wendy’s Restaurant at 257 E. Broad St., the first ever, is shutting its doors next Friday. Rats! This is a place I take people when they are visiting and we’re venue hopping in the downtown Columbus area. It’s sort of near the Statehouse, Columbus Museum of Art, COSI (the science museum), and the Franklin Park Conservatory, making it a great last minute stop idea. An “I’m hungry. Let’s eat” kind of place. Plus, it’s cool to say, “This was the first Wendy’s.”

Dave Thomas, Wendy’s founder opened this first one in 1969. Inside is a Wendy’s museum of sorts. Toys given in kid’s meals, the uniform made by his wife and worn by his daughter for the restaurant’s logo, an employees’ how-to manual, and loads of photographs, awards and news clippings of Wendy’s news over the years are some of the items on display as a nostalgia bonanza to fast food. Historic or not, this particular Wendy’s loses money and lots of it. The parking is lousy and there isn’t a drive through which is partly to blame. Plus, not many people live downtown so the hours are limited. City Wendy can’t keep up with suburbs Wendy.

About the neat memorabilia. All will be moved to the Wendy’s headquarters in Dublin, Ohio. Ironically, Dublin, although it has a small town center, is a suburb of sorts of Columbus. I’m going to miss this downtown marker. Seriously, there will be no where to eat on the fly in Columbus’s downtown area on the weekends after this Friday.

Here’s an article from RoadsideAmerica.com about the first Wendy’s. There are some photos as well.

Black History Month in Germany

by Jamie Rhein on

There is nothing finer than learning something new and interesting. Thanks to Joerg W., a gadling reader who dropped a comment on my post about the first African American Baptist church in the United States, I’ve hooked into finding out more information about Black History Month in Germany. Although I haven’t come across events travelers can go to in Germany, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. has a section on the topic. There are photographs and archives that chronicle the experience of black people in Nazi Germany between the years 1933 and 1945. Details about the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the role of African American soldiers who helped liberate the camps are part of the offerings.

Black History Month in Germany focuses on African-Germans. This month African- German artists are getting some notice. For example, at the Berlinale International Film Festival there was a series of films by African-German filmmakers about the African-German experience. Atlantic Review: A Press Digest on Transatlantic Affairs, the publication Joerg contributes to also presents information about African-German visual artists.

As a traveler, it interests me to come across details that give me a fuller picture about where I am traveling. So, if you are traveling in Germany any time soon, here is another lens from which to view the world you are seeing.

How To Travel America

by Willy Volk on

While learning what to do is an integral component of pre-trip planning, learning about a nation’s people and their attitudes is just as important — yet often overlooked. To that end, foreigners visiting America may be interested in checking out How To Travel America.

Developed by Kenneth Hulick & Francesca Campbell Hulick, How To Travel America is a website offering a variety of resources and information on the practical aspects of traveling to and within the USA. Less focused on where to go, and more concerned with how to visit America as safely and comfortably as possible, How To Travel America has information ranging from tipping, to hints on electricity, to attitudes of Americans toward foreigners. There’s also a listing of popular activities that might be of interest, and a handy travel tips section that even Americans could benefit from reading.

Since you can’t print out a website, the Hulick’s also have a companion book available. Compared to the website, the 160-page How To Travel America contains more detailed information about shopping, dining, health care, what to wear, and much more. The book runs an affordable $19.95.

America: Favorite Architectural Landmarks

by Neil Woodburn on

Architectural landmarks are the cornerstone of any great city. But which are the best? Which works of architecture are the most beloved and worshiped by ordinary people walking past and admiring them?

In honor of the American Institute of Architects 150th anniversary, the organization commissioned a poll of 1,800 Americans to determine the nation’s most beloved buildings and structures. The survey was limited to 150 predetermined structures nominated by AIA members.

The results weren’t terribly surprising, but are nonetheless an impressive list of architectural must-sees in America. Here are the top ten. To see the whole list of 150, click here.

1. Empire State Building
2. The White House
3. Washington National Cathedral
4. Jefferson Memorial
5. Golden Gate Bridge
6. U.S. Capitol
7. Lincoln Memorial
8. Vanderbilt Residence
9. Chrysler Building
10. Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Washington DC)

Black History Month: First African American Baptist Church

by Jamie Rhein on

The Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Beech Island, South Carolina has the distinction of being the first African American Baptist church in the United States. As with any firsts, discovering what makes it so involved following a lead. The lead was an NPR radio story that caught my attention. See, James Brown is from Beech Island so a reporter went there to follow up on the town’s plans to build a James Brown museum. What became the point of interest on this occasion was the church.

It’s been in operation since 1750, 1773, 1774 or 1775. I’ve come across all three dates, but what is clear is that it first existed on the land of a man named Galphin who owned the plantation. Minister #1 was Wait Palmer, a white guy from Connecticut. Minister #2, who helped minister #1 was George Liele, the first ordained black minister. When the Revolutionary War broke out minister #1 hightailed it out of there and minister #2 became minister #1 and ordained another minister before he left for Savanah to form another church which was a spin off congregation of the first. Therefore, if you do a web search on the “first African American Baptist church like I did, The Springfield Baptist Church, will also come up. There’s more history about these congregations on BlackPast.org.

You can visit the Silver Bluff Baptist church in Beech Island, although the building is not the same building. The current building was built in 1883 and has been altered through the years. The Beech Island Historical Society offers details of other points of interest as well. Beech Island is just a short hop to Aiken County in Georgia with other historic points of interest.

Listen to the NPR story.