As all we know, 2024 is ending and, with it, our nominations for this year too. Personally, it has been an amazing year for me in so many aspects, and I expect the same for you all too. I don’t know a better way to close this year than this one:
I would love to ask you all to share your most favourite wayspot submitted this year. You can explain what it is about, the story behind the submission, why it is your favourite one, etc. I know the most difficult part is to choose just one between all the ones submitted, but I know you can!
My most favourite nomination from this year is “Las Meninas”, the most famous Spanish painting from all time. Apart of being a very interesting wayspot, I love the story behind it. It was submitted during the GO Fest’s days in Madrid, where I was able to meet for the very first time a bunch of my new fellow Ambassadors. During the weeks before the GO Fest started we were planning several stuff, apart of places to go to visit. I had this wayspot pending for long time ago and it was a very good excuse to go to nominate it. We joked a lot about how we were going to do it to take a picture as is a little bit restricted to take pictures. We made silly jokes as faking heart-attacks, discussions inside the museum, etc. After all, we made it to take a picture and, surprisingly, it made it for all games! (talking about Ingress and Pokémon GO, I don’t really know about the rest).
This wayspot represents what GO Fest time was for me and what I expect is going to be the next one. With all this, I’ll be reading all your comments. I expect you have a very good holidays, Christmas or whatever you celebrate! I’ll see you the next year!
I found out this park existed when I got a misplaced nomination for a dog park there to review that was stacked all in the same spot with a couple of other Wayspots. I love this functional art that was designed in consultation with teens about what they would want in a park. I was able to get the dog park correctly located with a new photo, too.
This is mine. One of the very first lifts in Europe, dated back from 1888. Found this one during a random Tiktok scroll and I absolutely had to nominate it!
It’s an absolute hidden gem, as you have to go inside a specific store and go up to the 4th floor to find this one.
I had it for several months on my “to nominate” list and I was finally able to a few days ago
Now this is a pergola!
It has taken 24 patient years to reach this filled in state. It was a hot day and this provided some welcome shade.
I didn’t go looking for this I was just walk-in oIn enjoying the garden. Sometimes it’s the things you find when you are not looking that are great little finds.
It’s history that I never knew about, and I happened to find it by chance. It was installed 4 years ago, hence the 2020 on it, and yet it there it was, without a Wayspot.
My most favorite nominations are always those that take me on a journey of discovery. There’s one from this past year that especially stands out. It’s an artwork on the roof of the local artist cooperative. I went to the dedication ceremony for this artwork that took place in the neighborhood located on the top of the hill overlooking the building. I’ve never been to this neighborhood, which is predominantly African American in a very white Midwestern city. At the ceremony, held outdoors on a sweltering August evening, I felt slightly uncomfortable, out of place, as if I was intruding even. But I’ve learned so much, from the history of this neighborhood (which was thriving until mid 1950s, when it was hit hard by the urban growth) to some of the traditions of the people around me. I was glad that this artwork encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and helped me discover something new about the local community.
That morning I was hanging out with a friend, and he was showing me around where he works and all of the artworks there. I don’t understand why he didn’t nominate all the artworks himself, he knows how to do Wayfarer, but I got so many souvenir keys so who am I to complain.
“Delivering Miracles” is my most favorite because, well, it’s just a cool sculpture. We walked around to different floor levels to try to see which angle would be the best to take a photo, and this is what I settled on. It doesn’t really capture quite the awe of seeing this sculpture in-person.
Hard to pick just one so…I watched two murals get added to a building I pass frequently on my commute to work and managed to find out who the artists were to add to the descriptions.
I had a really hard time picking, but I think I may go with the Fifinella statue at the Women’s Air Service Pilots Museum in Sweetwater Texas. It’s such a neat part of history, and a symbol with quite the backstory of its own before it even came to represent the American Women who flew for our country in WWII.
The last favorite is a pretty funny mural I found in a restaurant in Las Cruces, and I found a pavilion in the town square in Las Cruces New Mexico that is also named for this gentleman and his achievement.
As @Trollfarer already stated, way to hard to stick to one favorite…
But, I guess my personal favorite wayspot nominations is different kind of arts, and with a special eye for murals that some street art artists are contributing to this world.
”The bird” is most likely getting my personal vote.
When I found this climbing wall at a public playground I nominated the yellow bird first, which got approved within 12hours so the day after I added the blue bird as well
The yellow fellow is an European Robin (Erithacus rubecula).
And the blue one is a Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
I’m gonna cheat because technically I made this nomination on December 31st, but what difference is a few hours between friends? It did get accepted this year.
I made this nomination in Tennessee visiting my sister, after years of reviewing and seeing people talk about Firehouse Subs, I got excited when we drove past one that I immediately loaded up the Intel Map to discover it wasn’t yet a Waypoint. I started plotting how I would get back there within just the few days Id be there in Tennessee. With only a few eyerolls from my family I was able to make my way to it when we were having a family dinner half a mile away. With a 45 minutie wait time, i was determined to trek my way down in the 35°F (way too cold for this SoCal native)… luckily I didn’t have to, my fam not only dropped me off, but turned back around to pick me up when i called them that I was done just 1 minute later.
I love this trail sign from Alstonefield. A POI desert when I first visited. And now a hub of POIs post my second visit. I know there are a lot of trail markers - I just like this as different. And an area that is home to the family.
From Lambourn. Getting this past Emily surprised me - with the green lichen/algal growth on the pale stone, against a green leafy background onto the old green graveyard behind. It dates prior to 1820 and is heraldic shield featuring "Sable three pierced molets between two bends). It is also close to where I first lived in the UK post living abroad.
This. Well lets just say. Getting a POI accepted at Avebury was totes mazeballs. Sure it is not 4,000 year old like Avebury’s bronze age stones etc but I, I, got a POI at Avebury Circle. For me. Mic drop moment. Does it look great. Nope. It is just the location. I thought Avebury would have been done. As a kid. I used to sit on the stones (don’t do that today - it’s a no no)…
And then I got a load of POIs in London. This is one of my faves. Grand Entrance to Holland House in Holland Park. Why? Cause I never thought London could be such a happy POI hunting ground. Also when I lived in London yonks ago. I had to walk past here to work…
This is technically my first submission and my favorite one til this moment. It is a large panel, so large that I had to select a piece of it to take the picture or else it would be so wide it wouldn’t fit into the games. It was painted in my street right before the pandemic and is still rocking. I called it “Fantastic Flight Panel” and it was made by Familia Mais Amor (they have Instagram).
Is there a prize for Least Photogenic Favorite Accepted Nomination? If so, please contact me for delivery information so I can get my prize.
My favorite for 2024 was based on how much I enjoy visiting this spot, and how much I love The Legendary Rusty Stove (that’s the title I used). I worked hard to get this accepted! Sure, it’s kinda hideous. Sure, it’s Lightship-only. But still! On a few trips to this spot recently I was treated to the sounds of a pair of Barred Owls doing their caterwauling duet, so that enhanced my joy.
I would have to say this is the winner for this year. I always try to find something to submit in any town we go to with my family. And I found a bunch of just fantastic murals on an abandoned hotel complex.
