This week it’s Amy’s turn to host the challenge. Her challenge is unique… no, really, it is Unique. She writes, “We hope you will join us and share your findings, such as the uniqueness of a plant, artwork, culture, architecture, scenery, or places you have visited.” You can read the entire challenge post here.

In Austin, Minnesota there is a museum that is dedicated to that much-maligned canned meat product called SPAM. Truth is, it’s a very popular product manufactured by Minnesota’s Hormel Foods Corporation. One of my favorite meals features diced SPAM, however, it’s a secret family recipe… but I digress. Anyway, the SPAM Museum tells the story of the product that first came off Hormel’s production line in 1937. The product has been sold in 41 countries on six continents, Monty Python’s comedic tribute to SPAM notwithstanding.

A bit of Americana can be found at Riverfront Park in Spokane, Washington. The Radio Flyer metal wagon was created by an Italian Immigrant. The all-metal version that is depicted by a giant sculpture in Riverfront Park was first produced in 1930 and sold by the thousands for $3 each during the Great Depression. The actual size of the sculpture can be gauged by the size of the adults and children in the image.

What’s so unique about this basketball court? Well, to start with, it’s tucked between hotel rooms on the third floor of the Graduate Hotel in Chapel Hill North Carolina. Secondly, the court is actually a carpet and those basketballs are covered in carpet as well. This hotel is a great place to stay for those insomniacs who feel the need to dunk a few basketballs in the middle of the night.

So this image may be unique now, but if the food service employee shortage continues, I expect robotic servers won’t be unique for much longer. When the waiter places an order, he or she notes the table location on the virtual ticket. When the order is complete the chef or assistant loads the dishes onto the robot and sends it out for delivery. The robot knows the map of the restaurant and stops as near as possible to the table. The waiter then delivers the dishes to the customers.

I’ve featured images of the Enchanted Highway in western North Dakota before, but that stretch of highway with sculpture stops along the way is certainly unique. The sculptures are all created using scrap metal. You can gauge their size by noting the fence in the background. Those fence posts are probably about 4 feet (1.2 m) tall.

As we traveled through Mobile Alabama we decided to visit the Gulfquest Maritime Museum, the only museum solely focused on the historical, cultural, and economic significance of the Gulf of Mexico. What I found most interesting and unique, though, is the cargo ship simulator inside the museum. The simulator is designed to train cargo ship personnel, but this installation allows museum visitors to spend ten minutes learning some basics of maneuvering giant cargo ships in the harbor. Or, like me, to choose to captain a smaller vessel with navigation assistance from the first mate. On that giant screen, we toured Mobile Bay as we sailed into the harbor, the first mate acting as our tour guide. No, I didn’t collide with either of the two giant cargo ships that passed us going outbound into the Gulf of Mexico.

For those who like to pixel-peep or note exposure details and other metadata, you’ll find 2K HD versions of these photos on my Flickr site here. A big thanks to Amy for this week’s challenge. Next week it’s Ann-Christine’s turn. If you’d like to join in the challenge each week and aren’t sure how to get started, check out this page.

John Steiner