Keystone Indianapolis Indiana November 2020

 And here is a short video I posted to youtube about the Keystone at the Crossing area of Indianapolis.  You KNOW I love this area, as I have mentioned it on this blog many times, like here and here.

AND, being that this is an area I always will link, in my mind to Christmas......  here and here I mention my all time favorite mall Santa, Alan Gozy who was always wonderful at the Keystone Fashion Mall.

The Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, DC by Ron Franscell

Oh, I have mentioned author Ron Franscell here before.  In fact, he is one of the few authors that I will buy his books, just because of the author.  He writes FASCINATING crime guides to specific places, and he gives addresses.

Well, I realized I had never read his "Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, DC" yet!

These are just easy to read books.  Ron gives ya a brief description of the crime, he tells you where it happened and thats it.  You can google more about specific cases and you can googlemap the location.  His books are often a starting point to find out more about a case.

This particular volume covered a lot of ground.  The first/main section is on Washington DC.  There is another section on the Lincoln Assassination.  A third section covers Maryland and the last section is devoted to Arlington National Cemetery.

I enjoy reading about the Civil War, and I was glad to see multiple references to Dan Sickles.  Several recent crimes were covered in the book too.  Some really strange topics Franscell gets in to include Watergate, the Bunny Man legend, a stolen skull, and, one of my favorite characters in history, Robert Todd Lincoln (who is nearby during more presidential assassinations than just his dad's).

The book is packed and oozing with strange crime cases.  It gets my highest recommendation!

 

"Roadside History: A Guide to Kentucky Highway Markers" by Dianne Wells

I realized recently that I hadn't mentioned here a great reference book that I have been using a lot lately.  "Roadside History:  A Guide to Kentucky Highway Markers" compiled by Dianne Wells has been a great resource for me!

I have had many moments where I have been driving around Kentucky, maybe with a friend when something happens.  A historic marker goes by us.  

I always want to stop and read them....  but, thats often hard to do if you are in a hurry.  Well, with this book, I can look that marker up later!

Also, you can use the counties index in the back to check out all of the markers in a specific county!

 

Owensboro Kentucky Giant Hulk Hogan Head Sculpture by the Toyminator!

 

My pal Rick Phelps, "The Toyminator" at Owensboro's Consumers Mall has created an AMAZING giant bust of Hulk Hogan!  I talked to him recently about the creation, along with his other statues, and his business at the Consumers Mall.

Here and here are some other posts I have done about the Toyminator over the years!

Paris Kentucky Christmas Lights 2020

 Here is a very short video I put on youtube of the Christmas lights in Paris Kentucky!

Mustard Seed Hill Millersburg, KY Christmas 2020

 I am trying to get some interesting Christmas videos up!  Here is a quick visit to Mustard Seed Hill in Millersburg to see all of their GREAT Christmas lights!

Kentucky Gateway Museum Center KSB Miniatures Collection 12 2020

 Here is a little video I posted from our visit to the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center in Maysville.  This video covers their unreal KSB Miniatures Collection of dollhouses.  I mentioned them before HERE.

Kentucky Gateway Museum Center Maysville Nativity Display 2020

 Here is a video we made recently while visiting Maysville's Kentucky Gateway Museum Center.  I was very impressed with their current display of Nativity Scenes!

Gray Barker- "The Silver Bridge"

I have talked a lot about how interesting I think Point Pleasant West Virginia is. 

Well, Point Pleasant is just a cool, neat, and weird town.  Its a great town for fans of the paranormal, its a cool place for people that love folklore, and its just a warm small town.

I've read John Keel's "Mothman Prophasies" a couple of times, and the story is freaky.  If you are a believer or not, its just a good, strange book.

So, I found a copy of Gray Barker's "The Silver Bridge" which is somewhat of a sibling book to Keel's.  In many ways, I kinda felt like I was reading the whole basic Mothman story again.

Still, this is a must read for students of the Mothman.  I would love to hear from others who have dug deeper into the tale....  Anybody else have any thoughts on this one?

Mothman, Keel and Barker are all some crazy rabbit holes to jump into.

Christmas Lights in Lexington KY 2019

 Here is another Christmas video I posted to youtube......  Its us just driving around admiring Christmas lights in Lexington Kentucky!

Point Pleasant WV 10 2020

 Yeah, I have gone on and on about Point Pleasant.  Great little town with great history, especially relating to folk lore and the Mothman.

Well, we went to the West Virginia town again recently.  This was more of a trip just to enjoy Point Pleasant.  I didn't go through the Mothman Museum and we didn't drive out to the igloos.

One thing I've realized about Point Pleasant is that it is just a nice little town on its own.  We thought it might be nice just to do a day trip and enjoy the town leisurely.

There is a very nice antique mall along their main street.  We enjoyed hanging out at the great little coffee shop, the Coffee Grinder, and we walked and drove around just taking it all in.

Check out the youtube video I recently posted..... 

Panther Creek Park and Owensboro Christmas Lights 2020

 I was so happy to be able to do the Christmas lights drive through event at Panther Creek Park near Owensboro this year!  For $5 a car, we thought this was a great value, and it was great fun!  Here is a video I put together of us going through....  I have included some nice houses we saw all in Owensboro too!

Santa Claus Indiana 12 2020

 We made our annual pilgrimage to Santa Claus Indiana earlier in December of this year!  This is such a great town any time, but especially right before Christmas!  Check out my video I posted to youtube.

Christ Centered Church Living Nativity 2019

 Yeah, I kinda feel like the Christmas festivities are limited this year.....  so here is a video I made from a wonderful event at Christ Centered Church in Lexington from last year!  Its their living Nativity event......  Check out that live camel!

I do mention that we attended a couple of events last year for Christmas.  We also went to a ticketed event at a much larger church.  We had never been to that church before.  Someone got upset with us for going in the wrong door.  They walked us through to the correct entrance making sure that we knew it was a burden for them to do this.  I had honestly never experienced such rudeness at a church before....  The rest of the event was OK, but one persons attitude kind of set the tone for the rest of the evening.

A couple of days later, we attended this great event at Christ Centered Church.  It was a smaller church.  It was free, and we were invited in for soup, cakes and cider!  We all agreed that the free, humble event at Christ Centered Church was awesome, and it was a totally opposite experience to what we had at a bigger church.

Anyway, here is the video!

CSX Train in West Virginia 10 2020

 Here is a simple video I put on youtube recently of a train in West Virginia!

Hidden River Cave in Horse Cave KY 09 2018

 I just put up this video from September of 2018 of us exploring Hidden River Cave in Horse Cave Kentucky!  I mentioned this before in 2018, but I JUST got around to editing and putting the video together from that trip!

High Bridge of Kentucky 08 2020

 Hey!  Here is a video I recently put on youtube about the High Bridge of Kentucky!

The World's Only Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota

"The Corn Palace is open free of charge, the year-around, to visitors."

This postcard was sent in 1960.

M & R Travelers Rest Crow Buttes SD

Before I get away from talking about our mostly South Dakota trip, I wanted to mention a few places I really didn't get in my youtube videos.

I did briefly mention this place in my video on our drive to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but I wanted to give it another quick mention.

The M&R Traveler's Rest in Crow Buttes South Dakota was a great stop.  They have food, souvenirs, and clean restrooms.  It looked like a nice place to stop as we were traveling back to Rapid City.

They had a sign up boasting about their shakes so I had to have one.  It was one of the best I have ever had!  I ended up picking up some postcards too, and a couple of other items.  

I talked to the owner of the place who was great, and who also had some ties to my old stompin' grounds in Western Kentucky.

She told me a crazy story about an Indian conflict that happened at the Buttes right by the store.  Check out the marker I have included.  VERY interesting place and interesting story.

This spot isn't that far from Bear Buttes, and it is a nice stop on I-85.  If you are in the area, you need to stop by!

 

Victory Field, Indianapolis Indiana

                                                                                    

 I found this old postcard of Liberty Field in Indianapolis recently!  It really made me miss baseball!  I know most minor league parks did not have a lot going on this year.