Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC

The bottom postcard was sent in 1929.  You may have purchased stamps with these same images on them.

Colonel Sander's Cafe in Corbin

We were able to stop at the Colonel Sander's Cafe again recently down in Corbin.

I do like this place, and it is very cozy.  I like seeing all of the memorabilia relating to the Colonel on display.  It is all very cool.  Its also cool knowing that Harland started something that would become known world wide almost at this exact spot.

The Colonel Sander's Cafe has always been hopin' when I have visited.  The old style dining area is always full.

It is a little odd in some ways that there is an actual standard Kentucky Fried Chicken at this site.  You probably couldn't have the museum open without the fast food restaurant to support it, but it is still a fast food restaurant.

So, you can check out all of the cool Sanders related artifacts, in their cases, displayed all nicely....  And then you can get some fast food chicken and have a seat at a table that hasn't been cleaned in some time.  I think it is strange (and somewhat charmingly novel) to have a museum and a fast food restaurant combined like this.

I have been to museums with interesting restaurants inside.  I think a lot of museums now have dining areas for people who might be spending the entire day there.  I can't think of a museum mixed evenly with a fast food site though.  There must be a McDonald's restaurant/museum mash up somewhere.

Lyinn's Blog

Hey!  I wanted to take a moment to mention Lyinn's blog.  She has been doing hers for several years now too, but we just recently happened to cross path's here in cyberspace.

Lyinn dropped me a note some time ago to say hello, and she sent me a link to her blog.  I was blown away by its coolness, and I was scratching my head at some of the similarities!

Lyinn is based out of the Northern Kentucky area, so she covers a lot of ground in that area, and in Southern Ohio.  AND, like this blog, she doesn't exactly stick to any one geographic location.  She is all over the place!  PLUS, she is big on coffee, books, obscure travel destinations, and many other things that make a blog and blogger great!

I have really enjoyed reading about the various places Lyinn has visited that I have also visited.  I also like seeing the many places she covers that I was totally unaware of!  I have gotten a million ideas from her!

In fact, I am a bit jealous of all of the cool places she has been to that I haven't yet!  AND, I love her writing style!  I am jealous of that too!  She is much more open about herself on her blog, and her experiences at places she visits.  I almost want to read her blog with a note pad handy!

Anyway, check out her blog too!


http://lyinnwolf.blogspot.com/

Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg

A couple of times a year now, we seem to be making our way down to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area.

I really love doing all of the stuff surrounding Gatlinburg (Knoxville, the Great Smoky Mountains, and a spectacular AA baseball park are all very close by).  This creates a bit of a problem though.  I can never go down to this area for a weekend and do everything that I want to do!


I do try to drive and walk the main areas when I go down.  I like looking at the new businesses that pop up ever so often.

The one thing that I don't care for in Gatlinburg are the time share salesmen.  These guys are aggressive.  It is the kind of thing that makes you think twice about walking around the area.

Still, I think most people ignore them and keep walking.

I do love how colorful the area is, and I do appreciate the cheesiness of it all.


On this trip I noticed that the moonshine businesses have really moved in.  It seems like not too long ago there was just one or two, but there are several now.  One of the new moonshine spots was very bland.  They had their product, and they had the standard shirts and other dull items with the name of the company very unimaginatively printed on them.  I was a little let down to see some less than average businesses on the strip this time.

There are some places that I totally love here too.  I have mentioned Cooter's Place before, and I still love it.  Any fan of the Duke's from 80s TV (or from reruns now) will love this spot.  I have to duck in every time I can.  I love seeing the photos from the show and the old toys.

Great Smoky Mountains

The weather is getting better, so we thought a quick trip to the Smoky Mountains sounded appropriate right now!

This is becoming one of my favorite spots for a weekend get away trip.  I love the area and the fact that it is relatively close to me.

And, there is a lot going on in the area.  Close by you have Gatlinburg, Knoxville, and Tennessee Smokies baseball! 

We took a short drive through the park.  One ranger told us that there had been a bear sighting the evening before.

I love talking to the rangers in the area, and stopping by the various national park visitor centers.  These guys know their stuff, and they are great at making suggestions about things to do and see.

The national park visitor centers are just great too.  I always try to make some purchases there, because I am a huge fan of what they do.  AND, you know I have a passport to our national parks book that I must get stamped!  They do have a great selection of postcards, shirts and books too.

The drive around the park has a lot of turns and twists.  That, along with the fact that I bumped my head hard on the door before we drove down made me a little dizzy during this trip.

As we drove around the park, I got to thinking, which park do I like better, The Great Smoky Mountains" OR Land Between the Lakes?

I have spent a LOT of time at LBL and I am a bit biased on that one.  I might have to revisit this debate later!

Lexington Comic Con

I did make it to the Lexington Comic Con again this year.

I had a great time, but I think this will be my last year for this one.  It is CROWDED!  AND the lines were terrible this year.  Maybe next year they can resolve some of those issues (is the floor of Rupp available?)

Anyway, this is still a great show but the older I get, the tougher it is for me to deal with excessively crowded areas.  Don't get me wrong, the fans were all great, and EVERYONE was dealing with it, but you had to move at a snails pace.

When we lived up north, we went to the Motor City Comic Con and the Pittsburgh Con many times.  The Motor City con near Detroit had similar crowds but not nearly the same crowd issues.  They had plenty of staff and lines moved at a good pace.

I am glad to see such a big event drawing so many fans though.

http://lexingtoncomiccon.com/

AND I did find some GREAT local artists set up at the show.  That was very cool.  I was especially thrilled about meeting Stephen R. Moore, who does some amazing illustrations of dinosaurs and other animals.  Check out his stuff here-

http://studiospectre.com/

Balagula Theatre in Lexington's "1984"

Balagula Theatre has been doing a great job of putting on some very interesting plays.

I have been catching their plays when they perform adaptations of my favorite books and 1984 might be my all time favorite.  PLUS, they did a great performance of one of my other all time favorites, Fahrenheit 451 (I mentioned that on this blog too) previously.

Unlike their performance of Fahrenheit, 1984 was much more stripped down, with a very simple set, and simple costumes.  It worked great.

In the play, the main character, Winston, has already been arrested, and he is defending himself to some government officials.  As those officials question him, they act out the events that have lead to Winston's situation and his actions against Big Brother.

The play was not what I expected, but it was still extremely well done.  With the use of characters not in the book (the government officials) telling the story with Winston, you get a new perspective on 1984.

Anyway, I really liked what Balagula did with the book, and I look forward to seeing more of their plays in the future.

http://www.balagula.com/