Washington, DC, USA

Presumably, this is a male spider since males are the ones out roaming around. Females spend their time spinning and patrolling their webs. Since DC is "politics central," those webs are undoubtedly webs of deceit, defined as the art or practice of deceiving. [2021]

Hanover, Pennsylvania, USA

The custard will tickle your taste buds, and the experience will trigger your childhood memories of sweet treats roadside, perhaps at an ice cream stand after the big game. In the decades after World War II, every American burg had several of these drive-ins scattered around the outskirts of town. Today, only a few remain. [2021]

Millsboro, Delaware, USA

It's the second time around for most of the parts used to create these whimsical sculptures, all of which are sure to delight easily-entertained tourists and to vex the safety-conscious highway patrol. 2nd Time Designs is actually the name of the workshop where these eye-catchers were fabricated. [2013]

Red Wing, Minnesota, USA

 
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Finally, an answer: "Dear Jumbo, Eggciting news! The research is conclusive. THE EGG CAME FIRST! Signed, The World Poultry Council." How long have we all be waiting by our mailboxes to get an answer to that question? [2021]

Bismarck, North Dakota, USA

Geographically Yours couldn't help but think more about the sphere than the eagle. It could easily be turned into a world globe. Keep the reflective surface, but add the continental outlines. Then, visitors could see themselves on every land mass and in every ocean of the world. They could roam the planet without ever leaving Steamboat Park. [2021]

Alderson, West Virginia, USA

No matter which way you drive into town, lions start appearing everywhere! Your first thought is that Alderson must have a very active Lion's Club. Then, you read the red marker (below) and learn that the town's mascot was adopted from a traveling circus and roamed free until he frightened a traveling salesman. After that, lions had to be leashed. [2021]

Chicago, Illinois, USA

If the weather is right, wade on in. What's great about the newest generation of fountains is that they invite interaction, and Chicago's Crown Fountain has been a crowd pleaser in this regard. Where does the water come from? Out of the mouths of real Chicagoans who pucker up periodically to pour fourth a "spittance" for the pool. [2021]

Madrid, Spain

Do outdoor misters count as fountains? Let's make the case etymologically: Fountain comes from a Proto-Indo-European root that means "to flow." A garden fountain sustains a flow of liquid; a mister sustains a flow of mist. Both use water to make us feel cooler physically (evaporative cooling) and psychologically ("blue space" to help us chill out). [2009]

Yerevan, Armenia

Yerevan is intent on presenting Armenia as a modern, post-Soviet nation. Yet, even this solid-as-a-rock drinking fountain ties the Armenia of today to its cultural past. When you look at the fountain do you see Mt. Ararat multiplied by 7? Mt. Ararat is the spiritual and cultural center of historical Armenia. [2015]

Athens, Greece

The Odeon on the southwest slope of the acropolis in Athens was built in the 2nd century and continues to host performances today. The 2nd-century Greek geographer Pausanias called it the finest building of its type. Pausanias traveled extensively and wrote a geography of Greece that is still used by archaeologists. [2006]

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

She (judging from the purse) is catching a catnap on what looks like a palm frond but is actually a hammock. "The world is my bedroom" seems to be a national motto of Cambodia, where gravity-defying slings are a cut above a cardboard mat (see it?) on the grass? How does the unguarded purse reveal social norms? [2016]

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The name of the ferry tells you where it goes. The Spirit of Tasmania crosses the Bass Strait connecting Melbourne with Devonport on the island of Tasmania. To truly appreciate an island, you cannot fly in. You must take a boat, you must watch the mainland disappear beyond the horizon, and you must watch the island slowly take form across the open seas. [2011]

Suez Canal, Egypt

Here is a ferry connection that is intercontinental, but not international. That must make Egypt a bicontinental nation. Sometimes people forget that Egypt's Sinai Peninsula (see it?) is in Asia while the bulk of Egypt is in Africa. What other countries in the world are bicontinental? What country used to be tricontinental? [2001]

Mellieħa, Malta

Three main islands constitute the archipelagic republic of Malta: Malta, Gozo, and Camino. This ferry, one of many run by the Gozo Channel Line, connects the first two, and the trip takes only half an hour. The country's ferry connections to mainland Europe are all to Italy, and there are no ferry connections to Africa. [2009]

Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA

These folks' sojourn on Block Island has come to an end. They have returned to Galilee, a fishing port and ferry terminus on the mainland. Ferries are the primary lifelines for the interlobate moraine that is Block Island, a token of the Ice Age now called home by about a thousand people, but visited annually by tens of thousands more. [2019]

Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, USA

Ocracoke is but a tiny island on the Outer Banks. The only way to come and go is by ferry. The one anchored here in front of the former Coast Guard Station will take you and your car to the mainland. It plies one of seven regular routes that cross the sounds and estuaries of coastal Carolina. [2019]

Warsaw, Virginia, USA

You can find "Tom Rhodes Tree Carving Trail" on Google Maps, but you won't find even a single sign pointing the way when you get to Warsaw. Let's hope it stays that way. Signs will only bulk up the crowds (currently there are none) and tamp down the sense of adventure that comes with discovering a world of cartoon characters haunting a lonesome woods. [2021]

Warsaw, Virginia, USA

Here are just a few of Minnie's friends, each with a tree of their own. But, they are all within shouting distance of each other, though Sponge Bob seems to think his voice needs help from a microphone. Can you name the others? If you love pop culture icons, visit Warsaw yourself and see how many of the scores of characters you recognize. [2021]

Warsaw, Virginia, USA

Minnie Mouse loves being in the spotlight, especially when the stage is an enchanted forest where she has many friends to wish her a happy birthday. And, although, Minnie's birthday is not until November, today is the sixth anniversary of somebody's entry onto the stage of life. [2021]

New York, New York, USA

At 8:46 am on September 11, 2001, the first of the Twin Towers was hit by a highjacked aircraft. The second tower was hit at 9:03. Both collapsed. The footprint of each Tower is today memorialized by a sunken waterfall that encourages us and all future generations to reflect on their absence. Nearby is the new One World Trade Center. [2017]

Moyock, North Carolina, USA

Twenty years ago, this day marked the last full day of life for 2,977 people killed in the attacks of 9-11. Almost 9 out of 10 of them were victims of New York City's Twin Towers collapse after each was hit by a hijacked aircraft. The day has etched itself into our memories and, in different ways, into cemetery memorials around the country. [2019]

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Maryland's 9-11 Memorial stands right beside Baltimore's own World Trade Center. On the marble plinth are inscribed the names of all Marylanders who lost their lives on 9-11-01. On top of the marble plinth are steel columns that were salvaged from the remains of New York's World Trade Center after the attacks. [2021]

York, Maine, USA

York is located on the Gulf of Maine, which has a shoreline renowned for three elements of basic physical geography: (1) its hard-rock geology, (2) its land-water interdigitation, and (3) its famously large tidal ranges. Can you see evidence of all three along the waterfront here? [2008]

Boulder City, Nevada, USA

If school hasn't begun yet, it begins today: the day after Labor Day, the first day of fall. When these men were young scholars, almost half the U.S. population rode bikes to school. Today, it's less than 10%. Shame on US. Let's hope federal infrastructure funds are used to make it safe and convenient for all students within a mile of school to walk or cycle. [2019]

Hastings, Minnesota, USA

What does your town have to make it proud? Perhaps something unique like a new bridge. Across the mighty Mississippi, no less. Yes, things that are new can be as unique as things that are old: if they are built with an eye toward aesthetics. In Hastings, the arches, geometry, colors, and landscape architecture make the newest span a sunny delight. [2021]

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

What does your town have to make it proud? Perhaps something unique like a flying pig. Pink, no less, and with words of inspiration to share: "In this city we dream big and fly high." Cincinnati is proud to be called Porkopolis because it was the largest pork-producing city in the world in the 19th century. [2019]

New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA

What does your town have to make it proud? Perhaps something unique like an old movie house. New Cumberland's West Shore Theatre showed its first film in 1940 and continued functioning well into the 21st century. Now, a restoration effort is underway. That's good news for Geographically Yours, who took in many a matinee here for only 25 cents! [2004]

Hedgesville, West Virginia, USA

What does your town have to make it proud? Perhaps something unique like an old spring house. The structure, of course, covers a source of cold water that used to serve as Hedgesville's sole water supply.  Let's hope there are some oral histories of people who would haul buckets of water home multiple times a day when they were kids. [2010]

Selby, South Dakota, USA

What does your town have to make it proud? Perhaps something unique like an old opera house. In all likelihood, though, the stage in this building served a variety of performance-hall functions. Maybe it never even hosted a real opera. But, it didn't matter: The name alone lent some class to Selby, a town which never reached even a thousand inhabitants. [2021]

Prescott, Wisconsin, USA

The massive, industrial-strength, vertical-lift bridge in Prescott carries the BNSF rail line across the St. Croix River between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Information on the bridge, though, is hard to find. Why has some master's thesis not been done on this bridge? Perhaps because theses are no longer required for such degrees! 😬Bitter lament. [2021]