So, yeah, I never did catch up last night.  But I’ve got the photos ready for this one and hopefully after this post, I can whip up some of today’s photos & get on track.  Tomorrow night (Mon.) will be a hustle home, so the final post will be from home, most likely Tuesday.

More perfect weather today.  Great sun for shooting.  But it must’ve been over 100 degrees.  Bank clocks that I saw in the morning and afternoon were in the 90s.  The A/C is running good.  I took the dogs for a walk with me mid-afternoon while I tried to find a good angle to shoot the Cyclorama in Gettysburg.  We all nearly died.  I try to Nik & Grem a good, hard grassy run in first thing in the morning.  Then focus on water opportunities for everybody the rest of the day.  All the barking and jumping around in the van is just not enough to wear down these animals.

On with it.   I know there are lots of these Guggenheim-esque spiral parking garages around the country.  But I never get tired of them.  I will soon be starting another blog for these trips entitled “For the Love of Concrete”.  Just kidding.  If I didn’t have website obligations and a full-time job though I might.  This one from Allentown:

A couple shots from Quakertown.  A neat five and dime store still in business.  The lettering projects from the building:

And from a news stand that is no more:

In the by-gone beverage department.  At least, I think both of these brands are gone.  This one in Allentown:

And this one from Northampton.  “A-Treat” seems to be a regional brand.  I’ve never seen signs for it elsewhere — but must have seen five today:

An old barber shop in Allentown.  I love the skeletal barber pole on the right:

Also in Allentown.  A nice grill or screen thingie on the left.  What makes it come alive is the turquoise paint:

From Whitehall.  Today’s high calorie snacks:   a couple donuts from this place.  Very heavy — what I call “doorstop donuts”.  But then I realized they were something like a cross between a donut and a biscuit.  And then I really loved them. Each one was like a meal though.  Great if you’re on a budget like me.

Oh, and if you’re stealing this photo… you might want to PhotoShop out that Sherwin-Williams sign in the background before dumping it into your blog or website.  Just kidding.  Kind of .  I’ve had a LOT of infuriating discoveries lately (my photos appearing all over the place without permission or credit).  Why are people so freaking lazy and disrespectful?  Another topic for another time.

From Tamaqua.  One of those half-full / half-empty finds.  So wonderful — yet so sad that it’s closed and those letters and glass tile might disappear any day now:

From Ryan.  An adapted gas station — but the recessed letters and vintage clock are nice touches:

Very much coal country today.  Though it didn’t have the same depressing, shantytown feel of SW Virginia where I was just a couple weeks ago.  Towns named Coaldale, mining museums, businesses with coal references… and this miner statue tribute in Minersville: 

A couple sign photos from Mount Carmel.  This one, originally Miller Furs (?)  Shoes.  Adapted to Miller Bros. Market.  But now, whatever-it-last-was is closed.  Store as storage.  Lovely pale green vitrolite (glass tiles):

A really nicely done, recent hand-painted sign.  Although the laundromat below has one of those for sale signs out in front and you gotta worry what will happen with this nice bit of artwork:

Also in Moutn Carmel, an incredible fire station.  Extra credit for the neon sign:

From Reading. Here’s an out the window, stuck in traffic shot.  Really nice curved entrance windows and steps:

Running out of sun for the day in Fraser.  Hard to judge scale from this — but this bowling pin sign must’ve been at least six feet tall.

And the accompanying building with bulging roof and scripty letters.  Point to ponder: why do so many of these vintage bowling alleys have dome-y roofs?  Is that to trap sounding from the clattering pins?  For A/C units?  What?

OK — I’m going to go hunker down now & see if I can miraculously get today’s batch in order.  Although it’s 11pm and not looking good.

Alright — I’ll have a go at catching up.  But it’s after 11pm and I’m two days behind.  Fantastic weather — all sun and long days since it’s summer.  Makes for a very long but productive shooting schedule.  Although, since it’s 4th of July weekend, I’ve had a lot of extra traffic — both in the cities and the bumpkin routes.  I’ve found tons of golf course-like mowed fields for the dogs to run in.  All is good — way more than good.

Let’s get to it.  A few quick pitstops in NJ first en route to PA.  Bumped into this place in East Windsor.  This is apparently an adapted gas station.  But I can’t explain the tower on the roof.  Guess they just tried to make it charming?  I love hand-painted signs — and this one gets extra credit for the painted hand.  Seems to be long vacant now:

A real vintage diner lurks under the roof & pebble stone of Fernando’s Grille in Hamilton.  Looks like this place is for sale:

I’d been wanting to see / shoot this place for awhile.  The Eet Gud Bakery opened in Trenton or Hamilton (depends who you talk to) in 1929.  Lots of neon and personality.  Yes, that’s Sparkle in the background of the first photo — who will come very close to the 250,000 milestone on this trip:

And, yes, I picked up some snacks for later — gotta show my support!  Here’s a “cherry meltaway” — displayed in my classic pose now — on the dash with the maps & itinerary for the day.  The scale might be hard to tell from this shot — think donut sized:

In Philadelphia, I bumped into a nice mid-century library — another inadvertent appearance from Sparkle.  Really, I can’t help it.  I’m always hopping in and out and parking illegally.  I try to keep both me and her out of the shots the best I can.  Birds always seem to love these plastic letters:

I discovered this place in Philadelphia about 10 years ago and am always relieved that it’s still there.  This is the only example that I have seen of one of these turn-table gadgets.  When space it tight, you would drive onto the turntable, make a delivery or pick something up, and then you (they?) would spin your car the other direction on this to exit.  Not the best phrased explanation but I hope you get it.  Sadly, the turntable hasn’t been used for decades.  Are there any more of these things out there anywhere now?  Unfortunately, this place has updated their sign with a much plainer one.  This was how it looked in 2003:

Lots more Philadelphia.  I’ve never seen a Texaco sign like this before.  It points at the former station across the street.

No time for Google searches — but I assume this building is modern — meaning contemporary not mid-century modern.  Somebody please correct me if I’m wrong.  This is part of the Moore College of Art & Design:

I finally sucked it up and forked out $13 bucks or so and parked the dogs in the shade to see the Giant Heart (see tonight’s Flickr stream) at the Franklin Institute.  While there, I found some other interesting things to make the expense worthwhile.  Here’s a revolving display of different animal hearts:

Some playground style arteries:

A bone bench:

A skeleton on an elliptical treadmill.  It was moving so you could see how the bones function:

A conceptually cool snack vending machine — Snack-o-Rama — when you select an option, it tells you facts about your choice (healthy or not).  My “meltaway” would have set off alarms I’m sure:

More on the food theme…  I haven’t been by the Philly Cheesesteak Center of the World lately.  I must say Geno’s has gone over the top on their signage — while Pat’s remains low-key and traditional.  Lines were just as long at both places:

In the spirit of the holiday, I gathered up three Uncle Sam offerings for you yesterday:

#1 — one of those air-filled-crazed things — can’t remember the proper terminology right now.  This guy was at Waltz Golf Farm in Limerick:

#2  — This guy in the window of the famous Termini Brothers Bakery in Philadelphia.  His upper torso moves back and forth rather creepily:

And lastly — this neat painted ad in the window of Guaranteed Plumbing & Heating in Philadelphia:

I hope you all are having a nice 4th.  I’ll start working on today’s stuff but I can’t guarantee I’ll get it done tonight.  Oh, and before I forget to mention it, the photos in these blog posts are clickable (clicking on them gets you a bigger size).  Also, I should mention to newcomers, that I upload different photos to Flickr every night on these trips as well:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

This little roadtrip began yesterday morning & ran very late .  We didn’t get settled in til 11pm.  And after only 2 hrs. sleep from the night before, well, I never made it around to playing with photos for Flickr & the blog.  But today, after much rest (six hours is a LOT for me), we’re back on the road.  Tonight, a double flickr & double blog.

This is just a quick 4-day trip in PA.  The next biggie will be five weeks in the Midwest, starts end of July.  Much more later… dj & the dogs

It was an excruciating drive home.  Normally, with the anticipation of getting home and putting my life back together, I can bang out 11 or 13 hours at a time.  But last night, I was just beat and kept pulling over for naps.  I could tell it wasn’t safe otherwise.  Drove about two hours, then pulled over for an hour, repeat, times about a half dozen times.  Another nap when I got home and then off to work.  Ugh.

Anyhow, let’s wrap up.  Some stats:  five days, 2,743 miles.  I didn’t add up the gas money.  I did get one speeding ticket – no surprise yet.  Northern VA on the dreaded I-81 where if you go over the 65 limit at any point, you’re likely to encounter blue lights.  I bet half the state’s budget comes from the proceeds of that highway.  $136 for doing 80.  A “warning” ticket in NC.  Which was a relief.  Middle of farmland highway, following someone else but I was the one that got snagged.  I’m really trying to be more careful but it’s a delicate balance between obeying the law (or close to it) and actually maximizing the photo ops.  I did get tons of great photos on this mini trip.  95% of the time, fantastic sun.  I still had to ditch a lot of Western VA plans on the way home.  I’ll try to make that up next spring on the way to OK/TX. 

The temps back home here in NYC are a vast improvement:  highs in 80s with far lower humidity.  Never thought of 80s as “comfortable” til now.  On with the show —

A couple shots from Hickory, NC — a nice mid-century screen:

and on the side of a bakery building — must photo all signs with bakers and chefs:

An old billboard above the Sunbeam Bread bakery in Shelby, NC:

A perky plastic sign in Kingsport, TN:

A storefront in downtown Kingsport – you either love it or hate it:

Just across the street — a real novelty these days:  an entire store as newsstand:

A mystery building in downtown Kingsport.  Looks bank-ish.  Surely, the lettering on the sign was updated with those plastic letters.  And I’m betting that there was a clock on top:

Lots of long stretches of driving today meant much dozing for the dogs.  Grem parked on her favorite sofa (Nik) a good part of the day.  He barely noticed.

Into the hills (mountains?) in SW Virginia for things that have been on my list for years but I just never had the time.  Highway 23 which loops through there is known as the “Trail of the Lonesome Pine”.  Big Stone Gap has an old car dealership building with terra cotta letters that pays reference to this.  A vintage photo:
http://www.bigstonegap.org/pictures/lpmotorco.jpg

And in Coeburn is the long abandoned Lonesome Pine Drive-in theatre:

SW Virginia is coal country.  Banks and billboards have signs referring to the industry.  This sign is in Norton, VA:

That business is just next door to piles of coal and equipment.  Pretty depressing in terms of ecological and human impact.  Especially in light of the deaths during recent mining disasters.  And how little the industry and lives of coal workers seem to change.  

And then after a very, very long drive — back to my own and very different reality.  My personal “coal mine” in NYC — a far more safe and comfortable living.  But anything but glamorous or personally rewarding.   This trip concluded with a trek through the Holland Tunnel into Manhattan.  This photo is of the Municipal Building in Manhattan just before the turn onto the Brooklyn Bridge heading home.  The dogs go on alert with all noses in the air back at some point in NJ just before crossing the river into NY.  So by now they are all revved with the excitement of reclaiming their territory.  Add much barking, panting, whining sound effects to this photo:

And so concludes this mini trip.  I’ll be doing another mini trip in just a couple weeks.  4 days in PA.  I hope you’ll join us then for more photos & adventures starting July 2.  Then, a five-week biggie starts July 24 when the dogs and I take on the Midwest.

Meanwhile, I’m still pounding away at the website adding photos every chance I get.  There’s no way I’ll catch up by the Midwest trip but you can keep tabs on my progress here if you like:
http://www.agilitynut.com/whatsnew.html

ONE FINAL NOTE.  A friend pointed out that she didn’t know that my blog photos opened to full-sized photos when you click on them.  So maybe you didn’t know that either.  I guess most blogs don’t offer this but I think it’s an important feature.

I had hoped to bang through the NC list today and start on a wee corner of TN and get into VA.  Almost!  Tomorrow, I’ll try go get through the remainder of the western VA stuff and then scurry on home.  You’ll have to wait for the final blog chapter til Wednesday since I won’t be back in NYC til late late tomorrow (Tuesday) night.

It was another incredibly hot day.  I heard that yesterday broke 100 and that’s pre-heat index factoring.  Today must’ve been about the same.  Sparkle’s nice and cool though.  I even called my mechanic today to express my gratitude.  I think the dogs were kind of baffled today between the temperature difference between inside and outside.  I found some lakes here and there for them to romp in/around and still stay cool.

I had some emails to attend to and suddenly it’s 1am already.  How did that happen?  So let’s get on with the photos — another big batch of them.

A nice original storefront in Asheboro:

I love the Auto Bell car wash chain.  Their giant bells remind me of the bell that used to be suspended on top of the old Taco Bell buildings.  And these yellow bells are so cheery.  According to their website, the company was established in 1969.  Most of their locations are in NC but there are a few in SC and GA as well. 
http://www.autobell.com/
This one is in Concord:

A law office with a little mid-century detailing — also in Concord:

A damned shame what they’ve let happen with this former movie theatre in Albemarle:

Just up the street — what the?  Criminal!

And just across the street from those buildings — is this trio of miraculous survivors.  The storefronts of Starnes Jewelers and Satin & Lace are faced with vitrolite:

And this guy next to them has really fun & unusual overhangs (there’s gotta be a better word):

Back in Charlotte — wasn’t I just here?  Yes, a couple months ago — but it was pouring rain and I wanted to reshoot a short list of things.  Stumbled upon this place — the biggest canopy I’ve ever seen.  Ever.  Could there possibly be more of these buildings?

The only doggie-related photo today – promise!  This cool bus was parked on the Dog Bar lot.  Looks and sounds like a really fun place.  Not open when I was there but I will put on my list to visit another  time.
http://www.dogbarnoda.com/

It’s getting to be a tradition on these roadtrips that I post a self-portrait so you can see just who this nutjob is that never sleeps & is oh so so serious about buildings, signs & statues.  And I do SO hate having my photo taken.  But now that I’ve entered my 50s, I  just give up already.  Wrinkles, grey hair, whatever.  I’ve earned all of it.  I took this one with the camera to the side of my head next to this statue that I shot on the last Charlotte trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidenut/4452695283/
It’s kind of a neat effect.  I like how it singled out the finger pressing the camera button.  But I could live without the squinting in the sun expression.

Diner lovers must be excited about this brand spanking new diner that’s being installed.  I’m not that up on modern diners but I know just enough to know that this has to be either a Starlite or a Dinermite.  I’m sure someone will chime in immediately with a comment.  I much prefer the old diners but this is sure a novelty in downtown Charlotte.  This wasn’t here at all two months ago.

A fun group of signs in Charlotte.  There are maybe a million neon ice cream signs out there — but I can only think of a couple neon pizzas.

And finally — I know some of you have been holding your breath — road snack!  This is the first ice cream of the trip despite the heat.  Actually, the first dessert-y food of the trip.  I was holding out for the vintage Wilkinson Blvd. DQ in Charlotte — and boy, was it worth the wait!    You’re looking at a Strawberry Blizzard (which is vanilla soft serve with strawberries) with adds-ons of chocolate chips & walnuts.  $4 something.  Dinner.  Wonderful.  And the dogs thought so, too.

Perhaps I failed to mention that it’s been in the 90s every day on this trip.  Bank clocks that I saw this afternoon said 94 and 95.  So it must’ve been close to 100.  Maybe it was just as hot wherever you are.  Or hotter.  Texas?  Louisiana?  I can’t imagine!  But Sparkle’s A/C has been running just marvelously.  And I’ve kept the dogs cool with watery romps.

Yes, the dogs.  Remember them?  Some of you are waiting on photos of them with baited breath.  Others of you are probably rolling your eyes.  So here’s the big dose for this trip.  Before leaving VA this morning, I found some tidewatery spots which the dogs found skank-o-lish-ous.  Smelly & cool. Can’t top it!  Except back home where the park is one big picnic buffet right now with trash scattered everywhere.  I don’t even need to give them breakfast anymore.

One of their best romps du jour was in Hertford.  After crossing a bridge, I really had no choice.  Signs for “boat launch” are always a guarantee of a good time for all.  There’s always a nice water entry.  And the boaters are always amused by my goofy little menagerie.

Fix & Grem enjoying my tossed treats.  Today’s floating offering was bits of English Muffin.  Grip – no WAY was she going in the water past her tippy toes even in the heat.  She got caught in a teensy tiny river current a few years ago and decided that was that for swimming.

Nik, on the other hand, can never get enough of water retrieving.  This place had multiple docks for him so we had a lot of fun.  Ker-splash!  Even on impact, you can still make out his giant ears:

Did you know that Nik is actually a big dock diving champion of some sort?  Holds the record for Rat Terriers, ranked up there for small dog records with a high of 20-something feet.  We haven’t competed in a couple years because I find all the waiting around to be excruciatingly boring.  After watching the first 100 Labs jump in the water, it becomes a blur.  And I’d so much rather be working on the website.  Nik on the other hand, just never gets tired of it.  Screams like a lunatic the whole time we’re in line and hardly anyone is amused by that.

Here’s a lousy action photo from today.  I promise to take a camera course this winter because I know this fancy-ass camera CAN take good action shots.  But you get the idea through the blur.  Because I have trained Nik to do all kinds of distance stuff (back, right, left, come, out, WAY out), I can send him to the other docks to get a shot like this.  Bad as it is:

He’s actually got the form all wrong.  With some training, which I haven’t, the dog is supposed to jump UP towards the thrown toy so the dog carries in the air a further distance.  But Nik just relies on speed for distance.  Which is pretty impressive.  Also, he can’t really get traction on these wood docks (competition docks are aluminum covered with rubber matting).  So this is probably only about 14 feet or so when normally he averages about 18 feet.  If you’re curious about the sport & all, here’s some info:
http://www.dockdogs.com/

Here’s the pack together.  From the ridiculous to the sublime.  While the girls are all used to (bored) with posing for the camera.  Nik can only wait so long before he demands “throw me somethin!”  Meanwhile, Grem is plotting which foreign country she will run off to when I give the “ok”.  Just a second after I had eveybody jump back in the van and slid the door closed, a cat ran by with a giant bird in his mouth.  Sheesh, that was a close one.  No amount of recall training would’ve helped me there had they seen that.

OK, now where were we?  Ah yes, buildings, signs, statues…  Back to Virginia, Norfolk to be exact, the WTKR-TV Building.  I don’t know if they are the original occupant:

That bit of canopy at the left belongs to this building across the street.  A damned shame what they’ve done to the building.  Hopefully, it’s not permanent and someone with more taste can remove that crap:

Also in Norfolk, this giant used-ta-be neon sign:

And two more from Norfolk:  an adapted Arby’s sign:

And just next door, a newbie sign — which must be spectacular at night:

Heads-up my botany buff friends out there.  It’s getting to be a tradition that I ask for at least one i.d. per roadtrip.  What’s the name of these nice flowers/bush/tree that I’m seeing all over on this trip?  There’s also a white version that I like almost as much:

In context for scale:

From the Corapeake Collision Center in Sunbury, NC — love this cool car & driver.  He has sort of an “oh no” Mr. Bill expression with his hands in the air. 

In Dunn, NC, more adorable figures at Raynor’s Muffler & Brake:

A lovely spot in Dunn, NC — I believe they call this a cypress swamp? — where the dogs did NOT get to go swimming.  Or I’m sure there would have been mayhem and murder.

Back to the dogs again for a second.  Imagine for a moment, the joys of traveling with four terriers.  Imagine the ear-splitting sounds, just inches from your ears, of one canine soprano.  Joined vocally by three other dogs, mostly just because.  All because of motorcycles.  Every couple minutes in nice weather.  Deafening, incessant.  I could break out the bark spray collar, but hey.  And just the sight of it makes Nik a nervous wreck even though I only put it on Grem, the instigator.  So, I just tough it out most of the time, and scream at them to knock it off when I need to really focus on something.  Still want to ride along with us, huh?  There’s one just ahead that will not escape the wrath of this never-weary traveler:

OK, last photo for the day. And since we have kind of a theme going today…  from Greenville, NC.  Lots of these Beagle signs around in VA & NC.  Beagle clubs & such.  Usually handpainted, metal or wood.  This one’s wood with a more goofy expression than usual.

Three blogs in one day – damn I’m tired!  But I’m finally caught up.  Nighty-night.

An early evening rainstorm may be a blessing in disguise.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to bang out two blogs, get some Flickr photos up and get the van organized for the next two days.

So, going back to yesterday first… let’s cut to the chase and move right on to the photos.

This one thrilled me to no end.  I’m still using the word “Wahooptie” every chance I get.  Even though I’m not sure what it means.  Like Wahoo but even more so?  This is the Wahooptie Taxi Company in Charlottesville, VA:
http://www.wahooptie.com/Wahooptie.html

What a ride!

Another one from Charlottesville, or C-ville as the locals apparently call it.   Mel’s Cafe appears to inhabit a former gull-wing style cleaners.  There are lots of these in NC & VA.  They may have all been part of the Martinizing Cleaner chain originally.  Mel’s sign was probably adapted from the former business as well:

Here’s an Austin Cleaners from Highland Springs, VA:

I’ve got some other examples of these buildings from NC & VA at my site here:
http://www.agilitynut.com/modarch/ncroof.html

This giant Lantern House restaurant sign in Richmond obviously had neon originally.  Maybe even a different name:

The Crickets Corner Jewelry & Loan sign probably also had neon originally.  Also maybe a different name & business entirely.  Still, a nice job of maintaining this cute guy.  In Highland Springs:

I’m tremendously bummed by this Richmond development.  I always pass by this place on Broad St. downtown & look to see how it’s doing.  Not good.  So finally it’s rented out to a legit business (Subway) instead of the scary pawn-shop-y businesses.  But, oh, why, WHY, did they have to destroy the original streamliney, roundy brick glass?  Here’s what it looked like just last summer:
http://www.agilitynut.com/09/5/newrich.jpg

and now:

The building was originally a W.T. Grant store and there’s still the letters, half covered up with a rubber mat, where those folks in the doorway are standing.  Sigh.

Another photo from downtown Richmond.  I hadn’t noticed this place before.  Valentino’s pizza place decked out in Italian flag colors.  But those lamps are so White Tower-y.  And the building gives me pause wondering if there’s a pun going on.  Could there possibly be a Valentine produced prefab structure under there?  Nah.  Maybe?

Those of you not familiar with Valentine diners might want to check out this site.   Various styles at this page:
http://www.kshs.org/diners/identify.htm

In addition to their famous Little Chef Diners, Valentine also plainer buildings like the Dinky Diner — see 2nd clump from the bottom at this page:
http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/ia.html
or this:
http://www.kshs.org/diners/graphics/bigchef1.jpg

Moving on… in Richmond, but way south on Jefferson Davis.  I sure wish I knew what this pylon building was.  Gas station?  Burger joint?  Anybody know?  I love the birdhouse & light features on top:

In Newport News, a sign I hadn’t seen before.  Must’ve been the Mariners’ Motel originally.  And surely, this had way more neon before.  One can just imagine the sailboat lit at night, maybe moving waves…

And lastly, in Hampton just past dusk, I came across this funky canopy structure.  Thanks PhotoShop for allowing me to pump up the light volume here).  I couldn’t get closer obviously because of the chain link.  The business is now “Cap City” — but it must have been maybe a burger place/drive-in or who knows.  Love the elaborate steel cables, glass, roof shape.  Must come back in the sun when the place is open. 

OK – time to get to work on today’s photos & toss some up at Flickr.  Come back here in a few hours for more!

I said I wasn’t going to blog on this mini roadtrip.  But I’ve shot so many non-website worthy photos and it’s a dreary & dark morning here.  So what the heck.  This is just a five-day whirlwind tour of VA & NC.  An attempt to finish my list of stops that had to be ditched when I fell behind on the Southern trip in March/April.  Also, a chance to see that the van, camera, dogs, etc. are in good shape for the big Midwest trip coming up at the end of July.

I was going to post this one on Thursday night but I was literally falling asleep at the  computer.  The next day I realized I’d only gotten two hours sleep so it’s no wonder.  I left work at my normal time (2am) and hit the road at 3.  A two-hour nap at Clara Barton’s (a rest stop on the NJ Turnpike) and then straight on to the Baltimore area.  A glorious day of sun so I didn’t feel the pain til much later.  The dogs are along for the ride, of course.  In addition to some grassy patches, I stopped at the Congressional Cemetery for them.  But it was 90 plus degrees by then.  So I put an early stop to their crazed running before somebody passed out. 

OK – let’s get on with the photos since I have a double batch.

There’s a U-Haul truck perched on the roof in Tulsa:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/110475802/

like this one in Baltimore:

So I assume they must’ve done this above their locations in other cities.  And from the look of the platform, these trucks must have spun.

There’s an interesting new building going up east of downtown Baltimore.  It’s associated with the Johns Hopkins Hospital.  I like the Mondrian-esque glass.  The glass itself is sort of translucent.

And just down the road apiece, is the Enoch Pratt Free Library – another modern building with a somewhat similar pattern.  Even more Mondrian-y in color:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian

This hotel’s a car-stopper with it’s sign and detailed columns:

More Baltimore signs.  I don’t believe this place was still there:

Plastic signs are getting rarer and rarer.  That metal “hanger” probably supported a much heavier steel sign originally:

Apparently, always a supermarket — but I don’t know which one.

Just across the street is what’s left of the Ambassador Theatre:
http://www.kilduffs.com/AAA.html

This sign is just across the street from the Maryland Historical Society.  The clock’s not working.  I doubt that the neon still works. But I’m glad this one is still there!

I’ll  close this post with a mid-century modern building that I stumbled upon on my way to tracking down a giant pineapple.  This is the Seton Keough High School:

The sun is starting to peek through now.  I’ll try to get yesterday’s “sampler” up tonight with more stuff from today.

First some interesting (I hope) stats and notes.  Sparkle now has 243,429 miles on her.  I logged 13,429 miles on this month-long trip.  There were 52 visits to the pump costing $2,228 for gas alone.  The only mechanical glitch was the “key thing” (trouble getting the key out of the ignition and, towards the end of the trip, tricky to turn the key to start).  Sparkle’s in the shop now to determine if my regular mechanic can fix it or if I need to go to a dealer (which is pain in the butt in NYC).  These Astro vans were built to run and run.  I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another when this one dies but Chevrolet stopped making them in 2005.  Maybe they ran TOO good for Chevy to keep making them?

Other expenses:  I got three tickets on this trip.  I forgot to mention a couple of them in my exhausted delirium.  I did blog about the speeding ticket in MS.  The officer has still not “turned in” the ticket although it’s been 3 weeks.  So I have to keep calling the court back to find out the fee.  He has a year to turn it in.  What a ridiculous system!

I got stopped for “careless driving” in Iowa, LA.  That’s a new one to me!  Better than “reckless driving” I guess.  It was one of those everyday situations where some guy is making a slow, really slow, turn onto a side street on the right.  Like 1 mile per hour.  So you look, and there’s nobody coming from the other direction, no one else around, and you pull over to the left and pass him.  Calmly, carefully, no big deal.  Well, the cop must’ve been up a tree or hiding behind a rock because there was no one else around that I could see on this four lane road.  He said that I used the turn lane to pass.  And I guess that alone is “careless”?  Careless to me implies doing something stupid and somewhat dangerous.  Not at all what I did.  The bill for that one:  an astounding $203.  Unbelievable!

In Lexington, TN, I got another speeding ticket.  I was doing  58 in a 45.  A long straight line over a hill, barely urban, the cop must have been way at the bottom with radar gun catching the car after car as they crested the top of the hill.  I was even following someone but he picked me.  Lexington charges a flat rate for speeding of $41 — regardless of how many miles over the speed limit.  Far more fair than the “careless” ticket.

The dogs are zonked.  Strangely quiet and motionless around here.  Nobody gets up when I leave the room.  Here’s a shot from the “house of beds”:

They were thrilled to be back off-leash in Prospect Park this morning.  Although the warm weather we’re having now means Mondays are hell for me (and delightful for them) since there are sloppy picnic-ers’ remains everywhere.  Rib bones, chicken bones, apple cores, banana peels, cake, and other indistinguishable junk all embedded in the acres and acres of grass.  Plus big plastic bags full of food that the parks dept. hasn’t picked up yet.  One poke of a noise and the dogs get an astonishing “sampler”.

OK, on with the last day’s photos.  Just a few since all I did was finish up Louisville and then hit the interstate.  I have a LOT of eastern KY and TN to do at some point.  Hopefully, I can sneak in some KY into this summer’s trip and then the TN into next year’s spring trip. 

How about a farewell batch of signs from Louisville:

One of the most beautiful days of the trip to be taking photos and it was KILLING me that I had to hop on the interstate at 10am to get home by midnight: 

More fluffy clouds in this combo shot.  These photos were taken near Churchill Downs — an area big on liquor and horses:

A close-up of the parking sign (and clouds):

And one more fun one — perhaps this place had a more exciting name originally like “Atomic Cleaners”:

So, that’s it for this trip.  I hope to meet up with you all again for another month-long trip starting July 24.  The dogs and I will be taking on the Midwest — focusing on MO & KS but there will be lots of other states as well.  I’ll be flickring and blogging nightly for that trip, too.  There may be a few posts between now and then.   But mostly I’ll be hunkering down to get several thousands photos into the website and working my butt off to pay for these trips.  Thanks for sharing the journey!

The dogs and I arrived home at 11:30 pm.  Man, that was some drive.  741 miles of interstate according to Google but it felt like twice that.  We’re all completely thrashed.  I do have a handful of Louisville photos for you which I’ll try to get up tomorrow.  Zzzz.