It's a gas: Some neon signs seen along the way

A neon sign is a wonder to behold. Its retro-futuristic glow and buzz give me a warm feeling every time I see it, and there is real artistry involved with the bending of tubes into intricate patterns and breezy typography. I'm especially intrigued with old, dilapidated neon signs — those once-gleaming marvels of art, science and commerce, left to rot like so much inert gas. Here's looking at you, neon...what glows around comes around.

Eccentric street name of the week

We couldn't find a street sign for Banjo Sullivan Road but here it is on the GPS. If Banjo Sullivan was a person, I'm guessing he got picked on a lot as a kid.

RIP Ernest Borgnine: Hamden, Connecticut's hometown hero

 There's a small park in Ernie's honor in his (and my) hometown of Hamden, Connecticut...

...and there's an Ernest Borgnine booth and shrine at New York City's Tortilla Flats restaurant.

We just heard some sad news. Ernest Borgnine, legendary actor and fellow native of my hometown, Hamden, Connecticut, passed away today at age 95. He had a long life, made a lot of great movies and TV shows and seemed like an awfully nice guy. We did a few Eccentric Roadside posts about him over the years, including the Ernest Borgnine Park in Hamden and the Ernest Borgnine booth and shrine at the Tortilla Flats restaurant in New York City. Check them out here.

So long, Ernie. If someone famous had to be from my hometown, I'm glad it was you.

Get a load of this: Some laundromats seen along the way

One thing about taking a really long road trip is, sooner or later, you're going to run out of clean clothes and have to do some laundry. And in this case,  by "you" I mean Mrs. Eccentric Roadside and not me. While she toils away to get our clothes cleaned, fluffed and folded, I sit bored like a child accompanying a parent to the motor vehicle department. I've found that even a place as mundane as a laundromat can provide a few photo ops, though, albeit of the "meh" variety. So here they are...not much to Cheer about, but your loss is our Gain and All's well that ends well.

Happy July 4th, Eccentric Roadside-style

 Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies...

 ...for amber waves of grain.

 For purple mountains majesty...

 ...above the fruited plain.

 America, America,

 God shed his grace on thee.

 And crown thy good with brotherhood...

 From sea...

...to shining sea.

Long shots: Around and about on Long Island, New York

 With a name of Doofpot, it must be good.

 Turnips to go, anyone?

 A Muffler man of a different sort.

 This wonderful nostalgia gift shop in Montauk is called Whoa Nellie...

 ...and it's got Mod Betty written all over it.

Gunnar's the name, bad self-portraits are my game.

Our adopted home state of Rhode Island is so puny, when you say that's where you're from in other regions of the USA, a lot of people will say, "I thought that was called Long Island". We had the pleasure of spending a few days in the real Long Island recently, and, Long story short, it left us Longing to come back another time so here's the Long and short of it.