Waymarking, eh?

We're heading up to Vancouver, British Columbia this weekend for some long overdue Canadian waymarking. It will be our first waymarking trip out of country and although I'd prefer to be heading to Jamaica rather than the icy land to our north, it should be fun. We'll only be there two days, so who knows how much time we'll actually get to do the tourist thing after the hours sitting at the border crossing. I'm hoping for waymarks in at least 10 new categories and I plan on waymarking some spectacular neon signs. One I've had my eye on ever since I saw it featured in a coffee table book on vintage neon. Next week I'll post about some of the new waymarks we've found so watch for it, eh?!

A Reason to Waymark McDonald's

I have long been opposed to the waymarking of fast food locales. I mean, the food is terrible, the atmosphere is non-existent... Why?! But on Saturday while on a long waymarking trek up old highway 99 with a full bladder I finally found a reason to waymark them - so you can find a place to pee! They are much easier to find in urban and suburban areas than say, a rest stop, and for the most part they are clean enough that you don't have to worry (much) about touching anything. So, although I still don't plan on waymarking any myself, I am no longer bitter about the category's existence. (PS: If you are offended by my sarcasm, feel free to rip on my obsession with old buildings or neon. I can take it.)

This neon plunger that I waymarked on Saturday has nothing to do with waymarking McDonald's, but it just seemed to be a good match for the post.

Kickin' back at the Waymarking Cafe

I spent the evening kicking back in my favorite coffee house while my son had his monthly group bassoon lesson. My typical M.O. is to wander around Tacoma a bit after I drop him off at his lesson and grab a few waymarks, and then I make my way over to the One Heart Cafe where they have free wifi (and terrific coffee and atmosphere.) There I kick back, edit the photos that I took on the way over and then post a couple waymarks before I head back to pick him up. Two hours of heaven.

Unfortunately it's getting so dark that by the time I drop my son off at 4:30 I don't have enough light to get any photos, other than of neon signs. That would be fine but I've already waymarked all of the good neon signs in the city of Tacoma, so I guess I'll just have to work on my cross-posting backlog when I'm back for the December bassoon lesson. Sometime in the Spring I can start working on waymarking some of the Victorian Houses in the historic district near the coffee house. That will keep me busy for awhile. There are 950 contributing buildings in the district. :)

The photo above is of half of the back lounge area of the One Heart Cafe, my favorite coffee house. Tonight a jazz pianist came in to practice on their piano so I had live music to waymark to.

Happy waymarking!

Flickr Waymarking Group Photo Contest Winner

There's a group of waymarkers who love taking photos while out waymarking and so the waymarker Ambrosia created a group over on Flickr.com where they can show off their favorite waymark photos. We are always welcoming new members so if you are interested be sure to check out the group's page on Flickr.

The group hosts a monthly photo contest and the photo shown above is the winner for the October contest whose theme was "lines." Mr. 0 took this great picture at the Claibourne Cemetery Mauseleum. Use this link to see all of the photos that were entered in the October contest (and there were a bunch of great ones.) We tried out a new way of voting for this contest and it worked so well that next month we are going to open up the voting to any waymarkers, whether they are a Flickr group member or not. This way more people will have a chance to see the creative, beautiful photos that the group is uploading and maybe join in on the fun themselves.

Currently the November contest is underway and this one has an interesting twist. The theme is the letter "W" (for Waymarking) and the winner's photo will be used as the logo for the Flickr photography group on Waymarking.com. The "W" can either be an actual letter, say from a waymarked sign, or it can be a "found" letter that exists in the visual linework of the photo. The contest will run through the end of the month and then voting will take place between December 1st and 15th. If you're interested in joining in on the fun head over to the Flickr group and read the group thread about the November contest. If not, then we hope you'll join us for the voting process when that begins. You can find the current photos that have been entered in the November contest here. We also have a page for past contests that you might be interested in. Currently there are just the September and October contests shown there, as we just started up the contest this Fall (or Spring, depending on which hemisphere you're reading this in,) but it will continue to grow.

I'll try to keep everyone posted on the current contest and when voting cycles start and end. Happy waymarking!

Un-waymarkable Waymarks

I've always been somewhat vocal about my opinion that not everything needs to be waymarked. The point of Waymarking is to mark unique, interesting places - places that aren't on every street corner. I hadn't ever come upon a place that I thought was really incredible and not had a category to waymark it in. It just doesn't happen that often. I mean, there are over 600 categories. A place is bound to fit somewhere. Typically categories like "Official Local Tourist Attractions" or "Roadside Attractions" can accommodate some of the truly unique spots that don't fall within any of the other categories.

Well this week I came upon not one, but two places in Seattle that are incredibly cool that I can't find a category to waymark them in. One is an old Seattle standby that we've been visiting for years, the other a cool new specialty shop. I figure that I'll tell you about them here and maybe someone else will think of a category for them (but no "Best Kept Secrets" category - I want to waymark them in a way that I can truly describe the spot.)

First is a new one that I had never heard of until researching their neon sign. The place is called "Real Soda." It's based in California, but has an office in the Fremont District of Seattle. This is a place specializing in soda pop. Not the Coca-Cola and 7-up type soda that you find on your grocer's shelves in aluminum cans, but sodas like pure cane sugar Coca-Cola in bottles, imported from Mexico, Bavarian Nutmeg Imported Virgil's Special Edition Root Beer with ceramic top, Mystic Seaport Creamy Birch Beer, Tianfu China Cola.... The list could go on forever. These guys stock over 700 varieties of soda imported from around the world, all in glass bottles. They call their Website the "bubbly backdoor that transcends the aluminum curtain beyond which you will find a paradise of effervescence excellence." They even have a great neon sign guys!! Where, oh where can this wonderland of soda and nostalgia be waymarked, I ask you?!

The second spot I couldn't find a category for is Archie McPhee's, "Outfitters of Popular Culture", a retail location that truly can't be classified. Located in the Ballard district of Seattle, Archie's has long been a must stop location each year in the search for Team Hikenutty Christmas stocking stuffers. Here's a short list of a few items that you will find for sale at Archie's that you just can't do without: an electronic yodelling pickle, a boxing nun puppet, a librarian action figure complete with shushing action, bacon shaped bandages, corn dog air fresheners, a bobblehead Jesus, gummy haggis, world's largest underpants, glow-in-the-dark Flesh Eating Zombie play sets... These are just a few things I found in their catalog, which is nothing compared to the actual store. This weekend we'll be heading for Archie's to pick up composer action figures for Hikenutty Jr.'s music teachers and some Shakespearean insult gum for a friend of mine. I'll take some photos but if you can't wait for those to be posted take a look at the store photos that they've uploaded to Flickr.com. You can also take their helpful "Are You a Nerd" test to find out your nerd level (BTW, I scored 209. Does that mean I'm cool, or that I need to work harder at it?)

So if you have any ideas of where to waymark these spots, or have a spot that you would like to share but don't have a spot to do it on Waymarking.com, then be sure to comment on this post and enlighten us.

P.S. I shamelessly ripped the above photo from Real Soda's Website, but since I have drooled all over my blog about them, I don't think that they'll mind.

Beer me

I have sunk to what some folks would call a new low. I have just waymarked my first beer sign in the "Neon Sign" category. Never did I think that I would head down this sad and lonely road, out wandering strip malls, hanging out in front of taverns... It's addiction plain and simple. ;) Two months ago I would have chuckled at the thought of waymarking a beer sign but all that neon gas is going to my brain now. Just like a campfire, the warm glow of the glass tubes are mesmerizing.

I'm sure you waymarkers out there have that special category, that rules your life with an iron fist (you benchmarkers and Texas Historic Marker nuts know who you are.) If you don't, just wait, because you will if you stick around Waymarking for long. So don't start judging me.

You have to admit that beer signs have come a long way from the the typical logo-style signs of yore. In this lounge alone I saw a palm tree, this crab, and a ship. Next time you are driving through suburbia open your eyes a little and look for the glow. Take away a few preconceived notions and you might start to see the art in modern neon advertising. I mean, would it really make this little crustacean better if it read "seafood" instead of "Corona"? Ah, the deep questions that Waymarking makes you stop to ponder.