World Famous VIP Records sign will have new home at city park to be named in its honor
Kelvin Anderson and rap artist Domino pose in front of the World Famous VIP Records sign before it was removed from the roof of the building that once housed the store. Photo by Tromaine Ellis.
From the Long Beach Post: The World Famous VIP Records sign will soon return to the public eye, following approval by the Long Beach, CA, City Council to refurbish and reinstall it at a small park planned to be named for the historic landmark.
Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to spend up to $235,00 to repair the sign, which has deteriorated since it was put in storage in 2018.
Before then, the sign had been a bucket-list destination for hip-hop and rap fans. But when VIP Records was forced to move, the sign was removed from the shop’s original Pacific Coast Highway location — now a 7-Eleven.
Our Favorite Roadside Attractions
Flickr/soupstance
From Hagerty: The best roadside attraction has a way of interrupting that “yes, you can hold it a little longer” intensity and tapping into some childlike wonder. Who cares if it’s a tourist trap—you best believe we’re stopping to look closer at a 49-foot-tall, cartoonish statue of Paul Bunyan, or a giant blue whale with a waterslide in it, or a bunch of cars half-buried in the ground and covered in spray paint. Did someone say dinosaur statue? Turn the car around! And if there’s a bumper sticker, we’re absolutely getting one, because the best roadside attractions make for great stories. Read ours below, and add yours in the comments!
This iconic Bay Area Taco Bell, one of the last of its kind, to close after almost 60 years
Taco Bell in Lafayette, Calif. to close after almost 60 years.
From KTVU: LAFAYETTE, Calf. – After more than 50 years, an East Bay Taco Bell, housed in what’s believed to be one of the chain’s last original mission-style buildings, is closing this week.
KTVU has learned the Taco Bell in Lafayette, on Mount Diablo Boulevard, will open for its last day on Tuesday.
Word of the impending closure has been circulating on social media, prompting many old-time customers to stop by for a photo with the iconic building as a backdrop or to order one last Soft Taco or Burrito Supreme.
Iconic Sycamore Drive-In Restaurant in Bethel will reopen, property owner says
The Sycamore Drive-In Restaurant, 282 Greenwood Ave, Bethel. The restaurant will be reopening with a new owner. Carol Kaliff
From the newstimes: BETHEL, CT — The Sycamore Drive-In Restaurant, an 80-year-old landmark in Bethel, will be re-opened with a new owner at the business’s helm, the property’s owner said Tuesday.
The name of the restaurant will stay the same and so will some of its menu items, said Bethel resident Julio Grosso, who owns the 282 Greenwood Ave. property that the restaurant sits on with his brother, Rocco Grosso, and their mother, Theresa Rotella, of Bethel.
Denver’s historic neon signs are in danger. And these are the people trying to save them.
Glen Weseloh, owner Morry’s Neon Signs, works on repairing a sign at his shop in Denver on Dec. 23, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
From The Denver Post: As far as Todd Matuszewicz sees it, looking at the neon sign outside of the Riviera Motel on East Colfax Avenue is about as close to heaven as a person can get.
When Matuszewicz looks at the historic sign in Aurora, he sees a soft blue glow that spells out “Riviera” in a flowing script with the word “Motel” in blue block letters below. An orange triangle resembling an airplane wing juts upward, punctuating “Riviera” and offering space-age vibes to those who drive by. The sign, he said, is unique because of the man who designed it, its construction from larger glass tubes that create a bigger glow, and the history it — and the Riviera — represent in metro Denver.
It’s hard for Matuszewicz, an old neon tube bender with a newly minted master’s degree in historic preservation, to pick a favorite. But the Riviera just might be it.