Online Event
Members & Partners
Non-Members
FREE or by DONATION
FREE or by DONATION
Date:
Dec 03, 2026 - Dec 17, 2026
Time:
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
All registration fees help support our 501c3 nonprofit organization. You can call (415) 495-0349 or write us to register or get more information.
Upcoming Events
- California State Historic Building Code: Practical Tools for Preservation, Safety, & Adaptive Reuse
Nov 05, 2026 - Nov 12, 2026 - Preservation in Print - Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley Movie Theatres Event
Nov 17, 2026 - Treasure Island: The Origin and Legacy of its Splendid Survivors
Nov 18, 2026 - Remarkable Roadsides: A Three-Part Series on Travel, Kitsch, and Culture
Dec 03, 2026 - Dec 17, 2026 - Mapping California: Explore the Archives of the State Library's Collection
Jan 14, 2027
Continuing Education
We are an approved provider for AIA and AICP. Paid programs are submitted for CEUs with AIA and AICP. We also qualify for Certified Local Government (CLG) training. Appropriate continuing education categories (if any) are listed below.
Register for this Event
Remarkable Roadsides: A Three-Part Series on Travel, Kitsch, and Culture
Full Series
Image Credits:
Roy’s Motel and Café neon sign — James Marvin Phelps; Paul Bunyan and Babe at Trees of Mystery — Clinton Steeds; Poconos heart-shaped tub — Jon Haeber; Madonna Inn sign — Jessica Wilson
Thursdays from December 3 to December 17, 2026 | Free Online Lunchtime Explorations
Take a holiday detour into an America where the signs glow brighter, the motel rooms defy imagination, and every roadside stop has a story. Remarkable Roadsides, the California Preservation Foundation’s free, three-part online year-end series, brings together a cast of Roadside America Aficionados for a spirited journey through Americana travel attractions, fantasy hotels, and California holiday nostalgia. From giant landmarks and heart-shaped tubs to Christmases captured in Kodachrome, we’ll explore how places once dismissed as kitsch became cherished expressions of creativity, community, and cultural identity—and why they deserve a place in preservation’s big tent. Pack your curiosity and join us for three lunchtime escapes celebrating the unexpected places that make travel memorable.
All programs below are FREE and open to the public, including:
- Part 1: Special Surprise Topic - Coming Soon | Tues, December 3, 2026 | 12 - 1 PM
- Part 2: The Great American Retro Road Trip | Thurs, December 10, 2026 | 12 - 1 PM
- Part 3: Route 66 at 100: A Conversation with Filmmaker John Paget | Tues, December 17, 2026 | 12 - 1 PM
This program also highlights our annual silent auction!
- Win Big! Bid on related food, drink, and fun experiences at our sixth annual Awesome Auction where dozens of items will be available for you to win (bidding ends on December 19th)
- Feeling lucky? Donate, upgrade your membership, or join CPF to receive raffle tickets for our highlighted signature items.
- Celebrate Tradition. Be part of the fun. Follow us on our social channels (Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn) to receive special virtual ‘gifts’ each day.
Part 1: Special Surprise Topic (Coming Soon) | Tues, December 3, 2026 | 12 - 1 PM
Scheduled, December 3nd at lunch, Free Online | Format: Free online lunchtime talk (Zoom)
We are confirming with speakers right now, but hope to reveal the topic soon! Keep an eye out on this page for the updated program speakers and topic.
Part 2: The Great American Retro Road Trip | Thurs, December 10th, 2026 | 12 - 1 PM
Scheduled, Thursday December 10th at lunch, Free Online
What makes a building impossible to drive past? Join author and journalist Rolando Pujol for a colorful journey through the signs, structures, attractions, and eccentric businesses that transformed the American highway into a landscape of discovery. Drawing from his book The Great American Retro Road Trip, Pujol explores giant roadside objects, dazzling neon, vintage motels, coffee shops, gas stations, early fast-food architecture, and the increasingly rare places where a building itself became an advertisement.
Along the way, he considers why these seemingly ordinary or even outlandish places matter. Roadside businesses can become community landmarks, repositories of local memory, and surprisingly revealing records of changing tastes, technologies, and patterns of travel. Pujol will also discuss his work documenting endangered roadside places through photography and storytelling—and why curiosity may be one of our best tools for recognizing cultural heritage before it disappears.
Presented by...
Rolando Pujol is a journalist, author, photographer, and creator of The Retrologist, a long-running project documenting the architecture, signs, businesses, and stories of the American roadside. He is the author of The Great American Retro Road Trip: A Celebration of Roadside Americana, published by Artisan in 2025. Over three decades, Pujol has worked in New York newspaper and television newsrooms and currently serves as executive producer of digital content, innovation, and strategy at WABC-TV. His television work has received Emmy, Edward R. Murrow, Sigma Delta Chi, and Deadline Club honors.
Part 3: Route 66 at 100: A Conversation with Filmmaker John Paget | Tues, December 17, 2026 | 12 - 1 PM
December 17, 2026 · Special guest John Paget
One legendary road. A century of stories.
Celebrate Route 66’s 100th anniversary with filmmaker John Paget, our special guest for the closing program of Remarkable Roadsides. His documentary, Route 66: The Main Street of America , follows the people and places shaping the Mother Road’s next century—from beloved roadside landmarks to communities finding new purpose through preservation and reinvention. Join us for a brief excerpt screening, followed by a conversation and live audience Q&A with John. We’ll explore how film captures the character of historic places, what Route 66 reveals about American travel and culture, and how the people caring for its motels, diners, theaters, and filling stations are keeping its stories alive. Bring your questions for a special opportunity to hear directly from the filmmaker about documenting this extraordinary highway and the people who continue to give it meaning.Program format: A brief film excerpt, filmmaker conversation, and Q&A. This event does not include a screening of the full documentary.
Official promotional artwork for Route 66: The Main Street of America.
Watch the official trailer
Open the trailer on YouTube“Route 66 has always been about more than pavement—it’s about people.” — John Paget, director of Route 66: The Main Street of America
John Paget on Route 66 in Arizona. Image supplied in the film’s promotional materials.
Meet our special guest
John Paget
John Paget is a documentary filmmaker whose work on Route 66 spans more than three decades. His films include Route 66: An American Odyssey and Route 66: Return to the Road with Martin Milner. For Route 66: The Main Street of America, he returns to the highway to explore the people sustaining its communities and giving its landmarks new life. The film is an Official Project of the U.S. Route 66 Centennial Commission. More about John and the documentaryNovember 16th to December 18th | Annual Awesome Holiday Auction - Benefits CPF Programs
Bid on items to support CPF while winning awesome, architecture- and California-inspired auction items. Special stays and trips, event tickets, books from our book club program, rare prints, and other unique items. Don't miss it! Bidding will open Tuesday, November 16th and ends on Thursday, December 17th at 8 PM. Keep your eyes peeled for future additions and updates!