Art & Inspiration A cool roadside attraction!

That 2dr, I say that 2dr needs to be saved ( hot rodded that is, put back on the road)


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I remember that diner very well, do you know if it was taken down and moved or if its gone for good?

 

Sorry I don't know the story on the Diner. It was for sale when I took the photo. I drove by one day and it was just gone. SAD

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@Ron Funkhouser thanks for all your post on this thread. I always look forward to see what interesting places you and everyone else visits.
Tom

 

We visited Toy town junction in Luary Va. I really like vintage Toys. A very cool place. Vintage Toy, and car museum.

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Outside the Vintage Toy Town Junction.

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If I brought my grandson there he'd never want to leave!

 

Hey Ron,
That place looks like your own backyard and garage from your photos. You sure you did not rename your backyard/house/garage? Ha!

Toy Town... a great name for a toy store. There was a Toy Town toy store in downtown Long Beach near our old trailer. It was where my dad introduced me to this classic "Pumpmobile" one Christmas in 1947. I rode that until it fell apart.
Parked in front of my dad's 1941 Buick sedan.
Jnaki

Nice Toy Town photos and your sedan delivery looks right at home. (pun)...ha...

 

Ron,

Yes I do.. Thou, I grew up in Falls Church. I spent my childhood summers in Markham. We shopped in Front Royal..

My favorite Front Royal Diner was Nicks!

 

A bump. What have you seen along the the roadside? { A big Bug.}

 

I usually LOVE WW's but yer S.D. looks fantastic with AMERICANS // BLACKWALLS.

 

Thanks {verde 742 }, I like changing wheels around all the time. My neighbor came over one day after I took off the WW's. He said that I made my delivery really ugly! lol Also { 61CAD } I liked Nicks diner too. Notice in the one window it says { T Bone .75 cents, with meat $5.00} lol

 

Anyone doing any road trips? If not just stop and snap a photo of the roadside.

 

Hey Ron....

Just to start out the day with a good laugh!

Enjoy

Jay

 

Jay that's really FUNNY! We all need some humor about now. I've quarantined my dad, grandkids and myself at home. We'er going to stay home for the next too weeks. I'm gonna see where this virus thing goes. We have enough food, toilet paper, and toys to keep us okay. lol I just wanted to say. It'd be a good time to work on your projects, and just stay home. You can even call Wal-Mart, and they'll bring your supplies to your car. You guys just keep safe. Hope we'll all be doing more road trips in the near futuer. Ron.....

 

I took these two pix in Carthage, Missouri last summer. I go past them occasionally and that trip I took the time to snap some pix. They are both on what once was US-66.

 

I took my wife to the drive-in theatre in Ruskin, Florida the other night. Neither of had had been to one in about 40 years.

 

I commend you sir. By the way, what film did you see?


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Hello,

Currently, it is not politically correct to showcase “Cool Attractions” anywhere. In order to do our stuff to follow the guidelines, we can venture out for emergencies. But, in these times, some happiness is always a good thing to keep in mind. As to following the directive of staying home, there is plenty to see and look ahead, when we are all able to get out and “See the USA in our Chevrolet…” well, maybe not in any Chevrolet…

So, with that in mind, we are not advocating taking a road trip, but to showcase our history and see where we would like to possibly go in the future.

But, for now, buckle up, don’t get greedy and “endure” with your family. (ENDURE, was my mom’s mantra while we were growing up. After two rowdy boys, she told my dad that there are not going to be more boys in the family… she “endured” it to the end.)

My wife and I were watching a movie and it struck me that there are places we all, still, would like to see. In the movie, the quote… “Hell, I have never seen the ocean…” was an eye opener. East Coast, West Coast, The Gulf, just about everywhere was a given for us. But, there are people that are close to the ocean, but have never gone. We are all busy with our lives. My wife’s grandmother from OKC visited us when our son was little. She had one wish, besides seeing our son.

The wish was to go to the ocean for a day visit. We took her to the Balboa Pier, Huntington Beach Pier, Dana Point Harbor and our little semi private, cook out beach, the Southern end of Doheny State Beach. (Fire rings, small waves and all…) She was a little distracted staring out at the ocean, Catalina Island in the horizon and the Headland Cliffs of Dana Point.

So, when everything starts to calm down and road trips are back in the game, here is a good one easily accessible to everyone in So Cal.

The road trip from anywhere is done via USA highways and freeways. The stop overs in just about anywhere along the coast of California is ripe with cool places to stay. We have had our share of low cost motels, mid range and high dollar to last a lifetime. But, access and availability are the keys. These days, it also helps to have reservations, too. Although, when we were 20 somethings, a spur of the moment stopover, while driving at night just hit the spot. No planned reservations, no mandatory stopovers if necessary. We were definitely “On the road, again…”

From the East, the Highway 8 from Arizona and other Southeastern areas roll right into San Diego and stop at the Pacific Ocean. We met some people from Arizona and they usually drove to the ocean and harbor every other weekend. Others we met in San Diego flew in because their weekend drives were a little farther away from Eastern New Mexico.

For others in the Northeast and Midwest, two major highways, 70 and 40 also roll right into LA and then the freeway systems start going to all points on the West Coast.

Ok, so once in So Cal, all freeways lead down the coast to San Diego. The attractions that exemplify So Cal are the three surf museums about an hour apart driving time. Starting at popular Huntington Beach for the International Surf Museum near downtown.

Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum

"The International Surfing Museum is a non-profit, 501 museum in Huntington Beach, Orange County, California. The museum's goal is to preserve the history of the surfing culture throughout the globe. It is dedicated to Duke Kahanamoku, who is generally regarded as the person who popularized the modern sport of surfing."

Just down the Coast Highway from Huntington Beach is another beach town with a lot of surf history. San Clemente. In the industrial area inland about a mile or two, lies the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center. San Clemente’s version of a surf museum.

"The Surfing Heritage and Culture Center (SHACC) exists at the intersection of surfing’s past, present and future. We Explore, Enlighten and Celebrate. SHACC houses the world’s most important and authoritative archive of surfing artifacts, surfboards, memorabilia, photography, video, periodical and scholarly works.”

San Clemente has been known for its awesome long beach and outstanding surf spots. It is/was the center of the surfing publications (Surfer, Surfing, Surfer’s Journal, etc.) and the area still has several companies pumping out those great magazines. All within the same industrial tract as the SHACC.


California Surf Museum is located a short walk to the Oceanside Pier in Oceanside, CA

After driving down from the San Clemente Surf Museum, you will be going through one of California’s last natural, coastal preservation areas anywhere. It is approximately 20 miles of coastal cliffs and beaches still in its natural state. (with a few military outcroppings scattered throughout the area.) It is a pleasant drive and the ocean view is endless.

“The California Surf Museum is a museum located at 312 Pier View Way in Oceanside, California, dedicated to archiving and displaying surfboards, surf art, memorabilia, surfing equipment, photographs, magazines, videos, and more.”

Jnaki

From here, if you have a current military identification card or are still active, the return trip to Los Angeles from the Oceanside area should go through Camp Pendleton’s coastal connection. The back roads through the coastal mountain range back to the Basilone Road northern exit gate at the I-5 freeway in South San Clemente.

That drive is an eye opener and gives anyone the feeling of what it used to be when the horse trails went from San Diego all the way up to Los Angeles. Plus, your exit to the I-5 is the world famous Trestles surf spots.(Church Beach, Lower Trestles, Upper Trestles and Cotton’s.) This coast area is all part of the California State Beach/Park System.

It is a cool way to spend a few days coastal cruising in So Cal and get those surfing themes/information in giant gobs. So, the next time we see a station wagon with a surfboard on top cruising somewhere in Iowa, we know that infection has spread wide and far. Keep on cruising…

 

Funny thing about the surf museum in Huntington Beach, the curator was it turns out ,the publisher of Surfer magazine until around 1995 or so.


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Hello
Who was the curator, that was the publisher of Surfer Magazine until 1995?

Jnaki

 

You’ll forgive me if I can’t remember his name. But he was featured on an episode of American Pickers a while back.


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We saw “The Call of the Wild”. I highly recommend it, especially if you like dogs.

 

Jnaki, even though we live on the opposite coast. We have the same love of the ocean. A little joke of our daughters is (we need some vitamin Sea ) Our family has even had our traditional Thanksgiving at the beach also. But with seafood instead of turkey. When the wife and I was in our 20's and 30's we would just take off to the beach. We never had reservations either. We looked for the neon (Vacancy) sign. But we always had our sleeping bags along too. If the weather was nice, sometimes we'd sleep in the delivery or our OT 68 El Camino. You would never think of doing that now days. The wife likes to go to the Ocean City Endless Summer car show. But because of this virus we have no trips planned now. Post some pictures of your beach or road trips past. Stay safe. Ron.......

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I was doing a little virtual traveling on my P.C. this morning. Dreaming of doing a road trip after this virus stuff is over. I came across this short coolbus. I remember as a kid. Our community built a little shelter for us kids to wait in for the bus. It was really great when the weather was bad. This would have been a neat idea. Anyone seen a cool roadside attraction? Real or maybe virtual? lol Ron..........

 

(Point Loma and the harbor/bay to the right and the Highway 1 coastal cruise route to the left)


Hello,

In all of our years going to "Beach Front" amusement parks, it was just a teenage thing to do. From Santa Cruz, CA in the northern region’s beachfront park to the famed “on the pier” amusement park in Santa Monica, CA. Those places were made to have fun while still being able to go to the beaches surrounding the area. The Santa Monica Pier has been the location shooting for many movies and TV series. Even down the beach in the South Bay was once a place called POP or Pacific Ocean Park. It was another on the waterfront, beach inspired, amusement park that was fun for a while, but then tragically, it burned down.

“The Pike in Long Beach” was our home park, as it was a short bicycle ride or bus ride away. As teenagers, it was a Friday night cruise location with all of our friends, having a fun time. It was right on the sandy beach, in the North West end of Long Beach. Long Beach used to have good surf in the very early days. But, with the huge breakwater, now only a sneaker swell brings something into the normally calm areas at the South end and sometimes in the North end. The Pike has been closed for quite some time and the city has redeveloped the area to be somewhat attractive again. (But, not as an amusement park.)

In San Diego County, the closest thing to good surf near Mission Bay is usually found at the Mission Beach Jetties on the South, down the beach from the amusement park. Like all amusement parks, the famed Mission Beach Belmont Park is now closed due to the current crisis. But, it was a place to go for us when we did travel down to the San Diego area to camp out and surf.

Jnaki

Over the years, it has had its problems, but as teens, it was a cool place to go for us. It has been refurbished many times over and is now considered a destination place to go, right on the beachfront boardwalk and sand. In 2018, we visited the Mission Bay restaurants, the inland waterways and ended up at Belmont Park on the beach. It was nicely done and seemed to be functioning quite well until the recent closure like other places.

"Belmont Park is a historic amusement park located on Ocean Front at Surfrider Square in the Mission Bay area of San Diego, California. The park was developed by sugar magnate John D. Spreckels and opened on July 4, 1925 as the Mission Beach Amusement Center."

When everything is back in place and we are OK to start driving around again, there are plenty of places to stay within a short drive to this amusement park. In San Diego, it is one of a kind. In California, it is one of the only few left to enjoy the amusement park and go to the beach across the public boardwalk.

So, it is something to "GET YOU MOTOR RUNNING..." while waiting patiently for the "locked in place" to be over and back to normal.

"Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way..."

 

Not really a roadside attraction, but a real cool old church,
Lebret Sask.
Just had to go for a drive.

 

The United Auto Building was built from 1922-24 and sold Haynes and Oldsmobile automobiles, originally. In the 1930’s the building housed P&L Motors, a Hudson dealership. There was a succession of dealerships until the mid-1970s. The building remained vacant until is conversion into the Original Mike’s Restaurant in 2002.

DISCLAIMER: These Cool Roadside Attractions are to keep the spirits up in this trying time period of history. It is not advocating traveling to these spots until the whole epidemic is over and then it is safe to travel. Even though some states are deciding that opening up various things is the way to go, once the cases are up, they will go back to the "locked in place" rule to keep the pandemic at bay. These roadside attractions are to see what is ready for your next road trip, whether it is long or short, once the pandemic is over. So stay inside, stay safe and isolate.

Hello,

Going to downtown SANTA ANA is for specific purposes for most people. The main ORANGE COUNTY BRANCH COURTHOUSE is located there. But, the area has history built in since it was one of the oldest communities in all of Orange County. It is called the seat of Orange County, if that is a good label. The good thing about the city government staff is that they are all for preserving old buildings for modern day usage. If a multi level building has some historic significance, it is discounted to a buyer if they will rebuild to modern standards and use it as it stands.

A Sunday cruise will showcase plenty of refurbished buildings now used as schools, from elementary to the Performing Arts High School and new office buildings that look 50 years old. Ever go to a high school in several, multi-story, ex-business office building converted to modern earthquake specs for safety?

Every time we drove down Main St. in Santa Ana, we saw this fabulous looking place and that neat old, bright Yellow, Chevy Panel truck in the corner of the lot. Having stopped at the corner light many times, that Yellow Chevy panel truck sticks out like a sore thumb. Most people in Orange County have crossed this intersection in Santa Ana while attending the jury trials and service located in the area. Within a few blocks of this 1st and Main Street location, the Civic Center, the central government of Orange County is located in its own buildings. The Civic Center also houses the central location of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The first thing most see will be the parking lot corner with the bright yellow, custom Chevrolet panel truck. It is a obvious contrast with the red brick building and the bright yellow panel truck sitting on the corner space.

While driving around looking for the Santa Ana Courthouse Sheriff’s Center, we came across this 62 Chevy Panel Truck that has been the advertising display for Original Mike’s Restaurant and Concert Venue. For as long as we have been cruising around Santa Ana and the famous downtown area, this Chevy panel truck has been around. The paint is showing signs of daily outside weather wear, but the design on the flames around the license plate was pretty neat.

The front fenders received fine line, pinstriping flames with a slight shading inside of the flames. The wheels are another story. At one time, this Chevy was probably the delivery truck for the restaurant. But, if anyone has been to this place for the hot rod events, they have probably seen this yellow truck sitting in the corner of the parking lot. Drivers can’t help but to have their eye sight see this bright yellow truck while cruising down 1st Street.

“Original Mike’s resides in what was Santa Ana’s first Buick Horseless Carriage Auto Dealership, built in 1919. 100 South Main Street was, and still is, the heart and soul of Orange County. Renovated after being abandoned for over twenty years, Orange County developer, Mike Harrah, completely restored this historic location into what you see today. This 15,000 square foot entertainment center house several rare antique cars, including the original Santa Ana Fire Truck No. 1.”

“Throughout the main dining room are rare vintage photos of the downtown Santa Ana area. Bricks from the adjacent building dating back to the 1920’s were recycled to create the huge outdoor patio, the Palm Court Oasis.”

There are three separate divided entertainment areas, 4 including the outdoor patio complex. Dance floors are in each area. During the lunch hour, each area is providing their own music and entertainment, coordinating with the kitchen for a great lunch menu.

When we finally stopped for a nice lunch, we were not prepared for the massive interior. We were given the choice of sitting outside in the patio area, or one of three entertainment areas inside. The food was outstanding and the service was fast and efficient. That is how any restaurant should be. We sat in one of the large dining areas for lunch. The crowd was light and fairly quiet. But then the door was opened and the music from outdoors and another room were muffled but noticeable.

Despite being inside of the building and near the original outdoor venue, the music did not overlap if the windows/doors were closed.

So, with the “cruiser” cars sitting in the outdoor parking lot, there were two out of three concert venues playing at the same time, while we were all eating fabulous food. This is a cool place to go, but bring your earplugs if you are sensitive to loud sounds. The conversation level was raised at least two levels from normal.

Overall, the venue was pretty eye opening and that yellow 1962 Chevy Panel Truck with the faded flame paint job was sitting quietly in the corner spot of the huge parking lot. It was welcoming patrons of fine food and music to this place. Sundays are a busy time in Santa Ana! (The OC)

Jnaki

Sunday’s in Santa Ana is a show in itself as families and sightseers are all over the place, especially near the 4th Street refurbished downtown area, just a couple of blocks North of this restaurant.

What about the cool looking, attention drawing panel truck?

This poor truck has seen its glory days. It is relegated to customer service in an outdoor setting. Rain, shine, hail, fog, winds…The famous Santana winds blow right through this section of the OC with a fury. But, it sits gently awaiting a guy with a camera taking some photos for past memories. Hopefully urging anyone to go inside for a great meal and perhaps some entertainment.

It would take some time, but the truck is in need of an overhaul to make it as good as new, again. It definitely needs some other wheels…Moon Discs perhaps? Or deep dish chrome rims with smoothie mini hubcaps?

SAVE THE 1962 Chevy PANEL TRUCK !!!

Where is @1oldtimer when this panel truck is in need of a good makeover?
Panelman to the rescue...