Random Thoughts On Friday

Hey, the Fright Night Film Fest is in Louisville this weekend! This would be a GREAT way to kick of the Halloween season early!

http://www.frightnightfilmfest.com/

On the sports front, I noticed that wikipedia is listing a couple more American Basketball Association teams in the state! They are showing a "Team Gold" in Corbin, and an "East Kentucky Energy" in Pikeville! The successful Kentucky Bisons in Owensboro look to still be active, and Lexington's Bluegrass Stallions are working on playing in a new league (though their web site has not been updated in some time).

I found a site for the Pikeville team

http://eastkyenergy.com/

Good luck to these guys!

I will try to find out more about the teams and moves. I really love the thought of having SEVERAL professional basketball teams in the state!

Postcard: Lincoln Marriage Cabin

"Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, parents of Abraham Lincoln, were married in the cabin June 12, 1806, by Rev. Jesse Head. The cabin has since been moved to Fort Harrod at Harrodsburg, where it is housed in the Lincoln Marriage Temple. Fort Harrod is an exact reproduction of the first settlement in Kentucky."

Postcard: Gabe's Restaurant, Owensboro, KY.

Some of the postmark and the writing on the card giving a description of Gabe's have obscured each other on the back.

The sender talks about going to Anderson's in downtown and to the shopping centers. She also says there is good food here!

Postcard: Old Man of the Falls, Cumberland Falls State Park

"Cumberland Falls State Park is eighteen miles southwest of Corbin, Ky., and northwest of Williamsburg, Ky. The waterfall, 68 ft. high, is one of Kentucky's principal attractions. At times the falls reflect a unique "Moonbow."

Postcard: St. Louis Arch

I would love to find some old postcards of the St. Louis Arch. The postcard style I love had been phased out by the time the Arch went up in the 60s.

Luckily, the gift shop at the Arch sells a great postcard book with 8 very retro looking postcards for $8.95!

The old Busch Stadium is on several of the cards.

Since the book is currently commercially available, I will only scan the cover (shown) for this blog.

Postcard: Obelisk at War Memorial Indianapolis

I swear, this will be my last Indianapolis mention for a while. I just thought I should scan another great old linen postcard.

Postcard: Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Indianapolis

This postcard is canceled 1922! It still looks great for its age.

All of my readers (mom) know that I love this town and feel it is underrated. This is one of my favorite monuments around.

You need to go to this monument and just look around Indy's downtown to appreciate it.

Random Thoughts On Friday

I was driving between Florence and Lexington last night and the weather was mad! It would rain buckets and then stop. After that, it would rain again!

I really like the Florence area. I think they have a great mall, and the water tower is an icon. Hats off to the Starbucks up there too. I love the indy coffee shops, but that particular chain store has a classy crew in a cozy little location.

There is a lot going on around the state right now. There is a horror convention in Louisville coming up, and a festival in Lexington right now.

Postcard: Old Mother Ann, Eastern Point, Glouster, Mass.

It is hard to tell, but I think this one is postmarked 1929!

I went whale watching in this area not long ago. The town is beautiful and full of character. The book and film "The Perfect Storm" are linked here.

This postcard is still very representative of the town even today. Sea, sky and boats.

Postcard: Montezuma's Castle, Arizona

Another great tourist stop in Arizona, while I am talking about that state.

"Montezuma Castle, the best-preserved cliff dwelling in the United States and one of the most spectacular of its type, was built in part probably as early as 1000 A.D. It had no connection with Montezuma, leader of the Aztecs. Its name is a misnomer which seems to have been bestowed by early white visitors."

Postcard: Meteor Crater between Flagstaff and Winslow Arizona

"This crater was formed by the falling of an immense meteor which threw out over 300,000,000 tons of debris. It is 700 feet deep and three miles in circumference. The meteor is estimated to weigh 5,000,000 tons and is composed of iron, nickel, platinum, and other rare materials. The crater is easily accessible to visitors."

This is still a great stop when vacationing in Arizona.

2010 Kentucky Visitor's Guide

HEY! Pick up this Kentucky visitor's guide the next time you are out. It is FREE and it is available at the parks, visitor centers and other locations. I picked mine up at the Berea Visitor Center, which has a TON of other great info on attractions around the state.

This is about the most perfect guide I have found for the state. It does a great job of breaking down the regions and telling what you can find in each.

It is complete in it's listings of attractions and top events. Web sites are noted too.

I am always picking up state travel guides, and the Department of Travel and Tourism did it right with this publication. Sure, there are some (relevant) adds, but the quality of the content is perfect.

Some travel guides have a few nice photos of the well known land marks and a few mentions of some of the lesser ones. Not this one. This one has all the info you need to get started on a trip to any Kentucky area.

Kansas City Kansas

Kansas City Kansas was a great little area too! We checked out their Independent pro baseball team, the Kansas City T-Bones. They have a great all grass field. I love watching independent minor league teams, and this was my first chance to see a team in this league.

Their park is part of a larger development area called Village West. The area reminds me a lot of Easton in Columbus, but this is bigger.

The Legends at Village West is a massive lifestyle center. There is a dinosaur themed restaurant that I did not have time to check out, but I was amazed at the decorations outside of it. The Legends might have perfected the whole mall/lifestyle center/theme park hybrid. I hope to have some more time to spend here at some point.

We had BBQ at a nice place called Arthur Bryant's. Good BBQ is bad for me. I like it so much that I can keep eating it even when I know I have reached my limit. I experienced that here.

I must stand by my regional loyalties though. I'll take my Owensboro BBQ over any other, but then again, that is what I was raised on. The food here is a bit different and I did enjoy trying a different regional variety. They had several different sauces, and I liked them all. We had a very generous portion for not a lot of money.

Both Kansas City areas are fun, and they are very unappreciated tourists spots. People were friendly and there was a lot to do, not to mention there is some great food!

Kansas City MO

Some friends who lived there before recently suggested that we take a trip with them to Kansas. Sure, we had never been there so what the heck. It was another state we could check off of our places to visit list.

Kansas City is a town that is underrated. We had a great time in the area.

I did not know that the area was so attractive. It is a physically pretty place in my books. The buildings are nice, there are some very nice monuments, and there are fountains, statues and art everywhere.

I will get an entry up about Hallmark soon, but the company is visible here. We visited their visitor center and had a great time.

I am guessing a lot of talented artists are here too, because I saw plenty of nice artwork on the buildings. Not amateur paintings, or places where the local middle school painted a mural. Quality work.

There is something about fountains. The area loves them. Many were very ornate.

One thing that amazed me was the Liberty Memorial. Sadly, it is closed on Mondays, and guess which day I had available to visit? Still, I saw it from the outside and my jaw dropped. Photos do not do justice to it. They started building it in 1921 and finished building it in 1926. Our friends told us that it had set pretty much abandoned and in bad shape for some time. It is fixed up now though. There are 2 Sphinx statues which hide their faces. they are also stunning.

The downtown area has a couple of glassed in pedestrian type bridges that connect several key buildings. This reminded me of Indianapolis some. Very nicely maintained, and very easy to use.
We spent some time at their great city market. You can see the skyline from there and it looks great. See my photo. Obviously, we weren't looking for vegetables on this day, but we found some fun nicknack's.

We spent a lot of time in the Crown Center area which is connected by the walkways, and home some unique food and shopping places.

Easton- Columbus, OH.

Several years ago, one of the all time coolest malls went up in the Columbus area. It is a bit of a city of its own.

I have spent entire weekends here. Seriously. The place is surrounded by nice hotels. There is enough going on here to justify a weekend trip. Get a room, park at the hotel, and walk to the mall each day.

I have watched bands play, comedians, and other stuff go on here. They have a 20 theater movie place. Plus restaurants and shopping.

Random Thoughts on Friday

I have to admit, the heat is getting to me!

If you are in Lexington, check out the new restaurant, BlueFire Bar and Grill, at the Hyatt Regency connected to Rupp.

I had some Maple Salmon there the other day that was really nice! They have remodelled, and retooled the place. It is an upgrade.

I am not a pro wresting fan these days, but I was one growing up. I know wresting was at Rupp the other night. Someone told me they saw Jerry Lawler in town, and he was a really nice guy.

I don't know if I mentioned it here before, but when I was a VERY little kid, I got Lawler's autograph at the Sports Center in Owensboro. I remember looking up at him, and holding my small photo of him over my head. I remember him being very kind about it, and making a point to look me in the eyes and saying, "you're welcome" after I said thank you. "The King" will always be a Kentucky favorite.

The Book Loft- Columbus, OH.

Since I am still on a bit of a Columbus kick, I thought I should mention the Book Loft. This is one of my all time favorite bookshops. Their selection goes on forever.

Its almost like the guys at the Book Loft saw a cool old building and thought about how cool it would be to make the entire spacious place a bookstore. They claim that the place is 32 rooms of books. I have never counted when I have been there, but that sounds right.

It is a bit of a maze walking through the place. You could almost get lost. It is also 3 floors tall and every room is crammed with books.

I have been to some older book stores in big buildings that are very unorganized. Not here. It has a lot of stock taking up a lot of space, but it is clean and organized.

The walkway on the side leading to the door is very nice and pleasant. I have posted a photo.

This is just a nice area too. Several relaxing coffee shops and restaurants are near by.

Downtown Columbus OH.

Columbus is a town that has a very lively feel. I have compared it to Pittsburgh before, and I think that is an accurate comparison. Columbus is trying to make itself relevant again, and the "trying" part of their efforts may be over.

Columbus has, hands down, some of my favorite shopping areas outside of Kentucky. I will put some posts up soon about their huge book store in their German area, and Easton to talk more about that.

Their Short North Arts District is very cool. I have always enjoyed strolling through their artsy shops here. Check out their site:

http://www.shortnorth.org/

I have watched some great small venue concerts here, and I have been to several sporting events. In fact, if I remember correctly, Columbus was hosting regular MMA events before that became popular.

COSI, the areas science museum is legendary. I know we have all been to science centers and kids museums, but this is in a class of its own. It is overwhelming. I know they just got the Titanic Exhibit AGAIN. I saw it when it was there the first time. COSI alone is worth a trip to town.

http://www.cosi.org/

The town looks nice too. The skyline is attractive. The town is big and happening, but it is friendly. We walked about half an hour from our hotel to the new ballpark and we enjoyed the casual walk.

Check out my other blog for a review of the new Hunting Park where the AAA Clippers play.

Old Fort Harrod, Harrodsburg, KY.

Old Fort Harrod is quickly becoming one of my favorite stops on a nice weekend. The place is just cool.

A couple of weeks ago they had their pioneer reenactment weekend. The weather was iffy, but they still had a lot going on.

Biltmore Estate Asheville, NC.

http://www.biltmore.com/

The Biltmore Estate is another cool attraction that is a bit beyond description.

We got up early and spent most of our day in Asheville here, and that evening we went to an Asheville Tourists baseball game. That night, after leaving the game, by head hurt. There was just so much to think about! The Biltmore is overwhelming. a 2 day trip here is justified. You will need at the very least a day.

The house itself is the biggest one around. It was over 40 bathrooms and goes on forever.

It seemed like we had to drive about 20 minutes from the front entrance of the property until we finally arrived at the parking area. From there, you can walk or take a shuttle to the actual house. You exit out of another way, and I think we drove another 20 minutes getting out.

They have a winery place on the way out. I am personally not a big wine person, but I enjoy going by the wine shops. They had the standard dip samples, fun snacks, wine tasting, etc. They had a great hot apple cider mix. I had a sample and left with some. Good stuff!

There are several shops in the main estate building area too. They have a comfy outdoor eating area. We had some nice sandwiches from their cafe and enjoyed the view from outside.

They also had the nice Christmas themed shop, a candy shop, etc. I found some really cool postcards. I was very excited to see that they actually make new linen postcards for the Biltmore!

Admission is high ($60 per person and up) but it is worth at least one visit in every one's lifetime. You get a lot for your admission. There are many great gardens, a greenhouse and a tour. On the day we went, the place was packed. The lines through the house moved slow and leisurely.

Apple Barn Pigeon Forge, TN

I've still got Pigeon Forge on my mind.

Here are some photos from the Apple Barn. This is one of those places that EVERYONE says you must stop at while you are in the area.

If you are going to be anywhere close to the place, go there. Skip over other chain country themed restaurants.

Check out the view from their front porch! Yep. The lat time you were setting on the porch of a country style Apple Barn wannabe restaurant, you were probably looking at the highway! How relaxing is that?

I had some soup, some BBQ chicken and tea. Our very kind waitress brought some little fruit juice drink out to us too that was nice. I forget what it was exactly, but this was a great meal. She brought other extras out to be nice too. I don't know if that is the norm or not, but we loved everything.

There is a Christmas themed gift shop here, and a general apple store. There are some other shops right here selling wine and candy.

I want to use some cliches here to describe the food, and the cozy shops but I won't. This is one of the nicest places to eat in the Pigeon Forge, and probably in the entire state. Believe the hype.

http://www.applebarncidermill.com/