August 17, 2024 • 47 mins
@jimmyperigoso joins the podcast and we talk about his recent concerts, living so close to the mother road, roadside oddities, and places he'd like to go.
You can follow James on Instagram at:
https://instagram.com/jimmyperigoso
I forgot https://instagram.com/roadspeak's name, and got Gallup and Grants, NM mixed up.
Definite shout out to RoadsideArchitecture.com Home Page (roadarch.com).
Debra Jane's book can be found here: Vintage Signs of America: Seltzer, Debra Jane
You can follow James on Instagram at:
https://instagram.com/jimmyperigoso
I forgot https://instagram.com/roadspeak's name, and got Gallup and Grants, NM mixed up.
Definite shout out to RoadsideArchitecture.com Home Page (roadarch.com).
Debra Jane's book can be found here: Vintage Signs of America: Seltzer, Debra Jane
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Welcome everybody to another episode of International Side Finders. Glad
you're back with us. We got a great guest setup
for you for this week. Last week we talked with Oh,
I'm glad to forget his name, it's it's it's been
a week. Let's just put it that way. I'll remind
myself later. I'll put in the show notes who we
(00:49):
talked to last week. But this week we've got a
great guest. He goes by the name of Jimmy Parragoso
and you can follow him on Instagram at his handle
at Jimmy here Go. So I'll have that in the
show notes on our show page on speaker. But let's
jump into it. Jimmy, James, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Hey Dre, good to be with you. Yeah, Greg, I
have you here. Now.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Wait, just introduce yourself to those who may not know
you on Instagram or the other social media and let
us know all the good the good bits about you. Well,
my name, my name is actually James Bardon and I
go by Jimmy on Instagram. That's the main social media
(01:35):
side I use. And obviously one of my big things
is posting old sign pictures, mainly hotels and restaurants and
any started business that had old, classic or a unique sign.
Oh yeah, well yeah, I also post an occasional roadside
(01:57):
attraction type quirky type of places and spots.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I also see that you you posted like a lot
of concerts. John Mellencamp, what did he drop Cougar?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I don't know. I think that was Sackment from late
eighties or early now. Yes, I'm bold. I still call
him John Couger. I do too.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I remember him in the eighties, uh, getting his start.
And I saw you had Sarah McLaughlin. Holy Kell, there's
a I mean, you've seen a lot of people in concert.
Yeah right now.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Fortunately, I'll probably have to go back and look for
a real job again. But I'm calling myself semiary now. Okay, Well,
I've a little bit extra time, and one of my
one of my big hobbies is uh, you know, I
enjoy music might uh. I enjoy all types of music.
So you know, in the past two weeks I also
saw the Rolling Stones a couple of weeks ago. Oh wow,
(02:52):
and uh over this past weekend I saw Janna Jackson
and Nelly, and then the next night Olivia Rodrigo. I
don't love to feel you're familiar with her. But she's new. Yeah,
very popular, though she's not quite to the level of
like Taylor Swift Okay, but she's very huge with I
(03:13):
guess teens and twenty something year olds. That's his I
was in Oklahoma City, I'm in Missouri. I'm in Springfield, Missouri, Okay,
and I will was the city this past weekend to
see her with my twenty two year old daughter. It
was sort of a graduation gift for I graduated from
college in May. Oh cool, I have to experience that
(03:34):
phenomena with a bunch of screaming ten to thirty year
old young ladies. It was probably the loudest concert I've
ever been to as far as the crowd. Yeah, I'm
more of a hard rock guy, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, I'm in radio right now. I'm a producer for
a news talk station at a Houston at this moment.
But I you know, my first job in radio was
at college. It was an inspirational station, played church music
and stuff like that. And then the next uh job
(04:11):
I had in rodeo was at a rock station, K
Bear went on one out of Idaho Falls, Idaho, So
I cut my teeth on hard rock as well, you know,
like uh, oh, of course Metallica Mastadon.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Oh there's a yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Band has like a southern rock feel out of Denmark.
I can't think of their name right now, so uh,
bul beats BULLBYT.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I don't know why they were big when about twenty twelve,
twenty eleven. I can't believe I forgot the name. So
I kind of got my heath cut in hard rock
as well. Let me use a Metallica say, oh cool
all the way back from like Master Puppets and stuff
like that. Oh yeah, I'm old, So I was.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I was back when I where they were only get
like five hundred people at the show my very first
Meatalicy concert. I'm gonna give away my age air. But
it was in nineteen eighty six, okay and Cap Geriro
and there was probably five hundred people there. Oh those
are great shows. Oh yeah, yeah, that was. It was incredible.
You know you're up close.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So yeah, I saw Three Days Grace in Idaho Falls
and there's probably about a thousand people in the audience.
Two thousand and uh. The drummer from the band before them.
It was the brother of the lead singer of Three
days Grace. He was in another band. They had a
song called orn Star Dancing, which got a lot of
(05:40):
airplay and actually had like a ten year old kid
requested for his mom, which is the oddest thing I
had happened at the radio station.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
It was weird.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
But that band, the drummer broke his foot and he
came out and put on a show. I mean he's
one foot.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
You know.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Some of those drummers they either have like the double
kettles or the double bass drum kicks, or they have
like the snare kick and stuff like that. And he
did his best. And I just think of what was it,
Axel Rose back in Montreal, I think nineteen ninety they
were on tour with Metallica and actually the Rose had
something weird happened and he wouldn't play, and like Montreal rioted,
(06:24):
and then James Hepfield has like pyrotechnics blow up in
his face and he does the show the next night.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
The next night, well I think that was yeah, yeah,
it was a show. Guns. The US was supposed to
come on after them, Yeah, and that's and they didn't
do their whole seturn that's when the riots started. Ah.
Actually Rose Creema Donna. I had friends there. There was
for Riot and Say Louis that year too, because he
(06:52):
went after someone in the crowd that was taking pictures
of them back before there were cell phones and that
that started. So there was a there's a couple of
them on that tour. But you know, I just saw them.
I saw them last summer and it was a great show.
I saw him in Kansas City. How does it do
with the new band? Uh, well, it's it has flash
(07:14):
and tough. Oh okay, three I guess you would call
main original members and then just felt the rest of
it's filled out with other people. But you know, they
sounded pretty good.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Because did he have bucket heead as a guitarist for
a while. Yeah, yeah, that was a while back for
a while. But he's he's back with slash. No good
good he needs slash, Yeah he does.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
So. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
You know that's where we do here on the show.
We go off in any direction sometimes some things that
interest us. One of the things is music for you quirky.
We'll get into the quirky broadside attractions in the next one.
But what is one of the signs, one of the
neon signs that kind of caught your at tension that
kind of go did you on into uh you know
(08:04):
taking pictures of signs?
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Well, you know, I think I've always been sort of
attracted to them, you know, going to my youth. I
don't know, it just sort of takes you back to
maybe a different era, yeah, live or not. And that's
for the cool things I like about it. But uh,
you know just here here in Springfield, Uh, there's a
there's a great one, the Rest Haven Motel or the
(08:29):
Rest Team. Yes, don't you be familiar with that one?
Oh yeah, that's that is a bucket with sign right
there and that that that motel is actually still open. Uh.
And I'm I'm not sure when the signed dates to,
probably for sure, sometime in the fifties, maybe the late filies.
So I drove, I drove by that a lot. And
(08:52):
that is actually on the the the old Route sixty six,
which well there, but you know there's an interstate about
a mile or two from him. Now. Yeah. So you know,
one of the things with my previous job, I worked
at that for over twenty years up until a couple
of years ago. And the great thing was with that
(09:15):
is it was perfect for me because I was able
to travel a lot. Yeah, yeah, I traveled every day,
and I pretty much covered most of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas,
and Oklahoma all since it's right in the heart of
you know, Rout sixty sixth country. It was all the
way down from Chicago and down through Missouri and Oklahoma
(09:38):
and on out west all the way to California. So
I basically, you know, lived just a few miles from
Route sixty six. So I was going by all these
great signs, and uh, yeah I didn't. I wasn't. I
never have really been big into photography. Sometimes on my
pictures people will ask, you know, what kind of camera
(09:58):
I use? And I don't think about it biography. I
couldn't tell you one camera from another. But you know,
I started taking pictures well, a great invention with cell phones.
Everyone thinks every fork. So that's sort of coincided with
starting on Instagram. And you know, first I didn't think
(10:18):
there was too many people. I didn't have a lot
of friends I thought were really interested in sharing pictures with.
But the great thing about us was I found that,
you know, a lot of people, quite quite a few
people are doing this and it's great to be able
to share it with other people and to see what
they they.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Find out on the road. Yeah, and that's a great
place to stop. For the end of our first segment,
we've talked about music getting into signs. When we come
back from our break, we have to do commercials, even
though it's a podcasts throw commercials in there. We'll get
back from the break, we'll talk about working roadside attractions,
some other signs.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Some of his travels and you never know.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Heck, we've talked about Bigfoot on the show before, but
this is International sign Finders. Welcome back to International sign Finders.
(11:19):
Glad you're still with us. I remember who I talked
to last week, road Speak. Road Speaks awesome. He's out
of the Dallas area. He's lived in Houston. He goes
all over the place, especially the Mother Road sixty six.
Go and find him and follow him as well. And
today we have Jimmy Paragoso. I'll have how to get
in contact with him, how to follow him in the
show notes on the Spreaker page for the show. So
(11:42):
head on over there, find the link, follow him and
see all the great stuff because it's not just signs.
He's got some amazing size up there. Don't get me
wrong from like I mean recently he's got in New Mexico,
on Oklahoma City of course, Missouri and stuch like that.
But he's also shared some photos, some good photos from
concerts he's been too, so go over there follow him.
(12:05):
And now quirky roadside attractions, they're either you know, people's
view them as ghost or really fun and I like
the funness of it. I think the one that I
remember first and I should have taken a picture of it,
was in Baker, California. It's about two in the morning,
(12:27):
and we saw the world's tallest thermometer there in the
Mahave Desert.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I've never been yet, but I've seen takes of that. Yep. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
And also all the alien like alien jerky and stuff
like that around that same exit.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
I'd been up for about at the end of the
when I finally got to sleep, i'd been up for
sixty eight hours and I slept for an hour and
a half and I probably drove ten hours. Ten of
the fifteen hours from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Los Angeles
to film a wedding.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
That was a long day.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yes, it sounds dangerous. I don't recommend driving in La
traffic on no sleep that.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
No, they'll do it. They'll do it kids.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
But porky roadside attractions, you know, six has a lot
of them.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I think.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Is it the uh the crazy big whale in Oklahoma
off of sixty six like wattoos, Yeah, Catusa, Yeah, just Tusa.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah, it's a few miles. It's basically start of a
suburb of Tulsa outside of it, Okay, and that's around
on Verde sixty six too. Yeah. Yeah, the the blue
Whale of Catusa. That's right. Yeah, So what do you
know the story behind that? Well, I uh, you know,
I just I drove by that quite a bed on
my way. Uh.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
You know, it is a little bit some people might
think it's a little bit. Uh but what's the word
you used. Reminiscently tacky is another definition for it, like that.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
A lot of it is tacky, but it's also fun. Yeah,
that's a fun place to stop and uh, you can't
take things too seriously, so oh that's crazy. It's a
great thing about those roadside attractions, and there are quite
quite a bit on a route sixty six. I think
it goes back to the days where anything they could
(14:23):
towns or people could do to stop, to get people
to stop and maybe spend a little money. Uh, that's
probably one reason that that was behind some of the stuff.
Oh heck yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
And you can't blame them because those little towns they
kind of thrived on, you know, the motels. Maybe the
diners scene. Uh, probably not the same diner scene as
in the Northeast. That to me, something about diners in
Northeast to go together in my mind. I know that's
not rue, but it's just me.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Uh, and I don't I think you're right about that.
You know, there's a lot of great old restaurants along
Yeah sixties, but not so much sex big diners. There
are some yeah so and the and I know this
is a Route sixty six, but the one that comes
to mind is the world's largest hole steam cow up
(15:14):
in North Dakota, in a little town called Salem, Okay.
First off, who goes to North Dakota willingly? Now I
get it back. I want to go to North Dakota
just to see it. But when you're a halo, it's
a been a while. So I have actually been in
North Dakota. It's been about five years before I really
started taking a lot of pictures. Yeah, but uh, you know,
(15:37):
every every small town, every big city has something interesting there,
whether yeah, water or you know, like an old hotel
sign or an old courthouse. No that that's the type
of thing that attracts me. So I mean, uh, there's
not a whole lot if you drive all the way
across the Dakota's or some parts of Chanzas or Nebraska.
(15:59):
But uh, you know, I think you can find that's
a great thing about you know, some of these small towns,
you can find something that's interesting there. You know, the
people that lip might sort of take it for granted
because they see it every day, but you know, whenever
it's slipped, whenever you're there for the first time or
two and come across it, I think it's always interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
It's kind of like all the marquees, the theater marquees
and all the small little towns like I think Syracuse,
Kansas has a really nice one. And I passed it
up because when you need to get down.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
The road, that one, I can't remember the h Is
it like the Chief or something like that. I'm not. Yeah,
sure I've been by that one. That that is a
really cool one.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, and you know like two eighty seven corridor, you know,
like who wants to stop in Claredon, uh, Texas?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
But they have really cool like mid century stuff, like
the old uh their town hall has a lot of
mid century quirkiness to it. They have old signs along
the roads. And it's it's those little things that kind
of grab your eye because I lived in a little
town growing up, two hundred people there in eastern North
Carolina now, and the only attraction wasn't necessarily a road
(17:14):
side attraction. It was a off the roadside attraction called
Somerset Plantation. It was probably one of the few plantations
where the owners of the plantation actually took great records
of the slaves that.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Worked for them.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
We're not condonate slavery in anyway. It's just it was
a quirky they Not many people did that, and so
that was kind of an attraction in and of itself.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah. Now, now what part of North Carolina is that?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
In eastern North Carolina? Have you heard of nag Set
or the Outer Banks?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Sure? Sure, yep. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
So if you if you google like Manio along Highway
sixty four, if you go east, hit Mag's head if
you go west, you'll hit little towns like Columbia and Creswell,
like Russell was a little town I grew up.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
In, Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
It's uh the downtown. Most of the buildings of the
downtown are no longer there. They're dilapidated. But also I
see that you take pictures of the vacuum form signs
as well. What is I love those signs is they're
they're kind of reminiscent of that old, that older age.
(18:28):
What is the attraction for you of the vacuum form signs?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Well, uh, yeah, I me know, I'm more attractive just
to a lot of older signs. Yeah, that's I'm not
an expert in how signs are made or anything, but
see either. But see it seems like those are are
unique and you don't see to me of those are
the any of those around anymore that are that are new?
(18:58):
But yeah, that's you know, the old I love because
it takes him back to a time before everything was
so corporate and franchised. Against franchise businesses. I patronize those
as much as anyone, But you know, every town was
a little bit different. It seems like everything that's being
(19:20):
built out, you know, every town sort of looks the same. Yeah,
every town there's a model. Every town that has two
thousand population has this these couple of fast past food
franchise businesses as the thirty thousand population as these every
big city as you know, the same type of businesses.
(19:43):
So yep, you know, these older order signs remind me
of a time when there was differences between places, when
there was something unique.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And you know, I've kind of gotten into that with
Reared Rabbit, Casey Sign Chaser and a few others, because
you kind of had to find a way to get
eyeballs on product. I guess you would. You would call
it in like social media, like eyes per million, or
eyes per thousand, or views per thousand. I think in
(20:14):
billboards it's like views per mile. I think that's what
they call it.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Back then.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
They kind of converted that into social media back when
I was trying to get into that back about twenty eleven.
But you had to find a way to get people's attention,
so they started building those big signs, whether it's a
big back and formed Golden Skillet or a franchise called
(20:43):
Golden Skillet in North Carolina, or like when you were
in Oklahoma City, all those old like the America Transmission sign,
that's such a unique.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Well to me, it feels well made.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Someone else probably would disagree, But you had to get
somebody to your business and do it in a way
that kind of said, hey, we're classy enough for you
to come spend your dollar here.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Sure sure, yeah, so, uh it looks like you were.
I was just just there over there over the weekend.
Oh heck ken, you know, I've been to Oklahoma City
quite this weekend. This past weekend was nice because I
was able to get a few that for some yeah.
I usually with work didn't have a whole lot of
extra time to sign up, So so this past weekend
(21:35):
I was able to get that a few others. I
made a deal with my daughter that we would do
that before I went to the concert, and we got
but she got to say the finer side of Oklahoma
City and some of those yeahs. But yeah, there's a
lot of and the.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
One interesting thing about Olklahoma City, you know, we'll leave
that for the next segment. We'll get into just kind
of the quirky uniqueness up Oklahoma City and some other
travels that James has been to. We're talking with Jimmy Parago.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
So go find him.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
I'll have the links in the show notes. Find him,
follow him and enjoy his stuff. You're listening to International
sign Finders. Welcome back to International sign Finders, segment three
(22:35):
of this week's show with Jimmy Parago. So go and
find him and follow him on Instagram, and we're going
to talk about I know the quirkiness of Oklahoma City.
I mean, every big city has its quirkiness. Denver you've
got the longest, wickedest, longest main street in America, Pullfax.
(22:57):
You have We're sixty sixty through Tucum Carry Springfield, I'm
sure has its own quirkiness. But Oklahoma City, you have,
like the main parts of Oklahoma City, then you have
the warehouse districts of Oklahoma City, and there's some pressures there.
What did you find in the warehouse areas of Oklahoma
(23:17):
City over this past weekend.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Well, I found some some nice signs around there. There
there's quite a few. Within a close instance for there,
there's one. There's one I really liked, the Clawson Motel. Yes,
I don't think. Yeah, I just posted that one today
and you know the side of itself, I don't think
he's actually old, but the I wish, you know, I
(23:43):
think that place they they remodeled the whole place, but
they gave it a really retro vibe. I haven't yet,
but the next time I'm going to Okay See, I
might actually try to stay there. Yeah. I love that.
And they redid that hotel where it feels old and
(24:05):
but it looks like it's totally remodeled, refurbished, and it
has this grab apple green. If I kick all it
that it's yeah, it's probably not everybody's first choice of color,
but it's very retro. It's very like old school kitchens
used to have that color. Oh yeah, yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
And there was a psychology behind it that if you
that if your kitchen was green, the wife would want
to stay there. But they also painted, uh, what is
it a mental hospitals in that same green color. Yes, right,
so the psychology, Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
How that translates.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
But one one thing I also found was you kind
of have to keep your head on a swivel in
Oklahoma City because there are signs that pop up, like
for me, it was the are Can transmission sign, and
then just down the street was the JB Battle Uniforms
sign for police uniforms. I know it's not a neon sign,
(25:10):
but it's still a midcentery sign, and I was not
expecting that.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, that area right through there, I think, what's I called? Like?
It's pretty close and goes Capitol Hill keble Heritt still area, yep. Yeah,
you got the Yale Theater there, and uh, what's the
other though, I guess it's the Oklahoma Theater right down
the street the old Oklahoma Opry.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Uh yeah, the Oklaho Opry. Yeah, that's pretty air yep.
And also, uh, Oklahoma City Community College. Uh, don't get
it confused with Oklahoma City University, which is completely different.
That confuses me so much. They have a campus there.
They try to keep that mid centry vibe as well,
which I appreciate. Yeah, and did you get a chance to, oh, go.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Ahead, there's a besides Oklahoma City, there's a Uh. I
really like the stretch once you get past Oklahoma City
and start heading west on the old Root sixty six,
which is what Interstate forty actually. Yeah, you know. The
great thing about the Route sixty six is obviously the
(26:19):
interstate is built, has been built many years ago. You know,
just a couple of miles from most of Route sixty six.
Most of the stretches, you know, remain you can still
drive on them. But obviously the reason that so many
hotels and restaurants have the old science is because the
highway is sort of passed them by. Now. Yeah, you know,
(26:42):
they're still thriving businesses. But there's a lot of great
signs on I don't know, excuse me, I don't know
if you've had a chance to go farther west in
some of those small towns like Bethany and what all's
out there flinton A Reno. Yeah, you know, yeah, what's
the town on out there? It's the Cotton Cotton I
(27:06):
know it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Look yeah, the Bull the Bowl wee will, I'll look
it up real fast, the Cotton Cotton Bowl Hotel.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's. Uh, that's one of the coolest
signs I think out there. And that uh.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
The New Oklahoma. I'm sure mispronouncing that with the way
Oklahoma pronounces stuff.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yep. Oh, yeah, that there's a lot of quirky things,
uh out there in western Oklahoma and western Kansas that's
on out out in that direction.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Yeah, and uh, I've been through the Panhandle, but at
not late at night, so I couldn't see anything on
the Panhandle. It was just small little towns. What after
the other? Uh we we've had a.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
I love the sparseness of the of the Panhand. Yeah. Yeah,
you know, there's there's a lot of distance between towns
out there, but uh, you would ever get into Amarillo
and what's the most of the town's out there have
something interesting ever?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, exactly, you are a cool courthouse or oh yeah,
and for like a little town like Stafford, Texas, right
on the tippity top of Texas, they have the high
school's mascot or the elk, and they have a big
stuffed elk in the old city hall or old uh
old Ford dealership or some sort of motor motor car dealership.
(28:35):
And right in front is this big old elk for
the town. Huh so yeah, and one of the motels
that I want to get. And I just haven't been
to like El Reno. And I've been to Bethany because
that's where my mom was at in in the nursing home.
Uh oh but uh yeah, yeah, that's I wish I couldn't.
(28:58):
That's that's pretty much Oklomas the area right there.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah too.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Yeah, And I wish I could have gone out to
al Reno because you have the Ranger Motel, which is
on my bucket list.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Yes, play out to get I've been by that, Yep, yep.
That's a good place. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
And Springfield Casey sign Chaser was planning on coming down
to Springfield sometime soon. It's kind of on his local
road day trip. Itinerary and all the little towns in between.
What is it about Springfield that that would bring people there?
Besides the rest Haven Motel? Is there a really cool
(29:37):
downtown as well? Like a lot of these smaller towns
in Texas have like mid extreme mid century buildings in downtown.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
The architecture, I mean, there's some decent architecture in Springfield. Yeah,
we're I don't know, I guess it told maybe a
medium sized SETI ethic congulation. That's almost two hundred thousand
out of the metro. Oh wow, because between three and
four hundred thousand, a little bit over three hundred thousand,
I think. Yeah, But you know it's the the home
(30:09):
of bass pro mm hm and you know that they're
like I said, Route sixty six came through here. Uh,
actually the root sixty six. Uh, I guess the original
meetings going all the way back to the nineteen twenties
and then yeah, so it was sort of where things
started with the whole highway and it ventured out east
(30:30):
and west from there. Oh but uh but yeah, yeah,
there's some there's some pretty cool old buildings downtown. And
there's a few other really good signs. There's one Danny's
truck stop or truck repair. Okay, and that one I
think probably goes back to the sixties, possibly the fifties.
(30:53):
That's another really good one here. Oh cool, touch with me.
I'll show them around.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Oh yeah, I'll, I'll uh, I'll pass along your information
to him via it or you know, Instagram. That's the
word I'm looking for. Hey, we we have we have
the world's biggest sport team. That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, it's those quirky little.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Things that they're like, it's so it's so ghost, but
it's so awesome too. And yeah, it's it's a weird
word to just let you know that it's something that
when you're a kid was awesome but later on in
life probably may not.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Be viewed as such.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yeah, so eh that it is what it is, and
then it'll bring us to the end of our third segment.
When we come back, we'll get into James's bucket list
and maybe shoot the breeze about some other stuff you're
listening to International sign Finders. Welcome back to International sign Finders.
(32:07):
We have Jimmy Parigoso with us. Go follow him like
his stuff. You can find out how you can follow
him on the show notes over at spreaker or wherever
you find your favorite podcast site and find your favorite
podcast that was redundant and I apologize.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
So we've been talking about, you know.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
The quirkiness of like Oklahoma City, why you should go
to Springfield, Missouri out of the next it's a nexus
point of ROLSE sixty six. It's not the middle that's
where in Adrian, Texas, but you know, Springfield's count of
the nexus point as well. And we've been talking about
all sorts of other stuff. We haven't gotten into arena
(32:50):
football yet we might. Uh So, after getting into all
the other crazy quirky stuff that we've talked about, what
where or what are some of your bucketless items of
places that you'd like to go take pictures of or
either signs roadside attractions workiness. Well, well, right now, this
(33:12):
this is a tie into sports, Okay, I really one
of one of my goals is to try to visit
every major League baseball stadium.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Yeah, and I'm I'm also trying to us as many
college football stadiums as I can. Oh cool. I don't
know if this is going to happen. My time is
running out, but I really want to get to Oakland.
I know the stadium. The reason they're moving, uh after
this year. I think the ultimate goal is to move
(33:42):
to Las Vegas, and maybe they're you're a couple of
years of transition, maybe in Sacramento, But anyway, I would
like to get out there while I still have a chance.
I've never been to that stadium. I've never actually been
to Oakland. I know that might have sound like the
most exciting place to go in California, but I think
(34:03):
there's also a lot of old signage there. So yeah,
Thus my dream couple of days to to get there
and check that out and maybe spend some time in
the San Francisco Bay area.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Now one person like, oh go ahead.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
My times a running out, So I don't know if
that's that's gonna happen there might have to happen sometime
in the future without going to the ball game.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Yeah, sorry I interrupted you, But I'll tell you one
person to get in contact with about Oakland and that area.
I think Alameda, that that whole area is the real
devil doll.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
She does tours in.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Alameda of the of all the cool little Neon signs
of that island.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Uh, and she kind of she either coincides it with
the Neon speaked uh conference in San Francisco, or it's
kind of like a week before or something like that.
But yeah, she takes people on tours all through that
the main the downtown area of Alameda. So yeah, get
(35:11):
in contact with her and she might be able to
help direct you into the ways of Oakland because a
lot of their downtown signs have kind of gone.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Away from what she says. Yeah was it say, Yeah,
I'll definitely have to do that cool.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Are there any other places Oakland? Yeah, that'd be interesting
stadium to get to. Are there any other like quirky
little stadiums like the Charlotte Baseball I don't know what
it's called, but they're Charlotte, North Carolina. Their alley ways
are really really shallow, but center field is like four
(35:49):
hundred and fifty feet and they're known for having the
most home runs in minor league baseball. Yeah, as long
as Jean head of to center, that's right. Yeah, it's
like it was a I'm sorry, Yeah, go ahead. I
enjoyed going to any major league ballpark or a I'm
trying to also go to many minor league ballparksh. You know,
(36:12):
I just like checking out the atmosphere of different places. Yeah,
you know, a lot of a lot of places are
started cookie cutter now, but that there's uh, there's a
lot of unique major league and minor league parks, but yeah,
I prefer the older ones. Yeah, I wish the Polar
Brands was still around in New York City. Uh, the
(36:35):
history of that place is crazy, Like I think that
used to be the old New York Giants both football
and baseball. Yeah, home and the like the old NFC
championships that were played in the Rock Pard Earth in
in in December. I'm sure the uh, the stories that
(36:58):
could be told from those just would be out of
this world.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Well, yeah, they they used to play in the elements
like we don't see alley in the mud and rain
and snow. Oh yeah, and like, uh, what is it.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Minneapolis used to have an outdoor stadium and that's one
of the coldest places in America. Yep, yep, and they
used to play out there like God intended to you know,
you break your leg, not because somebody hits you. This
is so cold, you just fell on the ground.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Wrong. Well, I used to have Green Bay, you know,
and you know I'm I'm a Kansas City Chiefs fan.
In the playoffs, after the first round playoff game last year,
I think, oh my god, at zero degrees and the
Dolphins had to come up and play with it, slay
from from Miami, and that is a home field advantage
right there when they get cold. Yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
So yeah, I saw highlights of the game and those
for Miami guys playing out the zero degree weather. Maybe
they had a guy from North Dakota State playing for him,
but I'm sure he's only one that was used.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
To that weather. Yep. H So uh we can talk
as far as as as far as other places. You know,
I'm happy. Uh, you know, my wife and family they
love to go to the beach. M but but and
I you know, I enjoy doing that too, But a
perfect day for me is just going somewhere like, uh,
(38:31):
like a rust belt type city like oh yeah, I
don't like Fort for Wayne or Delute some places I've
been to, but it's been so long I haven't like
taking pictures of the that type of thing. But a
perfect day for me would just be being able to
during the day at a time like that and going
to going to explore and then maybe catching a ball
(38:52):
game in the evening or a concerts and uh yeah,
I pretty much enjoy going to any city or town
along the way that I haven't been to before. Yeah,
And I was going through your pictures just before we
we went on, just to do a little bit, you know, research,
(39:12):
and I saw that you went to like House or Chaos,
New Mexico, and Las Vegas, New Mexico. Some of those
little towns that you're like those exist way the sign
finding community. They're kind of little hidden gems within the
late of enchantment. Yeah. Yeah, Twas is a great area.
(39:35):
You know that the town on the way out there
is well. Of course you mentioned Chikamkari. A lot of
people that are adult somethings are familiar with that one.
But the next town, about an hour west of there
is another small town, Santa Rosa. Mm hmm, there's have
you been? Have you been there?
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Been through it? And I kick myself every time we
go through it.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Well, the great thing about that town is you can
drive through it in about an hour and there's probably
about six or seven or eight great signs there. Oh yeah,
within about three miles of each other, like the sun
and sand. Yeah, modell or right his restaurant. Yeah, yeah,
it's a restaurant. Yeah, yea, yeah, it was there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
I was going through your feet. I saw all those
Santa Rosa ones. I'm like, Dave Gummy, you got there.
I need to get there so big, you know. You know, uh,
I haven't been.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
You know, you cut up a little bit north to
get to Fade. I did. On my last trip. I
didn't even go to ala Querque, which is just about
three hours of Santa Fe. Just didn't have time to.
But uh, you know, my big bucket list item is
to have a few days and get farther west on
Route sixty six. I've never I've never been out there
(41:02):
as far as taking pictures anywhere west of Santa Rosa. Yeah.
So I'd like to have the opportunity to do that
whole stretch all the way out to Santa Monica, I
think is where the six.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Yeah, those I wish we could have taken some time.
In Grants, New Mexico. We're kind of on a time
crunch getting up to Park City, and Grant has a
law and of old signs because it's right there on
the edge of the Navajo Nation. There's a lot of
little tourists signs if I remember right. And you also
(41:39):
have like one of the first seven eleven signs real
right there in Grants. Yeah, it's seven to eleven. I
think that's the what it used to be. Yeah, so, yeah,
that's I've.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
Seen quite a few pictures from Grants and Gallup, which
I believe is on Route sixty six two.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Yeah, I think that's where I'm thinking of his gallop
at Grants.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
Sorry, I know I've seen some other ones from Grants too. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
I always get stuff mixed up. And also Farmington if
you ever get up into uh northwester there's some really
nice ones up in Farmington. I just need to take
more time. I got the Muffler Shop, which is a
really cool sign lit up at night, everybody in the
in the car was asleep, so I took that as
an excuse that I could go get the sign.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Yeah, but Dell, yeah, not again. That's it's funny. It's
funny you mentioned that. Uh, you know whatever I I
first started doing this and uh, yeah, there's a nice
tag which I've learned to accept and uh and be
proud of. And that's the sign geeks. Yeah. Uh, but
(42:48):
you know when I first started doing this, uh, with
my with my job, I just buy myself a lot.
So so if I found time after work or before work,
you know, that was just on my time. But whenever
I go in trip with my wife and family, at first,
they were not crazy about me want to make every
little stop between here and Florida if we took a trip.
(43:11):
But you know, I'm very thankful because they've become more
patient with me, and they've they've actually sort of become
interested in that's so. So they usually if we're going
through a city, they'll they'll give me, you know, a
chance to take two or three signs, as long as
I will go go too crazy and spend too much
time doing it. Yeah, but I'm thankful they learned to
(43:31):
accept it a little bit. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
I went through Chickashe, Oklahoma, and on the way to
my aunt's place was the Washita Theater in downtown Chickashee,
which is amazing. There's some other signs. I wish they
could have taken some time in Chickashe. It got some
of those signs, but we were yeah, I'll go ahead now, yeah,
(43:57):
there's there's there's some other good ones there too. Yeah,
I know the one you're talking up. Yeah, just absolutely dorgeous.
And we're going south of town on I think Nineteenth Street,
I want to say nineteenth Street. And this is a
place called Muscle Car Ranch and they have the old
I think Maverick Motel sign, well really in front. And
I was going to stop and take a picture of
(44:17):
my wife's like, no, we're on a time crude. I'm like,
all right, right, I love you, hey, Yeah, my love
for you stronger than taking a picture that signed. Plus
I'm afraid of her. But that's the story for another day.
So before we close the show, it goes by super fast.
Are there any places any one that you'd like to
shout out to give it thinks or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Well, you know, one of the great things online these days.
Is it's pretty easy to do a love my research
and save you something. And you know, the signs that
really excited me are stuff you are the one you
just stumble onto. Yeah, but it is it's easier to you, uh,
if you have a little bit of a plan, if
(45:02):
you're you know, you only have a few hours in
an area. So you know, I appreciate all the other
great people that I've run across on Instagram, and I
think you've actually you've talked to a few of them.
I looked at some of the people you've talked to
you before on here, and I think I recognize almost
all of the names. And there's a there's an one
(45:23):
out there. I have to give a lot of credit.
I've never actually been in touch with it with the person.
But Roadside Architecture, yes, I owe them a lot because
I you know, I do check out their site and
get a lot of ideas, so like I answer the
efforts that they make. And she has written the book
(45:46):
on the topic. I have it. I have a copy
of it in the other room. She really is.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
Yeah, and check that out. But I'll send you the
name of the book. You can't think of it off
the top of my head. She's going to kill me
for not remembering it. Because you've listened to the show.
And Deborah Jane, if you're listening, thank you so much
for all you do. I always say thank you for everything.
Well I'll second that I didn't actually know her name,
but thank you, thank you. Yeah, Devora's awesome. So yeah,
(46:13):
so that'll bring us to the end. Hemmy Paragoso James,
thank you once again. I'm glad we were able to
finally make this happen, and hopefully next time we'll cross
paths in Oklahoma City on happier terms. How about that,
because all right, I've had some crazy stuff happened. But yeah, yeah,
well I take I hope things go good for you,
(46:36):
and yeah, I really appreciate talking to you.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
It's it's been great to to get together with you here. Cool.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
So as I finish off the show every week, get
out there, hit the pavement, go get pictures of signs,
sharing with us. We don't care if you have one
follower or one hundred and fifty thousand followers, one hundred
and fifty one thousand, we might have to cut you off. No,
I'm kidding, but yeah, we don't care how big how
small you are. Get out there, take pictures, share them
(47:03):
with us, and we enjoy seeing the pictures, whether we've
taken pictures of what you've taken pictures of, or you
find something that we don't know about. Take it, share it,
and we'll be sure to like it. You're listening to
International Signfinders
Welcome everybody to another episode of International Side Finders. Glad
you're back with us. We got a great guest setup
for you for this week. Last week we talked with Oh,
I'm glad to forget his name, it's it's it's been
a week. Let's just put it that way. I'll remind
myself later. I'll put in the show notes who we
(00:49):
talked to last week. But this week we've got a
great guest. He goes by the name of Jimmy Parragoso
and you can follow him on Instagram at his handle
at Jimmy here Go. So I'll have that in the
show notes on our show page on speaker. But let's
jump into it. Jimmy, James, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Hey Dre, good to be with you. Yeah, Greg, I
have you here. Now.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Wait, just introduce yourself to those who may not know
you on Instagram or the other social media and let
us know all the good the good bits about you. Well,
my name, my name is actually James Bardon and I
go by Jimmy on Instagram. That's the main social media
(01:35):
side I use. And obviously one of my big things
is posting old sign pictures, mainly hotels and restaurants and
any started business that had old, classic or a unique sign.
Oh yeah, well yeah, I also post an occasional roadside
(01:57):
attraction type quirky type of places and spots.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I also see that you you posted like a lot
of concerts. John Mellencamp, what did he drop Cougar?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I don't know. I think that was Sackment from late
eighties or early now. Yes, I'm bold. I still call
him John Couger. I do too.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I remember him in the eighties, uh, getting his start.
And I saw you had Sarah McLaughlin. Holy Kell, there's
a I mean, you've seen a lot of people in concert.
Yeah right now.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Fortunately, I'll probably have to go back and look for
a real job again. But I'm calling myself semiary now. Okay, Well,
I've a little bit extra time, and one of my
one of my big hobbies is uh, you know, I
enjoy music might uh. I enjoy all types of music.
So you know, in the past two weeks I also
saw the Rolling Stones a couple of weeks ago. Oh wow,
(02:52):
and uh over this past weekend I saw Janna Jackson
and Nelly, and then the next night Olivia Rodrigo. I
don't love to feel you're familiar with her. But she's new. Yeah,
very popular, though she's not quite to the level of
like Taylor Swift Okay, but she's very huge with I
(03:13):
guess teens and twenty something year olds. That's his I
was in Oklahoma City, I'm in Missouri. I'm in Springfield, Missouri, Okay,
and I will was the city this past weekend to
see her with my twenty two year old daughter. It
was sort of a graduation gift for I graduated from
college in May. Oh cool, I have to experience that
(03:34):
phenomena with a bunch of screaming ten to thirty year
old young ladies. It was probably the loudest concert I've
ever been to as far as the crowd. Yeah, I'm
more of a hard rock guy, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, I'm in radio right now. I'm a producer for
a news talk station at a Houston at this moment.
But I you know, my first job in radio was
at college. It was an inspirational station, played church music
and stuff like that. And then the next uh job
(04:11):
I had in rodeo was at a rock station, K
Bear went on one out of Idaho Falls, Idaho, So
I cut my teeth on hard rock as well, you know,
like uh, oh, of course Metallica Mastadon.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Oh there's a yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Band has like a southern rock feel out of Denmark.
I can't think of their name right now, so uh,
bul beats BULLBYT.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I don't know why they were big when about twenty twelve,
twenty eleven. I can't believe I forgot the name. So
I kind of got my heath cut in hard rock
as well. Let me use a Metallica say, oh cool
all the way back from like Master Puppets and stuff
like that. Oh yeah, I'm old, So I was.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I was back when I where they were only get
like five hundred people at the show my very first
Meatalicy concert. I'm gonna give away my age air. But
it was in nineteen eighty six, okay and Cap Geriro
and there was probably five hundred people there. Oh those
are great shows. Oh yeah, yeah, that was. It was incredible.
You know you're up close.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So yeah, I saw Three Days Grace in Idaho Falls
and there's probably about a thousand people in the audience.
Two thousand and uh. The drummer from the band before them.
It was the brother of the lead singer of Three
days Grace. He was in another band. They had a
song called orn Star Dancing, which got a lot of
(05:40):
airplay and actually had like a ten year old kid
requested for his mom, which is the oddest thing I
had happened at the radio station.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
It was weird.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
But that band, the drummer broke his foot and he
came out and put on a show. I mean he's
one foot.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
You know.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Some of those drummers they either have like the double
kettles or the double bass drum kicks, or they have
like the snare kick and stuff like that. And he
did his best. And I just think of what was it,
Axel Rose back in Montreal, I think nineteen ninety they
were on tour with Metallica and actually the Rose had
something weird happened and he wouldn't play, and like Montreal rioted,
(06:24):
and then James Hepfield has like pyrotechnics blow up in
his face and he does the show the next night.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
The next night, well I think that was yeah, yeah,
it was a show. Guns. The US was supposed to
come on after them, Yeah, and that's and they didn't
do their whole seturn that's when the riots started. Ah.
Actually Rose Creema Donna. I had friends there. There was
for Riot and Say Louis that year too, because he
(06:52):
went after someone in the crowd that was taking pictures
of them back before there were cell phones and that
that started. So there was a there's a couple of
them on that tour. But you know, I just saw them.
I saw them last summer and it was a great show.
I saw him in Kansas City. How does it do
with the new band? Uh, well, it's it has flash
(07:14):
and tough. Oh okay, three I guess you would call
main original members and then just felt the rest of
it's filled out with other people. But you know, they
sounded pretty good.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Because did he have bucket heead as a guitarist for
a while. Yeah, yeah, that was a while back for
a while. But he's he's back with slash. No good
good he needs slash, Yeah he does.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
So. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
You know that's where we do here on the show.
We go off in any direction sometimes some things that
interest us. One of the things is music for you quirky.
We'll get into the quirky broadside attractions in the next one.
But what is one of the signs, one of the
neon signs that kind of caught your at tension that
kind of go did you on into uh you know
(08:04):
taking pictures of signs?
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Well, you know, I think I've always been sort of
attracted to them, you know, going to my youth. I
don't know, it just sort of takes you back to
maybe a different era, yeah, live or not. And that's
for the cool things I like about it. But uh,
you know just here here in Springfield, Uh, there's a
there's a great one, the Rest Haven Motel or the
(08:29):
Rest Team. Yes, don't you be familiar with that one?
Oh yeah, that's that is a bucket with sign right
there and that that that motel is actually still open. Uh.
And I'm I'm not sure when the signed dates to,
probably for sure, sometime in the fifties, maybe the late filies.
So I drove, I drove by that a lot. And
(08:52):
that is actually on the the the old Route sixty six,
which well there, but you know there's an interstate about
a mile or two from him. Now. Yeah. So you know,
one of the things with my previous job, I worked
at that for over twenty years up until a couple
of years ago. And the great thing was with that
(09:15):
is it was perfect for me because I was able
to travel a lot. Yeah, yeah, I traveled every day,
and I pretty much covered most of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas,
and Oklahoma all since it's right in the heart of
you know, Rout sixty sixth country. It was all the
way down from Chicago and down through Missouri and Oklahoma
(09:38):
and on out west all the way to California. So
I basically, you know, lived just a few miles from
Route sixty six. So I was going by all these
great signs, and uh, yeah I didn't. I wasn't. I
never have really been big into photography. Sometimes on my
pictures people will ask, you know, what kind of camera
(09:58):
I use? And I don't think about it biography. I
couldn't tell you one camera from another. But you know,
I started taking pictures well, a great invention with cell phones.
Everyone thinks every fork. So that's sort of coincided with
starting on Instagram. And you know, first I didn't think
(10:18):
there was too many people. I didn't have a lot
of friends I thought were really interested in sharing pictures with.
But the great thing about us was I found that,
you know, a lot of people, quite quite a few
people are doing this and it's great to be able
to share it with other people and to see what
they they.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Find out on the road. Yeah, and that's a great
place to stop. For the end of our first segment,
we've talked about music getting into signs. When we come
back from our break, we have to do commercials, even
though it's a podcasts throw commercials in there. We'll get
back from the break, we'll talk about working roadside attractions,
some other signs.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Some of his travels and you never know.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Heck, we've talked about Bigfoot on the show before, but
this is International sign Finders. Welcome back to International sign Finders.
(11:19):
Glad you're still with us. I remember who I talked
to last week, road Speak. Road Speaks awesome. He's out
of the Dallas area. He's lived in Houston. He goes
all over the place, especially the Mother Road sixty six.
Go and find him and follow him as well. And
today we have Jimmy Paragoso. I'll have how to get
in contact with him, how to follow him in the
show notes on the Spreaker page for the show. So
(11:42):
head on over there, find the link, follow him and
see all the great stuff because it's not just signs.
He's got some amazing size up there. Don't get me
wrong from like I mean recently he's got in New Mexico,
on Oklahoma City of course, Missouri and stuch like that.
But he's also shared some photos, some good photos from
concerts he's been too, so go over there follow him.
(12:05):
And now quirky roadside attractions, they're either you know, people's
view them as ghost or really fun and I like
the funness of it. I think the one that I
remember first and I should have taken a picture of it,
was in Baker, California. It's about two in the morning,
(12:27):
and we saw the world's tallest thermometer there in the
Mahave Desert.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I've never been yet, but I've seen takes of that. Yep. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
And also all the alien like alien jerky and stuff
like that around that same exit.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
I'd been up for about at the end of the
when I finally got to sleep, i'd been up for
sixty eight hours and I slept for an hour and
a half and I probably drove ten hours. Ten of
the fifteen hours from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Los Angeles
to film a wedding.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
That was a long day.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yes, it sounds dangerous. I don't recommend driving in La
traffic on no sleep that.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
No, they'll do it. They'll do it kids.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
But porky roadside attractions, you know, six has a lot
of them.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I think.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Is it the uh the crazy big whale in Oklahoma
off of sixty six like wattoos, Yeah, Catusa, Yeah, just Tusa.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah, it's a few miles. It's basically start of a
suburb of Tulsa outside of it, Okay, and that's around
on Verde sixty six too. Yeah. Yeah, the the blue
Whale of Catusa. That's right. Yeah, So what do you
know the story behind that? Well, I uh, you know,
I just I drove by that quite a bed on
my way. Uh.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
You know, it is a little bit some people might
think it's a little bit. Uh but what's the word
you used. Reminiscently tacky is another definition for it, like that.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
A lot of it is tacky, but it's also fun. Yeah,
that's a fun place to stop and uh, you can't
take things too seriously, so oh that's crazy. It's a
great thing about those roadside attractions, and there are quite
quite a bit on a route sixty six. I think
it goes back to the days where anything they could
(14:23):
towns or people could do to stop, to get people
to stop and maybe spend a little money. Uh, that's
probably one reason that that was behind some of the stuff.
Oh heck yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
And you can't blame them because those little towns they
kind of thrived on, you know, the motels. Maybe the
diners scene. Uh, probably not the same diner scene as
in the Northeast. That to me, something about diners in
Northeast to go together in my mind. I know that's
not rue, but it's just me.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Uh, and I don't I think you're right about that.
You know, there's a lot of great old restaurants along
Yeah sixties, but not so much sex big diners. There
are some yeah so and the and I know this
is a Route sixty six, but the one that comes
to mind is the world's largest hole steam cow up
(15:14):
in North Dakota, in a little town called Salem, Okay.
First off, who goes to North Dakota willingly? Now I
get it back. I want to go to North Dakota
just to see it. But when you're a halo, it's
a been a while. So I have actually been in
North Dakota. It's been about five years before I really
started taking a lot of pictures. Yeah, but uh, you know,
(15:37):
every every small town, every big city has something interesting there,
whether yeah, water or you know, like an old hotel
sign or an old courthouse. No that that's the type
of thing that attracts me. So I mean, uh, there's
not a whole lot if you drive all the way
across the Dakota's or some parts of Chanzas or Nebraska.
(15:59):
But uh, you know, I think you can find that's
a great thing about you know, some of these small towns,
you can find something that's interesting there. You know, the
people that lip might sort of take it for granted
because they see it every day, but you know, whenever
it's slipped, whenever you're there for the first time or
two and come across it, I think it's always interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
It's kind of like all the marquees, the theater marquees
and all the small little towns like I think Syracuse,
Kansas has a really nice one. And I passed it
up because when you need to get down.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
The road, that one, I can't remember the h Is
it like the Chief or something like that. I'm not. Yeah,
sure I've been by that one. That that is a
really cool one.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, and you know like two eighty seven corridor, you know,
like who wants to stop in Claredon, uh, Texas?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
But they have really cool like mid century stuff, like
the old uh their town hall has a lot of
mid century quirkiness to it. They have old signs along
the roads. And it's it's those little things that kind
of grab your eye because I lived in a little
town growing up, two hundred people there in eastern North
Carolina now, and the only attraction wasn't necessarily a road
(17:14):
side attraction. It was a off the roadside attraction called
Somerset Plantation. It was probably one of the few plantations
where the owners of the plantation actually took great records
of the slaves that.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Worked for them.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
We're not condonate slavery in anyway. It's just it was
a quirky they Not many people did that, and so
that was kind of an attraction in and of itself.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah. Now, now what part of North Carolina is that?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
In eastern North Carolina? Have you heard of nag Set
or the Outer Banks?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Sure? Sure, yep. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
So if you if you google like Manio along Highway
sixty four, if you go east, hit Mag's head if
you go west, you'll hit little towns like Columbia and Creswell,
like Russell was a little town I grew up.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
In, Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
It's uh the downtown. Most of the buildings of the
downtown are no longer there. They're dilapidated. But also I
see that you take pictures of the vacuum form signs
as well. What is I love those signs is they're
they're kind of reminiscent of that old, that older age.
(18:28):
What is the attraction for you of the vacuum form signs?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Well, uh, yeah, I me know, I'm more attractive just
to a lot of older signs. Yeah, that's I'm not
an expert in how signs are made or anything, but
see either. But see it seems like those are are
unique and you don't see to me of those are
the any of those around anymore that are that are new?
(18:58):
But yeah, that's you know, the old I love because
it takes him back to a time before everything was
so corporate and franchised. Against franchise businesses. I patronize those
as much as anyone, But you know, every town was
a little bit different. It seems like everything that's being
(19:20):
built out, you know, every town sort of looks the same. Yeah,
every town there's a model. Every town that has two
thousand population has this these couple of fast past food
franchise businesses as the thirty thousand population as these every
big city as you know, the same type of businesses.
(19:43):
So yep, you know, these older order signs remind me
of a time when there was differences between places, when
there was something unique.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And you know, I've kind of gotten into that with
Reared Rabbit, Casey Sign Chaser and a few others, because
you kind of had to find a way to get
eyeballs on product. I guess you would. You would call
it in like social media, like eyes per million, or
eyes per thousand, or views per thousand. I think in
(20:14):
billboards it's like views per mile. I think that's what
they call it.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Back then.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
They kind of converted that into social media back when
I was trying to get into that back about twenty eleven.
But you had to find a way to get people's attention,
so they started building those big signs, whether it's a
big back and formed Golden Skillet or a franchise called
(20:43):
Golden Skillet in North Carolina, or like when you were
in Oklahoma City, all those old like the America Transmission sign,
that's such a unique.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Well to me, it feels well made.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Someone else probably would disagree, But you had to get
somebody to your business and do it in a way
that kind of said, hey, we're classy enough for you
to come spend your dollar here.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Sure sure, yeah, so, uh it looks like you were.
I was just just there over there over the weekend.
Oh heck ken, you know, I've been to Oklahoma City
quite this weekend. This past weekend was nice because I
was able to get a few that for some yeah.
I usually with work didn't have a whole lot of
extra time to sign up, So so this past weekend
(21:35):
I was able to get that a few others. I
made a deal with my daughter that we would do
that before I went to the concert, and we got
but she got to say the finer side of Oklahoma
City and some of those yeahs. But yeah, there's a
lot of and the.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
One interesting thing about Olklahoma City, you know, we'll leave
that for the next segment. We'll get into just kind
of the quirky uniqueness up Oklahoma City and some other
travels that James has been to. We're talking with Jimmy Parago.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
So go find him.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
I'll have the links in the show notes. Find him,
follow him and enjoy his stuff. You're listening to International
sign Finders. Welcome back to International sign Finders, segment three
(22:35):
of this week's show with Jimmy Parago. So go and
find him and follow him on Instagram, and we're going
to talk about I know the quirkiness of Oklahoma City.
I mean, every big city has its quirkiness. Denver you've
got the longest, wickedest, longest main street in America, Pullfax.
(22:57):
You have We're sixty sixty through Tucum Carry Springfield, I'm
sure has its own quirkiness. But Oklahoma City, you have,
like the main parts of Oklahoma City, then you have
the warehouse districts of Oklahoma City, and there's some pressures there.
What did you find in the warehouse areas of Oklahoma
(23:17):
City over this past weekend.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Well, I found some some nice signs around there. There
there's quite a few. Within a close instance for there,
there's one. There's one I really liked, the Clawson Motel. Yes,
I don't think. Yeah, I just posted that one today
and you know the side of itself, I don't think
he's actually old, but the I wish, you know, I
(23:43):
think that place they they remodeled the whole place, but
they gave it a really retro vibe. I haven't yet,
but the next time I'm going to Okay See, I
might actually try to stay there. Yeah. I love that.
And they redid that hotel where it feels old and
(24:05):
but it looks like it's totally remodeled, refurbished, and it
has this grab apple green. If I kick all it
that it's yeah, it's probably not everybody's first choice of color,
but it's very retro. It's very like old school kitchens
used to have that color. Oh yeah, yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
And there was a psychology behind it that if you
that if your kitchen was green, the wife would want
to stay there. But they also painted, uh, what is
it a mental hospitals in that same green color. Yes, right,
so the psychology, Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
How that translates.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
But one one thing I also found was you kind
of have to keep your head on a swivel in
Oklahoma City because there are signs that pop up, like
for me, it was the are Can transmission sign, and
then just down the street was the JB Battle Uniforms
sign for police uniforms. I know it's not a neon sign,
(25:10):
but it's still a midcentery sign, and I was not
expecting that.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, that area right through there, I think, what's I called? Like?
It's pretty close and goes Capitol Hill keble Heritt still area, yep. Yeah,
you got the Yale Theater there, and uh, what's the
other though, I guess it's the Oklahoma Theater right down
the street the old Oklahoma Opry.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Uh yeah, the Oklaho Opry. Yeah, that's pretty air yep.
And also, uh, Oklahoma City Community College. Uh, don't get
it confused with Oklahoma City University, which is completely different.
That confuses me so much. They have a campus there.
They try to keep that mid centry vibe as well,
which I appreciate. Yeah, and did you get a chance to, oh, go.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Ahead, there's a besides Oklahoma City, there's a Uh. I
really like the stretch once you get past Oklahoma City
and start heading west on the old Root sixty six,
which is what Interstate forty actually. Yeah, you know. The
great thing about the Route sixty six is obviously the
(26:19):
interstate is built, has been built many years ago. You know,
just a couple of miles from most of Route sixty six.
Most of the stretches, you know, remain you can still
drive on them. But obviously the reason that so many
hotels and restaurants have the old science is because the
highway is sort of passed them by. Now. Yeah, you know,
(26:42):
they're still thriving businesses. But there's a lot of great
signs on I don't know, excuse me, I don't know
if you've had a chance to go farther west in
some of those small towns like Bethany and what all's
out there flinton A Reno. Yeah, you know, yeah, what's
the town on out there? It's the Cotton Cotton I
(27:06):
know it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Look yeah, the Bull the Bowl wee will, I'll look
it up real fast, the Cotton Cotton Bowl Hotel.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's. Uh, that's one of the coolest
signs I think out there. And that uh.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
The New Oklahoma. I'm sure mispronouncing that with the way
Oklahoma pronounces stuff.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yep. Oh, yeah, that there's a lot of quirky things,
uh out there in western Oklahoma and western Kansas that's
on out out in that direction.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Yeah, and uh, I've been through the Panhandle, but at
not late at night, so I couldn't see anything on
the Panhandle. It was just small little towns. What after
the other? Uh we we've had a.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
I love the sparseness of the of the Panhand. Yeah. Yeah,
you know, there's there's a lot of distance between towns
out there, but uh, you would ever get into Amarillo
and what's the most of the town's out there have
something interesting ever?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, exactly, you are a cool courthouse or oh yeah,
and for like a little town like Stafford, Texas, right
on the tippity top of Texas, they have the high
school's mascot or the elk, and they have a big
stuffed elk in the old city hall or old uh
old Ford dealership or some sort of motor motor car dealership.
(28:35):
And right in front is this big old elk for
the town. Huh so yeah, and one of the motels
that I want to get. And I just haven't been
to like El Reno. And I've been to Bethany because
that's where my mom was at in in the nursing home.
Uh oh but uh yeah, yeah, that's I wish I couldn't.
(28:58):
That's that's pretty much Oklomas the area right there.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah too.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Yeah, And I wish I could have gone out to
al Reno because you have the Ranger Motel, which is
on my bucket list.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Yes, play out to get I've been by that, Yep, yep.
That's a good place. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
And Springfield Casey sign Chaser was planning on coming down
to Springfield sometime soon. It's kind of on his local
road day trip. Itinerary and all the little towns in between.
What is it about Springfield that that would bring people there?
Besides the rest Haven Motel? Is there a really cool
(29:37):
downtown as well? Like a lot of these smaller towns
in Texas have like mid extreme mid century buildings in downtown.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
The architecture, I mean, there's some decent architecture in Springfield. Yeah,
we're I don't know, I guess it told maybe a
medium sized SETI ethic congulation. That's almost two hundred thousand
out of the metro. Oh wow, because between three and
four hundred thousand, a little bit over three hundred thousand,
I think. Yeah, But you know it's the the home
(30:09):
of bass pro mm hm and you know that they're
like I said, Route sixty six came through here. Uh,
actually the root sixty six. Uh, I guess the original
meetings going all the way back to the nineteen twenties
and then yeah, so it was sort of where things
started with the whole highway and it ventured out east
(30:30):
and west from there. Oh but uh but yeah, yeah,
there's some there's some pretty cool old buildings downtown. And
there's a few other really good signs. There's one Danny's
truck stop or truck repair. Okay, and that one I
think probably goes back to the sixties, possibly the fifties.
(30:53):
That's another really good one here. Oh cool, touch with me.
I'll show them around.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Oh yeah, I'll, I'll uh, I'll pass along your information
to him via it or you know, Instagram. That's the
word I'm looking for. Hey, we we have we have
the world's biggest sport team. That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, it's those quirky little.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Things that they're like, it's so it's so ghost, but
it's so awesome too. And yeah, it's it's a weird
word to just let you know that it's something that
when you're a kid was awesome but later on in
life probably may not.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Be viewed as such.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yeah, so eh that it is what it is, and
then it'll bring us to the end of our third segment.
When we come back, we'll get into James's bucket list
and maybe shoot the breeze about some other stuff you're
listening to International sign Finders. Welcome back to International sign Finders.
(32:07):
We have Jimmy Parigoso with us. Go follow him like
his stuff. You can find out how you can follow
him on the show notes over at spreaker or wherever
you find your favorite podcast site and find your favorite
podcast that was redundant and I apologize.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
So we've been talking about, you know.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
The quirkiness of like Oklahoma City, why you should go
to Springfield, Missouri out of the next it's a nexus
point of ROLSE sixty six. It's not the middle that's
where in Adrian, Texas, but you know, Springfield's count of
the nexus point as well. And we've been talking about
all sorts of other stuff. We haven't gotten into arena
(32:50):
football yet we might. Uh So, after getting into all
the other crazy quirky stuff that we've talked about, what
where or what are some of your bucketless items of
places that you'd like to go take pictures of or
either signs roadside attractions workiness. Well, well, right now, this
(33:12):
this is a tie into sports, Okay, I really one
of one of my goals is to try to visit
every major League baseball stadium.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Yeah, and I'm I'm also trying to us as many
college football stadiums as I can. Oh cool. I don't
know if this is going to happen. My time is
running out, but I really want to get to Oakland.
I know the stadium. The reason they're moving, uh after
this year. I think the ultimate goal is to move
(33:42):
to Las Vegas, and maybe they're you're a couple of
years of transition, maybe in Sacramento, But anyway, I would
like to get out there while I still have a chance.
I've never been to that stadium. I've never actually been
to Oakland. I know that might have sound like the
most exciting place to go in California, but I think
(34:03):
there's also a lot of old signage there. So yeah,
Thus my dream couple of days to to get there
and check that out and maybe spend some time in
the San Francisco Bay area.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Now one person like, oh go ahead.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
My times a running out, So I don't know if
that's that's gonna happen there might have to happen sometime
in the future without going to the ball game.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Yeah, sorry I interrupted you, But I'll tell you one
person to get in contact with about Oakland and that area.
I think Alameda, that that whole area is the real
devil doll.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
She does tours in.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Alameda of the of all the cool little Neon signs
of that island.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Uh, and she kind of she either coincides it with
the Neon speaked uh conference in San Francisco, or it's
kind of like a week before or something like that.
But yeah, she takes people on tours all through that
the main the downtown area of Alameda. So yeah, get
(35:11):
in contact with her and she might be able to
help direct you into the ways of Oakland because a
lot of their downtown signs have kind of gone.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Away from what she says. Yeah was it say, Yeah,
I'll definitely have to do that cool.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Are there any other places Oakland? Yeah, that'd be interesting
stadium to get to. Are there any other like quirky
little stadiums like the Charlotte Baseball I don't know what
it's called, but they're Charlotte, North Carolina. Their alley ways
are really really shallow, but center field is like four
(35:49):
hundred and fifty feet and they're known for having the
most home runs in minor league baseball. Yeah, as long
as Jean head of to center, that's right. Yeah, it's
like it was a I'm sorry, Yeah, go ahead. I
enjoyed going to any major league ballpark or a I'm
trying to also go to many minor league ballparksh. You know,
(36:12):
I just like checking out the atmosphere of different places. Yeah,
you know, a lot of a lot of places are
started cookie cutter now, but that there's uh, there's a
lot of unique major league and minor league parks, but yeah,
I prefer the older ones. Yeah, I wish the Polar
Brands was still around in New York City. Uh, the
(36:35):
history of that place is crazy, Like I think that
used to be the old New York Giants both football
and baseball. Yeah, home and the like the old NFC
championships that were played in the Rock Pard Earth in
in in December. I'm sure the uh, the stories that
(36:58):
could be told from those just would be out of
this world.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Well, yeah, they they used to play in the elements
like we don't see alley in the mud and rain
and snow. Oh yeah, and like, uh, what is it.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Minneapolis used to have an outdoor stadium and that's one
of the coldest places in America. Yep, yep, and they
used to play out there like God intended to you know,
you break your leg, not because somebody hits you. This
is so cold, you just fell on the ground.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Wrong. Well, I used to have Green Bay, you know,
and you know I'm I'm a Kansas City Chiefs fan.
In the playoffs, after the first round playoff game last year,
I think, oh my god, at zero degrees and the
Dolphins had to come up and play with it, slay
from from Miami, and that is a home field advantage
right there when they get cold. Yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
So yeah, I saw highlights of the game and those
for Miami guys playing out the zero degree weather. Maybe
they had a guy from North Dakota State playing for him,
but I'm sure he's only one that was used.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
To that weather. Yep. H So uh we can talk
as far as as as far as other places. You know,
I'm happy. Uh, you know, my wife and family they
love to go to the beach. M but but and
I you know, I enjoy doing that too, But a
perfect day for me is just going somewhere like, uh,
(38:31):
like a rust belt type city like oh yeah, I
don't like Fort for Wayne or Delute some places I've
been to, but it's been so long I haven't like
taking pictures of the that type of thing. But a
perfect day for me would just be being able to
during the day at a time like that and going
to going to explore and then maybe catching a ball
(38:52):
game in the evening or a concerts and uh yeah,
I pretty much enjoy going to any city or town
along the way that I haven't been to before. Yeah,
And I was going through your pictures just before we
we went on, just to do a little bit, you know, research,
(39:12):
and I saw that you went to like House or Chaos,
New Mexico, and Las Vegas, New Mexico. Some of those
little towns that you're like those exist way the sign
finding community. They're kind of little hidden gems within the
late of enchantment. Yeah. Yeah, Twas is a great area.
(39:35):
You know that the town on the way out there
is well. Of course you mentioned Chikamkari. A lot of
people that are adult somethings are familiar with that one.
But the next town, about an hour west of there
is another small town, Santa Rosa. Mm hmm, there's have
you been? Have you been there?
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Been through it? And I kick myself every time we
go through it.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Well, the great thing about that town is you can
drive through it in about an hour and there's probably
about six or seven or eight great signs there. Oh yeah,
within about three miles of each other, like the sun
and sand. Yeah, modell or right his restaurant. Yeah, yeah,
it's a restaurant. Yeah, yea, yeah, it was there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
I was going through your feet. I saw all those
Santa Rosa ones. I'm like, Dave Gummy, you got there.
I need to get there so big, you know. You know, uh,
I haven't been.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
You know, you cut up a little bit north to
get to Fade. I did. On my last trip. I
didn't even go to ala Querque, which is just about
three hours of Santa Fe. Just didn't have time to.
But uh, you know, my big bucket list item is
to have a few days and get farther west on
Route sixty six. I've never I've never been out there
(41:02):
as far as taking pictures anywhere west of Santa Rosa. Yeah.
So I'd like to have the opportunity to do that
whole stretch all the way out to Santa Monica, I
think is where the six.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Yeah, those I wish we could have taken some time.
In Grants, New Mexico. We're kind of on a time
crunch getting up to Park City, and Grant has a
law and of old signs because it's right there on
the edge of the Navajo Nation. There's a lot of
little tourists signs if I remember right. And you also
(41:39):
have like one of the first seven eleven signs real
right there in Grants. Yeah, it's seven to eleven. I
think that's the what it used to be. Yeah, so, yeah,
that's I've.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
Seen quite a few pictures from Grants and Gallup, which
I believe is on Route sixty six two.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Yeah, I think that's where I'm thinking of his gallop
at Grants.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
Sorry, I know I've seen some other ones from Grants too. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
I always get stuff mixed up. And also Farmington if
you ever get up into uh northwester there's some really
nice ones up in Farmington. I just need to take
more time. I got the Muffler Shop, which is a
really cool sign lit up at night, everybody in the
in the car was asleep, so I took that as
an excuse that I could go get the sign.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Yeah, but Dell, yeah, not again. That's it's funny. It's
funny you mentioned that. Uh, you know whatever I I
first started doing this and uh, yeah, there's a nice
tag which I've learned to accept and uh and be
proud of. And that's the sign geeks. Yeah. Uh, but
(42:48):
you know when I first started doing this, uh, with
my with my job, I just buy myself a lot.
So so if I found time after work or before work,
you know, that was just on my time. But whenever
I go in trip with my wife and family, at first,
they were not crazy about me want to make every
little stop between here and Florida if we took a trip.
(43:11):
But you know, I'm very thankful because they've become more
patient with me, and they've they've actually sort of become
interested in that's so. So they usually if we're going
through a city, they'll they'll give me, you know, a
chance to take two or three signs, as long as
I will go go too crazy and spend too much
time doing it. Yeah, but I'm thankful they learned to
(43:31):
accept it a little bit. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
I went through Chickashe, Oklahoma, and on the way to
my aunt's place was the Washita Theater in downtown Chickashee,
which is amazing. There's some other signs. I wish they
could have taken some time in Chickashe. It got some
of those signs, but we were yeah, I'll go ahead now, yeah,
(43:57):
there's there's there's some other good ones there too. Yeah,
I know the one you're talking up. Yeah, just absolutely dorgeous.
And we're going south of town on I think Nineteenth Street,
I want to say nineteenth Street. And this is a
place called Muscle Car Ranch and they have the old
I think Maverick Motel sign, well really in front. And
I was going to stop and take a picture of
(44:17):
my wife's like, no, we're on a time crude. I'm like,
all right, right, I love you, hey, Yeah, my love
for you stronger than taking a picture that signed. Plus
I'm afraid of her. But that's the story for another day.
So before we close the show, it goes by super fast.
Are there any places any one that you'd like to
shout out to give it thinks or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Well, you know, one of the great things online these days.
Is it's pretty easy to do a love my research
and save you something. And you know, the signs that
really excited me are stuff you are the one you
just stumble onto. Yeah, but it is it's easier to you, uh,
if you have a little bit of a plan, if
(45:02):
you're you know, you only have a few hours in
an area. So you know, I appreciate all the other
great people that I've run across on Instagram, and I
think you've actually you've talked to a few of them.
I looked at some of the people you've talked to
you before on here, and I think I recognize almost
all of the names. And there's a there's an one
(45:23):
out there. I have to give a lot of credit.
I've never actually been in touch with it with the person.
But Roadside Architecture, yes, I owe them a lot because
I you know, I do check out their site and
get a lot of ideas, so like I answer the
efforts that they make. And she has written the book
(45:46):
on the topic. I have it. I have a copy
of it in the other room. She really is.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
Yeah, and check that out. But I'll send you the
name of the book. You can't think of it off
the top of my head. She's going to kill me
for not remembering it. Because you've listened to the show.
And Deborah Jane, if you're listening, thank you so much
for all you do. I always say thank you for everything.
Well I'll second that I didn't actually know her name,
but thank you, thank you. Yeah, Devora's awesome. So yeah,
(46:13):
so that'll bring us to the end. Hemmy Paragoso James,
thank you once again. I'm glad we were able to
finally make this happen, and hopefully next time we'll cross
paths in Oklahoma City on happier terms. How about that,
because all right, I've had some crazy stuff happened. But yeah, yeah,
well I take I hope things go good for you,
(46:36):
and yeah, I really appreciate talking to you.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
It's it's been great to to get together with you here. Cool.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
So as I finish off the show every week, get
out there, hit the pavement, go get pictures of signs,
sharing with us. We don't care if you have one
follower or one hundred and fifty thousand followers, one hundred
and fifty one thousand, we might have to cut you off. No,
I'm kidding, but yeah, we don't care how big how
small you are. Get out there, take pictures, share them
(47:03):
with us, and we enjoy seeing the pictures, whether we've
taken pictures of what you've taken pictures of, or you
find something that we don't know about. Take it, share it,
and we'll be sure to like it. You're listening to
International Signfinders
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