Buffalo Ghost Signs

I stayed overnight in Buffalo, New York after my trip to Niagara Falls.

There isn't a huge amount to do in Buffalo, but I did enjoy walking around and finding lots of ghost signs - a sign or painting kept on a building for longer than needed. Wikipedia helpfully says that "the signage may be kept for its nostalgic appeal, or simply indifference by the owner".

Though, on reflection, maybe some of these aren't Ghost Signs, and are still thriving businesses - much like the signs in my Words on Walls post.

Words on Walls

As a fan of graphic design and typography, I particularly love seeing words painted on walls, signs, billboards and elsewhere.

So much so that I started a Words on Walls Pinterest board to collect my favourites.

To me, typography on walls, signs etc is an equivalent to public art and sculpture. You can get a sense of a city or country through them.

There's something about words painted on brick or metal which strikes me as very American. I took these examples on my trip to New York and Chicago.

TransAmerica

When I was in America, I took a long train journey - 9 hours - from New York City all the way upstate to Niagara Falls. A few days later, I then took a Greyhound Bus from Buffalo, NY all the way to Chicago, a drive of 14 hours!

During both journeys, I looked out the window as America went passed. I had expected vast landscapes: forests of huge autumn trees, huge, wide open fields full of corn and maize, great lake vistas.

In truth, the road was miles in land from the lakes, and there really wasn't that many huge fields.

Instead, we passed through lots of sprawling landscapes; towns appeared, and stayed around in fits and starts. We rarely went through totally empty landscapes, but equally didn't go through huge cities or towns very much.

They were landscapes filled with nothing in particular.

I made these 7 videos along the way.

A video posted by Adrian (@acediscovery) on Oct 10, 2014 at 3:08pm PDT

---

A video posted by Adrian (@acediscovery) on Nov 11, 2014 at 12:02pm PST

---

A video posted by Adrian (@acediscovery) on Nov 11, 2014 at 12:07pm PST

---

A video posted by Adrian (@acediscovery) on Nov 11, 2014 at 12:14pm PST

---

A video posted by Adrian (@acediscovery) on Nov 11, 2014 at 12:19pm PST

---

A video posted by Adrian (@acediscovery) on Nov 11, 2014 at 12:23pm PST

---

A video posted by Adrian (@acediscovery) on Nov 11, 2014 at 12:27pm PST