The Joys and Surprises of Small Towns and Back Roads

Old Fashioned Soda Fountain, Snyder's Drug Store, Great Falls, Montana (click to enlarge)

A couple of the things I try to do when traveling is to stay off the interstate highways and eat at local restaurants.  That puts me on secondary roads, through the countryside, and into small towns.

Driving through small towns allows you to experience people and life in a much different manner than stopping at a rest area or exit just off an interstate highway.  In small towns you see things that have disappeared in larger cities or in large metropolitan areas.  That "throwback" atmosphere is a nice change from what you normally see.  The pace of life is slower and less stressful, it seems.

The attitudes of the people you meet in small towns are different than in larger cities, especially when you get away from the east and west coasts of America.  They are more friendly (they seem to smile more), take time to talk with you and are very helpful. They "have time" for you and are not in a rush to send you off somewhere else.  I find it refreshing to drive into a small town, stop to get gasoline or a meal, then have a real conversation with a person whom I have never met.  I learn a lot about the individual, who is typically very open in their conversation, the area in which I am traveling and usually get some good tips on what, locally, is interesting to photograph.

When traveling, I also try to eat at non-national chain restaurants.  I can eat in those chains at home.  Why would I want to travel and eat in a chain restaurant?  I look for small "mom and pop" places, with lots of cars and pickup trucks in the parking lot.  I have learned not to judge a place by what the outside of the establishment looks like.  When going inside, I normally find great people and very good food at reasonable prices.  Usually, I find something that is a local dish that is very good.

The image above is a good example.  We were visiting the Lewis and Clark Educational and Interpretive Center in Great Falls, Montana and we asked one of the docents if he could give us a recommendation where a good local place was to eat.  He said we must visit Snyder's Drug Store.  Drug Store?  Yep.  Snyder's had an old-fashioned soda fountain and old fashioned service.  Snyder's is a typical, all inclusive, drug store of yesteryear.  Nothing like the big chains such as Walgreen's, CVS or Rite Aid.  I made a quick image of the soda fountain and the proprietor hand scooping out ice cream to make a huge, delicious milkshake while another customer sits at the counter waiting for his food.  We never would have found the place if we hadn't struck up a conversation with a local individual.  By the way, the food was excellent!

Snyder Drug, Great Falls, Montana

If you are not in a hurry, which is what traveling is supposed to be like (as opposed to "going somewhere"), stay off the main roads, slow down and talk with people, eat locally and strike up conversations to find out what may be in the area that would make interesting images.  More than one time, I have be sent somewhere to photograph that I didn't even know existed.

Thanks for looking.

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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