PENNSYLVANIA, USA — It begins in the small community of Bowman Creek in Wyoming County. Thousands of drivers travel on Route 309 every day, but how many of them know where it actually goes?
Dr. Jamie Slupe is the co-owner of Creekside Animal Hospital right at the very beginning of Route 309.
"I knew it was the split, so I had to assume it was the beginning or the end, yes," Dr. Slupe said.
Dr. Slupe admits she has no idea where Route 309 goes from here. She might be very surprised if we told her because this country road in Wyoming County leads from here to an entirely different world.
The farmlands of Wyoming County soon give way to the commercial district of Luzerne County's Back Mountain. Here Route 309 is the Memorial Highway. Then it becomes a real highway.
The North Cross Valley Expressway bisects the northern section of Wilkes-Barre with the downtown skyline just to the south.
From here, it's on to Mountaintop, another commercial district where Route 309 is Mountain Boulevard.
But it isn't until we get to Hazleton that we really come full circle. Here, the two-lane country highway becomes a two-lane city street.
Church Street is the main north-south route through the downtown, taking us right past Hazleton City Hall.
But an even bigger city awaits to the south.
First, it's Carbon County, but don't blink. We're only in the community of Audenried for a hot minute before Route 309 leads us into what the locals affectionately refer to as the Skook.
In Schuylkill County, Route 309 is the main drag through McAdoo, a beautiful wide thoroughfare known as Kennedy Drive, where 60 years ago, JFK himself took a campaign swing along this very road.
But it's tight quarters once again when we get to Tamaqua as Route 309 turns into Railroad Street, taking us past the historic station and straight into the borough's notoriously slow Five Points intersection.
Railroad Street, Broad Street, and Mauch Chunk street meet here, and the delays are legendary.
But Route 309 brings a silver lining a few miles away in South Tamaqua — Leiby's Ice Cream House, one of the most well-known eateries in Schuylkill County right here on Route 309.
"I've met quite a few people that come from Allentown, Quakertown, Coopersburg, just to name a few places on 309, they travel up. Especially this time of year, we get a lot of travelers for the fall leaves," said owner Dan Leiby.
We have a snack and continue south over Blue Mountain, where the Appalachian Trail crosses Route 309, linking our road with the entire Mid-Atlantic region.
But the scenic part of our trip will soon be behind us.
Into the Lehigh Valley, Route 309 takes us past the familiar roller coasters of Dorney Park and the massive home campus of Lehigh Valley Hospital.
From here, it's a straight shot of commercial districts through communities like Quakertown in Bucks County and Montgomeryville in Montgomery County.
By now, it's pretty clear where Route 309 will ultimately take us.
The farmlands of Wyoming County are in the rearview as Route 309 ends in the East Oak Lane section of Philadelphia.
Here we meet a man who gives his name as E Money Bagz.
"I believe 309 starts at Rice's Mill Road at the tower past Wawa."
We tell Mr. Bagz that he's off by more than 130 miles.
"Where's it start at? Wyoming County? I might get lost in Wyoming County, and I can say, 'It's 309,' and I can find my way."