Happy Birthday, Leith

Today is my brother Leith's birthday and I've said it before and I'll say it again, a fellow couldn't ask for a better brother. Since this is a travel blog, I've selected a shot of Leith giving me a sweet ride in his custom '61 wagon. Love the vanity plate. He's also rocking a cool lumberjack look here. I've always been glad to go along for the ride with Leith and we've had many great times together. Here's wishing for many more.

A miner miracle: Shinnston, West Virginia's Charlie the Miner statue

 Here he is in front of the eccentric-mobile for a little scale

Coal mining is a big deal in West Virginia and in the town of Shinnston, they've got just the statue to prove it. Charlie, as he is known, stands a proud 21 feet tall with his blue overalls, functioning lantern helmet and lunch bucket at the ready in front of the Repair King. He was commissioned in 1999 by a Mr. Phil Southern as a tribute to his father who was killed in a coal mine in 1951 (thanks Debra Jane Seltzer). He's really awesome, in all of his rusted scrap metal glory, standing watch in front of his corrugated metal home and belching towers behind him. He's worth his weight in coal.

Odds and ends

We got a really great (and somewhat disturbing) comment from Lisa Leavitt, a former resident of Odd, West Virginia, a place we posted about a little while ago. It reads like the basis for a novel or some soon-to-be-made series for HBO. Thanks for sharing, Lisa!

I lived in Odd, WV from the 6th grade through graduation, looking at your pictures I realize the little "town" has grown. There was a little country store with a coal stove and a teeny little post office when I lived there. There were hollers I remember driving to a little Baptist church where there was a family (I won't mention the name) that had long been an incestual family - I remember one of the brothers chasing our car down the dirt road with an axe. It was beautiful there - our nearest neighbor I could only see in the winter when the smoke from their chimney raised over the mountain. I got my first and only taste of moonshine standing waiting for the bus at 6:30 a.m. to take me to Stoco Jr. High and a boy named JimJim let me drink from what I thought was his "7-Up" can, to take some aspirin for a headache - needless to say, after that drink, I didn't think of my headache, too busy trying to catch my breath. Thank you for posting the new "modern" Odd, WV pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving

We're thankful for all the eccentric people and places out there. Gobble, gobble.

Pest wishes for the holidays

You know it's Christmastime in Rhode Island when the company formerly known as New England Pest Control (they're now called Big Blue Bug Solutions) lights up their giant blue termite on I-95 in Providence, and that's just what happened last night. He's known as Nibbles Woodaway, and he's festively decorated as a sort of red-nosed reindeer termite mutant, which would have fit nicely into a holiday sequel to the 1950s sci-fi classic "Them". Here's a mediocre video I shot of him a couple of years ago (he looks about the same this year). God bless us, every one.

No shame: Some cheap laffs seen along the way

Okay, so I'm immature.

Happy Veterans Day

We'd like to post this picture from the Seabee Museum and Memorial Park in Davisville, Rhode Island as our way of sending out a grateful Veterans Day message to honor all of those who fought and sacrificed for our country. Uncommon valor was a common virtue.

Eccentric street names of the week

These two streets are really the toast of the town... in this case Mt. Airy, North Carolina.

Hail to the chiefs: Some Presidential artifacts seen along the way

In case you hadn't heard, there's an election going on in this great land of ours, which reminds us of some of the fun, offbeat presidential sites we've seen out on the eccentric highway. Which of these is the winner? Key precincts have not yet reported so it's neck and neck, the race is too close to call and it's still anybody's horse race.

 George Washington's outhouse, Mount Vernon

 Chester A. Arthur's muttonchops

 George H.W. Bush takes a stand

 The handicap-accessible Roosevelt Theater, Hyde Park, New York

Stardusters' saxophonist Bill Clinton

 Creepy Abraham Lincoln souvenirs, Springfield, Illinois

 "Third-rate non-entity" Rutherford B. Hayes

 The late, great Presidents Park of Williamsburg, Virginia (closed in 2010)

 A hilarious Gerald Ford imitation in front of Air Force One at Presidents Park

 Herbert Hoover's boyhood outhouse, West Branch, Iowa

We happened to be in Canton, Ohio on the 100th anniversary of assassinated president William McKinley's funeral. As far as presidential funereal reenactments go, it was one of the best.

 We had a great time visiting Clare McLean's Presidential Pet Museum. At the time, she was located in Annapolis, Maryland, and now plans are underway to move the museum to Glen Allen, Virginia. 

She's showing us her portrait of Amy Carter with her dog Grits.

This is the most requested photo from the National Archives in Washington. For once Richard Nixon wasn't the oddest guy in the room.

A tribute to New Jersey...you got a problem with that?

Poor New Jersey really got beat up by Hurricane Sandy and this makes us sad because we love the Garden State and have had some really good times there. New Jerseyans are tough and will get through this and we wish them well. Here's a gallery of some of our eccentric travels through their great state.

Liberty and Prosperity. We're pulling for you, New Jersey!

A Muffler Man after our own heartburn

The folks in the advertising department at Proctor & Gamble had the good taste to feature an Eccentric Roadside favorite, the Muffler Man, in their print ad for Prilosec heartburn reliever inserted in our local newspaper. We're not quite sure what he's doing there, behind Prilosec pitchman (and "actual user") Larry the Cable Guy, especially since the ad seems to be promoting "a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor". But we're not here to quibble; we're thrilled to see this fine specimen of Muffler Manhood appearing in any media, advertising or otherwise. And we actually had the good fortune to see this fellow in the flesh (or fiberglass, if you're going to nitpick). He's located in the wonderful little town of Atlanta, Illinois on glorious Route 66. He was put there after his owners, who once used him to promote a hot dog stand, donated him to the town to remain a Route 66 icon.

We've never felt the need to take an acid indigestion remedy, but if the occasion ever "comes up" we'll definitely keep Prilosec in mind. We hope this statement reflux our enthusiasm sufficiently.