The Markeroni Blog
The blog of Markeroni, the Gentle Art of Landmark-Snarfing

Yay! My guest post about Markeroni has been taken up on the Uptake blog (formerly Kango.com). :)

If you’re a member of BumpZee, feel free to bump it up. ;)

Many thanks to Uptake for the opportunity! :)

You have got to check this out. Seriously.

Click here first…and then please click through to the details to see why this is so incredible. :)

This is beautyredefined’s discovery. Oh, somebody please go, pretty please with cherries on top. Do we have any divers?

This blog is part of Markeroni, the Gentle Art of Landmark-Snarfing, a site where you can find out information about historical markers and historic sites, and log your visits there. To find out more, please visit!

Last weekend AmberLee and I headed out on snarfari. Actually, the excuse to drive out to Old Sacramento came in the form of a Geocaching gather, but after the gather was over we left to run slightly amok in the nearby city. ;) (more…)

This blog is part of Markeroni, the Gentle Art of Landmark-Snarfing. To find out more, please visit the site!

The observant among you will by now have spotted the “whelm level” on the main member index page. This indicates roughly how much of a backlog we have got at Markeroni, and what action to take. Here’s a quick run-down of what it all means, and what you can do to help. (more…)

This blog is part of Markeroni, the Gentle Art of Landmark-Snarfing. To find out more, please visit the site!

Here’s a continuation of a prior Thursday 13 post about traveling on Route 66. There were plenty of things we didn’t get to due to time constraints that make a return trip very, very worthwhile.

1. Wagon Wheel Motel, Cafe and Station
   This should be familiar to anyone who saw the ruins of the fictional Wheel Well Motel in “Cars.” Luckily, this Missouri establishment is still open.

2. Drive-In
   There used to be a time when drive-ins like this one in Missouri were plentiful. Most have died over time, but this one has hung on.

3. Miami Original Nine-Foot Section of Route 66 Roadbed
   It was well worth the bumps to drive this original 1920s stretch of Route 66 in Oklahoma. The story goes that they were tight on cash so they decided to complete the road at only 9-feet wide rather than do a wide road that was only half as long.

4. Route 66 Bridge
   This bridge in Oklahoma is just like what motorists on Route 66 drove on before the 1950s.

5. Oklahoma Route 66 Museum
   There are a lot of Route 66 museums on the route, but this one is a must-see. It’s run by people who have a true love of the Mother Road.

6. Leaning Water Tower
   This should be familiar to anyone who saw Luigi’s Leaning Tower of Tires in “Cars.” This Texas monument was built to lure in tourists. It works.

7. Midpoint Cafe and Gift Shop
   Located halfway on Route 66, this is a major milestone on any trip. I’ll admit to feeling bummed that this Texas café wasn’t open when we stopped by. I really wanted to try their famous ugly pie.

8. Aztec Motor Court
   You’ve got to figure that any motel named Aztec is going to look interesting. This is one of the many classic motels located on Route 66 in Albuquerque, NM that take you back to the road’s heyday.

9. The Snow Cap
   For pure fun, this Arizona spot ranked among the top parts of the trip. They’re known for their cornball humor, such as having two doorknobs on the entrances. The owners are constantly telling jokes, such as offering you rags when you ask for more napkins.

10. Oatman, Arizona (west side)
    As I mentioned in the prior post, you have to stop in at this town when you’re traveling Route 66 in Arizona. Aside from the wild burros on the street, it just exudes old-fashioned Route 66 life.

11. Wigwam Motel
    Its location near the end of the trip in California probably doesn’t help, but it gets less business than the other wigwam motel in Arizona. I’ve got to give the owner kudos for trying to restore this place’s reputation. The last owner was a slime who rented rooms by the hour and advertised the slogan, “do it in a wigwam.”

12. Rialto Theatre
    I was saddened to hear that this California landmark recently closed. There are times when you don’t want to go to a megaplex. It had the longest-running showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

13. Will Rogers Highway
    This marker is the no-brainer end to any Route 66 trip when you finish up in California. Some drunk recently smacked into the marker, but it survived.

    Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
    
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    Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

    The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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To find out more about landmark-hunting, please visit Markeroni, the Gentle Art of Landmark-Snarfing. This blog post is part of that site.

Thirteen Useful Snarfari Preparations
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I feel very fortunate to have been able to travel along Route 66 with a friend earlier this year.

It was such an interesting trip that it was too hard to limit it to 13 items. This first group consists of my favorite sites on the trip. Look for more to come later.

1. Ted Drewes Frozen Custard
   We started in St. Louis instead of Illinois so Drewes seemed like a most appropriate way to kick off the trip. In addition to great frozen custard, it’s been a Route 66 landmark for 78 years.

2. Rock Cafe, Stroud, Oklahoma
   This is a must for any fan of the movie “Cars.” The character of Sally was inspired by the owner of the café. She gave up plans to relocate to Costa Rica to stay in her hometown in Oklahoma.

3. Arcadia Round Barn
   You usually don’t expect to see a big round barn. But the Oklahoma barn, which dates back to 1898, is one of the most distinctive landmarks on Route 66.

4. Tower Building
   More popularly known as the U Drop Inn, this Art Deco masterpiece stands out even in Texas. It was formerly a restaurant and gas station.

5. Phillips 66 Service Station
   I was keeping my eyes out for this stop. Opened in the 1920s, it was the first Phillips 66 station in Texas. I’m glad to say it’s being restored.

6. Cadillac Ranch
   You’ll recognize this Texas landmark if you saw “Cars.” This eccentric millionaire planted 10 Cadillacs nose-first into the ground. He lets you spray paint them.

7. Glenrio Historic District
   This epitomizes a Route 66 ghost town. The town died soon after the I-40 diverted traffic away from 66. The most famous structure was The First in Texas/Last in New Mexico Motel.

8. Blue Swallow Motel
   I’m glad we stayed at the motel overnight in New Mexico. It’s a classic 66 motel with blazing neon. The rooms are big, clean, reasonably priced and have antiques such as rotary dial telephones.

9. Wigwam Village #6
   We unfortunately couldn’t get a room at this classic motel in Arizona. A group of German bikers had the place booked up. Europeans love traveling Route 66.

10. Wild Burros
    How can you not love a landmark involving wild burros? The burros were brought there when Oatman, AZ, was a mining town. They freed them after the mine closed. The burros are now a tourism draw.

11. Original McDonalds
    This was also must-see piece of Americana on Route 66 in California. This is where Mickey D first began. It’s about the only way you’d see me enter a McDonald’s.

12. Aztec Hotel
    This is a stunning building dating back to 1926 in California. I was heartened to hear that the hotel is being restored to its original splendor.

13. Santa Monica Pier This was a fitting end to the Route 66 trip. Located by the ocean in California, you get a nice boardwalk and a stunning view of the beach.
    

Thirteen snarfs in Ann Arbor:

Ann Arbor is a great place to go snarfing. The city boasts not only state historical markers, but an entire set of displays and plaques put up by the city as well as a series of University related plaques throughout the U of M campus. This week’s TT features some of the essential Ann Arbor snarfs and my favorites, too!

1. Michigan Becomes A State: This marker is out in front of the courthouse (an area ripe with snarfs), and tells the tale of how Michigan settled a border dispute with Ohio. Congress approved a plan that would give most of the upper peninsula to Michigan, while the area around Toledo would go to Ohio. Delegates from the state met at the first courthouse, rejected the proposal at first, but at a second meeting, the “Frostbitten Convention”, they assented and Michigan became a state in 1837.
2. The University of Michigan: These days, when most people think of Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan comes to mind. This marker tells us about the beginnings of the University, how the legislature chose Ann Arbor for the University in 1837 and how it first held classes in 1841. There were 7 students and two faculty. We’ve come a long way since then.
3. Michigan Theater: The Michigan Theater is a wonderful place to visit. Not only is it interesting from the outside, the interior has its own history to tell. The theater boasts one of the last remaining organs still in use from its days accompanying silent films, and it has a series of wall plaques that give another perspective on the history of Ann Arbor and its founders. The theater often shows independent films and things you wouldn’t otherwise get to see, in addition to hosting concerts. You can learn more about it at their website.
4. The Diag: The Diag is really the heart of central campus. A wide, open square surrounded by campus buildings and paths criss-crossing from one corner to the other. You’ll often find students relaxing in the sun or holding any number of events during the school year. The land for the original campus was donated to the city, and the original diagonal paths emerged in 1850.
5. Law Quadrangle: The Law quad is another area that the University is quite proud of. If you take any tour through campus, you will undoubtedly see this area, with its beautiful architecture and its stained glass. The money for the law buildings was originally donated from an alumnus, William W. Cook. At the time of his donation, it was the largest gift from an individual. It allowed the university to create the four beautiful buildings surrounding the law quad.
6. Kennedy Defines the Peace Corps: On October 14th, after debating Nixon in New York, John F. Kennedy flew back to Ann Arbor and addressed the thousands of students waiting for him on the steps of the union. An impromptu speech, he challenged the students to donate their time to improve conditions throughout the world. While he never specifically says “Peace Corps,” the idea of his speech is clear. You can see the text of his speech here.
7. Michigan Central Railroad Depot: The Michigan Central Railroad Depot is quite an impressive building, and it signaled new opportunities for Ann Arbor. The Depot was host to many visitors, including presidents and the returning football team. Now, the Amtrak station is across the way, and depot itself is a seafood restaurant.
8. The Underground Railroad: This marker tells of Rev. Guy Beckley, who helped usher slaves on the Underground Railroad through to Canada. I’d honestly never thought much about the Underground Railroad in Michigan before, but it makes sense.
9. Social and Political Change on South University: This is one of the city’s glass displays that are scattered through town. They show older pictures of the area. This particular marker shows a student march and describes how the South University changed during the sixties. One of the things I found most interesting about this marker, is that in the picture you can see one of the businesses that still exists today.
10. Civil War Recruitment: This is a rather unique marker - it’s a bronze replica of an Ann Arbor newspaper that asks able-bodied men to join the 20th Regiment. The plaque isn’t one you’ll notice right away; it’s inside the planted area near the courthouse, as if it’s just a piece of newspaper that was tossed there. There are two other front pages in the area too, so they’re fun to see.
11. Politics and Processions on Courthouse Square: This is another marker in the courthouse square that describes some of the political spectacles that have happened at the courthouse. I was amused by the description of William Jennings Bryan’s visit to Ann Arbor while on his presidential campaign. His speech was eventually canceled after he was continuously heckled by several hundred students.
12. Hill Auditorium: Hill Auditorium is an Ann Arbor musical institution. Designed by architect Albert Kahn, he collaborated with an acoustical engineer from New York, giving the auditorium its tremendous acoustics. Many orchestras, singers, and speakers have performed there, and it is definitely worth visiting while in town.
13. The Clairvoyant Physician: This one is my favorite Ann Arbor snarfs. One of the city’s quirkier residents, Dr. Daniel Kellogg claimed to channel Native American medicine in order to see patients internal organs. He even offered mail-order diagnoses. All he needed was your name, age, address, and a fee, of course.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Today Markeroni is four years old.

Happy birthday to us!

Snarfing in New York City doesn’t have to be intimidating for Markeroons.

Here’s a primer of what you need. First off, this post will focus on the borough of Manhattan. It’s located in New York County, hence why a lot of people only think of Manhattan when referring to the whole city. In reality, New York City consists of five boroughs. I grew up in the borough of Queens so I might be a touch defensive about that issue.

New York City Landmarks is indispensable for snarfing. The latest copy is the third edition put out by the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2004. It retails for $24.95, but I got a used copy via Amazon for $8.24, including shipping. I use the book because if it’s a National Register site, odds are it’s also a city landmark.

The book groups Manhattan’s 585 individual city landmarks and 46 historic districts by area. It creates a series of very walkable tours. You can easily reach a few dozen snarfs, especially in Lower Manhattan, by walking within a one-mile radius. It’s got a very good map that tells you how to get from place to place. All you need to do first is find a convenient subway station to use as the starting point. You can use the New York City Mass Transit Authority’s trip planner to figure out where to go to first.

Forgotten New York by Kevin Walsh is also a good supplementary source. It also organizes things to see by geographic region, with a good accompanying map. It’s especially good at identifying wild cards such as statues and war memorials.

I hope some of you will take the plunge and do your own Big Apple snarfari.

• Resources for New York landmarks can be found here..
• If you want to get started landmark-hunting, Markeroni’s home page is here.