Let’s start with this Buffalo herd in Nashville:

Some giant roses – also in Nashville:

This Minnie Pearl sculpture is in Centerville (her birthplace):

This Tennessee Triumph Women’s Suffrage Monument is in Nashville. The state of Tennessee cast the deciding vote to ratify the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote:

This ice cream stand/restaurant is in Nashville:

This former Red Barn restaurant is in Nashville:

It would have looked like this originally:

The Pagoda of Medicine in Nashville was built in 1963. It was abandoned, in bad shape, and then demolished in 2021. It was reconstructed around 2024:

This sign in Centerville is installed above the long-closed Tiller Furniture store:

This sign in Bon Aqua is installed outside the shop that was previously located in Nashville:

Their other sign was restored and now hangs inside. Unfortunately, I was there on a weekend on this trip and didn’t get to see it in person. But here’s a photo from their website:

This is the backside of the former scoreboard for the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team — in Nashville:

This restaurant opened in Nashville in 2025 and this modern sign was installed then:

There is a similar modern sign at the chain’s Atlanta location [photo snipped from Eater:
https://atlanta.eater.com/2019/3/20/18274312/little-rey-opening-piedmont-heights-atlanta

This former feed store and hatchery in Dickson became a musical venue in 1988 and this sign was built:

One more modern sign — this one in Nashville. A former motel, later apartments, and now converted into “vacation rentals”:

This sign is in Nashville — the business is still operating:

The Riverside Liquor store in Nashville:

Another one from Nashville. Unfortunately, the neon was replaced with squiggly LED tubing recently:

Although this place closed long ago, this sign in Centerville remains:

Another one from Nashville:

Sadly, the little neon arrow on the EAT panel is gone now — from my 2007 photo:

From the restaurant/liquor store’s website, there was once a much larger sign — and the sign above can be seen in the background. It looks like it did not have the “Fine Foods” or “EAT” panels originally:

The Key Motel in Nashville opened in 1956. This postcard shows the sign’s original colors and the bottom panel read “Coffee Shop”:

My photo from 2007:

In 2018, the property was developed as the Dive Motel and Swim Club with retro-themed rooms. The sign was repainted with this fake weathered look:

The James K. Polk Motel was originally in Columbia, TN. It closed in 2014 and was demolished. The motel had two signs — my photos from 2007 are below. The top “Polk” panel was restored and is now in the Columbia Welcome Center. The “MOTEL” panel remains standing on the vacant lot:

The second sign…:

… was restored and is now installed in Nashville in the lobby of The Graduate hotel:

I’ll be back soon with even more Tennessee.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Let’s start with this “Mel” at the Mellow Mushroom in downtown Chattanooga. The chain has lots of characters and statues built from gears and recycled materials all over the country:

One of several “High Four” Great Dane sculptures in various cities — this one in Chattanooga:

This guy is at a former Piggly Wiggly supermarket (now hardware store) in Erin:

Giant strawberries in Portland:

The Lafayette Cinema in Lafayette:

The Capitol Theatre in Springfield:

A former Pure Oil gas station in Lebanon:

The Macon Bank & Trust Co. in Lafayette:

A long-closed Howard Johnson’s copycat building in New Johnsonville:

A “skinnny M” sign in Clarksville:

This bowling alley is in New Johnsonville:

This sign is in Lebanon:

This drug store in Gallatin was once part of the Walgreen Agency (middle panel covered up but the W and Y still visible under the tacked on panel):

The Chattanooga Choo-Choo rooftop sign:

This sign is in Clarksville. No, it was never a Holiday Inn but just one of hundreds of copycat signs:

The Palace Theatre in Gallatin:

A couple of signs inside the Coker Museum at Honest Charley Speed Shop in Chattanooga:

Three of my four travel buddies riding shotgun and keeping an eye out for trouble (other dogs, squirrels, people acting strangely). Left to right: Orbit, Pivot, and Dilly.

More Tennessee to come.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Let’s start with Myrtle the Pink Elephant in Chattanooga:

This chicken car is in Athens:

Topiary Joe in Tellico Plains makes topiary sculptures and ships them all over the country:

A giant frying pan in Tellico Plains at a gas station convenience store:

This place in Athens was inspired by the Dairy Queen barn-style buildings — built in 1983:

The former Shake Shack in Chattanooga:

A former Gulf station in Soddy-Daisy:

This sign is in Cleveland. I have a whole bunch of OK Tire store signs of different designs at my website here: https://www.roadarch.com/tires/ok.html

Another sign in Cleveland:

And a third sign in Cleveland:

This sign is in Etowah:

An Ingles supermarket sign in Madisonville:

I’ll be back later today with another post.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Let’s start with some Easter Island heads in Tullahoma:

A front yard dragon in McMinnville:

A restored Texaco in Cowan:

This drive-in from 1948 in Sparta is still operating:

This former Coca-Cola bottling plant is in Tullahoma:

This midcentury building is in Shelbyville…:

… and has a sign with a detail on top mimicking the roofline:

A midcentury bank in Sparta:

The Shelbyville Popcorn Stand (in Shelbyville) was built in the 1930s:

This theatre is in Winchester:

This sign is at Jon English Antique Sports & Cards in Shelbyville:

This market in Cookeville closed in 2021 but the sign remains:

This restaurant in McMinnville has been closed for decades but the sign remains:

This sign in Cookeville…:

… and building were adapted in 2022:

This sign is in Monteagle:

This man with this sign in Tullahoma has a motorized wrench in his hand:

And lastly, this cool 1970s sign is in Tullahoma:

I’ll be back soon with even more Tennessee.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This boot is in Crossville:

A functioning giant watering can at a garden center in Lenoir City:

Eight life-sized magpie statues in front of Magpies Bakery in Knoxville:

What — why? More storage or what? The Fountain Lanes in Knoxville in my 2011 photo:

… and now (remodeled 2023):

This sign is in Knoxville. The business is closed so the chances of this sign being repaired are slim:

Also in Knoxville — the business is long gone:

Same story — the business is gone but this one in Knoxville is still standing.

Here’s John Margolies’ photo from 1984:

and now:

This bread production plant in Knoxville is long closed but the sign remains:

Also Knoxville — the body shop is gone but the sign is being maintained:

This one in Harriman still had neon which was lit in 2015. It looks like they tried to paint the sign later and this is the horrible result:

This sign is in Spring City. This used car dealership opened in 1952 and this sign is probably from then:

This Masonic Lodge sign is in Knoxville:

A close-up of the Freezo sign in Knoxville. I posted the building & sign over at my Flickr/agilitynut account just a few mins. ago:

This modern sign in Gainesboro was installed when the business opened in 2023:

Another modern sign — this one in Crossville — with a 1957 Chevy:

A detail from the Cream City Ice Cream sign in Cookeville with an animated cherry. The full sign is over at my Flickr/agilitynut account:

And let’s close with this stunner in Knoxville which was restored a few years ago:

I’ll be back soon with more Tennessee. About 10 more days & posts to go for this trip.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Let’s start with some animal statues. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have lots of them.

This crab (one of two) is at Harpoon Harry’s Crab House in Pigeon Forge:

This giant bear in Gatlinburg is made entire of welded hardware nails:

This catfish is at the Huck Finn’s Catfish restaurant in Pigeon Forge:

This giant alligator is at Gatorland in Pigeon Forge:

Parrot Mountain is in Pigeon Forge:

This pair of sphinxes is at the Kerbela Shriners Temple in Knoxville:

This giant flip flop (and pop top) is at the Margaritaville Resort in Gatlinburg. There are dozens of other locations in the U.S. and I believe all or most of them have these statues, in different colors:

The restored, former Airplane Gas Station in Powell is now a vacation rental:

This theatre is in Clinton:

The Student Aquatics Center is at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville:

This Space Needle is in Gatlinburg:

This former Phillips 66 gas station is in Knoxville:

This former S&W Cafeteria is in Knoxville:

This cute sign is in Gatlinburg:

This sign is in Maryville. It was originally installed in Gatlinburg where it advertised for the Mountain View Hotel and the panels were painted to look like logs:

This business in Knoxville is long gone but the sign remains:

These signs are in Knoxville:

This business in Clinton is also long gone but the sign was either repainted or replicated. Surely, it had neon originally:

A great (and now rare) hillbilly sign at Ciderville Music in Powell:

Originally, advertised for the Regas Restaurant in Knoxville:

Lastly, this supermarket sign is in Clinton. There are very few of these neon Ingles signs left:

Back soon with lots more Tennessee.

A reminder or if you are new to these blog posts… as I finish adding each day’s photos to my website (roadarch.com), I post about a dozen photos to Flickr (agilitynut), then I post about a dozen other photos here and duplicate them at my other Flickr account (roadsidenut).

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Back to our regularly schedule programming…

Here’s my photo from 2007 the same year that Java J’s opened in Bristol, TN:

Around 2012, the place became Bristol BBQ – but I’m glad they kept the giant cup:

Bush’s Baked Beans are produced in Chestnut Hill. This giant can on a trailer is installed in front of their Visitor Center:

These three gorillas are installed in front of Gorilla Fireworks in Sevierville:

This 3-D billboard with a shark and octopus is also in Sevierville. The shark’s tail and the other side of the octopus are on the other side:

This Dolly Parton statue is also in Sevierville:

This former Pure Oil gas station is in Greeneville:

This former Buick dealer and gas station is in Newport:

This facade is all that remains of the former Pan-Am gas station in Strawberry Plains:

This canopy entrance is at the Sevier County High School in Sevierville:

The Moonlite Drive-in is in Abingdon, VA. They’ve done a great job of fixing up the signs at the entrance and on the back of the screentower. I can almost forgive them for using LED instead of neon:

Here’s my photo the Jewel Box in Bristol, VA from 2003:

I believe the sign is still there behind the current sign:

and its wonderful vitrolite storefront is still there:

… and just two doors east is another nice vitrolite storefront:

This sign is also in Bristol, VA:

The Riverside Truck Stop in Del Rio, TN has been closed for decades but this sign remains:

This sad-looking sign is installed in Newport:

It originally advertised for the Family Inns of America chain — an example of an intact sign from a postcard of the Rowland, NC location:

Surprisingly, this Mobile, AL location is still open. I think it’s the last one and it still has the same sign — from Google StreetView:

This long-closed restaurant sign is in Knoxville:

This bowling alley in Johnson City is still operating:

This sign is in Dandridge:

This vacuum-form plastic sign is in Bristol, TN:

Lastly, this beautiful sign is in Johnson City:

I’ll be back soon with lots more Tennessee. About 14 more days’ worth of photos to crop/tweak & add to the website from this trip left to go. Then, I start planning for next summer’s trip (IA, MN, and MI).

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This is a little time-out post from the Tennessee photos. I took a five-day trip with stops all over Nevada and attended the Neon Speaks festival “soft opening” of the new Light Circus Museum in Reno over the weekend. The photos (much, much more than shown here) are up at my website (roadarch.com).

Let’s start with the Dinosaur House in Henderson:

These lions in front of this fraternity in Reno were built in 1915 and originally installed in front of the Kern County Jail in Bakersfield, CA. Just before the jail was demolished, the fraternity bought them in the early 1960s and had them moved here:

A knight at the castle-themed Manor Suites in Las Vegas:

This bear is one of about five noisy and animatronic animals with fur or feathers inside Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall in Las Vegas:

A giant Dunkin’ cup in Las Vegas:

A giant hand and baseball at the Desert Diamonds Baseball Complex in Las Vegas:

A giant water bottle vending machine in Las Vegas:

The under-construction giant guitar building for the Hard Rock Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas:

The long-closed former Stuckey’s in Baker, CA:

A former gas station in Goldfield:

This former Phillips 66 station has been repurposed as a Union 76 station — quite a miracle after sitting vacant for years — in Las Vegas:

The court house in Pioche:

The former fire station in Winnemucca:

The glass facade at the closed Western Motel in Las Vegas is still there:

First stop of the trip was to shoot this sign in Wrightwood, CA — not a motel but actually a long-gone pool where you could take lessons, etc.:

A recently adapted sign (formerly the El Dorado Motel) in Reno:

The long-closed Nugget in Reno:

In case you didn’t know, Wendover Will in West Wendover had his neon replaced with LED. They also repainted his face and some other places pretty badly:

The Travelers Motel sign in Elko has gone back to its original red paint:

These two signs are in Pioche:

Although StreetView says this sign is is Ely (way further south), it is apparently in Lages Junction or Lages Station. The place appears to be closed and the “Bar Cafe” was painted over sometime after 2009. I would assume there was neon originally:

The cowboy and bucking horse are still hanging in there at the long-closed El Rancho Hotel in Wells:

The Marin Hotel directional sign in Winnemucca:

The long-closed Golden Motel sign is in Valmy. The bottom reads “Beautyrest” (mattresses) and “No Vacancy:”

This sign is in Las Vegas:

A recently restored sign in Las Vegas:

And here are just a few of the signs from Will Durham’s collection at the soon-to-officially-open Light Circus Museum in downtown Reno:

I’ll be back soon with more Tennessee photos.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This bronze birdwatcher and his dog are installed in Kingsport:

This coal miner is in Big Stone Gap, VA:

This Hamburger Man was installed on the roof of Pal’s #2 in Kingsport around 1966. The original building was just a box but got this retro makeover in 2002:

This Indian in Kingsport was built in 1954 for Honest John’s Trading Post. It was successfully moved to a new location in the late 1950s. In 1971, the business became Pratt’s Bar-B-Que. Here’s one of my photos from 2010:

In 2018, the statue’s head fell into his chest. A new head was produced by Mark Cline and the original head was moved inside the restaurant. Pratt’s closed in 2024 and the Indian was sold to Rocky Top Golf in Kingsport. However, as it was being lifted by a crane for the move, the entire statue collapsed. Rocky Top Golf got the original head from inside Pratt’s and installed it on their roof and painted a mural below. The destroyed body is supposedly in storage at Mark Cline’s place in Virginia and “might” be restored one day. I have my doubts that it’s even there:

This spaceship and aliens are installed on a front lawn at a residence in Blountville:

This “sit in my hand” gorilla is located in Kingsport:

This Plycrete elephant is installed in front of Ayers Real Estate in LaFollette. He is repainted monthly:

This dog statue hangs above the Pickers Paradise antique store in Tazewell:

This former bottling plant is in Jellico:

This former Pure Oil gas station in Rogersville now houses a cookie bakery:

This restored Gulf station is in Tazewell:

This Rexall sign is in New Tazewell:

There are two similar signs at the Frostee Freeze in Tazewell:

The Hob-Nob Drive-in is in Gate City, VA:

There are five of these Chevrolet OK Used Cars signs at Edde Chevrolet in Rutledge:

The Bennett & Edwards Insurance and Real Estate building and sign in Kingsport are from 1955. The sign’s neon was replaced with plastic letters at some point.

This sign and shopping center in Bristol, VA are only from 2000. The shopping center was built on the site of a former Kerns Bakery:

The Lynn Garden Restaurant in Kingsport closed last year but the sign remains. Those neon rings must have been lit sequentially at one time:

Lots more Tennessee to come. Be back soon.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Rain and grey skies to end my days of Kentucky shooting. I was thorough but there are lots of “[reshoot in sun]” notes my my master list.

This is Old Joe Clark who performed for over 50 years at the Barn Dance in Mt. Vernon:

These horses at the Kentucky State University in Frankfort are replicas of the ones inside St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice Italy:

This sculpture of Man O’War is installed on top of his grave at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington:

This Wildcat, the mascot of the University of Kentucky, is installed in Lexington:

This Dixie Cup water tower in Lexington has gotten pretty rusty since Georgia-Pacific has been operating on the property:

The Old Taylor Distillery in Frankfort was built in 1887. It shut down in 1972 and was nearly demolished before being renovated for the Castle & Key Distillery in 2018:

This former Shell station from 1945 in Lexington was adapted in 2012 for this restaurant:

This former Texaco in Lexington now houses Missy’s Pies (and I can attest to the fact that the pies are incredible):

This theatre is also in Lexington:

This midcentury courthouse addition is in Frankfort:

The Southland Lanes from 1960 are also in Lexington:

A sideview of the parabolic roof at Paul Miller Ford in Lexington:

There are two “skinny M” McDonald’s signs in Lexington. Both buildings have had modern makeovers:

Burgers Shakes in Lexington used to put their burger price in the oval in the middle of the sign:

And let’s close with this two-fer at the Grigg’s Motel in Richmond. The pole sign is in rough shape:

and the Neo-Lectra has been missing a spike for at least 20 years:

The next post, I’ll begin sharing stuff from Tennessee.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram