 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Holy shit, this was amazing. A marker showing how high the flood waters would've been if Ste. Genevieve hadn't been able to "hold back the waters." Incredible, it blew our minds. | More masterful lettering, this time at the Mill Antique Mart (which was closed that day). Many treasures could be seen through the door, it's a damn shame. We would've left some coin behind in that place... | Interested? Ultra Modern Country Home on 3 acres. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| For Sale, beautifully-weathered sign with the old brushstrokes barely there. | This was some kind of a weird 1980s scooter at the Mart. It had Indian Motorcycle stickers on it, but I don't believe that's what it was, as I've never heard of one. | Recycled Relics, the lovely little jewelry and art store in Ste. Genevieve. The woman who owned it had moved there from San Francisco (originally from MI), she was a sweetheart and it was a really nice space. She really enjoyed the town and the people. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| The Fire Department in Ste. Genevieve had a subtle but striking color palette. | Dew Drop Inn, a name that works in so many ways. Missoura. | They have hills down there, which is something I'm not used to in Chicago. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Hey, more hills! | North 61 was a route we flirted with all the way from downtown New Orleans until downtown St. Lunatics. They call it the Great River Road. | Ogre (or something) Magic Carpet building with nice roofline, Festus(?) |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Twin City signboard, Festus, where the Bottle Rockets are from. A pilgrimage of sorts for Draplin. I liked the weird "lips" look of this sign in a public place. | They call Festus and some other town nearby "Twin Cities" (heard that one before). We couldn't tell which was which, because they ran together with little demarcation. | Show Me Lanes, named for Missoura, the Show Me state. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Big bridge over the Miss, I 255 loop south of St. Louis | Skyview Drive In, Belleville, Illinois. Amazing to still see these monoliths here and there, it makes you feel a little better about the world. | Salvage & Bridges Insurance, Belleville, Il. I'm a big fan of this particular serif typeface in signs, especially with that lined plastic sign backing. Something charming and wicked about it, especially with proper letterspacing. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Old McDonald's sign, Belleville, Il. Shitty new restaurant in back; not sure if this is an original or if it's been transplanted. I hate McDonald's, but either way it's an interesting sight on the old roadway. | Hoeffken Cleaners, Belleville's Best. Excellent and cheerful sign formation. | Brite Way Cleaners, which judging by the last sign, we can only surmise is NOT Belleville's Best. Even so, it has a nice big sign. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| West Main Bargain Store, Belleville, with striking orange 3D type. We came to Belleville because it's where Uncle Tupelo started, giving the world two great musicians: Jay Farrar (Son Volt, etc) and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco). | Harter's Hobby House, downtown Belleville. | We stopped at a barber shop in Belleville because we both needed haircuts and we thought we might hear some stories about the famous local boys, but no such luck. Here's Aaron in the chair, looking a little startled. The barber was a classic champ. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Like Ryno, he'd "decorated" with stickers, mostly from years worth of eating bananas. He also swore liberally like Ryan and met Draplin with an insult, "Are you real partic'lr about the way your hair looks? I just ask because when it gets that long..." | Snuck a couple clandestine shots. The guy was in the Marines and had travel posters all over the opposite wall. He'd been cutting years for 60 years but had never heard of Jeffy Tweedy or Jay Farrar. "I'll be damned," he said when told of their fame. | Panorama Lanes, maybe still in Belleville? |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Terrace Motel, between Belleville and Millstadt. Great sign with shitty redone vinyl type on lower portion. | We went down to Millstadt, Il. (a fine small town) in hopes of catching Farrar walking into the studio to record the new Son Volt record. As we found out later, he recorded earlier albums there, but not the new one...too far of a commute from St. Louis. | US Post Office signage, Millstadt. Very handsome and classic Futura-y lettering, standard issue stuff from the era. Not sure about the 62260 bit though, that seems custom... |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Now we're headed into East St. Louis, which is like a cross between Gary, Indiana and Detroit, MI. Lots of ruins, decay, vacant lots, and poverty. | Rusty old automotive place, East St. Louis. | Burned-out housing and some kind of a store or laundromat, East St. Louis. The rightmost apartments were occupied, the rest looked abandoned. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Decaying signage, East St. Louis. | The front of some of the buildings from 2 shots ago, East St. Louis. | Happy China Chop Suey, MASTERFUL signage. East St. Louis. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Headed down one of the main drags, East St. Louis. Kind of like Broadway St. in Gary or the more run-down stretches of Broad St. in Richmond, VA. | Seidel's, East St. Louis. | Headed over the bridge to (west) St. Louis, arch to left. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| The goddamn obligatory arch shot. It's really big, and I think you can go up to the top of it somehow. | Some weird swamplands outside of St. Louis, headed back towards Chicago. Nice green scummy water. I used to have nightmares about that shit when I was a kid, dreaming we'd go off the road and die a horrific death in something like that. | I drove for about 6 hours of this (but it was dark for most of it), a painfully boring drive through "downstate" Illinois up Interstate 55. |