According to Wikipedia there are 37 documented places with a single resident. There may of course be many more not yet listed on Wikipedia, so if you know of one, leave a comment here and I might just edit the Wikipedia page myself!

Onwards to our whirlwind tour, are you ready? Let’s go!

In Canada, there the towns of Raley and Masinasin in Alberta; and in Saskatchewan the towns of Crichton, Estuary, Loomis Ravenscrag, South Fork and Vidora

To Estonia next, and the villages of Koipsi and Rammu which are on neighbouring islands.

The Faroe Islands are next with Nesvík and Mjørkadalur.

Onwards to France and the village of Rochefourchat, with its single house and church. Moving south to New Zealand and the village of Cass. Back North to Polana in Poland and Naimakka, a weather station, in Sweden (you can read about Naimakka’s resident via Google Translate).

To England next with Hilbre Island and Steep Holm (we’re half way through, hope you can keep up!) Scotland is next on the list with Eilean Donan (once home to Connor MacLeod), Forewick Holm, Innis Chonan, Sanda and Shuna.

Finally, to the final country on our tour, the United States, where the state of Maine has Criehaven and Hibberts Gore, Minnesota has Kiel Township and the oddly named Township 157-30, New Hampshire has Dix’s Grant and Green’s Grant. Then there’s Bonanza in Utah, Hanks in North Dakota, Hobart Bay in Alaska, Holy City in California, Laurier in Washington state, Monowi in Nebraska and last, but by no means least, Oil Springs Reservation in New York state.

Most of the places we visited today have an entry in Wikipedia, where you can usually find more information about what happened to these places. Many of the towns are on the verge of becoming proper ghost towns, but for people in others there is a strange sense of pride that comes from being the only resident.

Locations: Alaska, Alberta, California, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, France, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, New Zealand, Poland, Saskatchewan, Scotland, Sweden, Utah, Washington, Wyoming / Categories: Abandoned, Weirdness

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Titanic was owned by the White Star Line shipping company and at 269m (882 ft) in length she was the world’s largest passenger liner in service at the time. She was one of three Olympic class ocean liners commissioned by the company, the other two being the HMHS Britannic (who was sunk after 11 months service during WWI) and their older sibling, RMS Olympic (who served a long career, earning the nickname “Old Reliable”).

KML file via GPSed.com

All three of the Olympic class liners were built by Harland and Wolff (who are still in business) in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The drydock where the ship was fitted out has been preserved as a museum to this day, and the 259m long space gives us a clear view of the massive ‘physical footprint of the Titanic’.

Nearby we can see Belfast’s iconic twin shipbuilding gantry cranes Samson and Goliath (who are owned by Harland & Wolff). By comparison the drydock beneath these 70m (229 ft) tall cranes is 556m (1,824 ft) long – in fact it’s the largest drydock in the world.¹

Also nearby is the SS Nomadic – a ship built by Harland and Wolff as a tender for Olympic and Titanic. Today she is the last surviving White Star Line vessel in the world. In the aerial imagery here she is not much more than a hull, but Harland and Wolff have in the past few months completed an initial phase of restoration that replaced the missing bridge and flying bridge decks, as seen in this ground level photo.

Soon after Titanic sank, proposals were made to salvage her wreck (despite the fact that her exact location was unknown). Of course even if divers had been able to somehow locate the wreck, they couldn’t get anywhere near deep enough to actually retrieve anything.

Despite repeated attempts to locate her, Titanic remained resolutely lost for the next 73 years, until she was finally found by a team led by Dr. Robert D. Ballard on 1 September 1985.

Titanic is in two main pieces 600km (370 miles) south-east of Newfoundland. The bow is located here, and the stern is here, about 600m (1,970 ft) to the south.

James “deep sea diver” Cameron and his digital effects team recently created a new animation of how they believe Titanic collided with the iceberg, sank, and reached the ocean floor².

There are various museums around the world that have items on display that have been recovered from the wreck of Titanic, including the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia; the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich; the Sea City Museum in Southampton; the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool; the Titanic Historical Society’s museum in Massachusetts; and there’s a permanent exhibition of Titanic artefacts at the Luxor in Las Vegas.

While not strictly a museum, the White Swan Hotel, Alnwick, has an “Olympic Suite” which is decorated using paneling, mirrors, stained glass windows and other furnishings removed from the RMS Olympic‘s first class lounge when she was being dismantled in 1936. The first class lounge on Olympic was identical to that of Titanic so a visit here could potentially be a great way of experiencing Titanic‘s splendour.

Meanwhile, in Inverness, Scotland, this guy (the one next to Mater) has built a 100 ft Titantic replica out of a couple of old caravans and a shed. Sadly it seems that he was refused planning permission for the model, which now faces an uncertain future. I believe the model has been built on the other side of his house, so it isn’t visible on Street View, but could that be it in the satellite imagery?

Meanwhile, the wreck of Titanic continues to decay at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, losing an estimated 100 kilos of hull per day to iron-eating bacteria, and within time she will disappear into the seabed completely.

Locations: England, New York, Northern Ireland / Categories: Monuments, Movie Locations, Street Views, Structures, Towers, Watercraft

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…but why write about things like that when we can show you a giant Einstein head made out of Lego bricks!

Yes, the symbol of scientific intellectual rebellion is just as familiar these days as an icon of advertising. From giant posters on Broadway chiding passers-by to assert themselves, to giant adverts for real estate developers painted on the sides of inner-city tattoo parlours, Albert Einstein is indeed everywhere – and he’s here to sell!¹

For example, check out this fairly detailed mural of Einstein on a windswept beach on the side of this Sao Paulo surfboard shop. His Hawaiian shirt even gets painted different colours based on the season.

Quite strangely, Einstein is the mascot for a barber shop in Taipei, because if there’s one hairstyle anyone wants to emulate, it’s Albert Einstein’s. ‘Yeah, I’ll have the “just inserted my finger in an electrical outlet”, thank you.’

Then, of course, there are the businesses which have aped the man’s name entirely. In particular, Einstein seems to be popular with restaurants. A university cafe like this one at the University of Toronto? Makes sense. A pizzeria in Prague? Not so much.

The most unlikely Einstein-related business, however, may be this dance club in Muro del Alcoy, Valencia, which prominently features a mural of Einstein next to a DJ in the middle of a set. One can only wonder which side old Albie would have taken in the UK funky/two-step revival debate.

This Einstein Day, don’t get sucked in by all of this crass commercialism. When your family is gathered around the wormhole in the sitting room tonight to sing relativity carols and watch Yahoo Serious movies, remember the real reason for the season.

Locations: Alberta, Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, New Jersey, New York, Ontario, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan / Categories: Monuments, Street Views, Weirdness

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10. While not quite as lofty as its mountainous namesake, diners at Everest enjoy stellar views from the 40th floor of the Stock Exchange building.

An average price of $546 will get you a selection of Chef Joho’s specialties such as “Magret of Mulard Duck, Wild Pine Honey, Marinated Turnips à la Colmarienne” – one of a number of menu items which the menu identifies as “dishes upon which Everest has built its reputation”. Everest has a single Michelin star.

9. It costs just one dollar more for a meal at chef Daniel Boulud’s three-Michelin-starred eponymous restaurant² in Manhattan, shown on Street View undergoing a bit of door repair.

A highlight of the menu appears to be the “Duo of Four Story Hill Farm Poularde Demi-Deuil – Poached Breast with Savoy Cabbage Black Truffle Stuffed Leg, Chestnut, Albufera Sauce”, which is not your average chicken dinner.

8. Back to Chicago³ where Les Nomades ($558 but zero stars) is one of the few on this list that actually deigns to have an exterior sign.

The dessert menu caught my eye, particularly the “Warm chocolate tart with raspberries, white coffee bean ice cream, vanilla froth, chocolate sauce” … though I hope vanilla froth is more appetizing than it sounds.

7. Just two blocks to the north, the same amount of cash gets you a meal at Tru, where the single-star dining is discreetly hidden behind white curtains.

Again I felt compelled to turn to the dessert menu, where I would imagine the $15 “s’more (graham, chocolate, marshmallow)” is somewhat more extravagant than the standard campfire treat that would usually set you back a few cents.

6. Now to California, where Melisse in Los Angeles has an average bill of $576 but no stars. The slightly drab exterior is offset by a luxurious interior with purple walls, crisp white linens and roaring fireplaces.

The wine list runs to 67 pages and is topped off by a Chateau Latour priced at $7,750.

5. To Chicago again where we’ll assume that guests at chef Charlie Trotter’s two-starred eponymous showcase usually don’t arrive in a car with a dirty t-shirt covering the window!

Being vegetarian myself, I’m happy to see a Vegetable Menu on offer, which includes “A Study in Legumes with Collard Greens, Rutabaga & Anise”. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any food, let alone greens and rutabaga, described as “a study” before. Should we be concerned that the average bill here is $666?

4. Less than a mile to the south is our final Chicago stop, and the only three-Michelin-starred restaurant in the city. Alinea’s imposing and cryptic grey exterior is matched by its imposing and cryptic grey website.

Here the average prices start to get truly astronomical. $736 can get you a 20 course meal featuring a hot potato with a cold potato, a black truffle explosion and a “Squab inspired by Miró“.⁴

3. Another eponymous restaurant is that of chef Michael Mina in San Francisco where the average bill is $844.

I couldn’t help noticing that the most expensive item on the menu is remarkably similar to the standard English Sunday lunch of roast beef, mashed potatoes and vegetables. $98 gets you “hay baked côte du boeuf for two, la ratte potato purée, crispy brussels sprouts”. But it’s the drinks menu where the real money is required, with a $250 Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac, or a $25,499 Chateau Lafleur 1945.

Mina has a Michelin star for both this restaurant and the other that carries his name in Las Vegas. He has 16 restaurants across the US.

The king of expensive restaurants is chef Thomas Keller, who operates our top two, on opposite sides of the country. Both have held three Michelin stars since the mid 2000s.

2. In New York, Per Se is located on the fourth floor of the Time Warner building at the south-west corner of Central Park.

With an average bill of $883, the menus change daily, and often include the names of farms and other suppliers of the luxury ingredients. On the day of writing highlights included “Tsar Imperial Osetra Caviar with Applewood Smoked Bacon, Scallop “Blini”, Creamed Spinach, Frisée and Nasturtium Caper Emulsion” and “Blackmore Ranch Australian Wagyu with Crispy Bone Marrow, Potato “Mille-Feuille”, Glazed Heirloom Carrots Watercress Salad and Sauce Bordelaise”. Respectively these cost $75 and $150 on top of the standard $295 prix fixe menu.

If nothing on the 88-page wine menu meets your taste, they will kindly allow you to bring your own wine … for a $90 corkage fee. The most expensive wine appears to be a magnum of Pétrus, which costs $30,250.

There is, of course a private dining room, and should you wish to provide your guests with a gift, there are several options including a collection of salts (French, English, Japanese and Hawaiian), truffle popcorn, or one of Keller’s cookbooks.

1. The most expensive restaurant in the US is tucked away in the tiny Napa Valley town of Yountville. Keller’s The French Laundry occupies a century-old building which was, in the 1920s, actually a steam laundry.

Operating in the same way as Per Se, with unique daily 9-course tasting menus, the average bill at The French Laundry is an astronomical $957. Sample dishes include “Herb-Roasted Salsify with Quail Egg, Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Piedmont Hazelnuts and Garden Mâche” and “Alpaco “Mousse au Chocolat” with Spice Pudding, “Panna Cotta”, Gros Michel Banana and Marcona Almond Glacée”.

While the wine menu is more extensive here (at 111 pages), it has only a handful of wines in the five-figure range. The Pétrus is again the most expensive, at $13,000 for a standard bottle.

If you have the financial resources to enjoy these restaurants you would probably also enjoy our Top 10 Most Expensive Hotel Rooms post from last year.

Locations: California, Illinois, New York / Categories: Buildings, Street Views

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Likely no death in music history shocked the world as did the murder of John Lennon on the steps of The Dakota apartment building in New York on 8 December 1980. Each year on that anniversary, a memorial procession is held in front of the building led by Yoko Ono that ends across the street at the appropriately named Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park. The Dakota itself is a rather stately building from the 1880s and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

The hazards of constant touring and travel mean that some of our musical heroes meet their demise on tour – such as Buddy Holly. And then there are those who simply run into misfortune on the way home from a night out, as did T. Rex’s Marc Bolan in 1977 when low tire pressure in the vehicle in which he was a passenger resulted in a crash with a tree in Queen’s Ride, Barnes. Fans quickly turned the site into an impromptu shrine, and tributes continue to arrive to this day.

Others who saw their time on Earth end in the midst of touring include Metallica’s Cliff Burton (who was killed in 1986 when he was thrown through the window of an overturning tour bus on this stretch of rural Swedish roadway), and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines – who all perished when their chartered plane crashed in this forest near the Mississippi-Louisiana border.

Perhaps the most infamous residence in rock history was the flat at 9 Curzon Square, Mayfair, London owned by Harry Nilsson. The cursed house was often lent by Nilsson to other musician friends while he was on tour, two of whom died while staying there: ‘Mama’ Cass Elliot in 1974 (and no, she didn’t choke to death on a ham sandwich) and Who drummer Keith Moon in 1978¹. Further to the north in London we find the Camden Square home of Amy Winehouse where she died in 2011.

Sadly, while we in the midst of compiling this post, another music legend, Whitney Houston, passed away in her suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on 11 February 2012 at the age of 48.

When famous musicians pass on, places like these can become rather busy memorial sites, often seeing thousands of visitors each year making pilgrimages in honour of their fallen heroes. The area surrounding the tomb of Jim Morrison at Paris’ Père Lachaise Cemetery, for example, became a haven for large crowds, vandalism, drunken parties, and even occult rituals over the years; at one point the grave had to be covered in stone in order to prevent attempts at digging up Morrison’s body.

Also in Paris sits this wall outside the longtime home of legendary French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. In the two-plus decades since Gainsbourg’s death, the wall has been consistently covered in graffiti, including poems, lyrics, and images of Gainsbourg.

There are also impromptu memorial sites that only last for a few days or weeks. Street View just happened to be travelling through Detroit in July 2009 shortly after Michael Jackson died, and captured Hitsville USA² – the former headquarters of Motown Records where the Jackson family got their start in the record business (now a museum) – which was temporarily swathed in an array of tributes and offerings.

Have you found other infamous music haunts such as these on Google Maps? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below.

Locations: California, England, France, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Sweden / Categories: Buildings, Monuments, Street Views, Weirdness

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Beauvais Airport, Paris

Paris-Beauvais is an interesting airport because it’s really not one of Paris’s main airports. Unlike the relative proximity Charles de Gaulle and Orly have to the centre of Paris, Beauvais is located 85 km outside the city. Smaller, low-cost airlines use Beauvais as a way to get passengers near(ish) Paris without having to deal with the prices of flying directly into the city. The frommers.com article calls Beauvais’s terminal “the pits”, and likens it to a “general half-tent, half-warehouse atmosphere.” Sounds great. And you’ve still got an hour to go before you get to the city!

Charles de Gaulle Airport, Terminal 3, Paris

It may be Paris’s best known airport, but Charles de Gaulle Airport didn’t make it away unscathed. Their terminal 3 made the list ranked as the 4th worst terminal in the world. Like Beauvais, it has also been compared to sleeping in a warehouse, a fact that could be attested to by the large homeless population that lives here.

Sheremetyevo Airport Terminal B & C, Moscow

Moscow’s largest airport made the list at number 3 with terminals B and C. Some of the reviews over at sleepinginairports.com said that “the atmosphere in the terminal building is awful”, it’s “dark like a cave”, and just plain dirty. One commenter says “If Putin really wants to clean up his country, this is where he should start”.

All three major airports, New York City

Not good news for passengers flying through New York – all three of New York City’s major airports made the list of world’s worst airport terminals. Terminal B at Newark Liberty International Airport clocked in at number 7, mainly because of the location of security checkpoints before each pier. If you want to get food, your choices are limited unless you liked to get frisked.

New York LaGuardia Airport‘s US Airways Terminal drops in at number 6 on the list, and frommers.com calls it “dull and sad” with limited options for food and services. Not what you would expect at one of America’s top national airports.

New York JFK Airport‘s Terminal 3 made the number 1 spot on the list of world’s worst terminals. Why? Frommers says: “Terminal 3 is the worst single airport terminal in America, and probably in the Western world. Even Delta acknowledges this: they’re tearing it down and replacing it with a giant glass structure connected to the nearby Terminal 4. It’s unsalvageable.” Ouch.

In stark contrast, New York JFK Airport Terminal 5 was rated number 5 on the list of best airport terminals in the world. Flyers can thank the airline JetBlue for providing new, modern services and really doing a good job offering a comfortable layover opportunity. It’s also been said that terminal 5 has the best airport food court in New York City.

What are your worst (or best) airport terminals to fly to?

Read more about these terminals see the full list at frommer.com.

Locations: France, New York, Russia / Categories: Aircraft, Buildings, Structures

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While it is hidden by the retractable roof on the satellite view, the new 45-degree imagery reveals what I personally think is the strangest possible thing to have in a sports stadium – a swimming pool!

Granted it seems to be more like a large hot-tub than a swimming pool, but for $100 per person you and 34 of your friends can splash about (or more accurately, crowd together) in probably the most unusual spectator spot in all of sports. It must be great on hot days, though during the worst of Arizona’s summer weather the retractable roof is closed and the massive air conditioning system is turned on.

While Phoenix’s pool is currently unique in the major leagues, a second stadium pool will be available next year when the Florida Marlins move into the new Miami Ballpark¹, seen under construction in Google’s images.

However, in this new stadium the pool may not be the most bizarre aspect. There are plans to have two massive aquariums, totalling over 17m in length, behind home plate!

This new ballpark will give a total of four stadiums with retractable roofs in the National League. Another is in Houston, where thankfully the roof is shown open and we can see the grounds crew mowing the grass.

The Astros’ ballpark is also built on the site of a former train station and is named for juice manufacturer Minute Maid. Tying these two facts together, a large model train – with a car full of oranges – runs along the stadium wall whenever a home run is scored and whenever the Astros win a game.

The final retractable roof is at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

While Google shows the roof open, we’re unfortunately not able to see the slide used by the team mascot after each home run, so take a look at it in this YouTube video. Sponsored by a local theme park, this new slide is perhaps more friendly than the one at the team’s old stadium where the mascot – who is still named Bernie Brewer – slid into a giant beer mug!

One of the more feature-laden parks in the National League is the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati².

At the entrance to the stadium is a large limestone carving called The Spirit of Baseball.

On the north side of the stands is The Gap – an open section allowing views of the city’s downtown. On the south side a pair of smokestacks commemorate the paddle steamboats which used to ply the Ohio River which runs beside the stadium³. Nearby is a Toyota truck on top of an elevator shaft. This can be won by a fan if a home run ball happens to hit a sign between the smokestacks, though I’ve not been able to discover if that has ever happened yet.

Google’s new 45-degree imagery gives us great views of ballparks in some cities, including San Francisco, where certain rotations show the stands full and a game in progress!

Along the left-field wall we can see the 24m long Coke bottle, giant mitt and miniature ballpark that make up this stadium’s family zone. And we can see kayakers in San Francisco Bay, hoping to be able to scoop up home run balls that occasionally leave the stadium!

Further south in California, the San Diego Padres play at Petco Field, where the notable feature is a century-old warehouse that was originally intended for demolition, but was restored and incorproated into the design. The Western Metal Building now houses team offices and luxury suites and the corner of the building is coloured yellow to act as the left field foul pole.

To the north of the stadium is “The Park at the Park” – accessible to the community for most of the year, and for which very cheap tickets are sold on game days.

Another stadium with a giant Coke bottle is Turner Field in Atlanta. It’s too bad that we can’t see the other huge advertising icon – a robotic cow (YouTube video) which does the ‘tomahawk chop’ motion used by the Braves’ fans.

In Pittsburgh, the Pirates honour some of their most famous players with statues outside the stadium: Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Honus Wagner. A fourth, for Bill Mazeroski, has been added near the south-west corner of the stadium but the Street View car visited before it was constructed.

Google’s satellite images caught the buzz of game day at a couple of stadiums:

In Philadelphia, at Citizens Bank Park, we find batting practice underway and the stands filling up while crowds of people head in to the stadium. Meanwhile, others are still in full tailgate mode in the busy parking lots.

Meanwhile in Washington it appears as though the game may be just getting underway with the stands partly full and lines of people still at the gates on the north side of the stadium.

Some notes about the other National League stadiums:

Coors Field in Denver has the highest elevation of any ballpark, with a row of seats near the top of the stands supposedly indicating the ‘mile high’ level – the nickname often used for this city. I think the row of purple seats can just about be made out in this image.

In New York, the Mets play at Citi Field and honour their home town with a ‘Big Apple‘ which lights up for every home run.

The Chicago Cubs play at historic Wrigley field, where we see batting practice in progress.

In St Louis, the 45-degree imagery shows a lot of activity at Busch Stadium. However, the field is not setup for a game, and there are crowds of people around the perimeter and the dugouts, so it may have just been tour groups visiting, or an open house.

While in Los Angeles, we can see Dodger Stadium both with and without grass.

Every stadium can be explored in more detail in the appropriate team’s section on the MLB site, and Wikipedia has good information as well.

Locations: Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin / Categories: Buildings, Crowds, Large Type, Stadiums and Sport, Street Views, Structures

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There are many types of radio beacons that are still in use today, but the majority are called VHF omnidirectional radio range or VORs. There are VOR stations all around the world, and given how widespread they are, you may well have passed one by without realising. The most common shape of the ground station resembles something of a bowling pin on a circular building. Pilots use the signal which is broadcast from these towers to fly to and from stations, therefore navigating across the sky.

© Copyright ZabMilenko and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Most beacons are located either at the airport, or placed out in far-away regions to avoid any interference on the signal. Some examples of these remote beacons include the Mitbee VOR in Oklahoma and the McComb VOR in Mississippi.

Take a look at the Babylon NDB (Non-directional beacon) on Long Island near New York. This beacon is situated right in the middle of a densely packed neighbourhood, and since it is only used as a directional beacon and not an omnidirectional range, it doesn’t have the classic bowling pin shape like the VORs. Due to the congestion around this beacon the FAA has declared its signal unusable beyond 15 nautical miles, which isn’t very far at all from a pilot’s point of view.

It’s not unusual to find beacons in very remote and rugged areas of the west of the US as well. Remember, some of the aeroplanes flying over these sparsely populated areas still need beacons to navigate, and thanks to this we see some interesting locations for these VORs. Out in the barren desert we can find beacons like the Sod House VOR in Nevada and the Peach Springs VOR in Arizona.

If you start looking deep in the mountains however, beacons like the Salmon VOR in Idaho and the Red Table VOR in Colorado (which is almost completely buried under the snow!) can be found. Notice how the Red Table VOR is painted in dark colours to contrast with the snow.

Pilots use these different types of beacons to navigate across the sky when they can’t see the ground. For example, let’s say we were going to pilot an aeroplane from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Orlando, Florida. If we chose to use radio beacons for navigation, we could depart to the north using Fort Lauderdale’s own VOR as an initial direction (flying away from it), then switch over and fly towards the Palm Beach VOR as our initial waypoint.

After we cross over the Palm Beach VOR, a slight turn to the west and radio beacon frequency change would allow us to lock onto the Vero Beach VOR, then another shallow west turn and switch would take us directly to the Orlando VOR. During this entire flight, we would not need to see the ground at all (until we land anyway) just as long as we have functioning navigation equipment in the cockpit.

Aviation beacons are all around us, but the reality is that radio navigation is quickly becoming a thing of the past. With technological advances like GPS navigation, existing radio beacons are more commonly being used as a waypoints rather than actual navigation aids. For more information on aircraft instrument navigation, be sure to check out Wikipedia. If you would like to try and fly to a VOR yourself, try this free web based simulator.

Thanks to Runway Finder for helping me locate some of the above beacons.

Locations: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma / Categories: Aircraft

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The original rail line has a long and fascinating history – built in the 1930s to remove rail traffic from the streets, its use declined and was finally closed in 1980, after which it was slowly dismantled by landowners.

When plans were made to remove the remaining sections of the line in the late 1990s, the “Friends of the High Line” community group was founded by Joshua David and Robert Hammond to preserve what remained, which eventually led to the construction of the park.

At Gansevoort Plaza and Stair, Street View has captured construction work underway, and the map shows the completed park.

Over the years, buildings were built around the High Line, so the park now goes through and sometimes under buildings, like the Standard Hotel and the Chelsea Market

The Tenth Avenue Square must one of the highlights of the whole project. The elevated square crosses 10th Avenue and 17th Street, by cutting into the deck structure, steps and ramps give visitors views of the the intersection below through a full height window.

© Copyright Joe Shlabotnik and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

The park is divided in different sections, each planted with different species that grew on the tracks during its years of abandonment. The photos below show the Chelsea grasslands, the Chelsea Thicket and the lawn.

The end of the park at 30th Street has another unique feature where the deck structure has been removed and partially replaced with a glass floor, the remainder left open to expose the street below and structural frame of the high line.

The last part of the high line is the Hudson yards area and at the moment its future is still unknown. The Friends of the High Line are trying to preserve the remaining section and continue the park around the rail yard, but at the moment it’s all subject to redevelopment plans, and its future remains undecided.

Read more about about the high line at National Geographic or view their photos. Watch Robert Hammond give a presentation at Ted about building a park in the sky.

Locations: New York / Categories: Abandoned, Bridges, Buildings, Street Views, Structures

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Whether they’re big or small, year-round or just for a weekend, carnivals and fairs draw in people of all ages. Some fairs are positively massive, such as the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, which takes place every August.

Many carnivals are small, travelling affairs, setting up in local parking lots or neighborhood parks for a two or three-day shot before moving on. Put it in a really small town, and it can shut whole parts of a town down for a day or two, as we see here in remote Snow Lake, Manitoba, where the main street has been completely taken over by the fair.

Carnival attractions are a popular feature along tourist boardwalks, such as the Santa Monica Pier in California. The Street View trike made its way down the pier to catch many of the sights of Pacific Park, the oceanfront amusement park located right on the pier.

Here, we get a great close-up look at some classic carny games like the ring toss, balloons and darts and the ever-infamous milk bottles. Here are some tips for you marks out there: the rings don’t fit the bottles, the balloons are underinflated, the darts are dull, and one of the bottles is often weighted down. Ha, ha, we’ve ruined the carnival industry forever!¹

A good carnival is built around rides. Of course, the ferris wheel and the bumper cars are standard attractions, like the ones at this beachfront resort in Eforie Nord, Romania, which looks pretty solid.

But then there are the sketchier carnivals, where the rusty rides may be covered in knock-off Disney and Looney Tunes characters, or showing far too much rust, or just look underwhelming. Take, for example, the world’s lamest karting track. Or this unenclosed spin-‘til-you-vomit ride. Or this delightfully rickety dragon boat. Alto, indeed.

Alas, all good things must come to end, and eventually after years of use and abuse every carnival ride is sent to the junkpile. Sometimes, they don’t even get that. Just look at this string of old rides left to rot in a Mexico City alleyway.

Oh, Daisy Duck, we feel your pain.

Locations: California, Manitoba, Mexico, New York, Ontario, Romania, Texas / Categories: Crowds, Street Views, Theme Parks

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