Huntington WV.

Orlando, FL

Bass Pro Shop- Sevierville, TN

I almost hate to admit it, but Bass Pro Shops are kind of becoming a bit of a road side attraction. They are just that cool. Even if you are not the outdoors type, they are fun to walk through.

We used to do day trips to the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville. My dad, who has hunted and fished all of his life would go on these trips. Anyway, he would go hang out at the bass pro shop while we covered the mall.

I stopped by the Bass Pro Shop near Knoxville and just had a fun time. I found some great hiking shoes, and I was there when they fed the fish!

Check it out though, I really like this place!

Custer's Last Stand- southern Montana

Back in the mid-1980's- I don't remember just which year- I journeyed to Montana to visit Custer National Historical Monument. I had just finished reading an excellent documentary book, Son of the Morning Star, by Evan S. Connell. That well-researched historical account had really whetted my appetite to visit the site, and the day of my visit turned out to be noteworthy in an unexpected way.

Visiting the Monument adequately really takes several hours. By late afternoon, most visitors were leaving, but a small group of us were let in on a little secret by one of the naturalists. The newly-discovered grave of one of the cavalry soldiers was currently under excavation. Back in 1876, within days after the battle, the bodies of soldiers were for the most part buried where they had fallen. A cluster of monuments marked the specific site of the "last stand"; however, many other soldiers fell scattered over an area covering many acres and were left in unmarked graves. It was now in one of the outer-lying parts of the park that the new grave had just been discovered.

Following the naturalist's directions, our small group drove our cars along a narrow road and pulled off at the appointed spot. A short walk took us to the active dig. I don't know who the archaeologists were, but they basically stayed focused on task in their methodical work, ignoring the small group of us onlookers.

The open grave was about a foot deep, and a portion of a crumpled up human skeleton was evident. Most obvious was the exposed lower leg bone with part of a boot still intact on the foot.

As I reluctantly left the park a few minutes later, any doubts as to the significance of what I had witnessed were extinguished when I spotted an USA Today media van in the parking lot. Sure enough, on June 25th of that year (the anniversary of the battle), the cover story of USA Today newspaper featured an article about the Custer Monument, and did make reference to the grave I had seen, but did not include any photos of the grave. I felt pleased to have been at the right place at the right time.

Guest blogger

You know, I mention to people frequently that I have a couple of blogs about traveling. Several times people say that sounds interesting and that they would like to try that. I have told many people that they can use my blog to post pictures, or to talk about a fun travel memory. In fact, I was really hoping my blogs would be more communal, and that others would use them for that purpose.

Well, I have had a taker recently! My pal Mark offered to write a short entry, AND supply scans of some photos from a trip to the Custer Monument in Utah! Mark told me a great story about his trip there, and I asked if he would write up a little bit about his adventure. He agreed!

So, in the next day or so I will be putting up his story, WITH photos! This will be a great entry for anyone interested in some of the stranger points of visiting a site. I don't want to give his story away, but a skeleton is involved!

Pigeon Forge, TN.

Sunsphere- Knoxville TN.

We took a moment to drive by the legendary Sunsphere in Knoxville one morning. I am sure this place was jam packed in 1982 when it opened. On the day we went, we were the only ones there.

In fact, we weren't even sure if we would be able to get up inside of it. I was looking for a ticket seller or something like that.

Not here. We got on an elevator on the 3rd floor, took it to the observation deck on the 4th floor (there is a lot of distance between the two floors) and we were there!

They are keeping this attraction pretty simple at the moment. I did not see a souvenir booth or anything. There were a few kids playing in the park and that was it. It was easy to get to, and easy to see!