Charlotte's Literary Park

Across the street from the Charlotte (NC) Convention Center, site of the recent INFORMS conference, is a small park/shopping area that I think is known as "The Green". It contains a bit of statuary and some rather amusing "street signs" that I thought were worth remembering. In no particular order (and demonstrating no photographic skill whatsoever), here are some shots I snapped with my tablet's camera.

These two sculptures flank the entrance to the park:

(Sorry about the largely illegible engraving; the sun deserted me in my hour of need.) Toward the middle of the park, we have this somewhat curious choice:

I'm not sure what (if anything) they have to do with literature, and I could swear they were extras in an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (a major contributor to my aversion to fish in restaurants).

Now for the lamp posts:

There was one other signpost, which I did not shoot because no angle did it justice. It had a half dozen or so signs pointing to other cities and towns named "Charlotte" (including Michigan's Charlotte, mispronounced "shar-LOT" by the locals). I have to wonder whether having a sign already devoted to the name "Charlotte" is why Charlotte Bronte did not earn a lamp post. (Alternate theories: Texas has the only town named "Bronte" in the U.S.; or Emily's shade bribed someone to one-up her sister.)