Sun all day long — just a wee bit of haziness at the end of the day.  Weather delightfully cool.  I’ve got nothing to complain about.  Finally wrapped up PA & made a good dent in the Ohio list.  This will be a whirlwind tour of Ohio — some Columbus tomorrow and bearing south and west.  Indiana & Illinois will be very brief.  Missouri even briefer.  I’m a day behind schedule already.

I’m late in getting settled tonight & have tons of photos.  A nice big batch to Flickr tonight — so don’t forget about that parallel universe as well:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Let’s start with this sign in Delmont, PA that I’ve been shooting and admiring for years.  I assume the sign was once much nicer.  But I’m just glad they kept the ballies on top:

 

From Butler, PA.  These Humpty Dumpty statues usually appear at mini golf courses.  But here he is on top of the roof of the Country Kitchen:

 

A super nice Art Deco building in Youngstown, OH:

 

From Akron, OH — a giant pizza at Luigi’s Restaurant.  I think it’s about five or six feet in diameter:

 

This sign in Canton, OH had neon and secondary signs originally — but at least they kept it.  Here’s what it used to look like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joannemariol/2719561844/

 

Also from Canton — a pretty cheery repurposed Fotomat booth:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/fotomat/pool/

 

Sadly unexpected — this former Tastee-Freez was still swinging as the Whipple Dari Drive-in when I shot it in 2007:
http://www.agilitynut.com/07/7/whippie.jpg

Now the sign’s painted over and looking pretty grim.  Just as I was climbing back into the van after taking this shot — some guy came running — I mean RUNNING and yelling — so I just played deaf — and then I had to play blind as he nearly through himself in front of the van as I drove off.  Sheesh!  I guess it was the owner — either wanting to sell me the place — or wanting to scream at me for taking a photo.  Crazy.

 

Whenever I’m in Canton, I stop to check on Willie the Whale.  It’s a good distance from the road but I feel compelled to see what’s happened next.  Not good.  Willie was built in the late 1950s and is all that’s left of Mother Gooseland.  Why can’t the city move him someplace where he will get the respect he deserves?  Right now, it’s a standoff between vandals, homeless people and the City.  The City bricked up the mouth to keep people from sleeping inside — and the homeless people just tore down the cinderblocks.

 

From Massillon, OH — the perfect combination:  bowling and booze:

 

And let’s wind up with sundown in Dalton, OH.  I’ll even let some people come into my photos for a change:

 

I hope you’re enjoying the ride so far.  Many, many more days and nights to come.   Just to spare you the disappointment, I might be taking a night off from blogging & Flickring soon.  But I’ll make up for it with a double batch the night after.  I will probably have to do a mad scurry westward at some point to get on schedule — like a 10 hour drive after shooting all day.   If / when I do, I won’t have the steam left to be cropping & writing & all that.  This could be tomorrow night — but more likely the night after that.