South Dakota Billboards 09 06 2020

 I filmed some of the billboards in South Dakota....... There are a LOT of them along I90 as you drive towards Rapid City!  The Billboards are fun to read at times.  Lots of Wall Drug and Firehouse Brewery (a favorite spot of ours in Rapid City).

Jolly Green Giant Statue Blue Earth MN 09 05 2020

 On our way to

South Dakota, we stopped in Blue Earth Minnesota to see the GIANT Jolly Green Giant Statue!  This would be our first visit to Minnesota!  Blue Earth is a very nice little town too!  They have small "Sprout" statues here and there!

We stopped at a very nice little restaurant too, the Blue Earth Hometown Cafe!

Our visit was short, but we were thrilled to finally check Minnesota off of the list.  Of coarse, a short trip like this makes ya just want to get back again soon!

Deadwood SD 09 09 2020

Check out the video I posted covering our visit to Deadwood, South Dakota!

We actually went there back in 2012.  We weren't able to go when we visited South Dakota in 2019, but we made time to stop by this year!

I had a couple of main reasons for wanting to stop by.  For one, they have JUST started doing a BROTHEL TOUR!  Go ahead and make your jokes (they aren't shy about jokes on the tour), but it is a VERY fascinating look at life in the brothels.  AND, their brothel history really ended in 1980!  I know, you are probably thinking, "THAT WASN'T THAT LONG AGO" and you are right.  The town sort of looked the other way to prostitution up until 1980.

The tour covers all of that.  As I mention in the video, our tour guide was open, to the point (while still cracking the occasional

dirty joke) BUT she also talked very openly about the life of a one of the well know local brothel workers who is still alive today.  She talk about the hardships of the ladies life, and of the abuses she faced before getting in to that business.  The tour was honestly funny at time, and sad when she talked about this lady.....  but the whole thing was informative.  I recommend the tour.

Oh, and I have mentioned on this blog that the book, "Raiding Deadwood's Bad Lands" does a great job on the story too (that book covers prostitution, gambling, and other bits of Deadwood's history).

Also, my cousin Jerry has got me into collecting poker chips!  I used this visit as an excuse to go into each casino I passed, and to purchase a $1 chip from each (Jerry has warned me that if you start collecting the pricier chips, the hobby can get expensive QUICK!).  I mentioned in the video too that, most of the cashiers weren't enthusiastic about selling ONE $1 chip, BUT, after I looked at the chips they gave me, almost all gave me a nice, uncirculated one in great shape.

We only had a few hours in town though....  I has hoping to visit one of the museums this time, but we will have to save that for another day.  This is a unique, fun town full of great, crazy history!

Bourbon Drive In in Paris Kentucky- Part 2

I mentioned The Bourbon Drive In in Paris Kentucky a few days ago.  Check out my post, and the Youtube video I posted on it.  It is such a great place to go!

We saw the Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Nightmare on Elm Street on our first visit.  We had a great time.  So, when we saw a showing of the original Friday the 13thwas scheduled, we knew we had to go for that too!

So we hit the road and got there about an hour before showtime again.  

It's $8 a person, which, for 2 movies at a drive in is very reasonable in my books.  I wanted to mention that this time, we bought a large drink, a chili cheese dog and some ice cream which came to a little over $7....  again, these guys aren't gouging their patrons.  Everything tasted good too!

I have been a huge Friday the 13th fan for forever.  I told the story, in my youtube video, of my friend/neighbor Aaron calling me, when we were kids, and inviting me to a birthday party where they would be showing movies on a VCR.

This was back in the day when RENTING a VCR and movies was a big deal.  It was very exciting, and as a kid, you had to go to any party involving a VCR.  Well, my mom asked what videos Aaron's family was renting.  I asked, and he told me, "Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Friday the 13th."  I told my mom "Star Wars and Indiana Jones."  I KNEW that if I told her they were getting Friday the 13th, she would never let me go.

 

Well, I went to Aaron's and the craziness of seeing Friday the 13th for the first time REALLY sticks in my head.  There weren't a dozen sequels out at the time.  I remember watching with my young elementary school friends wondering who the killer was....  and I remember us all screaming in terror when at the end...  well, you know, the boat and all.

So, Catching this great classic at the Bourbon Drive In was a real treat!

They played it first, then there was an intermission, and they started "Cabin in the Woods" next.  This was my first time seeing this one!  Why didn't anyone tell me how great it was?

So we had ANOTHER great night at the Drive In in Paris!  The sweet ladies running the place thanked people for coming by, and they were just nice, sincere and appreciative.  We really like this place AND the spirit of what they are doing, a lot!

 

"Raiding Deadwood's Bad Lands: Its Illegal History of Prostitution and Gambling" by Michael Trump

 We took the "Deadwood Brothel Tour" while we were in Deadwood, South Dakota.  Check out my video on that!

While we were there, our tour guide recommended "Raiding Deadwood's Bad Lands:  Its Illegal History of Prostitution and Gambling" by Michael Trump.  I am so glad that I took her advice and bought it!

Michael Trump has written a very clear and easy to understand history of gambling and prostitution in Deadwood.  Both have been legal (or kinda legal) going up through 1980.

If you have been to the town of Deadwood, you KNOW gambling is a big part of the town now.  VERY BIG.  Its a small town, population wise, but there are MANY casinos.

Deadwood has a solid reputation of being a lawless town.....  going back to its beginnings.  I am sure you know of the legendary names who passed through (or, who were killed) in town.  If you aren't familiar with the reputation, look it up, or go to Deadwood and take one of the many tours about its lawless reputation.

OR, you can read Michael Trump's book.  The volume is more academic than most (he gives sources...  and doesn't rely on iffy legends).

Plus, he gets into the prostitution situation in town, that was mostly ignored by locals and law enforcement until 1980.  There were raids, he explains, but the shut downs didn't last long.

He talks about the madams, the girls, and how they practiced their trade for so long.  You might find it interesting to learn about just how charitable the houses were in the community, helping out various groups.

Gambling is covered too, as the current wave of legalized gambling (starting in the late 80s) has really helped out with historic preservation.

Raiding Deadwood's Bad Lands really shows the towns entire history and this would be the perfect book to read before you go there!

Deadwood: The Best Writings on the Most Notorious Town in the West by TD Griffith

So, we planned this little trip BACK to South Dakota, EXACTLY one year after going there.  More on that later, but I wanted to read some more books on the the state and some of its towns before this repeat adventure.

AND, I had kinda exhausted some books on outlaws, travel, ghosts, etc before out trip last year.

I really enjoyed the books that author T.D. Griffith put out though, AND I was lucky enough to find one I had not read....  and it was on Deadwood!

"Deadwood:  The Best Writings on the Most Notorious Town in the West" is actually a collection of articles, and pages from other books on Deadwood and its characters.  Griffith does a short intro to each piece to let you know why that particular mention was chosen for his book.

The articles are from all over the place too.....  and I really appreciated some writings by a reporter who visited the town right as it was getting established.  Griffith also includes a contribution from a lady who grew up, as a child, around that same time too.

Pop culture links (country music and the popular TV show about the town) are covered too, as are all of the colorful characters the town saw.

"The Petersen House: The Oldroyd Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died" by Alan E. Hunter

When my pal Alan Hunter mentioned that he would be writing a book on the Petersen House in Washington D.C., I knew it was going to be something special.

I have mentioned Alan here several times before.  He does a GREAT weekly column for the Weekly View (out of Indianapolis IN) that you need to check out.

He also does the yearly ghost walk in Irvington Indiana.  If you have never done that, what is wrong with you?!?!!?  

If you have any interest in true crime and ghosts at all, you need to make sure you do this!  Alan knows his stuff, and he can link just about every scary person you can name to this town.  He actually doesn't disclose this often (though he does mention it in one of his books) but he crossed paths with one of Indianapolis' most infamous.  OH, and there is a GREAT President Lincoln connection that he ends the tour with...  but enough of that for now!

Alan has authored some of the best "Haunted" books I know of too.

BUT, I wanted to mention his latest work here- "The Petersen House:  The Oldroyd Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died".  If you are interested in Lincoln at all, you are going to want to track this one down.  In fact, its not that hard to find Alan E. Hunter on line and you can do what I did- order a nice signed copy directly from him!  Go ahead, you need this one for your collection!

Alan is obsessed with getting all of the interesting bits of information down.  Sure, we all know the story....  Ford's Theatre, Booth, the conspirators, etc.......  but the house where Lincoln was taken to after the shooting and dies is sometimes a forgotten character in the story.  Well, Alan has found lots of pictures, postcards, tickets, and other ephemera- and he has put those pieces together in this volume to tell the story of this home.

I don't want to give too much away, but Hunter gives some great nuggets of info to the reader starting with his description of the cover illustration.  He had me thinking about a somewhat obscure painter before I even started the book!

He tells you all about the building, its career as THE museum on Lincoln for some time and its evolving life from the time of Lincoln's visit until today.

Like I said, Alan Hunter loves those interesting bits of information that make you stop and think.  He lets you know about what became of the bed and pillow from that dark night.  He tells you to take notice of this person or that person, almost anonymously standing by the home in an old postcard and he tells you about their significance.  

Oh, if you are familiar with the entire story of the Lincoln assassination, you surely know the name Rathbone.  Well, I had no idea that the Rathbone name would factor in to the history of the Petersen home decades later.

I honestly could go on and on.  I am so glad to see a new book on Lincoln with new information.  Hunter's book on the Petersen House gets my highest recommendation.

 

Bourbon Drive In Paris KY October 2020

 Hey!  Have you been to the Bourbon Drive In in Paris?  We went by the other night to see the originals "Nightmare on Elm Street" and Texas Chainsaw Massacre"!  This place it great!

Buddy Holly Crash Site Iowa 09 05 2020

 After visiting the wonderful

Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake Iowa, we made our way to the "crash site" where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper lost their lives.

The kind folks at the Surf Ballroom will give you instructions, and a very simple map to get to the location.  It is just a few miles away.

You DO have to do some travelling on some very gravelly roads though.  We were told that some bikers make the trip to the Surf Ballroom, but they don't go to the crash site because of all of the gravel.

I understand that.  You ARE on some roads that you have to drive very slow on.

There is a very sweet LARGE metal Buddy Holly glasses frame someone has put up, showing you the starting point for the trail you will have to walk through to get to the actual site.  

They told us at the Surf Ballroom that its about the length of 2 football fields to get there.  We walked it in under 10 minutes.

Once you get to the site, there is another nice metal marker, and of course people have left mementos there.

Surf Ballroom Clear Lake Iowa 9 5 2020

 We FINALLY made it to the

legendary Surf Ballroom, the site of the last performance of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper.

Check out the video above, which I posted to youtube.

We visited the Surf Ballroom on our way to South Dakota.  We allowed a couple of hours to visit the venue and the crash site, but we ended up spending a LOT more time in Clear Lake Iowa.  This place is special.

Check out my other links for a video at the crash site.  Also, check out my review on the book, "The Day the Music Died" by Larry Lehmer.  Lehmer's book is a good starting point if you are unfamiliar with the very tragic plane crash.

I think this is one of those things that is just in our collective conscience though.  I grew up in the 80s and knew about this event.  Don McLean's song about that night really keeps

that emotion alive.  You could listen to that song and have no knowledge of what happened...  and you could still feel the extreme sadness it sparks.

AND, reading Lehmers book gives you that same emotion.  The stars were on a miserable tour.  It was a very cold January/February in a very cold area.  The heat on the bus was faulty.  The tour busses would break down.  Many were sick with colds.

Even these rock stars had not really had time to enjoy the wealth of their

celebrity (they were young and the REAL money they had earned had not really filtered down to them yet).

I could go on and on.  BUT, they spent their last night alive performing at this venue.

The Surf Ballroom is the spot for that moment in time.

The venue is so perfect too, and they have preserved it to look like it is 1959.  It really reminded me of a set that might have been used on "Happy Days."

There are still concerts here, with an impressive list of performers.  There are bragging rights to playing here for sure.

AND, even though the Surf is a monument to that sad moment...... it is a bright and lively place.

The guy in the gift shop said he volunteered, and he was just happy to be a part of it.  They have a museum type area.... with relics from that night, but also with signed photos and instruments of performers who have played there more recently.  The Surf Ballroom continues on as a very lively spot for rock-n-roll pilgrims.  Make sure you catch it on an upcoming road trip!

"The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the "Big Bopper," and Ritchie Valens" by Larry Lehmer

 We added our stop in Clear Lake Iowa to our mostly South Dakota trip (it ended up being on the way) at the last minute.  I didn't have time to read up on the event before we left, though I knew a lot about it, in general, going in.

Well, when we got home, I googled around and tried to find a good book, specifically about the the tragic events on that sad night in 1959.  Well, I found "The Day the Music Died" by Larry Lehmer.

This PACKED volume gives a brief bio on Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper, then it gets to the events around the Winter Dance Party, the stop in Clear Lake Iowa, and the plane crash.  The set up is perfect, but the author doesn't add filler- this book IS about the day the music died.

There are a TON of bits of info in the book, and if you are an obsessive rock fan like me, well, then, I know you love that kind of stuff.  I don't want to give too much away, but I really enjoyed reading about how TWO versions of the Crickets were around at one point.  Also, Lehmers book tells about how the Winter Dance Party Tour CONTINUED even after the deaths of the headliners.  

The author talks a lot about the conditions on the tour and on the bus that lead to Holly getting a plane to fly him.  You may or may not know that The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens weren't supposed to be on that flight.  Waylon Jennings (yes, THAT Waylon Jennings) was supposed to be on the plane.  

Larry Lahmer gives some very dark secrets about the crash you may not be aware of.  Did one of the rock stars have a premonition about the crash?  Are there conspiracies being thrown around?  The answer to both questions is yes, and you can read about them in this book!

Bear Country USA SD 09 2019

 I know I previously mentioned Bear Country USA here before, but here is the video from that visit!

Random Thoughts on Friday: Hotels on our trip 2020

So its 2020 and I have been really interested in how things are changing and evolving with Covid.  Honestly, I am sick of hearing media reports, commercials, clichés about "getting through this together", etc., etc......  BUT, I am fascinated when I do go out and see how norms are changing......  especially on a regional level.

We DID stop by a few malls on this trip.  We ended up staying at 4 different hotels (one twice).  We ate at several restaurants.

MOST every business had a "masks required" sign up (though, we did notice some "strongly recommended" signs), but we saw NONE strictly enforcing that.  Hotels and malls both had a mix of mask wearers and maskless.  We saw one security guard at a mall standing around.  I don't think he knew what he was supposed to do.

The hotels we stayed at had a diecut sticker on the doors, in an effort to reassure travelers that the room was cleaned, and then sealed to keep it clean.

A couple of hotels put the TV remote in a sealed bag.

Our rooms in general seemed clean, though we did find a straw on the floor of one room.

My wife has ALWAYS insisted on cleaning and inspecting rooms before we settle in to them, and I am grateful for that.  We actually brought our own pillows on this trip, along with various cleaning supplies.

One thing that I personally HATE in rooms are the liquid soap dispensers in the showers.  I like the little travel soaps and the whole "going green" thing I feel is just a way for hotels to be cheap.  I thought the current situation would be the certain

death of liquid soap dispensers in showers but it looks like, for now, I was wrong.

Anyway.....  just some personal observations.

Crazy Horse Memorial South Dakota 2012

 Yeah....  so I have been on a MAJOR South Dakota kick again......  I found the video I took while at the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota back in 2012.  Here it is!

Our Mostly South Dakota Road Trip 2020

Yeah.....  so, we went to South Dakota again...  for the 2nd time in 2 years.  This was our 3rd trip there in less than 10 years.  All I can say is timing.  AND covid.

We actually had an Alaskan Cruise/Canadian adventure planned.  It was all set to go.  Well, as you can imagine.........  covid came around and changed a LOT of plans.  

We ended up coming up with a VERY roughly planned New York, Connecticut trip.  Well, some of the stuff we had hoped to do on that trip was looking iffy in many ways.

So we thought about doing something relaxing.  We wanted to do something that didn't involve a ton of social interaction (BUT we still did want to get "out" and do some exploring).

We thought about some trips we have enjoyed in the past.  I am always up for Gettysburg.  Still, that is a social, and often crowded area.

We thought about spending a week in our home state, or Tennessee, but...  well, thats just not really "getting away".

AND, we both really enjoyed our time in South Dakota last year.  We knew we were wanting to get back soon anyway, so....  we did a repeat trip to South Dakota!

Most of the parks are not crowded, there is a lot of room, and you can do a lot of exploring from the comfort of your own car!

Plus, we called our favorite South Dakota Hotel, the Alex

Johnson, and rooms were available and reasonable!  We would be staying several nights in the great town of Rapid City AGAIN!

This was a bit of a last minute trip......  AND we ended up tweaking it a bit right before leaving.

You know that I love Nebraska, and we have always stopped in two of my favorite towns (Fremont and Omaha) on previous trips.  Well, we realized that we could make some impressive stops in Iowa and Minnesota if we cancelled Nebraska.  I hated to do that, but the thought of what we would be getting with the trade off was too exciting.  

We ended up going to the Surf Ballroom and the "Day the Music Died" crash site.  You probably know what I am talking about.  More on that later.

AND, we could hit part of Minnesota, making our first trip through that great state!  In fact, we would mark TWO states off of our list with this trip (Minnesota and North Dakota).  We would ALMOST get to a THIRD new state (Montana) but we had to pass on that one.

One of our rules of visiting a state is you can't go there JUST to go there.  Well, we ALMOST routed a very brief part of the road trip THROUGH Montana (when driving back to Rapid City South Dakota from Medora North Dakota) but it was going to add more time than we could spare to our trip.  AND, we would be doing it for the sake of

doing it.  We chose to save Montana for another day.

We visited a few places we saw in 2012 and wanted to visit again in 2019 but couldn't (Devils Tower and Deadwood).  We visited several sites for a third time (Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, the Hotel Alex Johnson and a few restaurants).  AND, we got to see several things for the first time- MAINLY Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota!

As you may have noticed, I have been enjoying filming as we travel lately.  I plan to still blog, but it might be more video focused starting with this trip.  It has brought me a lot of joy watching my videos again and talking about them.

 

"Secret Indianapolis: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure" by Ashley Petry

A LOT of travel books around are really out of date at this point.  There were several series of books that have been out over the last decade or two that used to be a nice go to source for travel (Weird, Oddball, Curiosities, etc.)but they haven't been updated. Thats why I am REALLY glad to see the "Secret" books showing up!

I picked up "Secret Indianapolis" by Ashley Petry as we drove through Indy the other day.  It was around 100 "Secret" places you might want to see while in the area.  

Indianapolis is one of my favorite towns, and this volume brought up SEVERAL places that were not on my radar at all!  In fact, there were only a few in here that I was aware of.

I have updated my personal "places to see" list to include several of Petry's suggestions.  I don't want to give too much away, but there is a cafe in the area that is the only place that you can now purchase a beverage popular in the 50s.  There is a park with seats over looking 2 highways.  She suggests a building with a great observation deck (I love observation decks). 

Oh, and she makes some other kind of to the side suggestions about nearby restaurants.  She also lets you know that some of the sites appear in local author fiction!  I love those bits of info!

Each entry gets a couple of pages.  This is a really easy book to read straight through and take notes, and its also a nice book to keep around if you find yourself in the Circle City often.

 

Apache Indians, Roosevelt Lake, Arizona Postcard

I love the picture on this postcard.  It is undated and unused.

San Antonio 2017

 AND, here is one last video I posted showing a little more about San Antonio!  This is mostly around the River Walk.