Key and appeal: A visit (pre-Irma) to Key West

We were lucky to take a brief trip to Key West, Eccentric Roadside's first, one week before Hurricane Irma hit. The Keys got beat up but bounced back and opened up to tourists a few weeks later, and the famous Southern-Most Point marker, a classic Key West tourist attraction people line up to get their picture takeen in front of, has been restored to its pre-hurricane luster after getting pretty badly bruised.

Good on you Key West, for restoring the laid back Jimmy Buffett vibe, and please, Eccentric Roadside readers, please go visit there because the local economy depends on you. As Mae West said, "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."

Conn.-signment: Signs along Connecticut's Route 1

Over-sized apples are big along here. Two separate businesses offer 3-D fruit to "tempt" passers-by.

I love when old signs like this are left to decay into an art form all their own.

A classic 1960s sign with a classic 1960s name. The owner of this place told me the town wants him to take down this sign because of their sign ordinances. Shame on them! Luckily, he's grandfathered in.

Lovely, well-maintained neon, turned on even during the day time. Reminds me of the cafe in "The Postman Always Rings Twice."

This was a dead sign for a steak house that was revitalized by a Saturn dealer. Then Saturn went kaput and now it's dead again. Ashes to ashes.

The former Lulu's.

We're Connecticut natives, so it's always nice to get back on our Nutmeg State home turf. It's great to get off the interstate and see the old main roads, when time allows. We went for a splendid ride along Route 1 between Branford and New London and saw some awesome road signs, in states of both repair and disrepair. This stretch Route 1 has a lot for the eccentric roadside attraction fan to see...a Conn.-siderable amount, I dare say.

Beautiful decay on Route 1 in Rhode Island

I've driven down Route 1 in North Kingstown, Rhode Island hundreds of times, taking care of the humdrum errands of every day life in my adopted home state of 20 years. While Sherry was at the CVS drug store picking up some essentials, I wandered over to the Kingstown Motel to take a few snaps of their beautifully decaying neon sign. It doesn't light anymore, but the motel manager says when the motel owner made some noises about painting it, locals complained that the decaying state of the sign is such an icon it would be a pity to see it spruced up. Imagine that...regular people with a truly eccentric roadside frame of mind. Across the street is a Del's Lemonade stand, closed for the season. Del's, for all the non-Rhode Islanders out there, is a religion in this state in the warmer months, and has a terrific logo. A squad of deteriorating Del's trucks were parked there rotting away, waiting to be photographed. Why, oh why, hadn't I ever noticed this awesome sight before?