Art & Inspiration A cool roadside attraction!

The worlds largest bottle of ketchup. It's on our must see list. lol It's at Collinsville IL.

 

{A BUMP} This is the first full day of spring, and we're having a snow storm here on the East Coast. So does anyone have some older, or {warmer} road trip pictures? Here's a few random roadside pic's I took, just because liked I the backdrop. Anyone else have any ? Doesn't have be something famous, but maybe just some on the back roads. Thanks

 

Hey Ron,
This photo is from Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was part of our road trip in the middle of summer, when it was hot. The actual weather was warm to hot and very still. A little eerie when you visit old stuff. It was so hot that just on the western outskirts of the city along highway 40, there was a self starting fire in the scrub brush. it could be seen from all over Albuquerque.

When we did our cross country driving trip to visit the old homeland in OKC, we stopped in Albuquerque after a straight through drive (no stopping on “the corner in Winslow, Arizona) from the So Cal coast. This place had a lot of history and we wandered into the "old town" area the next day. We were familiar with adobe structures in So Cal, but this place in Old Town Albuquerque just had a great feel to it. We spent hours walking around this part of town.

Jnaki

We had a nice quiet lunch in the central park across the street from the church. After lunch, we took off southeast for Cline’s Corner and south to Roswell.

"Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, sits in the high desert. Its modern Downtown core contrasts with Old Town Albuquerque, dating to the city’s 1706 founding as a Spanish colony. Old Town is filled with historic adobe buildings, such as San Felipe de Neri Church

Except for its tin ceiling, brick floor, and south entrance, today's church is the same structure as in 1793. In 1995-96, the roof of the rectory was restored to the original look given by the Jesuits in 1890. The new pitched tin roof has a decorative gable above the front door and a "widow's walk."

As the new millennium dawned, San Felipe de Neri Parish began a major restoration project. In the first phase, the exterior and roof of the church were repaired and refinished. In the second phase, the interior of the church was refurbished. In the third phase, now under way, the offices and the parish hall are undergoing significant structural repair and remodeling."

After New Mexico and OKC, we began the rest of our journey to the eastern coastal shoreline and Maine.

Being from So Cal and only traveling East a few times, we had never seen, (before this time,) rolled up hay stacks. We have seen plenty of rectangular blocks of hay in our So Cal area. They were used for neighborhood horses, hay rides, festivals, Halloween Boo Bashes, etc.

We saw these rolled up hay barrels in between St. Louis and Kansas City. Wait, that is the wrong way to the Eastern seaboard..

After several days in OKC, we got stuck in a traffic jam on State Highway 44 East to St. Louis. It kept us still for 2 hours near Buckhorn and along the Fort Leonard Wood compound. So, we were told to go back to Highway 7 and west to Kansas City. No more St. Louis, the Chesapeake and Maine for this trip. We went through the wild west, national parks, Colorado lakes, and back to the Grand Canyon. A change of plans, but, it was all impromptu traveling for us.

Hopefully, this "warm to hot" travel story will brighten up your snowy days for now. We are supposed to get the mother of all rainstorms in So Cal. (the sub tropicals vs the northern swirl...) But, the weather report has been wrong before... Stay safe and warm...

 

Back roads of central New Hampshire driving through the Bement Covered Bridge. Can't wait for the snow to be gone!

 

Cool Mail boxes in a Packard

 

How about these.....

 

We have the world's biggest hockey stick and puck, in Duncan BC. That's up island from Victoria BC, the home of Deuce Days. It was built for Expo86.

 

We also have this roadside attraction in Sparwood BC.

 

NZ soda.

Terry Fox, Canada

 

THE BIGGEST CHANGE IN A COOL ROADSIDE ATTRACTION
50s/60s
Hello,

One of the most enjoyable roadside attractions is the Long Beach Harbor and Downtown, Shoreline Marina. It attracts visitors from all over the USA. In April of every year, the Long Beach Grand Prix street race course and cars draws flocks of people to this city. Unless one has lived here for over 60+ years, the changes aren’t quite as noticeable.

Long Beach, CA has gone through many changes over the past 60 years. One of the biggest changes is to the beautiful shoreline that ran from Terminal Island to the West all the way down to Seal Beach at the East & South end of the beach. Hence, Long Beach… it is approximately 6 miles long.

It once had great tidal cleansing with the open beaches facing the ocean. When the breakwater was put in, it made the waves go away unless an extreme south swell came in through the breakwater openings.

Having gone to the old Rainbow Pier when there was water inside and when the old Municipal Auditorium was one of the main attractions to the city, those changes are massive.

Jnaki

The huge, Downtown, Shoreline Marina complex, the Sports Arena, Aquarium of the Pacific, tall skyscrapers, and the new/old Pike attractions make up the majority of this shoreline change over the years. (The Long Beach Grand Prix runs along the curved Shoreline Drive in front of the Sports Arena.)
NOW
The small red arrow (upper left) shows our old Westside Long Beach house location in comparison to the huge harbor. (An approximate 4 mile distance.) The Los Angeles River Flood Control Channel is the last blue diagonal line on the left side of the photo. It angles from left to right, back to Los Angeles many miles inland. Today, the mouth of the LA River empties out in front of the Queen Mary big boat, just out of sight in the photo.

 

Thank's JNAKI, It's hard to believe they could make that big of a change to a coastline. I'm taking the kids and grand kids to the beach for the { Easter} spring break today. We love the ocean! I hope to see a few cool roadside attractions, and take some photos. They keep a photo album by the year, of their road trips. thanks everyone for all your cool post! Ron...

 

Check out a series of books (available on Amazon, of course) called "Weird Virginia" or "Weird Tennessee" or "Weird....". LOTS of cool old tourist traps, landmarks, local legends, etc. for a lot of the US states. Not sure that all 50 states each have their own book but I have one from each state that I've lived in so far.

 

Another beach side attraction is Crystal Cove just north of Laguna Beach in SoCal. From PCH you will first see the Shake Shack and if you stop for a bite or a cold drink you can sit and look down on the bluff and beach. The bluffs are full of small cottages dating from the 30’s and are still there. Some are in disrepair and are waiting for renovation, others are restored and I have stayed in a few of them over the years.



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Saw this today, down th road from me.

 

Hat And Boots gas station In Seattle's George Town Neighborhood. Fell into serious disrepair. Was fixed up and moved a short distance and now is the centerpiece of a park.

 

Just past state line on our way to Vegas...7 Magic Mountains


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Today from Virginia beach.

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Hey Ron, great pix. I sent you a PM.

 

Hey LBCD,

Nice story on the Crystal Cove Cottages. We have driven by a million times, visited once within the last 7 years on a Mother’s Day, and see it almost weekly if my wife wants to go shopping in Crystal Cove Center across the highway or at the Fashion Island Center just up the highway going north. But, you are lucky to have reserved a cabin, we have never stayed in those cottages.
North-South Coast Highway 1: far right
Back in the 50’s, my dad used to love surf fishing here at this remote beach in Corona Del Mar. It was a long drive from Long Beach, but my mom actually liked sitting in the sand in front of those classic wooden beach cottages. She was prepping food while the two boys (and my dad) were actively fishing from the shore. It reminded her of her own childhood days, spending all day on a big, flat bay and sandy shoreline.

The drive in my dad’s big Buicks (49, 52, 57) were the coolest. The whole big back seat plus snacks. The Crystal Cove Beach public parking (non existant back then) and structures were hidden from the rushing traffic on Coast Highway 1 going south toward Laguna Beach. It offered solitude, super clean beaches and if you did not know where the turn off was, one would just keep driving by toward the juice stand on the bluff. Most people would just park along Coast Highway South and walk in to the compound. It was like an adventure walking into this compound along the tree lined road to the beach.

(The modern day entrance has since been changed...no direct entrance from PCH, as there is a huge parking lot across the Coast Highway with access only by Crystal Cove trams.)
yellow juice stand on the bluff top
LBCD photo
Juice stand on the bluff:
“This beachfront landmark appeared not long after that segment of Coast Highway opened in the late 1920s, when roadside date shake and orange juice stands were synonymous with Southern California. Early on, it was the Laguna Beach Hot Dog Stand. By the 1940s and ’50s, the focus was on orange juice, although nuts, shakes, and dried fruit were also sold.

The yellow shack was remodeled in 1968. In the mid-1970's Virginia McKinney took the reins, renamed it Sunshine Cove, and added health-food options to the menu. The state bought the land as part of Crystal Cove State Park in 1979. The stand became a park concession. Ruby’s, which took over in 2006, after a brief dalliance with a blue and white paint job has returned the building to its traditional bright yellow.”

This beach had one other surf inspired theme… on the long southward drive from Long Beach to surf spots south: Dana Point, San Clemente, Trestles, San Diego, we used the surf break here as an indicator of what the surf was going to be like the farther south we drove. There were hoots and hollers if the surf break here at Crystal Cove was breaking well. (this place was not an actual great surf break, but an indicator) We knew the Trestles break at Camp Pendleton, would be firing.

Jnaki
The description to this modern day family beach is best described by the website: http://www.socalfamily.com/crystal-cove-beach-cottages/

It is a modern day vacation hot spot for anyone visiting So Cal and want the beach lifestyle experience. Centrally located: Crystal Cove Shopping Center a few minutes south, Laguna Beach 15 minutes south, Newport Fashion Island Shopping Center, 10 minutes north, Newport Harbor, 15 minutes north. The restaurant on the sand, scrumptious…
The restaurant on the sand is one of the remodeled old cottages
2011 shoreline adventure

 

Williams Arizona, Grand Canyon Railway


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Close up of what I saw along the road. Bones

 

A lot of Cool pictures. I really liked the vintage photos of Crystal Cove from the 1930's and then the way it is now. The Shake Shack is now on our must visit list. Our favorite beach on the east coast is Miami. My parents vacationed there when I was a kid. I've also taken my family there a few times too.

 

In Portland Ct.

 

Long Beach changed with the loss of the Navy base, tidelands oil money and the Port of Long Beach container cargo $$$. Anything is possible with money. I went to the Pike as a kid, remember the "locker" buildings for Seaman over seas, tattoo parlors, etc.

 

Ron, hope you make it out to Crystal Cove someday...it is a time capsule! If you plan on staying there you will need to call and find out when the cottages are available to rent, the sell out in a matter of minutes.
Here are a few more pics from Williams over Easter weekend


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Some where in Colorado or Utah..I forget.

 

LBCD
thanks for photos
we have visited Williams on a number of occasions when we come over from Aussie
Food is great there (breakfast)
did U go to Bearazona

 

Lil32

Thanks!
No we didn’t make it to Bearizona. But I see plenty of bears on our yearly trip up to Bridgeport. We stay in Mono Village built in 52 and has bears all over the place....have to have your head on a swivel at night.

Just an hour away is Bodie....

Bodie is a former gold-mining town and State Historic Park in California’s Bodie Hills, near the Nevada border. This 19th-century ghost town encompasses numerous original buildings in varying states of decay, plus artifacts and the Masonic Cemetery. Miners Union Hall houses a museum with mining tools. Northeast is the Standard Gold Mill, with machinery and information about the process of gold extraction.
These are some photos I found on google.





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I’ll ad a couple pics.. sorry for the duplicates, can’t seem to figure how to fix it, Bones