Overall of the Sandy Jug, which is a building shaped like a jug, painted a pale cream. The very top is painted brown, with a gold stopper. Around the shoulder of the bottle are gold circles with roses painted in the middle. A door sits in the middle, with a blue neon sign reading "Cocktails" above, on either side of the door are windows of glass blocks.

Grabbing a Drink at Portland’s Only Bottle Shaped Bar, the Sandy Jug

October 13, 2026, Leave a Comment on Grabbing a Drink at Portland’s Only Bottle Shaped Bar, the Sandy Jug

While living in Portland I would sometimes find myself passing by a massive jug, solidly painted maroon. Inside? A strip club dubbed Pirate’s Cove. I always sighed, and bemoaned the fact it was a strip club. Here was a beautiful example of programatic architecture, and it was a strip club? And not even painted well?…

Full exterior view of Idle Hour, in the center is a large barrel with smaller buildings attached at either side.

Idle Hour: Eat Inside a Giant Hidden Dog at California’s Last Barrel Restaurant

April 15, 2026, Leave a Comment on Idle Hour: Eat Inside a Giant Hidden Dog at California’s Last Barrel Restaurant

As many of you know I’m an architecture junkie, and one of my favorite forms of architecture is programmatic, or fondly known as “California Crazy” that is to say, buildings that are constructed to look like something, which California was wildly known for. Sadly, there are very few examples left, but at Idle Hour you…

Angled view of the ten gallon hat sign that is lit up with neon reading "Arby's Roast Beef Sandwich is Delicious" below is the curved roof of the restaurant.

Last of its Kind: 60s Era Arby’s to Meet the Wrecking Ball

June 12, 2024, 3 Comments

Back in 2018 I took a day to drive down Beach Boulevard from the 91 all the way to the beach, photographing various signs and buildings. During that excursion I stumbled across a vintage Arby’s. The massive ten gallon hat neon sign towered over the curved building, emulating a covered wagon. I stepped inside and…

Myself, holding a chocolate donut, standing in front of The Donut Hole.

A Drive Through the Kitsch-tastic Donut Hole

June 22, 2021, 3 Comments

When it comes to architecture I’m of course a sucker for a good mid-century modern, art deco, and even Victorian, but perhaps my favorite style is programmatic architecture, aka “California Crazy” because it’s just plain fun! There are other terms for this style as well, including vernacular and mimetic architecture. This is where a…

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…

Atomic Redhead

Programmatic architecture

Grabbing a Drink at Portland’s Only Bottle Shaped Bar, the Sandy Jug

Idle Hour: Eat Inside a Giant Hidden Dog at California’s Last Barrel Restaurant

Last of its Kind: 60s Era Arby’s to Meet the Wrecking Ball

A Drive Through the Kitsch-tastic Donut Hole

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