Drawn the Road Again

Category: City Mouse

  • Mile High City Hall

    Mile High City Hall

    This has always been my favorite building in Denver. When I lived in Colorado as a kid, and my family would visit the city, I always wanted Dad to drive the loop around the Civic Center. Then, as we passed on Bannock Street, I’d look out the window and crane my neck to watch the…

  • Heaven and Hells

    Heaven and Hells

    I never pass up a chance to visit my friends Sarah and Jesse. Not only are they some of my favorite people on the planet, but they also happen to live in one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Francisco: Dogpatch. (How could I not love a place where my friends live on the same…

  • Culture clash

    Culture clash

    You know, I stopped to sketch this guy (and suffered my least favorite sound in the world) because the bizarre combination of Scots and Salish is exactly the kind of melting-pot absurdity that I love. But then afterward, it occurred to me that if I had to pick just one sketch to sum up Victoria’s…

  • Head table

    Head table

    Well, I wouldn’t recommend this place to a vegan, but if you like Wild West kitsch (or you use antlers in all of your decorating), this is the place for you. The Buckhorn Exchange is the oldest restaurant in Denver: it holds liquor license number one! It has served dinner to both Teddy and Franklin…

  • Flour power

    Flour power

    I lived in the Twin Cities for a few years, and I used to pass under the Gold Medal Flour sign every day on my way to and from work. To me, the mill complex is as important a part of the Minneapolis skyline as the Foshay Tower or any of the modern skyscrapers. That’s…

  • Deerest love

    Deerest love

    The White Stag sign is the jewel in the Northwest’s neon crown. By day it frames patches of the Portland skyline; by night it’s a diamond-bright beacon of riotous flashing color. And in the holiday season, the stag masquerades as a certain reindeer we all know. I think this just might be my favorite thing…

  • Sea shanties

    Sea shanties

    Salmon Beach might just be the best-kept secret on Puget Sound. I’d been dying to do a sketch there, and I finally got my chance a few weeks ago. The entire area is private property, and only residents and their guests are allowed. But my friend Ethan lives there, so I asked if he’d be…

  • Banana split for my baby

    Banana split for my baby

    I got lucky with this place. I happened to glance at the New York Times a couple of days before we left for Philly to visit our friend Gilles, and stumbled upon a glowing review. When we got there, it was Gilles’ birthday and blazing hot outside: hello, ice cream parlor! And hello, best ice…

  • King of the (urban) jungle

    King of the (urban) jungle

    It’s hard to imagine that the Library Lions were ever unpopular (but they were—the public thought they were “squash-faced” and “mealy-mouthed” when they were unveiled over a century ago). I can’t think of a better symbol for the City. No matter how many times I’ve found myself in New York over the years, I always…