Having taken meticulous notes and planned the novel during his cross-country travels, JACK KEROUAC wrote the first draft of On the Road in a three-week burst of creativity, taping sheets of paper together so they could run through his typewriter uninterrupted. After a cross-country exhibition tour, the original scroll has returned to Lowell’s Boott Cotton Mills Museum, where its display will be part of "ON THE ROAD IN LOWELL,” a festival of readings, musical performances, and art exhibits (see www.ontheroadinlowell.org) planned around the 50th anniversary of On the Road. The Beat Generation is reborn at Lowell National Historical Park, 115 John St, Lowell | June 15–September 14 [reception June 15: 6-9 pm] | 978.970.5000.