Watauga Lake, Eastern, TN

Watauga Dam, winds 17 miles through picturesque Cherokee National Forest, source of the Watauga River.  The lake covers an area of6400 acres with a shoreline of more than a hundred miles.  Controlled water storage is 677,000 acre-feet for the multiple purpose of flood control, navigation and electric power.  Watauga Dam is 320 ft.high and 900 ft. long.  Power instillation consists of two 25,000 kilowatt units.  The dam is located near Elizabethton, Tennessee.

Hard Rock Cafe Louisville Kentucky

Post Office Lexington

Just the Facts About Washington, DC

The older I get, the more I like books with facts in them.  Sure I like funny stories, and strange urban legends, but knowing the dates, people and other facts about an area are obviously the most accurate way to learn about a location.

Albert E. Kennedy put this GREAT book together simply giving the facts about all of the monuments in the Washington DC area.

The back cover book description made me know this was the book I wanted to buy before my DC trip-

"During my research for interesting facts about the monuments, memorials, and other interesting sites within the Washington, D.C. area, I noticed two similarities about the available written sources.  First, most of the sources required the reading of several pages of text before finding a single fact of interest; and two, there was no one source that summarized the many discovered facts into an easy to read reference.  This guide is intended to satisfy those shortcomings."

Louisville Zoo

The Kentucky and Dix Rivers Meet at High Bridge

"The highest bridge spanning a navigable stream on the American continent. The most massive structure of its length and breadth known to the civilized world. Height 315 feet, Length 1,223 feet."

Parthenon and Lake- Nashville, TN

Cooter's Place- Gatlinburg, TN.

Remember when you were a kid, "The Dukes of Hazzard" was the coolest show ever?

You watched it because it was fun, the good guys weren't totally PC, but they were honest and you could relate to them. You wanted to be them.

As you get older, you forget about how cool the show was. You outgrow your appreciation for it.

Well, while we were in Gatlinburg recently, we stopped in to "Cooter's Place." I immediately remembered my love for the show as a kid. I also realized that I still love it.

Ben Jones, who played Cooter on the show, has set up a museum/gift shop devoted to the old show.

This place is so cool. I enjoyed looking at the various pictures, props and other items from the show.

You could buy shirts, caps, cars, old toys, stickers and all sorts of other items relating to the show.

I thought it was just like Cooter to open up a museum WITHOUT an admission charge! I am sure he would appreciate it if you bought some swag to help him out, but still, you can come in and see whats there for free.

There is also mini-golf and go cart racing inside. There is a General Lee too.

Prices were reasonable. I picked up some stickers for a few bucks. Vintage Bo Duke action figures were about $10. You could find autographed photos of Cooter for $5.

This place is awesome!

http://www.cootersplace.com/

Random Thoughts On Friday

We recenelty got back from a road trip to Washington DC!

We had a great time.  As usual, we drove in as we are not fans of flying. 

So, I will be ending my Tenessee theme pretty soon, and switching to a focus on Washington DC.

I took a lot of photos, and I found a lot of old postcards relating to the area, so there will be a heavey emphasis on the District.

I will try to get some Kentucky material up, but I am on a huge Washington kick at the moment!

Kerry Edwards in Tucson, AZ

Just for fun, here are a couple of pictures a friend sent me of the Kerry/Edwards train going through Arizona in 2004.

I am about to post some pics from my recent trip to Washington DC, and I thought becuase of that...  and other reasons, now might be a good time to post these.

Spencer's Coffee

Hey, have you been to Spencer's Coffee House in Bowling Green?

I really love this place, and it is walking distance from the Hot Rod's ballpark!

They have nice coffees and soup and sandwich lunches.  I really love coffee shops like this.

They also have concert posters up, and they have the local free publications.

I really enjoying going to an indy coffee shop like Spencer's when I travel.  I like trying their coffees, hanging out with the locals, reading the local magazines and just seeing what is going on in town.

I guess that kind of sums it up.  This place has a very nice "local vibe".

http://www.facebook.com/spencersbg

The Loop-Over, Great Smoky Mountains, TN

The back of this undated postcard reads-

The Loop-Over, seen here from Chimney Tops, is one of the most unique features on the thrilling Tennessee sides of the Newfound Gap Highway.  Here the road makes one complete circle instead of four sharp extremely dangerous curves that were on the old road at this point.  Mt. LeConte is seen in the background of this picture.  The small peak with the wisp of cloud is sometimes called "West Point" and the next broader peak is "Cliff-Top."  The next ones in order are "High-Top", the highest point and "Myrtle Point", the grandstand of the Smokies.

Random Photos of Bowing Green