Sunday, July 27, 2014

I'll meet you on the corner: Four Corners USA

 One man, four states.


 That's Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona, bub




 Photo ops abound...


And don't forget to visit the snack bar

There's only one place in all of the USA where you can be in four states at the same time (U.S. states, that is, not states of confusion, shock, grace or decay). That would be what's known as Four Corners USA in the upper southwest, where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona gather at one quadripoint. You'd think such a cartographic wonder would be in a hugely populated area, but au contraire. It's way, way out in desolate semi-autonomous Native American land, and you have to really be up for an eccentric roadside outing to get there. It doesn't disappoint, though, and it's set up nicely, with benches, plaques, concrete markers, flags...the whole shooting match. And if you sit, kneel, or squat just right, you really can be in four places at the same time -- kind of like a geographic version of Twister: right hand Utah, left foot Colorado. There are booths surrounding the intersection where Native Americans sell their wares to help you remember this momentous occasion, along with all the awesome photo ops to make your friends and relatives back home jealous. And we love this delicious irony: this truly American landmark site is administered by the Navajo Nation Department of Parks and Recreation. But you don't need reservations.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Happy birthday Don Knotts


We're huge fans of the immortal Don Knotts and wanted to give him a shout-out on what would have been his 90th birthday. We had the pleasure of stopping by his hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia a while back. Click here to read all about it.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Manly, yes, but I like it too: The Muffler Man of Tampa, Florida






There's an auto repair shop on the corner of South 50th Street and Causeway Boulevard in Tampa, Florida that bills itself as The Original Muffler City (not one of those ersatz, faux, or phony baloney Muffler Cities) and they have just the mascot to prove it standing out front: a wrench-wielding, Bunyanesque muffler man. How nice to see a muffler man actually promoting, oh, I don't know, mufflers. The architecture of the shop itself has a great retro feel, too, with it's bright yellow and blue lettering, stars and triangular flags flapping in the breeze. I'll tell ya, if we needed a new muffler and were in the Tampa Bay area, this would be the place we would go. It would be our muffler manifest destiny.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Unfortunately named business of the week



Right next to the Scratch-N-Go.