Ocean City, Maryland, USA

Tomorrow, the journey begins all over again! May your trek across 2023 be as straight as U.S. Highway 50 across the continent. Be prepared to stop in a few small towns, to brave a passel of commercial strips, and to linger at your choice of innumerable historical sites. Route 50 is one of America's "blue highways." [2021]

Alexandria, Louisiana, USA

Collecting haircuts is fun. What makes it fun are the barbers that teach you about the places where they live. There were seven in 2022: Alexandria, Louisiana (left); Las Vegas, Nevada, and Cami, Illinois (top); Grayson, Kentucky (middle); Virginia Beach, Virginia (the city's oldest barbershop), and Smyrna, Delaware (bottom); and Lancaster, South Carolina (right). [2022]

Evansville, Indiana, USA

Joy to the world of Evansville, with its clear focus on the place name, which is written uphill. Graphologists tell us an uphill slant is a sign of optimism. Murals that boldly incorporate the town name into the visuals have become a hallmark of the 21st century. Another contemporary hallmark: muralizing a wall even if it has windows. [2022]

Newport, Kentucky, USA

Joy to the world of Newport, with one wall devoted to promoting the name of the town. Instead of pictorial icons, it establishes "on the levee" as the most place-defining characteristic of the town. As for the other wall, its purpose is entirely different. [2022]

Gaffney, South Carolina, USA

Joy to the world of Gaffney, with its nod to the first inhabitants, its role as county seat, its preference for patriots, its reputation for the best peaches anywhere, and the town's name itself. The images are all carefully-chosen icons that establish Gaffney's brand. Think of each one as an app, an invitation to find out more. [2022]

Lumberton, North Carolina, USA

Joy to the world of Lumberton, with its low-country swamps, Venus fly traps, great blue herons, butterflies, and day lilies. How's that for a place-defining mural? What's trending right now though is the place name in big, bold letters. [2022]

Jasper, Texas, USA

♫ Joy to the world, the Lord is come.

Let Earth receive her King.

Let every heart prepare Him room.

And Heaven and nature sing.

And Heaven and nature sing.

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing. ♫

[2022]

Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Tonight will be a busy one for Santa. He must take flight at jet speed to make his way around the entire world. That means he will be leaving his ersatz reindeer (see the antlers and red nose?) behind in favor of the real Rudolph and his team. [2020]

Tioga, Pennsylvania, USA

In the years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, everything (including cement mixer trucks) became an American flag. We projected flags on buildings. We added them to our front yards. We incorporated them into public art. We designed clothing using them. We laid them on our mail boxes. And, we combined them with iconic maps. [2007]

Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA

The Big Four Bridge (named in reference to four railroads) has been re-purposed for pedestrians and bicycles. It spans the Ohio River, a waterway prone to flooding. But, you knew that! You saw the flood wall. To protect Jeff, its gates can be closed when water rises. [2022]

Salisbury, Maryland, USA

It's the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, it is also the longest night of the year. That may make us unhappy, but if we were night herons, we would be ecstatic! Night herons find their prey and feed at night. They love the wetlands around the Chesapeake Bay. [2018]

Smyrna, South Carolina, USA

Here's what the family car looked like in the 1950s, big enough inside for all the baby-boomer kids, plus a Christmas tree on the roof. Today, 85 percent of Christmas trees are artificial, but before the 1960s you had to drive out into the country and cut one yourself or buy one from a seasonal tree lot. [2022]

Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA

Downtown Spartanburg's most recognized landmark is the bell tower, which quadruples as a clock tower. Yes, there are four recently-modernized clocks rising high above town and visible from all directions. No one ever has a good excuse for being late in the Hub City. [2022]

Greenville, South Carolina, USA

Late Sunday morning in Greenville: You could either go to church or the brewery. Notice the same confrontation in your community? Especially with regard to sports events. Nevertheless, it's a appealing blend of outdoor and indoor space, the type of design that more eating establishments should emulate. [2022]

Gate City, Virginia, USA

Do the eye-catchers on Pal's count as mural art? The main menu items seem designed to turn empty wall space into a useful Roadside-America commercial. How many bas-relief murals have you seen? [2012]

Marysville, Kansas, USA

It's proclaimed as Pony Express Home Station No. 1, but it was originally a barn and blacksmith shop. There were 40 home stations along the route, which stretched from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento. The Pony Express was designed to deliver the mail over long distances, but it was very soon outmoded by the telegraph. [2009]

Redfield, South Dakota, USA

It's the middle of pheasant season in South Dakota, a late fall and winter ritual that deserves to be recognized in public art. All it takes is imagination, skill, and the end of a Quonset hut-cum-barn. Redfield fancies itself as the pheasant capital of the world, and thus superior to all other pheasant capitals. [2021]

Punda, Willemstad, Curaçao

Curaçao named its new pedestrian bridge after Princess Amalia, heir to the Dutch throne. The Princess of Orange will be crossing it herself next January when she and her royal parents make a state visit to the Dutch Caribbean, including all of the ABC Islands. [2017]

Punda, Willemstad, Curaçao

 

From the Queen Juliana Bridge to the waterfront café, to the Dutch-façade row houses (albeit with Caribbean colors), you might as well be canal-side in Holland. Even the cannon throws light on Curaçao's European past. Curaçao is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. [2017]

Punda, Willemstad, Curaçao

Curaçao may be Dutch in polity, but its food choices are more American: hot dogs and hamburgers. This is not the type of food, or even fast-food, you will find in the tourist promos, which promise a fusion of European, African, and Latin American flavors, including meatballs, stuffed Gouda, gumbo soup, and goat stew. [2017]

Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

Welcome to "the coast of seven colors." The southern extension of Bonaire is low in elevation and almost invisible from the sea. Ships would often sail right into the coral reefs and split apart. Bad news for the sailors, but good news for the families of Bonaire. Each family would identify its salvage pile with a different color. [2017]

Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

Because it isn't as commercialized as the other ABC islands, Bonaire excels in the conservation of nature, particularly the protection of seas turtles and their nesting areas. The beaches may not be that attractive for humans, but sea turtles need them to reproduce. If you are snorkeling along the coral reefs offshore, you might even see one. [2017] 

Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

Bonaire is less commercialized than its sister islands, Aruba and Curaçao. Beach tourism is not its specialty (not even here at Pink Beach, which is not very pink and not much of a beach), but diving and snorkeling are world class. As for the painted rock marker: Why isn't it pink? [2017]

Oranjestad, Aruba

Aruba: "sheltered west coast." Cruise ships and Palm Beach resorts bring in the money, but backpacker tourism also finds a place along the island's coast. The campground at Surfside Beach is within walking distance of the airport and the cruise port. [2017]

Oranjestad, Aruba

Aruba: "small-island ambiance with European overtones." The island is only as large as a small U.S. county and has only a single tram line, which links the cruise port with Oranjestad's central shopping precinct. Oranjestad? With a name like that, why isn't anything orange?  An orange tram would be a nice Dutch overtone. [2017]

Oranjestad, Aruba

Aruba's cruise-industry advantages: warm breezy climate year-round, location south of the hurricane belt, exotic small-island ambiance with European overtones, sheltered west coast. Aruba's cruise-industry disadvantages: farther from the market than its competitors, no natural deep-water harbors, unapproachable east coast. [2017]

Whitstable, England, UK

In the United States, life-saving stations are historical curiosities, but in Britain they are still depended upon to rescue mariners in distress. The Whitstable Lifeboat Station was founded not that long ago, in 1963. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution currently oversees 444 lifeboats around the UK. [2003]

Lewes, Delaware, USA

Life-Saving Stations of Maryland & Delaware: Compare with Delaware's other surviving life-saving station and with Maryland's Ocean City station. What's missing? The observation cupola, a feature present in all of its brethren. That may mean it's merely a boatshed rather than a full-fledged life-saving station. What's the story here? [2022]

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, USA

Life-Saving Stations of Maryland & Delaware: Like many surviving stations, this one was moved to its present location in a Delaware State Park. Even though these stations were always on the beach, you can't even see the ocean from its current behind-the -dune-line location. And, it has been reoriented so surfboat doors no longer face the surf. [2022]

Ocean City, Maryland, USA

Life-Saving Stations of Maryland & Delaware: The first structures on the Atlantic Coast's beaches were often life-saving stations complete with surfboats ready to be deployed for offshore rescues. They were always built with their surfboat doors facing the ocean. Compare the doors and ramp above with those in the historical mural art below. [2021]

New Bern, North Carolina, USA

The tree has lost its leaves, but some green remains. What is it? Hint: (1) It's a parasite. (2) It's evergreen. (3) It's berry-bearing. (4) Its seeds are symbolic of male fertility. (5) It's always out of reach. (6) It's associated with Christmas and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." [2021]

Alexandria, Louisiana, USA

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday have passed; November is on its way out; and tomorrow begins a month of planning for Christmas. Kids everywhere will be writing letters to Santa, and some communities will have a special delivery service to the North Pole. [2022]

The Everglades, Florida, USA

If today is your birthday, may you continue to strengthen your wings so that they will carry you to worlds unseen, lift you above the madness, and sharpen your vision of what lies ahead. In the words of poet William Blake (a fellow Sagittarian): "No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings." [2018]

Dillon, Montana, USA

Different geography, same adaptation to the frontier. Thousands of miles away from the East Coast (Rocky Mountains), and centuries later in time (1800s), pioneer settlers continued to make single-pen log cabins their starter homes. This one was moved into town from a nearby ranch. Imagine surviving a winter here. Single pen = single room. [2020]

Chickamauga, Georgia, USA

Unlike Europe, which had suffered centuries of deforestation, America had plentiful and easily exploited timber resources. On the frontier, therefore, single-pen log cabins became the "starter homes" of the day. This one has survived because it is on the Chickamauga battlefield and played a prominent role in Civil War military history. [2013]

Swedesboro, New Jersey, USA

Who built the first long cabins in America? The Swedes of New Sweden (which included many Finns) on the lower Delaware River. This may be the second oldest (ca. 1654) to survive. It is smaller than the Nothnagle cabin, but both are single-pen structures, originally with dirt floors. If you are into today's minimalist movement, this might be your ideal home. [2005]

Gibbstown, New Jersey, USA

The Nothnagle single-pen log cabin may be the oldest surviving log structure in the United States. (Attached house built much later.) Date: ca. 1640. Size: Larger than most. Builder: An immigrant from Sweden (though probably a Finn). The Swedish Empire (see the flag?) attempted to colonize the lower Delaware River, calling it New Sweden. [2016]

Hinton, West Virginia, USA

The turkey came to Europe from America, but no one in Europe knew that. The meaty bird (compare with quail) just showed up. Even though it was after 1492, Europeans still assumed anything new came from the eastern Mediterranean and beyond. In this case they decided the new addition to their diet came from Turkey and named it accordingly. [2014]

Brandywine, Delaware, USA

Delaware's Three Covered Bridges: Originally built in 1839 but rebuilt several times since then, Smith's Bridge is the longest in the state. Unlike the other two covered bridges in the First State, this one uses a Burr arch design (see it through the window?) rather than a lattice truss. [2022]

Ashland, Delaware, USA

Delaware's Three Covered Bridges: Built in the mid-1800s, the Ashland Bridge is the oldest in the state. Its value as a cultural landmark was recognized in the 1960s. Since then it has been rehabilitated many times and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. All three covered bridges in the First State are open to traffic. Remarkable! [2018]

Wooddale, Delaware, USA

Delaware's Three Covered Bridges: The Wooddale covered bridge, originally built in the mid-1800s, was taken out by a flood in 2003. Thanks to DelDOT, however, the bridge was rebuilt in 2008 using the original lattice truss design and authentic building techniques, including the use of treenails (below) to hold the lattice together. [2018]

Dallastown, Pennsylvania, USA

Every small town needs at least one coffee shop. It's a matter of livability, a place to be seen, and a key to community building. If the corporate sector is not responding along your Main Street, maybe one of the churches will. That's the story of Common Grounds. See the fish swimming around in the cup of coffee? [2019]

Brunswick, Georgia, USA

Welcome to Geography Awareness Week: It's time to appreciate maps on the landscape! The Governor's Office in Georgia apparently thinks a map will convince you to voluntarily buckle your seat belt. But, just in case the state map (in cautionary yellow) doesn't inspire enough compliance, a nasty threat has been added: "Click It or Ticket." [2010]

Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Welcome to Geography Awareness Week: It's time to appreciate maps on the landscape! "Think Globally, Drink Locally": a perfect slogan to illustrate with a world map (though the proprietor might think of adding a dot for Providence). The take-away: maps sell! [2021]

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Welcome to Geography Awareness Week: It's time to appreciate maps on the landscape! In this case, by using a map, Arizona pays homage to Texas as the home of the best barbeque anywhere, and "that aint no bull." Maps are ever popular components of mural art around the country and the world. [2018]

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Welcome to Geography A-WEAR-NESS Week (get it?): It's time to appreciate maps on the landscape! You should find something geographical to WEAR this week! Cartographically-inspired T-shirts are popular choices. This one displays a thematic map showing what people in different regions call a carbonated beverage. Pop? Soda? Coke (generic)? [2014]

Harrington, Delaware, USA

Welcome to Geography Awareness Week: It's time to appreciate maps on the landscape! Everyone has grown just a tad tired of seeing so many yard signs, but at least they're disappearing now that election season is over. Have you noticed how many use a map? Why? What's the iconic value of an outline map of Delaware as an election prop? [2022]