I loved this sign! Wisconsin is just littered with adorable vintage signs. Anyway, we were in Lake Geneva yesterday and I snapped this one up.
Lake Aire Restaurant, Lake Geneva, WI
categories: Roadside Curiosities
Category: Roadside Curiosities
Roadside Americana
Always There Dental Care, Chicago, IL
categories: Roadside Curiosities
You could say this dentist thinks highly of himself but I’d say he simply longs for his own Vegas show. I love this sign.
Dells Bells
categories: Roadside Curiosities
Taking the Vegas font and adding a Midwestern spin–married Vegas-style in the Wisconsin Dells. I keep forgetting to add all my Dells photos!
Cows on Meat Store
categories: Roadside Curiosities
Strange painted cows sitting atop a meat market in Chicago. I like the “angel” cow best!
Giant (Scottish?) Penguin, Racine, WI
categories: Roadside Curiosities
We were just meandering through Wisconsin–an activity I highly recommend!–when we spotted this dude above George’s Tavern, est. 1946. He’s a penguin wearing a kilt and sporting a fish that looks a like a horn. He just seems so dapper, no?
Wacky Pop Culture House Cudahy, WI
categories: Roadside Curiosities
So Dale and I took a road trip to Wisconsin in the Milwaukee area and on our way we passed this wacky house!
This is the front yard. Imagine us just driving by and seeing what appears to be a classic car in a sink hole! There was also an odd collection of brightly colored fire hydrants and all kinds of random things–like the orange jug/bicycle thing.
Another view of the “sink hole” car. There’s also a vintage gas pump and an old tractor…
The tractor, of course, is helmed by Santa with a little help from Frosty. And there’s some little pigs behind Santa. I don’t get it, either, but I love it all the same.
Comin’ round the side of the house is a portion of a boat (that on closer inspection appears to have had the house land on it), a huge skull head (Indiana Jones shout-out?) and a mannequin on a snow machine!
The backyard is a bit of a pop culture graveyard. There’s an odd “gazebo” that is actually a piece lifted from some sort of local building (any ideas?), an old mailbox, an old soda vending machine, McDonald’s own Hamburglar!, a pirate with a “C” on his hat that I suspect was a Fish ‘n’ Chips restaurant mascot, a one-way sign, a car hood with a skull on it, a huge biker sculpture, and a little statue of a black child fishing.
Even farther back in the yard…a telephone booth, a playground duckie, and more…
Big Boy! A bike/milk jug combo again, a stop light…and more!
Detail of the backyard shows old bikes and another playground cast-off in front of the Hamburglar!
Biker statue!
An odd little garden statue.
The iconic Big Boy!
Next to the garage is this…thing…I don’t understand exactly what it is.
A mannequin manning a motor bike!
I wish I lived across the street from this house.
Malloy’s Liquors Neon Sign, Glen Ellyn, IL
categories: Roadside Curiosities
Fantastic neon sign on Roosevelt in Glen Ellyn, IL. It makes me want booze, that’s for sure.
Halloween House, Berwyn, IL
categories: Roadside Curiosities
A wacky decorated Haunted House in Berwyn, Illinois! Click on the photo to make it bigger–it’s worth it! Sadly, the homeowner had already taken down a great many decorations but what is left is still impressive. You won’t see any crappy blow-up ghosts here! Giant Spiders and the dragon coming out of the roof is my favorite. I will go back next year to get the full scene with all the decor!
An evil sculpted tree. I think the really stunning thing about the decorations at this house is the quality and the level of detail. These are not Walgreen’s sale items, you know what I mean?Hmm. I wonder what this dude does for Christmas decorations?
Torture Museum, Wisconsin Dells, WI
categories: Roadside Curiosities
One of the many strange attractions in the Wisconsin Dells. The Torture Museum. Not exactly politically correct but at least it’s relevant!
SPECIAL EXHIBIT: John Gacy: Torture King of Chicago!
Wizard Quest, Wisconsin Dells, WI
categories: Roadside Curiosities
Wizard Quest! In addition to being a spectacularly weird and creepy attraction along the old school entertainment strip of the Wisconsin Dells, Wizard Quest is a live action computer game featuring 13,000 square feet of fantasy called the “quadrasphere”!
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to locate and release imprisoned wizards! Get on that. Right after you get shriveled up at the water park!