Rebecca Kilbreath

Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn. is infamous and amazing! Legends have recorded at Sun Studio since the 1950s. Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, even U2!

The tour itself is not that fascinating unless you are a true devotee of the sound but the pure Rockabilly kitsch value is there for those who are only it for the sights. It’s a pretty great experience either way.

Ace Hardware in River Forest is where my husband likes to go to get his hardware. It’s a nice small store packed the rafters with goodies.

I like to go just to pull the door handle–it’s a welded hammer. It’s awesome.

Cars

on a

SPIKE!

Cars on a spike! The focal point of Cermak Plaza’s public art exhibit is The Spindle by Dustin Shuler, 1989. It’s spectacular. It makes me happy every time I drive past it. Sadly, it was overcast the day I took the photo. But I’ll be back to check this one out again! LOVE IT.

This is a beautiful mirrored mosaic called “The Embrace” by Gina Gilmore!

From the back, the light from the store signage reflects off of the mirrors.

A truly unusual windmill? It’s a series of cones–with colors painted inside of them–tilts in the wind and spins. Wish I had a movie of it. They’re quite magical!

It’s called Bee Tree by George Rhoads. I love it!

The real roadside Americana element is up next–Cermak Plaza’s cars on a spike!!

The Heidelberg Project is an unusual public art project in downtown Detroit. Originally opposed by the Detroit government, the artist Tyree Guyton’s project has become a world renowned public art project. My husband took these pictures the day we were there. It’s so worth the visit. To put it far too simply, Guyton has taken garbage and the remnants of a city on a long decline and created a spectacular community art project. When I was there the installations included a garden of brightly painted old vacuum cleaners, a field of repurposed and painted car hoods, brightly painted and dotted homes and something unique everywhere you look.
The single unifying theme–aside from repurposing everyday items long discarded–is that many pieces of art feature brightly colored dots. Interestingly, connecting the dots–from Heidelberg Street to dots painted on many abandoned downtown buildings–allows the visitor to ask what the unifying theme of Detroit itself is. And it often comes back to decay and the riots in the ’60s.

Connecting the dots on a repurposed playground rocking horse. Check out the website to take a virtual tour of Heidelberg Street: http://www.heidelberg.org/

Time to represent the new hometown!

I spotted this very exciting and masculine Muffler Man on Grand in Chicago.

Apparently this monument to masculinity–he’s bending iron, people!–has been in Chicago for years now, sitting atop his Auto Body Shop! He’s rugged, he’s sexy, he’s man enough for us all! Meow!

My husband is always a good sport. For our honeymoon, we opted to take a road trip–clearly a beloved past time of mine–and we headed to Northern Michigan with the intention of stopping at every ridiculous spot we could find that was still open late in the season. Next stop: St. Ignace’s Deer Ranch. It’s a petting zoo! It’s a gift shop! It’s got a lot of deer. I know we have photos of the deer but I can’t seem to find them. Oh, well. For your enjoyment

There is nothing better than photo-op sign!

My husband–with no facial hair! weird!– is the best sport ever!

This probably falls outside a typical roadside oddity but I love mid-century modern furniture and architecture and, in my mind, the style is closely related to roadside Americana.

At the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit is the only place to find the “Home of the Future” today! The Dymaxion House was created to be an efficient home of tomorrow. It’s a domed building with little privacy but maximum space! I really love it. Check out the wiki entry about it here.

Check out this photo to understand the exterior!

Here’s a sampling of my photos of the interior of the Dymaxion House:

The core:

The kitchen:

Two views of the dining/living room:

Sadly, I don’t have any pictures of the bedroom! The closets were so cool! You can find more images here!