It didn’t start out very promising.  Pouring rain and dark as night at 8am.  I debated about whether to stay or go.  Whether to head for Indiana.  So I just did a little organizing and threw the ball for Nik 1000 more times — and then, the darkest part seemed to be over.  So I stuck it out and it was gloriously sunny all day.  Funny, things ended the same way they started — big bad clouds rolled in right about 8pm.  The forecast was for thunderstorms all day — so I’ve just about given up on those so-called meteorologists.  

Tomorrow is a reality check.  I’m allowing myself a few more hours in Ohio — but the cut-off is noon.  Period.  Then I must hit the interstate and get us to Illinois or so.  Since there probably won’t be many photos, I might just interstate all night and do a double batch the following night.  And if it’s sucky weather when I get up, I might not even stick around Ohio.  All unknown.   But tonight — I’ve got gobs of photos for you.

We started out in Mansfield – things were still looking bleak.  I see other photos at Flickr of this sign — but none at night.  Bummer.  The neon sure looks intact:

 

Still in Mansfield:

 

On to Columbus where we were 99% of the day.  Behold the Mighty Spine!  Yes, at the Columbus Chiropractic Center.  A shout out and round of applause to the King of Ohio, aka scottamus at Flickr, who helps alert me to such things.  Yes, a spine carved from a tree.  And if that wasn’t enough — apparently that little light flashes at night to show where the pain is:

 

And, if that wasn’t enough — spine shaped parking lines in the lot:

 

Just magnificent in every way:

 

On to one of my traditional Columbus stops:  the Krema Nut Co.:

 

Part of the store inside:

 

windows where you can watch the candies & that being made:

 

This caught my eye — unfortunately, the Nut Mobile was disassembled maybe five years ago.  They sold the station wagon to a guy that really wanted to restore it.  My fave part is the cashew hood ornament:

 

And my loot.  Some peanut butter to take home & some nuts for the road (more exciting food shots another day, I promise):

 

The former Winder’s Chevrolet dealership building — now the Hubbard Grille.  The trees don’t make it easy to shoot — and yes, that’s Sparkle’s butt there on the left:

 

The sign is obviously new — but it may have been built in the style of the Winder sign — or at least in a 1920s style:

 

Loads of fun signs in town:

 

Out of Columbus for a bit — this is from Pataskala.   I remember one of my early roadtrips through here around 2001 when the Shamrock Motel was abandoned & seemed doomed:

 

Now fast forward to today.  The sign is fixed up (okay no neon but still), the motel rooms renovated…

 

… and the big former restaurant (now gift shop & pizzeria?) looks fantastic.  A LOT of work and money had to go into this place.  I assume there was a gas station once upon a time here as well (the place was built in the 1930s):

 

Ever get that feeling you are being watched?  Once in awhile, Nik peeks up from his remote location — the absolute back of the van.  I don’t know how much longer I’ll see this expression.  He’s blind in the right eye and the left eye is getting worse by the day.  I’ve been to the eye doc multiple times & it seems surgery is way too risky.  So by this time next year, he very well might be completely blind — which really sucks because he’s only about 8 and he’s so, SO, active.   His left ear, by the way, was ripped up in some kind of thorny bush while retrieving a ball.  He was stuck and just pulled to free himself.  (and yes, more doggie photos later in the trip)

 

Back in Columbus:

 

I’m assuming the name came first (someone’s name?) and the other hands came later:

 

My apartment’s small but I think I could make room for one of these chairs:

 

Firstly, I love how they painted those protective pipes the same color as the sign itself.   This sign may look familiar to you if you’already been over at Flickr & seen the Pierce Cleaners sign:

There’s also the People’s Cleaners sign in Kewanee, IL with a similar sign:
http://www.agilitynut.com/09/8/peoples.jpg

I don’t know if this was something sign shops could just buy pre-assembled or what the deal was.  I think I have seen a couple other signs like this but my brain is fried right now.

On to Springfield.  Oh, how I wish the owner of Reco Sporting Goods would reinstall the logs and the man — or even just hang the “RECO” part properly:
http://www.roadsidenut.com/reco403.jpg 
Last time I spoke with him he said the rest was in the “garage”. 

 

Last stop:  New Carlisle.  I posted this same sign over at Flickr tonight — but some of you might like this full-night shot better.  I think I like the other one better since it shows the shape of the sign and the piano keys:

 

Alright then — I’ll report in tomorrow night, photos or not, from someplace hopefully other than wonderful Ohio.