The Tamiami Trail (US. 41 from Miami to Tampa) is rich in vintage treasures, such as the Flamingo Apartments, formerly known as the Flamingo Motel. Just outside Lake City, its cinderblock green and pink signage, first erected in the 1930s, changes selling points as the times change. Its present owner gave us a postcard showing how this sign appeared in the 1960s. Freshly painted in green and white, and bearing the image of a small white flamingo, it then advertised “electric heat, tubs, and showers.” Today’s sign shows far more wear and tear (the owner told us that several cars have run into it over the years), and while the tubs and showers are still features (even if lost in the weeds), the current emphasis is on “cable.” The boldly lettered “APT” on this sign, along with the well used couches gracing the porch in the background of this image, tell us that this establishment’s current marketing approach is apparently geared to long term, instead of daily, stays. I filled the frame of this image with greenery from edge to edge, abstracting half the sign in the process, and building meaning layer by layer. The worn green paint, the faded pink flamingo, and the ornamental arrangement of utilitarian cinder blocks combine to symbolize the essence of persistence itself: this place was built during the great depression, surviving decades of war, peace, boom, and bust – yet somehow it still manages to play a role in Lake City’s lodging business.