RoadsideAmerica.com

Giant Forks: Sign of the Tines

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:45:11 +0000

Recently a giant fork appeared on a traffic median in Pasadena, California. No one seemed to know who was responsible for the guerrilla installation of the 18-foot-tall rogue utensil...

Midland Mosaics - Backyard Giants, Tacoma, WA

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:31:24 +0000

Feature: A tile craftsman has transformed his backyard into an art garden of giant heads and figures. ...

Squawk Show

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:04:44 +0000

The town of Everman, Texas has a problem with parrots. The burg's ever-growing colony of Quaker Parrots first appeared in the early '90s. The feathery flocks are assumed to be descended from former pets.

Doomed Merchant Mariners Memorial, New York, NY

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:26:26 +0000

Feature: The Merchant Marine finally got a bronze statue, but it's a depressing one. ...

White Man Outsmarts Indian Monument, New York, NY

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:55:39 +0000

Feature: Here, take these trinkets. ...

Giant Steel Hockey Player, Newark, NJ

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:12:24 +0000

Feature: 22 feet tall, weighs three tons. ...

Lucy In The Sky With Damage

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:50:00 +0000

Lucy The Margate Elephant, that great, grey, wide-window-eyed wonder of the Jersey shore, suffered serious injury this fall when strong September winds lifted a party tent up off its moorings and into the air and smashed it against Lucy's pachyderm posterior.

Moxie Bottle House, Union, ME

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:06:04 +0000

Feature: 32 feet tall centerpiece of Moxie Annex at the Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage, filled with memorabilia of Maine's official beverage. ...

Dam High Scaler Monument, Boulder City, NV

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:17:28 +0000

Feature: Fearless workers dangled from ropes, clinging to sheer rock faces with a jackhammer and a stick of dynamite. ...

Winged Figures of the Republic, Boulder City, NV

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:17:03 +0000

Feature: A pair of angular, giant figures of humanoids with wings stand 30 ft. ...

Memorial to Hoover Dam Dead, Boulder City, NV

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:16:38 +0000

Feature: A monument dedicated to the 96 men officially killed building Hoover Dam. ...

Newseum, Washington, DC

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:45:00 +0000

Feature: Whether you love it or hate it, the media deserves credit for building an impressive museum to itself. ...

Parking Spots: House of Cars

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:54:37 +0000

The National Building Museum could use a jazzier name (Architecturama?) and their new exhibit, "House of Cars: Innovation and the Parking Garage" (October 17-July 11), takes on a generally less-than-scintillating subject. But the curators may have a point: this overlooked and much maligned practical urban necessity deserves a spot on the exhibition roster. For, as the press release states, "In a world without parking garages, parking lots would sprawl across our cities." And that would be yucky.

Flamingo Flap

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:43:10 +0000

The proud pink flamingo which adorned a steel fire escape above Baltimore’s Cafe Hon has triumphed in its bureaucratic battle with city officials. Back in early October — after the decorative bird had spent about seven years minding its own business — city inspectors made a big stink over the giant pink waterfowl. A governmental brouhaha [...]

Tip O’ The Hat ‘N’ Boots

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:41:23 +0000

overs of down home colossal kitsch are kicking up their heels upon receiving news that the restoration of Seattle's iconic Hat 'n' Boots is nearing completion. The well-loved, once derelict Western Wear trio is all spruced up and ready to serve as the centerpiece of Oxbow Park in suburban Georgetown.

Reach Party (or: Johnson & Johnson & More Johnson)

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:36:26 +0000

A second casting of J. Seward Johnson’s undeniably eye-catching 4,100-pound struggling sculpture, “The Awakening,” has been permanently installed in a grassy expanse in Chesterfield, Missouri. The grasping giant was added to Chesterfield Arts‘ public art collection and will be available for perpetual public gaping and climbing, forever frozen in an angry state, quite annoyed at [...]

Walking Tall: Latest In Lofty Thrills

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:57:26 +0000

Do you enjoy peering over railings? Do you like to feel gusts of unobstructed wind shoving you toward doom’s abyss? Then you’ll love the new World’s Highest and Longest Pedestrian Bridge in Highland, New York. Foreign countries may have the tallest observation decks, but America has moved beyond cheap thrills — or at least it expects to [...]

The Urge To Burj

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:30:14 +0000

Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, is set to open to the public on December 2, 2009. This titan of towers is the centerpiece of a 20 billion dollar development project that is bizarrely ambitious and ostentatious even by Dubai standards. Other record-setting features of this enormous undertaking include Dubai Mall (”the world’s largest shopping [...]

Christ, Born Again in Gatlinburg

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:28:54 +0000

Early 2008 was bad for Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Long-time attraction Christus Gardens closed. The property was sold to a condo developer. Everything in the attraction — the murals, the wax dummies, the famous marble face of Jesus with-the-eyes-that-followed-you, even the name “Christus Gardens” — had been sold to an outside Christian group. Rumors had them moving [...]