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]