Archive for September, 2009

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Twin Arrows Restored, Route 66 Fans Rejoice

Monday, September 28th, 2009

We’ve watched with resignation the gradual decay of the Twin Arrows east of Flagstaff, Arizona. The two big shafts — telephone poles, actually — were left to rot when the trading post that owned them closed in 1998. It wouldn’t be long, we thought, before they collapsed in a puff of desert dust, and then [...]

See-Saw Cypress Gardens: Down Again

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Cypress Gardens, Florida’s first theme park, has once again found itself out in the weeds. An iconic home of water ski shows and Southern Belles in uncomfortably warm dresses, the park operated steadily for almost 70 years. Then it closed in 2003, reopened with roller coasters in 2004, was ravaged by three hurricanes and closed [...]

Pennsylvania: Pagan As You Go

Friday, September 25th, 2009

When a group of sociable Pagans decided to hold their “Celebrating Earth Spirituality Festival” at the semi-charming and vaguely Tudoresque (circa 1996) theme shopping hamlet of Stoudtburg Village, little did they know that the gathering would cause a retail revolt. An offended group of shopkeepers refused to open on that day, lest they come in [...]

Step Right Up!

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Stairs are so ordinary and prosaic that we rarely think of them as tourist destinations. Oh sure, we’ll stand in awe before a magnificent stained-glass window. We’ll wander for a wall mural or travel for a turret. But it’s about time that we pay tribute to an often overlooked, exceedingly everyday structure. So here’s a [...]

Don’t Diss The Kiss

Monday, September 21st, 2009

Sarasota, Florida has finally embraced the 26-foot-high, painted fiberglass sculpture “Unconditional Surrender,” which depicts a sailor enthusiastically planting a smoocherooni (as they called it in liberated villages) on the lips of a loose-limbed nurse on V-J Day in Times Square. After a combative public hearing, city commissioners decided to accept a donation of the $500,000 [...]

Nude For Thought

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

We’re constantly coming across reports of public protest over nude statuary. Townships are always abuzz over art au natural. Three recent undressed uproars demonstrate that demands for modesty are often directed at the least sexy of sculptures. No Longer Controversial: David, Sioux Falls, SD. Take “Journey To The New” in Delray Beach, Florida. This serious [...]

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