NW side missing links, COSI stragler, DDs, and movie time!

With everything that has been going on since the start of this year, this has admittedly been a disappointing year for this blog and photo taking in general. A lot has happened personally for me and my family this calendat year so neon signs have been on the backburner. So this month of July has been surprsingly productive since summer in general is a "slow" time for me with the later sunset times and longer days. Happy to see I have been into it quite a bit this month despite what has been going on as of late.

So I have a few mini tours and shoots to share. The first set included in this post is a set of "missing links", either new, forgotten, or overlooked. I covered the Dublin Road and Arlington/Grandview areas in general a few times over the last couple years. But I decided to take the long way/scenic route from a ball game downtown up to Linworth this week. I caught some surprises of neon along the usually subdued Dublin Road.

I also included a couple pics snapped when I took my future stepdaughter to COSI a couple Saturdays ago. The building was a former high school of course and has a lot of nooks and cranies as many older buildings do. Good find in one of those nooks! Also, I took my daughter to see the movie Marmaduke at the "dollar theater" and of course, theaters that were built in the 70s and 80s and became second run theaters in the last 10-20 years are fill of neon! Good find there! And then my brother and a friend decided to go to Hooters to check out the...wings and beer, and a cool neon sign in their newest Columbus area location in Hilliard. And I got a free beer there! Free beer is always noteworthy.

The first set, the NW side pics were taken the evening of Sun. 7/25. The COSI pics were taken on Sat. 7/17. The theater and the Hooters pics were taken on Wed. 7/28.






The Rocco's sign is my fav! I love cursive neon. The neon McDonald's is relatively rare since most modern McD's locations do not feature neon displays. Nice. The men's barbershop is for MEN (and boys). Ladies, don't even try it!



This is a wall disaplay at COSI covering the history of Cracker Jack, which goes back over 100 years. Neon signs celebrate their 100th birthday in the next couple years!



Movie time! Ana and I watched Marmaduke at the "dollar theater" which actually set us back $1.50 per ticket. In the movie there is a scene taking place in a junk yard which also includes supposedly 'junked' neon signs. The travesty of a neon sign relegated to a junk yard. Though of course, neon grave yards would be a cool place to visit, especially if I had funds to restore them.




This cool Corona sign hangs on the wall of the Hooters on Rome Hilliard Road, their newest location (been there about 2-3 years or so). The Bengals beer sign is cool, though the neon functions as a backlight.

A couple Dublin Road missing links

Just a couple pics I had missed or have been new additions since my last visit to the area. Well, the Fur Vault has been there for years but either way, they caught my eye while stopping off 670 to get gas on the way home from work. Both pics taken the night of Sat. 7/3.

COSI

COSI, the Center of Science and Industry, is Columbus's science museum. The original location was on E. Broad Street across from the first Wendy's and near the old Borden headquarters and was there for over 30 years. In 1999 the museum moved to it's current location on W. Broad Street across from the Veterans Memorial Hall, right on the west bank of the Scioto River, in the former Central High School. Not the greatest science museum in the world I am sure, but definitely good for a few hours of fun for the kids. Also located within the museum are the studios for WOSU 820 AM, one of the local public radio stations. I took my daughter here for her first time this month and she loved it! My fiance got us season passes and I am sure they will be well used for the next 11 months. Many of the exhibits and installations have some form of neon I was happy to find. I may have missed some, but I believe I captured most if not all of the neon in the museum. All pics were taken the afternoon of Tues, 6/15.










The first couple pics and the last (all the neon punctuation is ubercool to me!)are in the "Gadgets" wing, which focuses on industrial technology. The "drugs", "Bailwicks" and "diner" signs are in the "Progress" wing, near Gadgets, which is a walk through replica of a small town center in two sections. One enters into the "town" as it would appear in 1898 with storefronts, street furniture and the like. Very cool. At the end of the street you turn into a small hallway and then we are in the supposedly same "town", only now we fast forward to the year 1962 with period replica shops and street scenery. Very cool and cool hands on stuff for kids to do (my daughter loves working the counter at the 50s-60s era diner!). And of course, 1962 was in the middle of the golden age for neon signage! Beautiful signs, even if not original. Progress is probably our favorite section. What would be cool is to expand this to include a small section of "today" and one for maybe some period in the future. Just my idea anyway.

The WOSU studios are located underneath this neon sign. And the neon backlit map is in the weather section.

Welcome to 2010 finally! A few short tours and new missing links!

While the end of last year and the first few months of this year have been slow as far as updating this blog and new pics, I have had time for a few small tours. A description follows the photos.





























Counting from the top downward: Photos 1-5 are the neon signs of Holiday Lanes and Bob Hart Pro Shop. My own bowling ball and shoes were purchased here. He also has various sports and associated collectibles, including neon signs. I would love to get my hands on some of them! The Mickey Mouse had a price tag of $535 last time I was there last month, for the last night of my winter league. Pictures taken in April, 2010.

Photo 6 was taken at Macaroni Grill above the bar area. The only neon in the place as far as I could tell, though there may be an outdoor sign. We went for lunch on a bright spring afternoon (4/.

Photos 7-9 are on the north end of Columbus. Some SR 161 and Cleveland Avenue "missing links". The auto repair shop is on E. Dublin GRanville Rd. and the law office is a house used as an office on Cleveland north of 161.

Photos 10-16 are some photos in or around Olentangy Center, at Bethel Rd. and Olentangy River Road. The Arabic language pic is near the Bethel Center, next to "our" (Red Sox fan group) Buffalo Wild Wings. It is a middle eastern/Halal meat shop.

Photo 17 is the Church Next Door, on Feder Road. Not a lot of neon, but a pretty sign. I currently live very close to this church. Sigh..I miss German Village!

Photos 18-20: More businesses along Cleveland Avenue up on the far north side, between 161 and I-270.

Photo 21: We're Rolling inside the WalMart on Rome Hilliard Road. Not the greatest pic. Didn't know it was so off centered until I uploaded it.

Photo 22: Jitters Café, inside Grant Hospital. This hospital was my "home" in late February and early March 2009, and had a medical emergency (that is putting it lightly, let's just say). I have been in and out of there not only as a patient once, but for speaking engagements related to my condition. I am a sorta celebrity around the ED and CICU there.

Photo 23: Galaxy Golf and Games, off Wilson Road near I-70. My daughter loves this place, which is a lot like Magic Mountain. I think Ana will do her first mini golf here this upcoming summer! This was actually taken on 12/30/09, so this was my last neon photo of 2009!

Photos 24-26: More Morse Road/Patio Shops "missing links". These are relatively new, as this carry out and restaurant have opened within the last year.

Photo 27: Holiday Lanes again. This hangs from the bar inside the bowling center. Not for sale as far as I know.

Photo 28: A new arrival on Morse Road. A furniture store across from Morse Center, at Lemarie place. I have previous photos from this location, but this sizable installation was added just in the last few months.