Full tank. Wandering heart.
Mail Pouch Tobacco barns and ghost signs stay firmly in my top 10 must-see or favorite sights while I’m out bumming around. Because part of their enduring appeal is directly correlated to familiarity and...
Traveling through central Pennsylvania towns, I felt a sense of anemoia wash over me. Anemoia, a term coined by John Koenig in his Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, is defined as “a pang of nostalgia...
While visiting Ohio in the fall of ’22, I stopped to see the double Futuro UFO House in the town of Carlisle. To the best of my knowledge, which isn’t much, this is the...
Well? Now you know. Bigfoot has some junk in the trunk. He got them Applebottom jeans, the boots with the furrrrrr… To be honest, I’m not sure why wondering about the goings on of...
This restored Mail Pouch Tobacco wall ad in Ford City, Pennsylvania sure is a looker. It is clear that love and care went in to making it vibrant once again. There is so much...
When I am road tripping, I typically have the best intentions about writing something down nightly to memorialize the things that I see each day while they are fresh in my mind. Before I...
For the most part, I loosely believe in luck when it suits me. I tend to think of it as some mysterious supernatural guiding hand or invisible force granting favorable outcomes to select members...
Over the last 5 or 6 years there have been several occasions when I’d been traveling and thought, “oh, well, while I’m in the neighborhood I’ll just swing by,” in reference to the American...
A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to the ICYMI podcast. The topic was related to internet advice when the conversation veered specifically towards unsolicited advice. Jenny Desmond: And I feel I feel badly...
Sometimes when I scroll through my camera roll, it surprises me how many interesting things I’ve seen over the years. Though I no longer really participate in social media, there was a time when...
Worcester, Massachusetts is a city which has jumped in with both feet when it comes to public murals and art. Under the stewardship of the POW! WOW! Worcester program, dozens of murals grace the...
The Shell Oil Spectacular Sign in Cambridge, Massachusetts is a Moderne vintage signage dream. Erected in 1933, this beloved sign has been blazing for a incredible 90 years! In 1994, the sign found its...
On Thursday morning, I stood outside of the old Bloch Bothers Mail Pouch Tobacco factory in Wheeling, West Virginia waiting for the sun to rise. The Ohio River, silently snaked behind me while I...
This happy halfwit Mortimer Snerd style Muffler Man and his super-cute giraffe friend can be found standing outside of Arnold’s Family Fun Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Is it just me or does this muffler...
As I stood looking at the Cincinnati Toy Heritage mural, a sing-songy flow of words stumbled drunkenly out through the creaking saloon doors of my memory dedicated to the 1980’s. “I’m the Peculiar Purple...
The Coffee Pot or sometimes referred to as the Koontz Coffee Pot after it’s 1927 builder, is roadside American royalty. Calling Bedford, Pennsylvania home, the Lincoln Highway giant is a whimsical treasure. It handily...
Looking for some place to road trip to? Why not pick a place that combines two magical options – ice cream and a muffler man? Say hello to Chip, the ice cream scoop wielding...
Today is the first day of 2022. It’s been about 3 weeks now that I’ve been ruminating on writing a blog post only to be thwarted by my own numbed-out apathy. If there were...
Zipping along on I-40 East, I saw the white geodesic ball of Area 66 come into view. “What the…?” escaped my lips as it drew closer. There was nothing that would have stopped me...
One of the things I contemplate often, especially recently, is the reasons why I commit myself to ride or drive around looking at…stuff. What’s the actual point? Why do I mark a place on...
