The Frosted States of America

My wife is obsessed with cookie cutters. We travel places and get them as souvenirs. A few years ago I decorated a cookie as a Vermont Foliage Map. Our friend's son Ezra just one upped me with this rendering of the entire lower 48 on a remarkably small US shaped cookie.

He even followed the rule about no same colored states touching-except for a last minute blunder at Vermont. You can nitpick about other geographical details but I doubt you can do better. Nice job Ezra!

Mapping the Italian Food Cliches

Here are a few Italian food maps I've been stockpiling. I guess I'm a little hungry and in the mood for Italian.

Prodotti Tipici Della Traditione Italiana:

Typical or perhaps stereotypical food by region:



There are various pasta maps out there - I like this one the most.

Spices:

Artist Antoine Corbineau's "Prodotti Traditionali Italiani" - he also has a similar wine map. I could do an entire post just on wine maps of Italy if I was inclined to do so.

And finally, a detail from the above map.

Weekend World Map of Condiments

It's another weekend - so enjoy your local condiment. This map is from Jeff Wysaski's Pleated Jeans site. South Salsa?

Maps in Unexpected Places-Savannah Part 2

As promised here is part 2 of the Savannah edition of Maps in Unexpected Places.
Vic's on the River is a restaurant in an old warehouse, that was used by General Sherman's officers as a planning space. The main dining room showcases a map drawn by Union soldiers in the Civil War detailing Sherman's march from Tennessee through Georgia. The map was discovered during a renovation drawn onto the wall. For protection, it is framed under glass. The romantic dining lighting is poor for photography but here are some pictures I attempted. I can't find any good images of this map online so these photos are the best I have. First, the explanatory text.

The northern part of the map shows Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, and the Georgia, Tennessee border region.

Lookout Mountain.

 

Some details a little further east. 

Oh and by the way, the food is excellent, too. Come for the map, stay for dinner.

Map of the Week-Tasty Wine Maps

I don't know much about wine. My keen sense of taste tells me that some wines are "better" than others. I do know that my local liquor store is decorated with some nice, colorful maps including this one.

This map is huge and takes a long time to download so I only show a section of it above. It is available online here (click the "Quality Wines map" link) if you want to wait for it. The store also has nice regional maps of France, but I could not find those online. However, I did find lots of other maps. Here is a nice general map of France for people like me who only know the most basic distinctions.


Those with a keener palette may want to dig into a detailed region such as the Loire.

If you're planning some wine tourism you might want a detailed map like the one below of Madera, California. I mainly included this map because it is, in my cartographic opinion, cute. You might get lost if you actually try to use this map as its accuracy seems to get lost in all the cuteness.

L'Chaim!

Map of the Week-Dining in Gallup

Before Interstate 40, there was Route 66. Before Route 66 was the Atchsion, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Before Denny's there was Fred Harvey and the Harvey Houses, the world's first restaurant chain. Fred Harvey was an entrepreneur who opened restaurants in depots along the ATSF line under a contract from the railroad company. Many of these restaurants evolved into hotels.
When trains began to include dining cars Fred got the contracts to run those also. Eventually the company moved into airports, bus and ferry terminals and highway rest areas before being sold off. Most of the Harvey Hotels have been demolished, victims of the highway age.


This postcard mapped the Fred Harvey empire at an unspecified time period. The card includes mileages between cities and the motto "3000 Miles of Hospitality from Cleveland to the Coast." Thanks to Card Cow for the image.

Map of the Week #104-The West Virginia Slaw Mapping Project

For those of you wondering where to go in West Virginia for a good coleslaw topped hot dog here is your map! The Slaw Mapping Project shows the diversity of the state's slaw preferences from the central areas where of course you get the slaw to those red, outlying counties where they may give you strange looks and ask "you mean coleslaw?" For even more info check out the West Virginia Hot Dog Blog.


Of course I couldn't resist this anatomy photo - it's almost like a map!

Map of the Week #98 - The Vermont Foliage Cookie

My wife bought a Vermont shaped cookie cutter and as we were making Halloween cookies last night I tried to color mine along the lines of the foliage maps that we had seen in the newspapers up there a few weeks ago. While it did not match the state's tourism web site animation very well, it did come somewhat close to the September 25th foliage map on the bottom right. In fact it was close enough that Amy was able to guess what the map was showing on the first try.

Map of the Week #93 - City Plates

The Rios Celementi Hale Studios have designed map dinner plates for eight cities - Los Angeles, Shanghai, Cairo, Berlin, Las Vegas, Dubai, New Orleans, Washington DC - and the list is growing. In their own words these cities were "chosen by our notNeutral design team for their reputations as gateways, and for the way each is dealing with the effects of agglomeration as its population begins to reach critical mass. These porcelain plates measure 12” across, with each city’s downtown core printed on a black background. Key buildings are represented with orange icons, while rivers and public spaces are shown in blue and green."

MOTW #89

National Geographic has this interactive map of selected US local foods - the type that you can only find in a very small area. Click on the place and the recipe comes up - albeit slowly. I know you're craving the Livermush right about now!
Quick vent - National Geographic of all organizations ought to be able to locate Buffalo properly.
People are going to show up in Rochester looking for Beef on Weck and leave in tears!

MOTW #46

This map was done as part of a study of food choices around University City High School in Philadelphia. The map lets you choose categories of food and recreational opportunities in an attempt to advocate for better opportunities to make healthy choices in an inner city neighborhood.