Hot tin roof: The rooftop tin man of Warwick, Rhode Island

Just when I thought I had seen every kooky attraction our former Eccentric Roadside home base of Rhode Island had to offer, I had a delightful surprise on a trip back to the Ocean State. After returning my rental car at the T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, the skywalk coveyer-belted me past a whimsical tin man sculpture on the roof of the E & M Sheet Metal Company headquarters on Fresno Road. Little online information exists about this fellow, even from the learned scholars of all such things Debra Jane Seltzer and RoadsideAmerica.com, so I assume some mad, artistic sheet metal genius put this fine specimen together and got him up on the roof for all to admire. He makes a friendly greeter to all visitors who pass near Little Rhody's main airport, as if to say "Hey everybody, we're a little offbeat here in Rhode Island. Thanks for checking us out!" Or, in other words, Rhode Island is a little scrappy but we're not afraid to show our true mettle.

Friday night arrives without a suitcase: A too-short visit to the Madonna Inn and other sights of San Luis Obispo, California

This is what we didn't see: any of the 110 outlandishly decorated themed guest rooms. This was shot by photographer par excellence Tom Meinhold. Visit his website, whydon'tcha.

 We didn't make it inside the spectacular Fremont Theatre, either...

 ...or the Sunset Drive-In. Oh, well.

 Pepe has a cool old sign...

 ...and we did do some laundry at the Launderosa, probably my favorite laundromat name of all time.

Back in 2011, we took an incredible cross-country trip from Rhode Island to California. The original plan was to visit San Francisco for a few days and then head to Yosemite National Park. Even though we arrived in S.F. in mid-May, Yosemite was snowed in to the point of only one road to the park being open, leading us to change our plans on the fly, which can be both disappointing (No Yosemite? Boo!) to exciting (let's go down the Pacific Coast Highway. Yay!). We visited the extraordinary Hearst Castle in San Simeon and then decided to head a bit further south to Pismo Beach (and all the clams we can eat), looking for a motel for the night along the way, which happened to be in the sunny central California coast town of San Luis Obispo, which translates to Saint Louis the Bishop for all you non-Spanish speakers like me. We wished we had the correct amount of time to spend seeing this wonderful place, especially the Madonna Inn, known the world over for its eccentrically over-the-top decorated guest rooms. After checking in to our hard-to-acquire motel (the entire area was booked because of a big wine festival weekend), I drove around just to see what I could in our all-too-short stay and was able to wander around the lobby and coffee shop of the Inn, both of which did not disappoint this eccentric roadside attraction fan. This place will have to be a tent-pole destination for some future trip for us. S.L.O. has not one but two retro movie delights, as well: the Fremont, a 1942 palace saved from the wrecking ball due to public outcry, and the Sunset Drive-In. We hope we make it back here some day, but in the meantime nos vemos en nuestros sueños, San Luis Obispo.*

*I used an internet translator so hopefully this means we'll see you in our dreams San Luis Obispo and not something like bite the wax tadpole.

Parks and Rex: The roadside dinosaur of St. Petersburg, Florida

 There's some nice patio work behind this fellow but now it's going to seed.

 Not sure what this hole is for, unless this guy was mechanical and needed some maintenance.

 Zoned C-2...that must mean large concrete dinosaur mascot allowed.

 We are family...I've got all my sisters with me.

There's friendly green roadside greeter along 66th Street in St. Petersburg, Florida, just waiting for someone to adopt him. We're a little uncertain how this coelurosaurian theropod wound up in this spot...perhaps he was a hold-over mascot from a mini golf course or other fun venue, but he appears to have last been employed by the Florida Brick and Paver Company, who apparently pave no more here, as the "For Lease" notice covering their sign would indicate. Could this happy green fellow be going, well, the way of the dinosaur? Let's hope not because he is a delight to behold, with his intricate scale work and cheerful toothless grin, not to mention the large, white cartoony bone he appears to be using as a jaunty walking cane. Perhaps if someone leases the property, the owners will thrown him in at no extra cost...wouldn't that be an enticement? Whatever business moves in would certainly get our patronage for keeping such a sight for 'saur eyes.

Optimistic marquee of the week

I know this sign probably refers to financing of some sort, but wouldn't it be nice if everybody approved of everybody else?

Keeping it reel: The Ruskin Family Drive-In of Ruskin, Florida

How cool would it be to live in that mobile home next to the drive-in?

 Keeping it alive...we like the sound of that.

 They're proud of their 2000 square-foot screen, and who can blame them?

 Thank you, and please come again.

 I believe this is clue that Paul is dead.

All this and a Beloved Drive-In Theatre Cat, too? We liked this place before, but now we love it.

I had a ModBetty moment while driving down the Tamiami Trail (Route 41) in the western part of my new home state of Florida recently. She's the hostess with the mostess of fun retro places to visit at her groovy website Retro Roadmap and the Ruskin Family Drive-In theater has her name written all over it. It's a place that's been around since 1952 (the first movie they screened was "Singin' in the Rain", for crying out loud) and they're still open year round, rain or shine, hot or cold, including holidays. If that isn't dedication to the glorious retro tradition of drive-in movie theaters, we'll eat our pork pie hats. Here's a little something from their website (a website for a drive-in?, now that's a paradox):

"We call it the “Last family drive-in” in the U.S.A. because families, dating couples, single parents with children and everyone else young and old can come and visit.  We had family values when family values were the rule.  We still have family values although by some we’re not considered cool."

Not considered cool? What are you, nuts?...nothing could be cooler. Movie memorabilia fans should take note of the fact that they sell off their old movie posters at the bargain price of $5, so if you're in the market for a "Hunger Games," "Madea Christmas" or "Wolverine" placard, check them out. This money and the snack bar profits go to support their digital projector, a rarity among drive-ins.

Thank you, Ruskin Family Drive-In, for keeping the flame, or flick in this case, burning brightly in the great state of Florida.

You want a bite of this? No thanks, I'm stuffed: Linger Lodge — Bradenton, Florida's taxidermy-themed restaurant

 Inside this Old Florida-looking locale awaits one of the Top 5 Weirdest Restaurants in America...

 ...and if you don't agree, take it up with Al Roker.

 This distinguished elderly gentleman greets you at the door...

Old and very fragile? Sounds like the results from my last physical.

 Not every restaurant spells their name out in a snake font...

 ...made of real snakes.

 They got lots of them all around...

 ...including this fellow with venom 30 times more potent than a rattlesnake's. Suck it, rattlesnake!

 It 's all fun and games until a gator starts chewing on a man's leg...

 ...and I don't believe I've ever seen a stuffed boar's butt mounted on the walls of the Olive Garden.

 They've got alligator on the menu and I'm guessing it tastes like chicken...

 ...I opted for the yummy fish and chips instead.

 The lodge sits on the beautiful Braden River...

 ...in all its glory.

 They're fond of stuffed squirrels playing sports like baseball...

 ...basketball...

 ...and golf. That's nuts!

 And for readers of The Weekly World News, there's a jackalope...

 ...Alaskan fur fish...

 ...and blue-billed ortholock.

 Not quite sure what the connection to JFK is, but, okay.

Tip your waitress!

As mentioned in our previous post, the eccentric roadside wonders of Bradenton, Florida are plentiful, indeed. As if a vintage Mister Donut shop, a Uniroyal Gal and a manatee on every corner aren't enough, the "friendly city," as it's known, boasts a strange and glorious throwback to Florida tourist attractions of days gone by in the Linger Lodge, an RV park and restaurant on the beautiful Braden River in the east part of town. It started out as a campground in 1945 and in 1968 a Mr. Frank Gamsky, an amateur taxidermist, and his wife Elaine bought the place and added eccentricity to its ambiance by filling the walls and rooms with stuffed native animals, including snakes, bobcats, turtles, alligators, bears, fox and fish, all glaring at you while you enjoy your frog legs, alligator chowder and other less challenging traditional Southern dishes. There are also whimsical creatures such as jackolopes and Alaskan fur fish, and demented stuffed squirrels making golf shots and throwing hoops. This would not be the place to hold the next monthly PETA board of directors meeting, to say the least, but the food I ordered (fish and chips) was really good and the atmosphere was fun in a ghastly sort of way — I felt like I was dining in the corridor between a natural history museum and a novelty store. The Lodge's current owners put the place up for sale last fall, with plans to perhaps sell the restaurant separately from the adjacent RV park.  Let's hope the new owners treat the place with the same reverence for jaw-dropping Old Florida anything-goes ambiance as every owner has before. After all, no one likes a stuffed shirt.