Houses built from bottles. Room-sized loaves of bread. A redwood tree restroom. America had it all during the ’50s and ’60s, along with dinosaur parks, wacky food fests and museums celebrating atomic bombs and cypress knees. Join authentic Baby Boomer Kate Mellina for a tour of the mid-century’s oddest attractions.
$5 / 50 minutes

Kate Mellina is a Philadelphia Dumpster Diver, found-object artist, writer, activist, and deliverer of entertaining slide shows on everything from South Philly celebrities to wacky roadside attractions. She and Dave Christopher, her band-photographer husband, live in the heart of East Passyunk Avenue, across from the singing fountain, and share their love of local culture through their unlikely holiday windows (featuring life-sized portraits of their neighbors and local business owners, complete with babies and dogs) and “Unexpected Philadelphia”, their new website and blog. Kate and Dave recently moved from Asbury Park, NJ, where they owned the Cleopatra Steps Out Gallery, organized numerous benefits for local children, and helped lead the effort to build an arts district in the city’s then-abandoned downtown. A member of the 2001 Asbury Park city council that jump-started beachfront redevelopment, Kate is originally a St. Hubert’s homegirl from Northeast Philadelphia.

http://www.unexpectedphila.com/#!/index