So the neon might have gone by way of the Dodo but there's still an inherent beauty to the aged patina of this sign. Think about how many tired motorists who spotted this sign while driving and pulled in for a quick meal and a room for the night.
I try to take pictures of all the cool old signage I spot on our many road trip both local and on
vacation. We tend to stick to the two lane blacktop when we can so as to see some of what is
left of the americana that so tickles my nostalgia bone. It's a good thing I don't live out in the
country or I'd probably be collecting these too and storing them in the back yard!
One of my favorites locally is still in current use in Belleville Illinois. As a matter of fact, we are
considering catching the double feature this weekend of Green Lantern and X Men: First
Class, Oscar hopefuls both. Ppphhh..whatever! They are just big dumb fun summer movies
that are perfect for the Drive In! You live near StL? Do yourself a favor. $10 gets you two
movies at the Skyview Drive In!
These area all in the Belleville area. Small town America is rife with these Googie beauties.
These are probably the easy to find ones too. I'm sure there are many more yet to be
"discovered".
These shots were all taken on Route 66 when we were driving the "southern" route to
California last year. Check it out...Roadkill Cafe. Mmmm...just like mom's.
These were all shot in and around the San Fransisco area. What a beautiful city. We actually
stayed in Oakland but took a couple of day trips over the Bay Bridge to tour the city and WALK
across the Golden Gate bridge. It's long by the way. The Golden Gate that is.
Then these were all taken on our first road trip to the east coast. It was also our first road trip in
Frank (the Focus Wagon). Sadly Franks days are numbered. I'm looking for Frank II even now.
He has served us well and hopefully his progeny will do so well. We drove on secondary roads
all the way to Myrtle Beach SC. We passed through Cherokee purely by accident and found
the Pink Motel! Cherokee is sorta stuck in the fifties except for the big ol' casino and motel on
the other side of town. There are tons of vintage motels in Myrtle Beach too. It's a great family
vacation town. The rates on the smaller motels was very reasonable and they are all close to
the beach!
There are two signs in Fort Worth that we want so much! One is for the old Berry Bowl bowling alley and was in the middle of a city lot overgrown with trees and brush the last time we looked. The other is an old motel sign over what is now a halfway house just north of downtown. We'd love to locate the owners.
ReplyDeleteAlso, check out an artist friend of mine who has done some quirky paintings of old googie signs - Donna Hayen-Lassker. I have a link to her site on my blog.
I really love these old signs! I live in Arizona and have been meaning to go out and take some pics of the interesting old signs I come across. The bowling alley signs especially appeal to me because I'm a total Big Lebowski nerd. I think my favorite is the Pink Motel sign. Wow! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos... I guess maybe it costs more to take down a sign for a place that has closed? It seems like I see that with places that are no longer around...
ReplyDeleteLove, love your photos of the old signs. I try to take pictures of some of them when I see them but I don't think I have near as many as you. You would enjoy the article in the June issue of Missouri Life Magazine about Route 66. All these signs make me want to go out on the open road - travel like it was in the earlier years! Oh, the nostalgia!
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