Last Saturday I decided to ask my youngest if he’d like to go on an impromptu road trip with me and he immediately agreed. We were on the road within two hours with extremely minimal prep. We drove a lot but saw a ton as well and had a great time together. One of the things we enjoyed were the welcome signs of the places we visited.
Colorado (our departure point) uses the slogan “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” and I think they’ve had it for a long time. Recently I watched the movie “Vacation” again and there is one in there too so it’s been at least 33 years now. The sign is woodsy and charming and while it isn’t particularly colorful, it does describe our state well. The random stickers that overly excited visitors adorn it with gives it some more color I suppose.
Heading North, we quickly entered Wyoming. This sign has always been one of my favorites. The cowboy motif (that they also use on their license plates and pretty much anything else remotely connected to the state) is perfect and the slogan “Forever West” literally gives me goosebumps. I love driving through Wyoming and while I don’t smoke, the scenery always reminds me of the Marlboro Man’s powerful imagery that I remember seeing on TV as a child in a country far away from here.
After Wyoming came South Dakota. Mount Rushmore is one of its many claims to fame and is represented on the welcome sign as well along with their slogan “Great Faces, Great Places”. Their sign is large, colorful and very well designed.
I am pretty sure it’s new as well, if you search you will easily find the older one which is more of a drawn illustration and not nearly as nice. Sorry that the picture features my kid and our ride almost more than the sign itself, this article was a bit of an afterthought and not planned at the time.
Obviously North Dakota is just to the North of South Dakota and unfortunately they didn’t do very much with the sign that we passed. Perhaps they have a different sign elsewhere? We were on a relatively small road and not an interstate where we entered. I am quite pleased with how my picture turned out though if I may be so bold as to toot my own horn here. I’m not sure if Jim Grey or our other shutterbugs could have done better.
At least it uses an interesting font and isn’t just completely plain such as for example a municipal street sign…North Dakota is a state I had not had an opportunity to travel through previously; we traversed it from West to East and then headed North at Fargo. As opposed to the frozen landscape depicted in the movie “Fargo”, in the summertime it is lush with greenery and crops and is a beautiful drive, sort of like Iowa but a bit less hilly. Their slogan appears to be “Legendary” which is certainly more intriguing than “You Betcha” or “Yeah, But That Tru-Coat!”
Given its relatively recent history, I had thought the state would be covered with oil-drilling installations but frankly I saw less of those than I do when I drive to Denver from my home, so they either keep them well camouflaged or they are really off the beaten track. In any case, a pleasant surprise and our lodging in Bismarck was the nicest place we stayed during the trip (Staybridge Suites via HotWire if anyone cares).
From North Dakota, we entered Manitoba. First off, the Canadians ARE the world’s friendliest people as evidenced by the border guard that informed me that my passport was expired but that she wasn’t concerned by it (no biggie, eh!) and let us in anyway after giving us a rundown of all the sights that Canada has to offer.
Right after the border post is the above monument to Manitoba with a large and well-run visitor center right behind it. I’m not sure what the other entry points offer in regard to signage but this was impressive and a very good start to the northern portion of our trip. Bonus points for the large Canadian flag too, and at least it’s not on a gigantic backback.
After enjoying ourselves in Winnipeg we headed West along the Trans Canada Highway and eventually entered Saskatchewan. Again, another overly large monument at the crossing point with a great visitor center and gift shop next to it. Like Manitoba before it, Saskatchewan goes all out. I tried to lift my son on top of the sign but couldn’t quite reach if that helps you to picture the size. (Oh, and my kid is 47 inches tall so maybe that helps too.)
Saskatchewan is known for its potash production and while I think that the bushel above is supposed to be wheat (also on their license plates), what struck me was the absolutely huge expanses of a bright yellow-topped crop all over the place that turned out to be Canola after I made some inquiries.
After spending part of a day and a night in Regina, we headed back South towards home. The most direct crossing into the U.S. is in northern Montana and the border guards there didn’t even notice that my passport was expired so that all went much better than it could have…
The U.S. Border post didn’t have any kind of visitor center either that I could see, it all looked kind of like a well fortified large and very tall bunker to be honest, and not particularly welcoming and without any obvious parking facilities nearby.
I didn’t see any sign post for Montana at all there but when we eventually left Montana and passed back into Wyoming, we doubled back to snap the Montana sign at its southern border, again in the middle of nowhere on a smaller highway.
Placed on stilts about twenty feet in the air but off on the side of a hill (I somehow stood near the road and zoomed in on the sign), it was certainly colorful and attractive but could have been a bit larger as Montana and its scenery really is larger than life itself. The actual backdrop here couldn’t be any drearier (and drier) but in general Montana is extremely scenic with non-stop photo opportunities.
So, what does your state or province (if you live somewhere other than the ones pictured above) do to welcome visitors that arrive via your highways? Post a pic in the comments if you want or just describe it…Maybe I’ll decide to visit and check it out for myself on the next trip.
Not my state, but I’m certain that my city has about the most iconic welcome sign there is!
“Welcome to Maine. The Way Life Should Be.”
Great to see you guys spending quality time together. This is the stuff that memories are made of.
The visual:
This is how we do it in Wisconsin…
And shortly after passing that sign state troopers will scramble to invite Illlinois visitors to see their courthouses 🙂
Perhaps…they DO have quotas to meet, I believe. ?
That’s pretty good! Seems to cover all the bases even though it’s not in the shape of a wedge of cheese. I’d for sure stop to take a pic of that one.
An interesting idea. That picture of the Wyoming sign is beautiful.
Here is Indiana’s. Jim Grey will probably be able to fill in details on the little add-on about being Lincoln’s boyhood home. You see, we are in a 3 way tug of war over who gets to claim Abe Lincoln, with Kentucky and Illinois being the other two.
At one time, we used to put the name of the governor on the signs, but that probably came off during the prior administration (Mitch Daniels) that had a well-deserved reputation for pinching pennies.
I liked our older version better, that played up the blue and gold from the State’s flag. And I liked the concept of our people welcoming visitors, instead of the State government. Governments are not all that welcoming most of the time, at least in my experience. 🙂
Interesting about Lincoln. When you drive East on I-70 (I think it’s I-70 anyway) a town in Illinois makes a big deal about actually seeing the house he lived in as a child with all kinds of signage. I’ve never stopped to see it but that superficial advertising makes me a believer that it’s Illinois!
The true home of Lincoln is a perpetual debate. Let’s just call it a three-way tie.
New Salem? Maybe not, as Lincoln was in his twenties when he lived there. It’s a fun place to visit, though.
Alright, I looked it up, I was thinking of Springfield, IL and Lincoln lived there from 1837 until he went to Washington. So he moved there when he was 18 and supposedly lived in the only house he ever bought which can now be seen by the public.
I’ve actually never seen ours before but I like how it looks having googled it just now. Although I’ve never liked the “Best Place on Earth” slogan, seems like bragging to me.
It looks huge too, just like the two other Canadian ones I posted!
My family and I just finished our version of National Lampoon’s Vacation, driving from suburban Chicago to Southern California, so this is very fresh territory for me. We went through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa. We really liked the Colorado and Wyoming signs you posted. Also, Utah had a cool welcome sign, and that state isn’t kidding when they post signs for scenic vistas. Each one was worth the stop!
Though I live in Illinois now, my “home” state will always be Louisiana. In addition to the welcome signs on the highway, Louisiana has some really nice welcome centers/rest areas, complete with their own cool signs like this one:
This is the welcome sign on Bridge of the Gods, but usually Oregon has a larger rectangular green or white sign with the state shape in white or green depending on the background. Almost every welcome sign says “Welcome to Oregon” and visitor centers seem to be more of an East Coast thing since I cannot think of a single state welcome center west of the Rockies. Good photos in this article and I like how states have colorful welcome signs especially Nevada though New York’s are rather plain. Aren’t all the Welcome to Colorado signs that design? I have yet to see a plain one.
Since I live about a mile inside Washington and cross the Washington/Oregon state line probably a dozen times a week, I’ve all but stopped noticing the state line signs. Oregon’s “exit” signs thank me for visiting, and I always think, “I’ll be right back.”
If you’re using Google Maps to navigate and traveling across a state line, you’ll get a helpful audio “welcome to ” message with a pop-up representation of the state – Oregon is a lumberjack in a flannel shirt, and Washington is a similar figure but with a cup of Starbucks instead of an axe.
A flannel shirt and a cup of Starbucks…nice. Though I use Google Maps to navigate on most of my trips and I can’t recall anything like that appearing as I cross the Virginia-North Carolina line (the majority of my trips involve heading south into NC as that’s where my parents and in-laws live.)
Oregon in the ’70’s when Tom McCall was in charge his slogan was (in a 1971 speech) “enjoy your visit but please don’t come here to live”. The sign itself said “Welcome to Oregon we hope you will enjoy your visit”. A later governor (Atyieh) had the sign changed to just “Welcome to Oregon”, even though the original sign before McCall was governor had the latter part on it.
There was a Korean immigrant Oregon senator (John Lim) in 1999 who proposed a boarder sign that was to say “Visit… but please don’t stay”. It didn’t happen.
That reminds me of the bumper stickers from the 70s —
“Welcome to California. Now Go Home”.
CA has since solved that “problem” with its recent trend of resident emigration.
And guess where most of them are going.
Oregon has been the number one destination for in-migration in the US the past three years running. Ask Portlanders how they feel about that.
Like this:
See ya.
Slightly OT but on the subject of borders — on my last trip to Europe I visited Baarle, a small town in the Netherlands about 15 miles from the border with Belgium. For convoluted historical reasons, there are tiny enclaves of Belgian territory scattered around the town with international borders that zigzag across streets and split buildings (check it on Google Maps) — in one case the border runs through someone’s front door, so they have both Belgian and Dutch house numbers.
No border controls and everything is friendly since they are both EU countries, but one benefit for the locals is the Dutch can pump their gas in one of the Belgian parts of town where it’s about 70c/gallon less.
The town sign welcomes you to both Baarle-Nassau (Netherlands) and Baarle-Hertog (Belgium).
That’s great, thanks! Borders aren’t as straight as most maps imply; for example the US/Canadian border has many irregularities caused by initial surveying difficulties. Once the boundary marker was placed, it’s hard to correct w/o diplomatic trouble.
Here’s another border-related story. After WWII there was a Dutch / German “border-correction” and the German village of Elten became Dutch. After years of negotiatons, and a payment of a large sum of money by the Germans, the village would become German again on August 1, 1963.
This is what happened during the last days of July, 1963: Dutch and German merchants parked their trucks (hundreds of big trucks), loaded with coffee and butter, in Elten. Every empty building and house, also packed with coffee and butter…
These products were much more expensive in Germany than in the Netherlands, the import was highly taxed by the German government.
And then, on August 1, 1963 the merchandise was suddenly in Germany without having to move it an inch. And without paying taxes ! The merchants made an estimated 50 to 60 million guilders profit…
This whole operation is known as the “Eltener Butternacht”, Elten’s Butternight, in English.
Hilarious! The Bundesrepublik effectively paid that much more for the village. BTW that operation is mentioned in the Dutch & German Wikipedia, but not English.
BTW I can understand the butter tariff (protecting domestic dairies), but coffee? Must’ve been very lucrative.
I’d hate to be the person with the international border running through their house at tax time. Presumably they have to file in the Netherlands *and* Belgium? Is it considered a 50/50 split residency? Or does it matter which country their bedroom is in? Can they register their vehicle in whichever country is more advantageous, and do they have to park it on the correct side of the line at night? Enough to make one’s head spin…
Funny you mention that. My house straddles a border between townships in my county. I actually do get two separate tax bills, although the one with most of the house is taxed as a house while the one with less house is taxed at a bare ground rate. I joke that while I live in one township, I sleep in another. 🙂
I love that they sort of named the province after me, they even left room on the sign for the “De ”
🙂 🙂
Still got your coat of arms ?
Oh yes, before I forget. Your historically correct name, and I checked the Hazerswoude-Dorp internet phone book, is Doug de G.
You know, like Adrian Vandenberg’s (from the rock group) real name is Adriaan van den Berg. His last name starts with a B, not with a V.
All very crucial information, of course…
Definitely crucial, my brother uses the small d but generally our family went with big D in Canada, small d caused a lot of problems. I have enough trouble with the space between De and G! It was pretty common to alter last names to fit in better during those days, my Mother’s family changed from Verduijn to Verdun.
Of course the very ironic part of all this is that I cannot pronounce my last name correctly, I can’t get the G right….
Never mind the G, even in the Netherlands it’s pronounced in entirely different ways.
The “soft” G from the south and the “hard” G (gRRR) from the western part of the country. I’m a soft G follower.
“Welcome to Illinois. Hold on to your wallet!”
Being originally from Georgia, I like thier current signs. The old ones say “Welcome to Georgia – State of Adventure”.
“Georgia on my Mind” (by Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell, 1930) became the official song in ’79; can’t argue with that. It became a jazz std. covered by numerous artists.
Funny you should mention Illinois — my wife and I often joke about entering Illinois because the welcome signs seem to be followed by a half dozen signs implying some kind of threat. These range from fines for cigarette bootlegging to motorcycle helmet laws to drunk-driving laws, speeding fines, etc. There seem to be new ones every time we’re there.
All that stuff doesn’t exactly entice people spend any extra time in Illinois.
Not exactly fancy compared to Wisconsin’s Lincoln Logs going the other way
And here all this time I thought these were the welcome signs 😉 :
Not a sign, but when the first Detroit Grand Prix was held, there were t-shirts that said, “Welcome to Detroit…Now Leave”. Pretty much summed up everything anyone needed to know about Detroit.
I was also rooting for Indiana to change the state motto from the Hoosier state to a version of Missouri’s “Show Me” state to the “Can I Touch It?” state.
This site is a great resource for all:
http://www.teresco.org/pics/signs/welcome-to.html
One simple version of CA:
Yeah, that’s the “generic” type of sign I was alluding to above. At least they are pretty large.
Heres my state.
I thought a silver highway patrol car personally welcomed visitors to Ohio who enter the state over the speed limit.
Well, follow the speed limit then ;D
Using the state flag isn’t a bad idea I suppose, if a little lacking in creativity. Ohio’s state flag is certainly not lacking in creativity with its peculiar pennant shape.
On a related note, for a hilarious take on all 50 state flags:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2015/06/23/every-state-flag-is-wrong-and-here-is-why/
“Connecticut Welcomes You”
No surprise that the less-populous States/Provinces seem to invest more in fancy welcome signs.
Here’s the flag-like one I see often, Eastbound I-10 (source: Wikipedia):
I have to say I disagree about the North Dakota sign. A bit of local character is fine, but it makes North Dakota look like a short lived 1980s soft drink rather than a state.
I’d be interested to know if this kind of “advertising” is just a North American thing or if there are examples in Europe or elsewhere.
I (attempted to anyway) attach the Scottish version. The joke people make is that when you’re travelling in the other direction the sign just says “England”. (in some cases it does)
I spot-checked other European welcome signs online & most are like Scotland’s. Adding a slogan does seem more American in character, as Americans love to advertise, both personally & collectively, despite Plato’s warning “An empty vessel makes the loudest sound.”
Trivia: Since the Scottish saltire is part of the Union Jack, then the UK will have to modify their flag for the 1st time since the Act of Union if Scotland ever secedes. Speaking of secession, the Scottish saltire was also part of the 2nd Confederate flag.
I’d be surprised if they modified it, seeing as it is so distinctive and well-known, and used so widely as a brand.
Perhaps they would have to change the name, too. “United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland” would no longer be accurate.
Interesting question.
When I stopped at the Tennessee Welcome Center on I-24 on my way to Nashville, I could tell the “Welcome To” sign near the building had been repurposed, as the old verbiage could be read beneath the new sign overlay.
The other day I was in meeting at a secret, undisclosed location that had a collection of old “Welcome To Missouri” signs hanging on the wall. Something told me to take a picture, then I came home to see you had this scheduled for today.
Anyway, what I think is the current one. I live too far from the state line to see these with any regularity. It isn’t the most inspiring; from the size, I’m guessing this is on a two-lane road as anything on the interstate would be big enough to park a truck on.
Here’s an older version…
And older yet.
I do rather like the ones my home state uses:
Aww… you came to Manitoba and missed our winters. That’s no fun.
That was a joke. Although Colorado can’t be too far off…
I always like that Saskatchewan sign. Coming the other way, into Manitoba, you get a relatively tiny blue sign shaped like Manitoba, so Saskatchewan beats us there.
See any good sight up here? I always liked The Forks in Winnipeg, as well as Salisbury House restaurant. If you want good sights outside of Winnipeg, I’d say skip the Trans-Canada, take some smaller highways.
Ha, yes, the winters were not what we were looking for, we get enough of that here! Your landscape is wonderful in the summer which you never seem to hear about. The roads (especially Manitoba) are atrocious though, in much worse condition than either in North Dakota or Montana which were our northern crossing points.
We toured the Mint in Winnipeg which was excellent. Learned that the Loon was not the image that was supposed to be on your Dollar coin (the loonie)! However the original production master die was lost in transit so the Loon was the backup design. It’s a great tour and even interesting for kids and does not involve a ton of walking if that’s a concern.
We also toured a great museum in Winnipeg which I will be writing up soon. If you know of what I speak, don’t ruin it. 🙂
We did have trouble finding good places to eat in Winnipeg, although in Regina, SK we ate at Bobby’s Place Olde World Tavern (Scottish pub) that serves a great Yorkshire Pudding (not pudding like most think of, it’s a Roast Beef and pastry dish that hails from York, England) and had an excellent selection of beer from the area. In Regina we went to the Science Museum which my son enjoyed.
Oh, and my son became a big fan of Tim Hortons on the trip. Many Tim-bits were consumed along with coffee for myself. I think there are more Tim Hortons in Canada than there are Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts combined in the US…
The strong US Dollar was a pleasant benefit too. It made gas around $2.78/gallon which is higher than the US states we visited ($2.00-$2.19) but still quite reasonable. The Highlander got around 22mpg overall if anyone cares which I don’t think is great but we were driving fairly fast whenever we could. Most posted limits on the US side were generally 75-80mph . Canada between 100-110km/h (62-69mph). We tried to not exceed the Canadian limits much.
Combine a poor government with extreme seasons; yeah, our roads are terrible. I find in the prairie provinces one can do 10 km/h over posted speed limits without any issue; I’ve personally been passed by a police cruiser while I was doing 120 in a 110 zone, the officer doing at least 10 higher then me.
Timmy’s (Tim Hortons) could qualify for religious status if they wanted, what with their devoted followers. I’m not a coffee drinker, so I’m not as big a fan of Timmy’s myself; their donuts are nice, though, and the chocolate Tim-Bits…
Rhode Island has had some recent controversy about how much money was spent on the new tourism/signage program. These are the signs we currently have and I think they are just fine!
This is the latest one which I really like….
You’re wellcome in Burgos!!
My homeland in Northern Spain!!
We welcome tourists though we dont have any states, there have been calls recently to add large T stickers to rental cars hired to foreigners though due to a high number of fatal accidents and numerous incidents of very poor driving displayed by visitors to our country, its seems not everyone can cope with two lane twisting roads.
L for Learners, T for Tourists; I like the idea.
A relative of mine unfortunately contributed to this situation. After a long overnight flight and jet lag he momentarily forgot which side of the ride to drive on and had a head-on collision. Thankfully the occupants of the other car were not hurt.
Ontario welcomes travelers from western Canada by ending the beautiful divided four lane highway and turning it into a two lane. Not real impressive.
Ouch. Were I to head to Eastern Canada, I’d rather detour south through the States than face Northwest Ontario.
Coming or going, you would be missing a fantastic drive through some spectacular areas over the Great Lakes.
Backwards from what one might expect; there must’ve been a humorist in Canadian highway planning.
I am throwing stones from a glass house, of course.
Wyoming, where I live, had welcome signs, before the current “Forever West”, using the phrase “Like No Place on Earth”.
This is true and the obvious negative implication, missed by the state tourism officials, becomes ever more apparent as one deals with living here full time.
Reminds me of the story of how the Australian Capital Territory chose the slogan “Feel the power of Canberra”, which every other Aussie read as “Feel the power of the federal government”…that was short-lived.
At least it’s not ‘ Tits Up In A ditch ‘ .
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That may be too old a Wyoming slogan for most here to know .
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I love Wyoming .
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-Nate
Brooklyn, NY welcomed motorists with a sign on the Belt Parkway after you exited the Verrazano Bridge that said “Brooklyn. How sweet it is” As you were approaching the Queens borough line on the Belt, another sign read- “Leaving Brooklyn? Forgeddaboutit”.
Almost forgot! Another sign in Camden, NJ-not an official one, but one painted on an abandoned billboard read-“Camden-welcome to Hell”.
In 1991 I dragged my family on a cross-country trip using my 1980 MGB and my just-rebuilt 1981 CJ7 towing a small equipment trailer. We visited all 48 continental states and managed to get a picture of each state’s welcoming sign, although some of them were actually just the official state line marker.
Photography wasn’t always easy, the Texas sign was snapped just after dawn on an all-night run, and the Idaho sign involved getting soaked in a torrential downpour.
I think the comment about the less-populated states having the more eye-catching signs is or was back then quite correct.
Connecticut welcomes you with a very official sign followed by a mile of signs telling you about all the things that are forbidden.
I know it’s not for a state, like Las Vegas, but this is the one I see from the middle of our street out front.
Not too elaborate for a tourist state.
Ontario
Highway 66 coming in from Quebec: https://goo.gl/maps/ahdzJ7tv8Xt
417 from Quebec: https://goo.gl/maps/rFYDYHzyT7K2
Then there is about a kilometer of signs warning of things that are not permitted. In English and French.
Quebec
Highway 117, from Ontario: https://goo.gl/maps/mSFtSjrGmcr
40, from Ontario: https://goo.gl/maps/kVZMEjEY8vn
Ohio greets drivers with a speeding ticket.
So does Florida. You just receive it in the mail three weeks later.
And charge you an additional ‘administrative fee’ if you decide to mail in your fine, as well.
Not if you follow the speed limit ;D
Well ;
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Not always possible :
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Some years ago I returned to Massachusetts , got off the freeway and turned left from a full stop and was *instantly* pinched by a Masshole State Trooper for ‘ exceeding the (15MPH) speed limit’ ~ I don’t normally mind the occasional ticket considering the way I drive (speeding but never,-EVER_ roll nor blow stop signs/red lights) but , really ~ I got two tickets on that trip , both were similar , obviously the rental car plates grabbed the attention of a bad attitude Trooper who rudely gave me sh*t and a very expen$ive ticket .
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If you have to _HIDE_ to make your quota , you’re a bullshit artist and part of the problem .
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Near where I live is a signaled intersection where the entire city budget -could- be made in a single day if the P.P.D. cared , STRINGS of vehicles blow the red light turning right there all day long , cutting off drivers who have the green light ~ it’s dangerous as well as rude but the Police simply don’t give a sh*t .
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BTW : if I ever got a speeding ticket I doubt I’d fight it because it’s a fair cop.
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-Nate
Why would you do such a thing?
@Perry ;
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Do which : speed or act like an Adult and accept responsibility for getting a ticket ? .
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-Nate
New Mexico The Land of Enchantment
Personally I would like it to have the state motto: Crescit eundo (it grows as it goes)
Although I like the bumper stickers that say “New Mexico: Not really New, not really Mexico.”
That bumper sticker gave me the biggest laugh of the day! Thanks!
In 1969, they added “USA” to the plate because of widespread belief that it’s part of Mexico. Americans are notoriously ignorant of geography, probably because rote memorization has long been held in contempt by our educational “experts.”
There are apparently some nicer welcome signs in other parts of New York, but my most frequent highway trips are between New York and Connecticut. New York uses a standard green sign not unlike the California one above that welcomes drivers to the Empire State. Connecticut is quite similar, just white on blue. And doesn’t even mention that it’s the Constitution State. If I recall it also contains an admonition against cell phone use.
Apparently Connecticut was once more visually inclined in its signage, if no less cautionary.
But I’d love it if they brought back the old school wooden signs on the Merritt instead of the generic green signs with fake jagged paint on them that is supposed to be some “cute” nod to the old signs, apparently.
Mostly with a sign warning drivers that we use speed cameras here. I think there’s a fairly basic “Welcome to Victoria” 100 metres or so before the warning.
Here’s Interstate 15 entering California from Nevada:
Nevada to California on US 95:
Lovely car!
Thanks Teddy. It’s a 1995 Impala SS converted to a T56 manual 6 speed.
Ag inspection checkpoint, welcoming? I think this is on I-10 coming from Arizona.
For some years, Colorado had this horrendous welcome sign that many native Coloradans compared it to the ‘nuclear winter’. Eventually, the state government replaced those nasty 1970-look signs with more sensible signs.
Image source: https://www.everplans.com/sites/default/files/blog-images/colorado-welcome-sign-750.jpg
Reminds me of those Rainbow Denver Nuggets jerseys.
English counties are always marked with a sign, either a traditional one, as seen here, or some dreadful graphic and slogan that were knocked up by an intern at a marketing agency at 3:00 one Friday afternoon, and for which said marketing agency was duly paid £100,000.
Anyway, Rutland. It’s hidden away in the East Midlands, not far from the motoring hub of Coventry, the high-tech hub of Cambridge, and the footballing hub of Leicester. It’s an agricultural county, which boasts a large reservoir, two market towns with spiffy private schools and plenty of villages and fields. And some nice swoopy driving roads, if you’re in a suitably fettled roadster.
Rutland is tiny – 147 square miles, about the size of a couple of London boroughs. The motto on the sign – Multum In Parvo – translates as “Much in Little”. Floreat Rutland!
Michigan has an audio welcoming system on I-75.
You cross the Ohio state line to hear “balaloomp, balaloomp, balaloomp” from your suspension system for the next 25 miles.
I seem to recall Louisiana had a similar system when crossing from Texas, a cacophony of potholes.
I-20 heading into LA in a 15 Passenger Chevy Express was really bad, at least in 2008. I think the wheel base was just long enough to make the road dips quite annoying.
Jim ;
Your Son will forever remember these trips you’re taking now .
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Nice to see this is still a rite of passage , so many your ‘uns never get to travel these days .
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I try to get SWMBO to let me take our Teenage Foster boys on day trips , usually they’ve never been more than 30 miles in any direction , a very sad thing .
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I always allow them to ask to stop anywhere and every where , asoften as possible , that’s the whole point of road trips when you’re young , not death drives non stop to some place you didn’t want to go see in the first place .
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-Nate
The oil in North Dakota is in the western part of the state. So if you went east in South Dakota and approached Bismarck from the south you would probably missed the oil wells.
Thanks, I suppose that explains it, I was reading about the Bakken last night and noted it spilled over into MT (which we saw coming back), so it then dawned on me that, as you said, it may be more a western ND thing. The parts we saw were very picturesque.
Welcome to the Best Place on Earth… 🙂
“I know that he is a truly great & good man, for he told me so himself…“ — Gilbert & Sullivan’s “H.M.S. Pinafore“
This is the one that is several miles north of me on US 71, at the Missouri border.
Fittingly, a Walmart truck is in the background… ?
Wal*Mart colors are blue and white also.
Yes, and now, occasionally yellow (for the spark) and orange (as an accent).
In recent years, I’ve also noticed that the preferred spelling of the corporate name is “Walmart,” with no space, hyphen, aesterisk or squiggly between the syllables.
I’ve never worked for them, but it’s amazing what you learn from living in Walmart’s backyard, so to speak.
Madrid, Spain
This is how Ohio welcomes drivers.
Exactamente!
New York welcomes you with a toll booth.
My current residence. Not the friendliest on the face of it, other German states verbally welcome you. However, along the motorway it’s usually accompanied by an “end of speed limit” sign.
Picture was not attached.
Just what one would expect in Europe. Makes me think of Bremen’s coat of arms with a key on it, which locals joke “unlocks” the castle gate depicted on their ancient rival Hamburg’s. Both are federal states (technically Bremen is part of a namesake state encompassing Bremerhaven as well).
The inner medieval part of Bremen is marvelous, rebuilt brick by brick after WW2.
My home state:
For the longest time Virginia used these signs:
Most of those were replaced by an updated version on a white background, but now they’re taking a complete turn and using these with the ubiquitous “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan, with a rider for the also-current “Open for Business” logo.
In either case, immediately afterward you’ll be greeted by large black signs declaring “RADAR DETECTORS ILLEGAL” and my personal favorite, “SPEED LIMIT ENFORCED BY AIRCRAFT”. It always makes me think there is a helicopter hovering behind the nearest stand of trees, ready to fire missiles at scofflaw speeders.