Interstate 75 is 2,875 kilometres long and passes through six U.S. states: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan.
If you're in the market for a lawn jockey statue, a handgun or a bear carved from solid hickory, the place to go is the Dog Patch Trading Post, in London, Ky. It's located next to Long Rider Leather, a store that attracts bikers shopping for bandanas, studded gloves and fringed leather chaps.
Canadian author Dave Hunter has turned the highway into a mini publishing industry. His book, Along Interstate 75, provides an exit-by-exit guide for travellers and is now in its 18th edition.
A section of I-75 that runs through Georgia is named in honour of Larry McDonald, a conservative Democratic congressman who died when the Soviets shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983, making him the only serving member of Congress to be killed by the Soviets during the Cold War.
After studying a crash-plagued stretch of I-75 south of Cincinnati in the 1970s, investigators discovered that the majority of accidents occurred on Sundays and that 85 per cent of the drivers involved were male. After making a series of safety modifications that included improved guardrails and warning signs, the number of rollover crashes was reduced by more than 80 per cent – but rear-end collisions increased by 300 per cent.
I-75 is a bonanza for aviation buffs. Its roadside attractions include the Neil Armstrong Museum, the birthplace of the Wright Brothers and the National Air Force Museum. The more committed buff may also want to check out New Kolb Aircraft, an ultralight aircraft manufacturer located in London, Ky., and Lookout Mountain Flight Park, a hang-gliding site near Chattanooga.
One of Interstate 75's more interesting roadside features is King of Kings, a giant statue better known as "Hugging Jesus." The statue is in a reflecting pond in front of the Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio, and is approximately 20 metres tall. The statue is a replacement for "Touchdown Jesus," an even taller Christ statue that was destroyed by a lightning strike in 2010.
But I still love Interstate 75, and` its endless, plebeian charm. Like they say: Give me a home where the Porsches don't roam.
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