You won’t see any sun in today’s photos:  because there wasn’t any!  It poured and poured until about 2pm when it lightened up a little but still kept on raining.  The rain stopped at 7pm when I finally gave up shooting.  There was a surprising amount of flooding everywhere for a state that deals with hurricanes all the time. 

I did manage to get a fair amount of photos for the website — though I have mentally noted that they will all need to be reshot in the sun some other time.  The dogs got exercise during temporary breaks in the downpours.  They had a little beach time in the morning.  We also checked out Pooch Pines in West Palm Beach and Bark Park in Fort Lauderdale.  The fencing was a little skimpy in spots and both places and Grem took off for a bit — but luckily came back.  I really feel like she thinks dog parks are a personal challenge to her – “you ain’t gonna keep me in no enclosure!  There must be something REALLY good on the other side.  That’s where the wild animals live and the trash is tasty.”  Grem can fit through just about any 4″ hole or gap.  I think she waits until I’m busy playing with somebody else and then sneaks off.  Sometimes I see her running off in the distance a football field away — a black speck on the horizon.  So much for “safe” fencing.

Since photo-taking was such a challenge and the driving was also pretty scary, I didn’t get many blog-worthy photos.  Just as well, as I’d love to get to bed by 11:30 tonight for a change.  I want to get up early to get down to Key West before the sun comes up so I don’t waste daylight time going both directions.  I have GOT to start moving up the left coast tomorrow (even though I have a number of Miami stops left).  I’m considering taking a couple extra days off work because I’d really like to continue doing a thorough job with the FL stuff.  Ideally, I would also like to get to some of the stuff from other states on the way home but it’s looking unlikely.  I think I foresee another Southern trip next March to finish things up.

I saw a few of these beautiful yellow flowering trees today which added some cheer to the greyness of it all.  Does anyone know what they are?

I also noticed this tree which must be a coconut palm?

Fort Lauderdale and Miami have incredible amounts of mid-century buildings.  I hope to return some day, in better weather and when I’m not in a rush, to do a much more through job of picture-taking.  I’d like to do a whole batch of just concrete and metal screens like these:

This building had nice metal screening and decorative brickwork as well:

Sorry to cut it short — but I have a big drive before dawn and am still ragged from staying up late last night to catch up with everything after my big night out.  Hopefully, sun tomorrow!

So this is my second post for the night and it’s nearly 1am but I am determined to catch up!

After some stops NW of Orlando, we skeedadled eastward back to the coast. Nik smelled the water coming and began his squealing routine. Which then gets Grem barking. And therefore, gets Grip barking. Fixie and I just stare at each other and shake our heads. I gave in many times today to this insanity. Nik and Grem did some surf riding for their ball/frisbee. While the older, more sensible dogs, stayed on shore with me. The water seems pretty warm though I won’t be going in. Although I grew up in Southern California, on the beach, I cannot swim.

On with the visuals. In Plymouth, there was this place, “DECO Gallery” which had mostly giant pottery but also a few odd items including this spaceship. There were little seats inside but I have no idea what it’s original use was:

The Budget Motel, certainly not it’s original name, had this neat canopy. I’ve never seen anything like it.  This is in Titusville.

The Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach has these huge, tacky but wonderful statues of various beach sports. I didn’t shoot the skateboarders and I think there were about 3 other statues.

This mid-century building in Cocoa Beach was originally a bank — which one, I don’t know.  To get to the drive-through teller, you drive between the legs.  You can make out the teller’s window on the right in this photo.  I’m not sure if today’s mammoth SUVs would fit in there.  I also don’t know what’s happening to this quirky building.  It appears abandoned.

What would a post be without at least a couple signs?  This one is in Melbourne, way behind “Hot Rayz Limousines”.  I don’t know what the sign is doing back there and barely visible.

This one, also in Melbourne, is at “Del’s Freez”.  I thought they added this plastic to simulate chocolate.  Later, I found out it was black drapery as the owner had passed away.

One last photo from Melbourne then in celebration of St. Pattie’s Day.  This was a quick grab out the window so it’s not the best quality or composition but I had to share these folks with you.  I don’t know how much they’d had to drink already (it was late afternoon) but they were yelling to strangers things like “Tis the Day!  Tis the Day!”.  Dig their shoes.

OK — I’ve got a lot of catching up to do after my night off. Quite frankly, it’s all a blur. Yesterday seems like a year ago from all the driving I’ve done.  The dogs got one last run on the beach before I steered inland for the day. Tons of stuff in and around Orlando to take care of. The dogs also got to two dog parks. Paw Park in Sanford was smallish but well-fenced and lots of fun with a misting station, a giant fallen tree for the dogs to climb on, etc. The only other person there was a guy from Boston with his German Shepherd who was down visiting his son in Tampa. He’d found out about this park from a big book on offleash dog places. So, here we were, two out-of-towners, with this wonderful little place all to ourselves. The other dog park was really incredible: Fleet Peeples Park in Winter Park was huge with lots of trees, secure fencing all around, with one side completely open to an enormous lake. It was a welcome relief in the afternoon for everybody. Highs have been in the high 80s the past couple days.

But I have a LOT of photos to share with you so let’s get to it. I love these plastic clock signs but I don’t think I’ve ever seen or photo-ed any before. “Scottamus” has a few in his Flickr stream. This one is from Daytona Beach:

Lots of citrus groves and stores around the past couple days.  This one in Edgewater, FL:

This one is citrus-related:  a honey store, also in Edgewater.  I don’t know what happened to their great sign which I shot in 2005.

A detail of the small image above the door:

In Winter Park, I noticed these towering palm trees blocking billboard advertising space.  It’s nice to see that they are protecting the bases of the trees and letting, for once, nature triumph over man-made development.

Also in Winter Park, the towering remains of a sign.  Does anyone know the history of this thing (across the street from Skycraft)?  “…ists” = Tourists?

Another thing that’s been intriguing me — I’ve seen a lot of these super pylon-ed buildings in my travels in the past couple days.  They must’ve been part of a chain — but what?  Gas station?  Store?  Here’s one in Orlando:

And another in Orlando.  I imagine the roundie part was added later:

Just next door to this one, is this former station which I’m told was originally a Sinclair.  I guess the projection held a circular Sinclair logo like this?
 

More help from the locals needed.  This building is in Orlando — but just what was it originally? (on Orange Blossom Trail just below Colonial)

This sign in Orlando is a little scroungey but still neat.  That Ford Mustang was probably brand new when this sign was produced.

The security at Orlando’s “Gatorland” uses these cool gator-fied John Deere trucks.  Acutally, I believe John Deere calls this model the “Gator”.  But I don’t think you can buy them with this canopy — or can you?

This Orlando building was constructed in 2006 as the “Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies”.  It is enormous and has interesting shapes and patterns.  Try as I might, I could not get the whole thing in one frame.  Time to get a SLR camera with some mega wide angle I guess.

Towards the end of the day, I made a point to go see this creation.  The Monument of States is in Kissimmee:

A rarity for me, at home or on the road, I did a little socializing (hence the delay for this post).  I met JennRation Design (aka Jennifer) for dinner and had a great time. Over the years, I’ve emailed back and forth with a number of people who have similar interests. When I can squeeze it in, I try to meet one or two of these people on these trips. What a wonder the internet is!

A busy day of photo-taking, dog romps, and a get-together in the evening with a Flickr friend. I’ll be back with a double dose of photos & details tomorrow night.

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day in the meantime — this one from Jacksonville’s Killarney Shores:

It was really foggy in Jacksonville this morning so I was waiting a bit for it to burn off before taking photos.  In the meantime, I looked around for an oil change place – couldn’t find any open on a Sunday morning.  I did find a Tire Kingdom that was open. They discovered that Sparkle had a worn idler arm connects the steering to axle.  I think.  They showed me the wheel wobble.  Not good for the tires or the gas mileage.  And dangerous I suppose as well.  Replacing the arms meant that I therefore needed a wheel alignment.  And I needed my power steering fluid flushed/replaced (this I knew was coming due from my Jiffy Lube guys).  Anyhow, it took a little over two hours and ran me $605.  Ouch!  I don’t think I was scammed.  More than the money, I was depressed about losing great shooting time.  The weather and sun were just perfect.

Despite getting a late start and lots of traffic, I managed to get a lot of good stuff for the website/Flickr but I came up a little short on blog-type photos today.  In addition to the regular weekend tourists, the “Breakers” (kids on spring break) have started to descend on FL.  So I have a feeling the traffic may get worse.

While Sparkle was having the work done, I remembered this sign and the dogs and I took a big hike in the heat to get this one.  From Jacksonville:

The Magic Beach Motel in Vilano Beach (St. Augustine) had this nice old office.  They also had a flamingo statue which I posted a photo of over at Flickr tonight.  Their sign looks suspiciously reworked and features jumping rabbits. There are also flamingo cut-outs on the pool fence.  I’m wondering if this place wasn’t originally the “Flamingo Motel” or had another name.

If the Brunner Building Supply sign doesn’t make you smile, then you’re taking life way too seriously.  In East Palatka.

Real lighthouses are usually not my thing.  I prefer fake ones used for commercial purposes.  But this one in Ponce Inlet looked pretty nice.  Aren’t they usually white?  And it has occurred to me that I have put very few nature shots here at the blog on this trip.

The dogs got a LOT of exercise today.  We went to one of our favorite places:  Dog Wood Park in Jacksonville. It’s huge with numerous areas for big dogs, small dogs, quiet dogs, and even hiking trails. Trees and a big lake which was great to cool everybody off. The kids got a couple beach romps in – including this one at the end of the day in Ponce Inlet. Like in Daytona which is just to the north, you can drive on the beach. I don’t know why that turns me on so much. Anyway, I tried to take some photos of the dogs running about but I mostly got blur. I’m sure my camera can do better but I’ve never really figured it out. I have my eyes on a new camera for the Midwest trip and will definitely make sure I get it together for better action shots for the summer blogging.

I will probably be taking tomorrow night off from Flickr & the blog to meet up with a Flickr friend.  I promise a double-issue catch-up on Tuesday night.

No mishaps but today started off slow and rather depressing.  Pea soup fog made for dark & dreary photos for half the day.  Luckily, it wasn’t an action-packed morning.  Lots of miles between stuff as I hustled across GA to catch up with the schedule.  Somewhere in there, we passed this trip’s 3,000 mile mark.  Then, lo and behold, as soon as I crossed into FL, the sun came out.  Almost too much sun as a number of photos look almost washed out.

The dogs got the usual vacant lots until we got to to FL and I treated them to a good long beach romp as promised in Fernandina Beach.  Nik found a 7-year old boy to throw his ball incessantly.  He loves other people to throw things for him even more than me.  Especially kids who can’t throw very far as it means more reps for him.  Grem disappeared over the dunes and gave me my daily panic.  Then she came zipping back after about five long minutes.  Fix found people to pet her & Grip found stinky semi-edible stuff.  And I got a good quick sunburn.  So everybody was happy!  And tired. 

I did a thorough FL trip about five years ago but since then I’ve discovered lots of new places to see.  Also, many things need to be reshot due to bad weather/sun conditions or just to check & see how much they have changed.  I don’t expect to return for another number of years so I’m trying to cover a lot of ground and devoting the better part of a week to this state.

In Tifton, GA, I checked out this Dixie gas station.  As far as I know, it’s the only one still open.  The pumps are topped with globes which must be replicas.

Here are a couple signs from GA.  This one in Nicholls:

and this one in Alma:

This is an unusually cheerful re-use of an old Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.  Just about all these mansard + cupola KFC’s seem to be abandoned.  Flamingo’s Party Store is in Brunswick, GA.  I like how they left the roof alone and just spiffed up the storefront.

Just into Jacksonville, the sun came out and this building screamed with its colors “take a photo of ME!”.  The rooftop is incredible.  I’d love to know the history of this place.

I’ve seen another rooftop U-Haul truck like this in Tulsa, OK. So maybe there are/were others around the country. This one in Tulsa spins – this one in Jacksonville doesn’t (or at least it wasn’t today).

A few more signs from Jacksonville before I crawl into bed.  These first two were side-by-side.  “The Joe” sure isn’t appealing from the outside.  I can only imagine the inside.

Chopstick Charley’s isn’t the most inviting place either.  Those small windows scare me.  But I still like the politically incorrect signs.

And one of my favorite sightings today – welcome to Florida!

I don’t know how many miles I drove today but it felt like 1,000.  Although you’d never know it from where I started and ended up for the day.  I’ve been zig-zag-ing across GA the past few days trying to gather up everything on my list.  But today, I finally conceded that I’m at least a day behind, possibly two, and have started skipping less important things and those that are just too far away for this trip.  Looks like the beginnings already of next winter’s trip.

Today’s minor mishap:  I went to turn on the radio for one big stretch of highway and — nothing.  The regular radio would turn on but not my Sirius.  Now maybe I sound like a spoiled brat, but once you get used to commercial-free, there’s no going back.  I had to resolve this with all the countless hours of boring interstate ahead on this trip.  Poked around and discovered it wasn’t the receiver or the wire to the cigarette lighter but the actual cigarette lighter outlet itself.  I never heard of one going bad before.  I stopped at a garage to borrow an allen wrench to open up the dash to stretch my wire out far enough to reach another cigarette lighter.  Luckily, Sparkle has three of them which really comes in handy when I’m charging the cell phone, extra camera batteries and the laptop all at the same time.  So, anyway, I’ve got tunes again.

The weather was grey & cloudy all day and fairly chilly.  But at least it didn’t rain as they had predicted.  Tomorrow, I might not get as lucky.  The dogs romped and sniffed in undeveloped land behind gas stations and such.  Perhaps tomorrow, I can get these guys to a FL beach if I hustle. 

This sign is from B n B Tire in Comer, GA.  You can see how miserable grey it was today.

This giant abandoned sign is from Route 1 in Augusta, GA.  I don’t know if the “Cardinal” was a motel or a restaurant or something else.  I had never been to Augusta before which was fun.  Lots of old interesting stuff downtown.  I’ll have to get back there some day to explore it more.

Andy Jordan’s Bicycle Warehouse in Augusta has this neat wall mural…

… and this guy descending the awning.  It does make you tap your brakes as you come down the block — instinctively thinking something bad is about to happen.

A couple more shots from Augusta.  I found this building pretty grand.

and these showcase display windows were incredible.

A couple more signs for you.  While this one isn’t all that pretty — it’s spectacularly massive.  From Sylvania, GA.

And let’s close with this classic “Eat” sign at the Retreat Cafe in Dublin, GA.  Let’s hope they never mess up that historic patina by repainting it.

From the map, it looks like we barely got anywhere today. But I banged out about as many stops as usual despite lots of traffic and really shitty road signs. The weather was cooler (highs upper 70s) and I’m happy report GA still believes in 20 oz. Diet Cokes. The dogs got their jollies on corporate lawns and soon-to-be-developed vacant lots.

I started the day off by backing Sparkle into a truck at a gas station. I was maybe doing 3mph when I heard a little thunk. The truck was fine but I had managed to precisely hit my hatch lock button against some metal protrusion on the truck. So much for those handy Dutch doors providing access to the fully stocked supply room of dog toys & emergency gear for the rest of this trip. I can get to the stuff from the inside but it’s a real pain. To get the door(s) functional again when I get home, I imagine it’ll cost $1,000+ to bang things out and replace the latch/lock. Maybe they’ll have to replace the whole upper door! That’s twice now that I’ve done a stupid backing maneuver on these roadtrips (the previous one had us at a 45 degree angle in a ditch but luckily no harm done). I’m completely paranoid now about backing up. It’s good to have these little incidents to remind us how soft metal is and how vulnerable we are in these fast-moving spaceships of ours.

On with the photos… This little guy in Cartersville helped cheer me up a bit.

Another cute guy at High Tech Transmissions in Marietta. You can’t see his cape in this photo.

Let’s pause for a moment to pay respect to possibly the tiniest commercial structures ever made: the Fotomat booth. There must’ve been thousands of them scattered around the country in the 1960s and 1970s. Now, I bet less than 100 remain. The survivors sometimes get reused as key shops, shoe repairs, etc. This one, in Cartersville, appears to have been a taxi stand in its last incarnation.

Another dying breed here in the South is the Dixie gas station. This one in Dallas looks like it’s been closed for years. I’m not sure if there are any still operating at this point.

I guess I’ve got a theme going today — what about these phone booths?  I haven’t seen any like this lately (from Athens):

This is something I haven’t seen before:  a Dairy Queen logo rooftop weathervane.  I’m familiar with DQ’s Little Miss weathervanes which are incredibly rare — but this one in Athens really surprised me. Has anyone else seen them before?  I assume there must’ve been Dairy Queen lettering on it originally.  I wonder if the little flags always looked like this or were something more.

Although this looks like it’s from somewhere out in rural America, it’s actually in downtown Atlanta!  Lots to look at here.

And I send this photo out to my friend in NYC who are getting yet another snowstorm tonight I understand.  And to my friends in Minnesota and Michigan that have had it way worse than we have this year.  Spring IS on the way.  My first magnolia sighting of the year in Atlanta.

Today was a little cooler (highs in the low 80s) but still lots of sun. It wasn’t as produtive photo-wise as the past few days since I had a lot of miles between stuff particularly in the morning. Speaking of miles, a milestone for Sparkle today as she turned over 200,000 miles. I’ve only had her half that (bought her in 2006? with 108,000 for $8000 – such a deal!). What journeys we have shared together — all over the country, in all sorts of weather. I’ve only replaced the brakes, shocks, battery, tires — general maintenance really. I’m very much into those 3,000 mile oil changes and have been putting in the high mileage oil since I bought her. She runs like a brand new van and I love her to death. I wouldn’t hesitate for an instant to buy another Astro Van though I understand they aren’t making them anymore?

The kids got by with abandoned lots and quasi farmland today. I’d like to find them some grass sometime soon. They haven’t been on green grass in what feels like half a year.

On with the show! If I can complain for just a minute, something dramatic is going on with the Coca-Cola company. It seems ever since I got here in SC, you can’t find a 20 oz. bottle anywhere. They say they are phasing out cans and replacing them with a 16 oz bottle (99 cent size) and have added this 24 oz bottle ($1.49 size) to replace the 20 oz. This seems absurd to me and I’m hoping it’s just a regional thing. The 24 oz is really silly big and the 16 oz is silly small. I did find a 20 oz. today (not shown in the photo) and was disappointed by its lack of fizziness — probably a month old or more. Ick.

This little building was in Greenwood, SC (I think).  At first glance, I thought it might be a former Pure Oil gas station with the double chimneys on the sides — but then I realized the brickwork and size were wrong.  This one also has cute little vent-like windows up next to the chimney.  This building is set back pretty far from the  road so it’s still possible it might have been a gas station office.

This guy had me fooled.  As you are coming down a super wide road down a hill into Greenville, you see him early on up on the roof.  I found myself wondering what kind of nut would be up on a ladder like that til I got almost there and realized the joke was on me.  At Trader’s Gun Shop. 

Here are a couple mind-boggling restaurants – also in Greenville, SC.  The Acropolis is composed of these five hexagonal (or thereabouts) structures.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  I don’t know if this was inspired by any Greek building or if there was another restaurant here before.

Just next door is this about-to-open fast food place.  Now, maybe it’s the skeptic in me — but in this economy, does it seem like a good idea to pour money into such a venture?  What kind of food would they be serving:  crepes, waffles, and ????  I don’t see a flood of people dying to check it out when there are an abundance of options nearby.  I wish them well!  And had it been open, I would’ve gone in for a look-see.

In Northeastern GA, somewhere southeast of Helen, was this nifty sign promising everything.  But they were closed — probably just for the season as the place looked pretty cheerful otherwise.  I would’ve gotten some peanuts in the shell so the dogs could have fun making a complete mess of the van.  That’s one of their favorite treats & thrills is ripping off the shells to get the goodies inside.  Possibly even more fun than marrow bones.  It takes months to get rid of all the debris but I don’t mind it as it’s a reminder of the ridiculousness of the event.

I love the lightbulbs and wonder if they are/were animated to convey the illusion of flames at night:

Somewhere southwest of Helen, GA (I was in the sticks a lot today so determing exact towns was difficult), were the remains of a gas station.  A pity that this plastic Shell sign was broken.  I would’ve shot from the other intact side but the sun was right there.  The station itself was not as romantic — with mostly junk in front and inside. 

 

I had to check out this place since I’ve read so much about it.  It was closed (seasonal also I assume) so I had the place to myself.  Poole’s BBQ is in East Ellijay, GA — which is pretty much nowhere NW GA.  The gimmick is that you can buy a pig for $6 or so, personalize it with your name and have it added to the hill.  There’s also the pig car  which I was surprised didn’t have a coiled tail. 

 

Finally, a little roadside story.  Sometimes when I fail to find an address for something before a trip, particularly if it’s in a smallish town, I’ll bring along a photo to show/ask the locals for directions.   That seems to be a much better method than just describing something.  In this case, I was looking for Yaggie Cleaners sign in Spartanburg.  No listing at google (other than an address which from the map appeared to be in a residential neighborhood).  In the heart of town, I asked an older fellow if he lived in town and had seen the sign.  He wasn’t sure – sent me to his buddies in a restaurant nearby who’ve lived in town forever.  Perfect.  They sent me down East Main Street and agreed it was “before the Bank of America”.  Easy enough.  I drove a few miles — scrutinizing peripherally, passed the BofA & still no sign of a sign.  Another mile or so, I saw a cleaners and thought I might ask them about the sign.  Well, they were it — the sign had been there, removed last May.  They had changed names & another cleaners (Fowler Brothers) bought the sign.  There was talk of changing the Yaggie part of the sign but that’s where the story ends for now.  I’ll have to give Fowler Brothers a call when I get home — unless somebody here feels like doing a little research for me.