Fountain of Youth, St. Augustine, Florida

This particular postcard was sent in 1936! The postmark encourages the purchase of Savings Bonds.

The sender tells their friend that they stopped here to have a drink.

Theodore Roosevelt assasination attempt in Milwaukee Wisconsin

In October of 1912, a man named John Schrank tried to assassinate Theodore Roosevelt in Milwaukee.

In the lobby of the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee, close to where the event occurred, there is a very nice display about this moment in history. 

I took some photos of the display while I was in town.

Old City Gates, St. Augustine, Florida

All that now remains of the wall which together with the moat once protected the city on the north. Built by the Spaniards in 1743. Rebuilt in 1804.

Cheeky Monkey- Portland Michigan

I have a new theory about towns named Portland.  If you are traveling and you see a town with that name, you should stop- its going to be a cool place.

I reconfirmed this theory in Portland Michigan.  We were driving less than an hour south of Grand Rapids and we noticed a sign for the "Cheeky Monkeys" coffee shop.

A town named Portland WITH a coffee shop called the Cheeky Monkeys- we would have no excuse if we drove on by!

 We drove maybe a mile or so off the exit, and we found this very cozy coffee shop in a beautiful downtown area.

The inside was roomy and warm on a cold day- the perfect setting for such a perfect coffee shop.

These guys were making up fresh pastries while we were there.  We decided to pick a few up for now....  AND a few to enjoy later down the road on our trip.

We walked out with a couple of bags of goodies, and paid pocket change for our food and two cups of coffee.  When they rang us up, we thought they were kidding.  Had they forgotten some of our purchases?

They had not.  Our total was around $10.  They could have told us our total was $20 and we would have still felt like we had gotten a good value.

You know I love coffee and cool, one of a kind coffee shops with a lot of heart.  Well, the Cheeky Monkeys gets the highest rating and recommendation from Kentucky Travels.  The place is perfect.  Chain coffee shops can't replicate this.

The staff was super friendly too and we chatted with them for a long time.  I can't wait to stop by the Cheekys Monkey again!


http://www.cheekymonkeysportland.com/

Vinoy Park Hotel, St. Petersburg, Florida

Mount St. Helens

This postcard is undated, and it is a bit more modern than the postcard photos I usually like to put on the blog, but I like this one a lot.

If you are familiar with this volcano, you KNOW that the photo is from sometime before May of 1982!

Mount St. Helens- Washington

I thought today would be an appropriate day to mention two legends associated with the anniversary of Mount St. Helens erupting.

Robert Landsburg took photos of the event.  He was close to the action, and must have realized that he was about to be over taken by the cloud of ash.  Knowing that he would not make it, but that his photos would be very important, he did what he could do to secure his camera.  Check out these links-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Landsberg#cite_ref-natgeo_1-0

http://www.petapixel.com/2011/09/07/photographer-died-protecting-his-film-during-the-1980-mt-st-helens-eruption/

David A. Johnston was observing the eruption and famously reported it immediately before his death.  When I visited the volcano myself some time ago, I saw a film at Johnston Ridge Observatory.  The film closed with his famous last words, "Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!"  The film screen then pulled back to show the actual volcano.  It was very dramatic.

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/CVO_Info/david_johnston.html

St. Augustine, FL Pelican

A pelican is shown on this postcard from St. Augustine sent to a friend in 1935!

Wisconsin Dells Antique Mall

The Wisconsin Dells Antique Mall is amazing!  They get an A+ from me as far as antique malls go.  The place is an antique shoppers fantasy.

I know of a lot of antique malls where there might be a few booths wort stopping at, but there are mostly junk filled sections.  That is not the case here!  The mall is very clean, and there are some reasonably priced high end items!

I can cover most antique malls pretty quickly.  Not this one.  I had to stop and carefully exam each booth.  There were some finds.

My wife went to the craft mall next door- which she said was amazing too!  I wanted to make it over there, but I ran out of time at the antique mall.

I went over my spending budget for the day while I was here (I could have gone a lot more over budget easily).

When I got back home to Kentucky, I realized that I passed up a gorgeous Milwaukee Braves baseball button, and I was regretting it!

We called the good people at the Mall, and they were able to ship it to me!  Classy!

Make sure you stop here if you make it to the Wisconsin Dells!

http://www.wisconsindellsantiquemall.com/

An Old Landmark of St. Augustine Florida

Bridge of Lions, St. Augustine, Florida



House of Flavors- Ludington and Manistee Michigan

http://www.houseofflavors.com/

We felt very lucky to have stumbled on to this old legend establishment in  in Michigan.  The food was great, and the vibe was authentically retro.

If you are in Ludington or Manistee you must stop here!  They serve ice cream with every meal!  Oh yeah!

The food was good AND it was a good value.  I had the huge wrap and potato salad.

Check out the photos.  We were all very happy with our meals.

The House of Flavor was decorated with cool old photos, and old toys were displayed in cases.   The walls on the inside of the restaurant were wallpapered with blown up photos of the restaurant and employees from decades earlier.  Very cool.

Miami Beach Florida

World's Largest Bandshell and Open-Air Theater, Fla

The back reads-

The majestic structure, built of beautiful coquina shell-rock, towers the Atlantic Ocean, the world's most famous beach, and borders the concrete boardwalk.
It stands at the head of the Beach Course on which all straightaway auto speed records were established from the dawn of the Automotive Era until 1937.
Late model sound devices are used for staging and broadcasting musical, dramatic, and other entertaining programs during both winter and summer seasons.

Winter Bathing at Palm Beach Florida

As delightful in January as in June, due to the warm Gulf Stream curving close to shore here, mid-winter surf bathing is daily enjoyed by thousands on the most delightful sand beach where the easy rolling waves break shoreward.

Random Thoughts On Friday

Wow, there is something in the air.  It has been an odd week.

If you have read this blog for some time (hi Mom!) you know that I spent a lot of time in Cleveland Ohio.  In fact, I lived there for almost a decade.  I have a love/hate relationship with the area.  I think of Cleveland like I think of an old friend that really screwed me over at some point.  There are lots of fun memories, but I still hold a grudge.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great things going on up there.  If you go there for a weekend, you can have a lot of fun.  But, unlike many other cities that I love and enjoy visiting often, I LIVED in Cleveland for a long stretch.  I went to fun concerts, sporting events, etc., but I also dealt with some rough moments while I was there.  Frankly, I have personal issues with the place.

Also, I KNOW Cleveland inside and out.  I think I probably know every neighborhood not only in Cleveland, but also in Akron and other areas in that northern Ohio area.  East Side, West Side, I know it all.

But, again, comparing the city to an old friend, I feel its pain when it is in pain.  I feel sad for it when something bad happens.  I also feel joy for it when something good happens.

I feel joyful for Cleveland this week.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument- Florida

"Spanish Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest complete masonry fortification remaining in continental US. Construction was started in 1672. Its 16 foot-thick walls are built of coquina, a natural shellrock quarried on nearby Anastasia Island. The Castillo withstood major English attacks in 1702 and 1740, and in its later years as a prison held many men famous in US history."

Somerset Mall

I love malls, especially ones with a retro feel (then again, these days almost all of them are).

This mall is still attractive and clean, and it looked to me like they are keeping it up nicely.  It also appeared that the locals appreciate it, as businesses looked busy.

They had a very classic looking arcade and a nice bookstore that I liked very much.  The bookstore looked to be an old Walden's that stayed open after Waldens' closed.  I don't think I have seen a similar arcade or bookstore in some time.  In fact, I would travel back to this mall just to go to the arcade and bookstore.

Florida's Silver Springs

OBVIOUSLY one of the coolest postcards ever made because of the monkey drinking a pop!

On the back, it says-

No visit to Florida is complete without a stop at world famed Silver Springs, midway between Tampa and Jacksonville. Open daily from Sunrise to Sunset, visited annually by 600,000, Silver Springs is Florida's largest and most heavily patronized free admission amusement park. Cabins, restaurants, canoes, swimming.

Mackinac Bridge

One of the really cool accomplishments on our last road trip was getting to drive over the Mackinac Bridge!

I was told that driving on the bridge can be a bit scary but I didn't see that.  For the most part, it was just like driving over any other bridge, but just a bit more historic.  There wasn't much traffic.  It was actually just another very casual part of our trip.

On the southern end of the bridge is Mackinaw City (had to stop here and listen to a Bob Seger song).  The town is cool anyway, and we found some fun little shops.  The post office had a nice display of Mackinac Bridge first day covers.

St. Petersburg, Fla. old postcards

The top postcard says on the back-

St. Petersburg is famous the world over for its green benches. Thousands of them line the city's main thoroughfare, Central Avenue, and all the city parks. Tourists spend many happy hours enjoying them during the long sunny days.

Random Photos of the Wisconsin Dells

Roast and Toast- Petoskey Michigan

  At our hotel in Petoskey, we were told that this was the place to go for a nice meal.  We drove by and saw the front, decorated with coffee cups and dishes, and we knew we had to go to the Roast and Toast!

This was another great indy place we found on this trip that we loved.  Looked at the sandwich with all of that great fruit!  Very fresh everything!  We loved the coffee and everything else.  I had some amazing soup too.

http://www.roastandtoast.com/