Key and appeal: A visit (pre-Irma) to Key West

We were lucky to take a brief trip to Key West, Eccentric Roadside's first, one week before Hurricane Irma hit. The Keys got beat up but bounced back and opened up to tourists a few weeks later, and the famous Southern-Most Point marker, a classic Key West tourist attraction people line up to get their picture takeen in front of, has been restored to its pre-hurricane luster after getting pretty badly bruised.

Good on you Key West, for restoring the laid back Jimmy Buffett vibe, and please, Eccentric Roadside readers, please go visit there because the local economy depends on you. As Mae West said, "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."

Happy Veterans Day

We'd like to wish a Happy Veterans Day to all the soldiers who have served our country and their families. In their honor, here's a rerun of a post we did in June of 2010 from Sarasota, Florida.

A kiss is still a kiss: Sarasota, Florida's V-J Day Kiss Statue

Edith Shain, who claimed she was the nurse getting swept off her feet in Times Square by the kiss of an anonymous sailor in an iconic Life Magazine photo shot on Victory Over Japan Day in 1945, died today. She was 91. Her passing is rather timely for us at Eccentric Roadside because just last week I took some pictures of a statue depicting the famous Alfred Eisenstadt photo on Route 41 in Sarasota, Florida. A great big one. Twenty-six feet tall to be exact. Entitled "Unconditional Surrender," it was created by noted sculptor Seward Johnson, the same artist responsible for the truly awesome 25-foot "American Gothic" replica we saw in Chicago last year, and it makes quite a statement along the busy palm treed boulevard, surrounded by high-rise condos and a luxurious marina. Sarasota was the statue's original home in 2005. It was then moved 3000 miles away to San Diego for a spell, and then returned in better than ever condition back to Sarasota in 2008. A June 18 post to roadsideamerica.com reports the smoochers were being craned onto a flatbed truck bound for New Jersey for some repairs before a triumphant Sarasota return engagement later on this July. Eisenstadt never got the names of the original celebrants and more than one nurse and sailor have claimed to be the make-out artists in the photo, but we believe you Edith. Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but us.

A kiss is still a kiss: Sarasota, Florida's V-J Day Kiss Statue

Edith Shain, who claimed she was the nurse getting swept off her feet in Times Square by the kiss of an anonymous sailor in an iconic Life Magazine photo shot on Victory Over Japan Day in 1945 died today. She was 91. Her passing is rather timely for us at Eccentric Roadside because just last week I took some pictures of a statue depicting the famous Alfred Eisenstadt photo on Route 41 in Sarasota, Florida. A great big one. Twenty-six feet tall to be exact. Entitled "Unconditional Surrender," it was created by noted sculptor Seward Johnson, the same artist responsible for the truly awesome 25-foot "American Gothic" replica we saw in Chicago last year, and it makes quite a statement along the busy palm treed boulevard, surrounded by high-rise condos and a luxurious marina. Sarasota was the statue's original home in 2005. It was then moved 3000 miles away to San Diego for a spell, and then returned in better than ever condition back to Sarasota in 2008. A June 18 post to roadsideamerica.com reports the smoochers were being craned onto a flatbed truck bound for New Jersey for some repairs before a triumphant Sarasota return engagement later on this July. Eisenstadt never got the names of the original celebrants and more than one nurse and sailor have claimed to be the make-out artists in the photo, but we believe you Edith. Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but us.