Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Since 2007

Latest articles

  • Carmel four-way stops

    I’d been driving for 20 years when I started my current job, which is in Carmel, Indiana. Within days, I was almost involved in three accidents at four-way stop signs. The Indiana driver’s manual doesn’t tell the rules for four-way stops, but when Dad taught me to drive, here’s how he told me to handle…

  • Vintage TV: ABC’s AM America and Monty Python

    What would happen if Monty Python hosted a morning television news program? It actually happened once. In 1975, ABC debuted AM America, its first morning news show. At about the same time, Monty Python released their seminal film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and were, I’m sure, looking for promotional opportunities. Somebody at ABC…

  • No accounting for popularity

    I’ve made most of my creative work (such as it is) available on the Web, starting with my first Web site in 1995. I’ve been prolific in the past couple years, having posted 1,739 photos to Flickr, 112 blog entries, and 10 detailed road-trip reports. By a stupendous margin, the single most popular thing I’ve ever done…

  • Headstone’s

    When I was in college, I should have just had my work-study paycheck direct-deposited into Headstone Friends’ bank account. I spent most of it there anyway on used records and CDs. Headstone’s is a music store in head-shop trappings. Step inside, and suddenly it’s 1969. Well, it’s 1969 after your eyes adjust to the dim light,…

  • Indiana State Road 42

    You can’t quite call Indiana State Road 42 an overlooked gem. Running from Mooresville, just southwest of Indianapolis, to Terre Haute, it cuts awkwardly through a great deal of Indiana farmland, with frequent 90-degree turns frustrating even leisurely two-lane forward progress. Check out this mess: The road was built around farm boundaries, as was the…

  • Just call me Patch

    What obscure but interesting tidbit do most people not know about you? Most people don’t know that I had two eye surgeries by the time I was three and that I wore a patch for a few years to strengthen the repaired eye. I had all but forgotten about wearing the patch until I came…

  • A leader’s character

    A long time ago I had a creative job with an energetic entrepreneurial division of a large global firm. They made a killer product that had lots of buzz and made lots of money. When I interviewed for the job, my future bosses told me that their product’s high quality is what made it sell, that my position would…

  • Hanging Rock Hill

    Have you ever come upon a place so striking and beautiful that seeing it made you gasp? This is Hanging Rock Hill on State Road 7 in Madison, Indiana. I drove through here a couple Saturdays ago and even though this wasn’t my first visit, I was surprised to hear myself saying “Woooooow!” when it came…

  • Argus C3 photos

    A few quick photos from my Argus C3.

  • Under the stone bridge on the Michigan Road

    A 1910s stone bridge stands on the Michigan Road — and I got to go underneath it.

  • Where cars no longer go

    We all have our hobbies. Some people follow pro football, some run, some make lovely quilts, some fish, some solve the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.  I like to explore abandoned roads. Yeah, that’s a great conversation starter at parties. I’m not sure where this vigor comes from. All I know is that the first time I found…

  • Rock shows

    Who have you seen in concert? Something the disk jockey said on the radio this morning started me thinking about the concerts I’ve been to. I was surprised that I couldn’t remember them all! It’s not like I’ve seen that many shows, and I certainly wasn’t smoking any dope at them to fog my memory.…