Website Updating: Post #1 of many to come…

Here we go — on with this next project: combing my website to find broken links and what’s gone/remodeled/repainted/restored. If you are new to my winter posts, this is how it works. I go through every page’s links and maps starting with the smallest sections — building up ever so slowly to the signs and midcentury modern sections (the two biggest). This project usually takes about 4 or 5 months of steady, daily work.

So, starting with the small ones first. The Paul Bunyan statues, Statue Collections, and Tiki sections went pretty much unscathed. But this detail on the side of the Freaky Boutiki in San Diego, CA (now a tattoo studio) is gone now:

From the Giant Containers section… these barrels were located at the La Botte Italian restaurant in Lompoc, CA were demolished last year when the restaurant moved across the street:

The giant wine bottle at the Boondocks Lounge in Tucson, AZ got a new paint job earlier this year. Here’s what it looked like in 2012:

And now at Google Street View:

The giant Coca-Cola bottle caps canopy at the Mellow Mushroom in Chattanooga, TN have been repainted. I don’t know if Coca-Cola corporate had any role in the decision. Here’s what they looked like previously:

and now:

The Coffee Pot Espresso building in Gleed, WA now houses a pizza place. The drive-thru building has been expanded but the coffee pot is still there.

From 2015:

and now:

The former Frostop in Tucson, AZ has housed at least four different restaurants since 2008. The building and mug were repainted for each new tenant. Here it is in 2008:

In 2012:

In 2017:

and now:

If you are wondering about those partially covered up poles on the building — this is what the building would have looked like originally — this former Frostop in Springfield, OH was demolished around 2018:

Despite the efforts of preservationists, the former Chili Bowl in Los Angeles, CA was demolished in February. That leaves only two of the 23 chili bowl-shaped buildings left (in Alhambra and Glendale). Here was the building with the original sign frame in 2013:

Here are the details:

https://esotouric.substack.com/p/chilibowlrip

From the Egyptian Revival section… the Pharoah’s Court Apartment Building in San Diego, CA has been repainted — here’s what it looked like until earlier this year: