Category

Roadside Americana

I break for vintage neon, old tourist traps, and anything else that catches my eye on the side of the road.

Faded blue neon sign for the Frontier Motel and Restaurant. A mural painted on the side of the building features a chef and the word "Cafe"

Fading Icons of Arizona’s Route 66

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As mentioned in earlier Arizona posts, most of our journey took us along the Mother Road, Route 66. The legendary stretch of blacktop is dotted with a combination of still functioning tourist attractions and long forgotten buildings, all begging to be photographed. So, in my concluding Arizona post, I share with you a sampling of…

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Myself, standing in front of one of the "cabins" which is a concrete tipi, painted white with a red zig-zag horizontally across the middle. I'm wearing a black peasant top with a tipi brooch reflective of the ones at the motel, and a full red skirt with silver and black trim.

A Night at Holbrook’s Kitschy Wigwam Village

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Most of our journey to Arizona took us through the northern part of the state, which is the area that Route 66 cuts through, and no trip to Arizona along Route 66 would be complete without staying at the iconic Wigwam Village. Back in 1938, Chester E. Lewis was driving through Cave City, Kentucky when…

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A massive sign of Fred Flintstone and and sign reading "Yabba Dabba Doo Means Welcome to You!"

A Visit to the Stone Age at Arizona’s Bedrock City Before it Becomes History

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Just a few miles south of the Grand Canyon is a place where you can, at least for a few more weeks, step into the fanciful past of the Flintstones, the modern stone age family. This is Bedrock City. This colorful town isn’t from the stone age, but actually 1972, and was built in Valle,…

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The marquee for the Orpheum theatre, which reads "Orpheum" in yellow neon script, and lines of pink and green neon above.

Electric Paradise – The Los Angeles Neon Cruise

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The Museum of Neon Art feels like a museum that was made for me. Not only does it restore, house, and exhibit some of the finest works of neon signage, it also offers the Neon Cruise, an incredibly unique tour of Los Angeles showcasing some of the city’s most fantastic neon signs. As sun set,…

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The building - two tall golden arches flank a slanted flat roof, and red and white tile wrap around the bottom. Walls of glass allow guests to walk up to the window and place their orders. The Speedee sign to the left.

The World’s Oldest McDonald’s

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Right here in Southern California, in the LA suburb of Downey (a place my father lived during part of his childhood), is the world’s oldest operating McDonald’s. It’s a unique claim to fame, and one some may pay no attention to, but, like it or not, fast food is an invention of America, and thus,…

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