Day 29 & 30: Finishing up Florida

This is where things went all wrong weather-wise. The rain started in the morning and hardly let up. I finally gave up on Miami & southern Florida and moved north. Checking the weather forecasts on my phone, there was nowhere else to go really. Rain everywhere in northern FL, and all of Georgia & Alabama. I tried to be patient but with only a few days of vacay left before I had to get back to work at home, I just set aside all the pages of stuff that I had intended to shoot. Boo-hoo. I made the decision to blow off the big 2021 trip to Wyoming, Montana, etc. and come back to finish up what I had to give up on this time. Some people continue to shoot in dark grey & rain but I’ve long gotten over that. It only means crappy photos that you have to reshoot. It seems a big waste of gas money although there’s always the risk that when you return what you wanted to shoot will be gone.

Since very few photos from these two days, I’m combining into one blog post. Let’s start with these two modern neon/plastic combo signs in Stuart which are next door neighbors. I assume the same business owner:

From Del’s Freez (originally a Tastee-Freez) in Melbourne. This sign has been repaired a number of times but they are still using a neon outline instead of cheap & tacky LED:

Miserable weather in Rockledge. But this orange stand at Harvey’s Groves has been closed for years. Better shoot this guy now! He originally revolved.

Let’s take a little break from signs. Here’s a nice midcentury bank in Indiatlantic. The floating mushroom canopy is installed in the courtyard behind the bank and in front and the office building behind it:

These giant conch and clam shells were installed in front of the Shell Bazaar in Port St. Lucie in 1955:

This lonely screentower from 1949 is all that remains of the Fort Pierce Drive-in (in Fort Pierce):

These dolphins are installed in front of Sandy’s Furniture in Vero Beach. If dolphins are your thing, I’ve got a bunch over at my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/critters/dolphins.html

A 13-foot-tall Space Shuttle replica in Melbourne at the Space Coast Stadium:

OK — let’s wrap up with some signs — and moving on to dreary Georgia. These are from Valdosta:

The current reviews of this motel are not so “jolly” and the rates have been updated over the years (1960s-ish postcards show it as “$8 up” and later “$9.88 up”):

I don’t know what this next-door-neighbor sign advertised for originally. But it’s last gasp was for the Quality Inn. The “Quality” letters are gone now but the motel is still operating. I wish I could find a postcard for this one. I’d love to know what those tall poles supported (plastic ballies or ???):

Last one — which I had to shoot from about 1 mile away to get the sunny side which is only visible over the roof. Hence, the blur. These Martinizing Cleaners signs were mass-produced but there are only a handful left. There’s no hope of this one being restored since the cleaners itself is long gone.