A green neon sign reads "Wool Growers Restaurant Cocktails" and features a sheet by a fence.

Neon Sheep! A Giant Shoe! And More! Exploring Bakersfield’s Americana Gems

May 19, 2021, 4 Comments

As mentioned in my last post, Bakersfield has a lot of vintage neon still out in the wild, plus a few pretty amazing backlit plastic signs, which was one of the reasons we wanted to visit. And boy did we find some great signs, plus we stumbled upon some abandoned locations as well. “John’s” 14441…

Visiting Merle Haggard’s Home and More at Kern County Museum

May 17, 2021, 4 Comments

Being vaccinated means I feel a bit more comfortable going out and doing some things, and I’ve been itching to get on the road for a little day trip. I recently heard that Bakersfield had a wealth of great neon signs, which are a favorite subject of mine, including an entire courtyard display dedicated to…

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

September 27, 2019, 9 Comments

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…

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

September 18, 2019, 2 Comments

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…

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

September 12, 2019, 6 Comments

July 2022 Update: The new owners have decided to keep Bedrock City open indefinitely! Visit their website for up-to-date information. 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.…

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

July 24, 2019, 1 Comment

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,…

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

August 22, 2018, 7 Comments

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,…

Me enjoying the fun atmosphere of the drive-in, wearing a purple, blue, and green floral halter top, purple shorts, and wood tiki brooch. Behind a carved wood sign reads "Snack Bar" and paintings of Hawaiian beaches hang on either side.

Mission Tiki Drive-In

July 9, 2018, Leave a Comment on Mission Tiki Drive-In

Well, it only took three and a half years, but we finally made it to a drive-in movie theatre here in southern California, the Mission Tiki Drive-In. If you remember my days in Oregon, then you probably remember our summer visits to the 99W Drive-In in Newberg, and how much I utterly adored that drive-in.…

Linbrook Bowl's sign, with "Bowl" spelled out on the left, and a large bowling pin reading that they offer 40 lanes.

Linbrook Bowl: Anaheim’s Neon Gem

May 19, 2018, 2 Comments

I won’t lie, I have a soft spot for bowling. I mean, who doesn’t love throwing a ball to try to knock over things? Anyway, I have been meaning to check out Linbrook Bowl, Orange County’s oldest bowling alley (according to the OC Register) for sometime, and earlier this week we finally made it with…

Americana Along Beach Boulevard

April 9, 2018, 4 Comments

Photographing old signs has long been one of my favorite passions. And California has a plethora of them. Just the other day I decided to drive down Beach Boulevard (also known as California Route 39) through Buena Park, Anaheim, Stanton, Westminster, and Huntington Beach to take pictures of the fair amount of signs this short…

Atomic Redhead

Roadside Americana

Neon Sheep! A Giant Shoe! And More! Exploring Bakersfield’s Americana Gems

Visiting Merle Haggard’s Home and More at Kern County Museum

Fading Icons of Arizona’s Route 66

A Night at Holbrook’s Kitschy Wigwam Village

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

Electric Paradise – The Los Angeles Neon Cruise

The World’s Oldest McDonald’s

Mission Tiki Drive-In

Linbrook Bowl: Anaheim’s Neon Gem

Americana Along Beach Boulevard