Browns Lake boat dock

There is just something about this photo that is quintessential Natchez Trace to me. Maybe it's the torn-up roof, or the air of 'help yourself' honor-system hospitality; if you want to fish here or borrow a jonboat, you can just fill in the envelope and put whatever money in you feel is appropriate, and help yourself to what you need. This particular lake is tucked away on the other side of the park, where the tourists (such as they are) don't often go.

You can sign up for a turkey hunt, too! They had (rusty) clipboards inside the booth and everything!

Sun Records and Beale Street

We did leave the woods one day for a trip to Memphis.

Sun Records


Beale Street



Mmmm. Yummy ribs.


Hee. Best doorstopper ever.

Happy Birthday, Richard!

Today is my husband's 40th birthday. He doesn't like to celebrate birthdays, but I couldn't let the occasion pass without posting something!



After all, just buying potato chips with him can be an adventure. :)



No matter how into fishing he gets, I like to think this is a rule he will never, ever break.



Enjoy the day!

Enjoy your 40s; I sure am!

Fun Slide at Ribfest

You wanted to believe the ride name, but then you realized it was ninety degrees out, and that slide was dry and wicked hot and would probably take three layers of your skin off as you went down it. Even the little sacks they gave the kids to sit on didn't look like enough protection against the heat...ouch!

Day or Night?

Which looks like it was more fun...

Day?


Or night?


Day?


Or night?


For me, I thought the Pioneer and the Cowboy was more appealing in the day because their theme of old-timey West was so thoroughly done and really kind of cute. The Colorado Belle looked older and creakier in the daytime, but at night the lights gave it a grander aura.

Signs at the Carnival

The computer is back, and I've got a ton of photos ready to post! Here are a few signs for the more interesting foodstuffs found at the carnivals I've been to lately.

From the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival, in Detroit Michigan. Can you tell it's a Polish-based carnival? (They spelled Babchi differently than we do. Who knew?)



I HIGHLY recommend the pierogis at the Hamtramck Festival. These people do not mess around.



From the Romeo Peach Festival, in the rural area a small town several miles outside Detroit. You would think given the name of the festival, the pie area would be more prominently displayed, but this is it. Just one lone sign tied up to a post.



I did not have any peach pie, sadly.



Frozen Coke? Really?



I didn't try this one.




I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the frozen Coke. This one is MUCH weirder!



Taken at the Naperville Ribfest in Naperville IL, summer 2006. I did have the deep-fried Snickers, just to say I did. It was pretty good!

There are a few more carnival rides and such at the Carnivals and Fairs photoset on Flickr. Check them out!

43 cents' worth of funny

A Friday Funny

I saw this at the World's Largest Block Party, which was pretty much just a big outdoor pickup bar, and I laughed and laughed and laughed.



Have a good weekend!

No Parking in the Pink Zone

I love clever marketing ploys like this. Located across the aisle from the legitimate handicapped spaces, they even had the lines around the spaces painted a matching pink.

Where I'll be the next three weeks

And so it begins...50% off today!

In a great bit of perfect timing, yesterday's photo was selected for the Rearview shot at Gaper's Block today. Yay!

Sign? What sign?

This shot is clearer in large format. Can you believe a month ago, we had snow? Me neither!

Irish Flat Stanley

For those who've never heard of him, Flat Stanley is a children's book hero, who gets mailed to exotic places and has adventures all over the world. Many kids make Flat Stanleys for school projects, and mail them to someone they know in another city, and that person takes Flat Stanley around and takes pictures of him in various places. I have taken many Flat Stanley photos around Chicago for a young boy in Connecticut, and I tend to see tourists and locals taking Flat Stanley shots at all the major city attractions.

But this particular Flat Stanley cracked me up when I saw him last week at the parade; they had dressed him up in a paper shirt with green clovers all over it. It really is true: everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day!

Q: How stupid are the drivers in this parking lot?

A: Very, VERY stupid.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

You don't see a lot of phone booths anymore, here in the age of the cell phone. What made this one special to me, though, is the name of the company. My very first client in Chicago was Illinois Bell, and I spent my first two years here going to their headquarters building in the Loop every day. But that was seventeen years and four name changes ago: Illinois Bell became Ameritech right as I was leaving the company, and then it became SBC, which is AT&T now. I don't even think the building is still office space anymore.

Wow. 17 years. That phone booth is seventeen years old. I've been here in the Midwest seventeen years. It feels like it was just yesterday sometimes.

Maybe Stronger Language Will Help

This power box and its battle-of-wills signage cracks me up. Do you think they heed the warning now?

A few more detailed shots have been added to the Garfield Park Conservatory set. Oh, and my Lighthouse Beacon shot was selected for use on the Chicagoist newsblog!

Go Bears!

One week from today, and even the suburbs are supporting the team! This is the Jackman Park Bear fountain in Glenview, just blocks from my house. Downtown Chicago has even more Bears pride visible on its most famous landmarks; I have a couple of trips planned down there this week to capture as much as I can before the big game.

Go Bears!

Joe Ma Ma!

Possibly the best store name in the city. Taken January 6, 2007, on the north side of Chicago.

(Click the photo to see better as a larger version.)