Charlevoix Michigan 2023

While driving around Michigan, and Lake Michigan, we found ourselves in several great little towns...  Charlevoix was one of our favorites!

Charlevoix Lighthouse Michigan 2023

One of several lighthouses we got to see in Michigan was in Charlevoix.

Cadillac Michigan 2023

AND, we got to visit Cadillac Michigan!

Boyne Falls Michigan 2023

Check out Boyne Falls Michigan!

Boyne City Michigan 2023

Another great little town we visited in Michigan was Boyne City!

Harbor Springs Michigan 2023

We found ourselves in Harbor Springs Michigan.  What a great little town right on Lake Michigan, AND they have Tom's Mom's Cookies!

Driving Around Downtown Grand Rapids Michigan 2023

Here is just a quick trip through downtown Grand Rapids Michigan!

Lemonjellos Coffee Holland Michigan 2023

We stumbled in to the great little coffee place, Lemonjello's, while in Holland Michigan!

Downtown Holland Michigan 2023

And here is a quick ride through downtown Holland Michigan!

Campbell House Lexington Kentucky Postcards

Here are a couple of vintage, unused postcards showing the Campbell House in Lexington Kentucky.

 

"Bizarre Bluegrass" by Keven McQueen

I mentioned picking up Keven McQueen's "Bizarre Bluegrass" at the recent Kentucky Book Festival.

This book, like Keven's MANY other volumes, is just a fun book to have around.  He is great about combing through old papers and finding a ton of just weird old stories, mostly in Kentucky.

I particularly enjoyed a section in this book of little known Abraham Lincoln stories.  One that I was unaware of involved Edwin Booth destroying property of his assassin brother.

A fun story involves a boy who goes missing, and is assumed to be dead, only to show some up months later!  Its a crazy story, and there is a connection to my old stompin' grounds of Owensboro!

ANOTHER great story involves a farmer using monkey labor....  this story may have been false though.

McQueen ends his book with a great personal story, involving his writing to Charles Manson back in the 80s!  Manson responds.....  more than once.

Keven's books are just fun reads all the way around.  They are quick, and contain a lot of great, short chapters that can be read in brief settings.  This would be a great gift for a young person (or older person) who enjoys reading strange stories in Kentucky.
 

"Butcher Burbridge" by Bryan S. Bush

Oh man, I knew a little bit about Union General Burbridge before reading this one, but I was blown away by how crazy of a story this is!

Very briefly, General Burbridge was put in charge of Kentucky late in the Civil War, with the support of some heavy weights of the time (Lincoln, Sherman, etc).  Well, he orders (and has carried out) the execution of southern sympathizers and guerillas through the state.

It seems that, in an effort to really upset the masses, he also gets involved in a weird pork scam with the government, upsetting farmers.  He also gets his hands dirty with some election tampering.  Another move not particularly popular with the masses at the time involved his push to allow blacks to serve as soldiers in the military.

The story is very complicated....  but author Bryan Bush tries successfully to keep the story followable telling about the General's movements and actions.  Other Kentucky notables like Sue Mundy (Jerome Clarke) and John Hunt Morgan are major characters in the story.

As the book ends, it is obvious that some see Burbridge as a hero, and some don't.  A very notable act of admiration came from the 56th US Colored Cavalry who presented Burbridge with an impressive gift of a sword and spurs valued at $1,000 at Camp Nelson.
 

The Campbell House Curio Collection by Hilton and Rackhouse Tavern in Le...

The first time I visited the Campbell House Inn in Lexington was sometime in the 90s.  I have been there a lot since then, and, really up until fairly recently, I think most people thought of it as an OK, maybe slightly above average hotel.  It was functional.

Well, over the last few years, it has become a part of the Curio Collection by Hilton and man have they fixed the place up!  Honestly, it has become one of my favorite places to hang out in town.

They have decorated the place with appropriate equestrian and bourbon themes.  If you were coming to Lexington for Keeneland, or to visit distilleries, this would be a great place to really 
immerse yourself in horse racing and spirits.

I really like their restaurant, the Rackhouse Tavern too.  We had brunch the other day and it was special.

Anyway, check out my video on the Campbell House Inn!

Kentucky Book Festival at Joseph Beth in Lexington 10/21/2023

I love books, and I really enjoy getting books signed by the author when I can.  

Each year, there is the "Kentucky Book Festival" in my neck of the woods.  Unfortunately, I have been busy or somewhere else the last few years that they have had it.

I got to go this year though, and I had a great time meeting with several authors!

They have it as Joseph Beth, and I love that place.  Having the authors sectioned off did make the place a bit crowded, but it was nice seeing so many people at the legendary bookstore.

I had reviewed the list of authors and I knew who I wanted to find.  I was given a map showing where each writer was, so it was easy to find whoever you were looking for.

I forgot to get a picture of him, but the first person I stopped to see was fellow Berea grad Keven McQueen.  Keven has written a ton of books on general weirdness in and out of the Bluegrass State.  I have read several of his books, and I picked up a copy of "Bizarre Bluegrass" on this day.  Not to give anything away, but there is a chapter where Keven talks about writing a letter in the 80s to Charles Manson.  Manson DID write back.

Next to Kevin was Bryan S. Bush who wrote a book that I appreciated, "Butcher Burbridge."  Bryan has also written several other books mostly relating to this area, and the Civil War.

I stopped by another author's table that I have read a lot before, Stuart W. Sanders.  Stuart is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the Civil War, and other topics.  I picked up his, "The Battle of Mill Springs Kentucky" when I saw him.

I also had a nice conversation with him about touring battlefields in and out of Kentucky.

Amrita Chakrabarti Myers was an author not originally on my radar, until I read a review of her new book, "The Vice President's Black Wife" about Julia Chinn, the wife of Richard Johnson, Van Buren's VP.  We stopped by and picked up a signed copy from her.  She was very friendly and talkative and I am excited about reading this one.

Right beside Amrita was former Kentucky Governor Paul Patton!  I had to pick up a signed copy of his book.  He was very friendly and seemed happy to be there.

His co-author, Jeffrey Suchanek was a very nice fellow too, and he noticed that I was wearing a Roberto Clemente baseball cap!  We ended up chatting for a while about the Puerto Rican baseball legend.

Another connection was made relating to my Clemente cap before we left the event.  Author Jamie H. Vaught also noticed my hat, and told me that he met the mad when he was a child!

Vaught has written several books covering UK basketball.  He was a very friendly and entertaining fellow, and he included a chapter on Roberto Clemente in one of his books!

 

Springfield Tennessee October 2023

While visiting Adams, we also spent some time in Springfield, Tennessee!

"Bell Witch: in Myth and Memory" by Rick Gregory

 While at the spectacular Bell Witch Festival, I picked up Rick Gregory's book directly from him!

Rick is one of the volunteers who helps out with the play, and he announced before the play that he was selling and signing his book, AND he declared that "The Witch wants you to buy the book!"

His volume was available at the merchandise booth, and sales benefit putting on the festival each year.  You know I had to buy a copy!

Rick was a lot of fun to talk to, and he openly said that he is a skeptic.  Still, his book doesn't come off as overly or totally anti-believer.

The book really is an explanation of how our folklore and stories passed around in our communities and among our families evolve and even take on a life of their own.  Gregory shows early on in the book that the Bell Witch story is VERY similar to other regional ghost stories, like "Old Nance" and the "Epworth Ghost".  In fact, as the author set out the details of Old Nance, I thought to myself, if these were copyrighted stories, one of the authors could easily sue for plagiarism.  

Rick Gregory does give a brief overview of the legend, and he talks about things to see and do in Adams.  Also included are lists of books, articles and movies on the Bell Witch.  This is definitely a book to add to your collection of Bell Witch Books.

The Bell Witch Fall Festival, Bell Witch Cave & Spirit the Authentic Story of...

I posted this 16 minute or so video on youtube about our end of October visit to Adams Tennessee this year, to enjoy and experience some of the Bell Witch Legend.  I have posted other entries and videos on Adams and the Bell Witch.... I can't get enough of it!

This was our first time making it to the area for the "Bell Witch Festival" and man did we have fun.  I picked up a couple of new books that I bought directly from the authors, and we LOVED the play!  We will be back for this event.

If you have looked up the Bell Witch Festival, or searched for info on the play and musical that they put on each year, you will find that there really isn't a ton of info out there.  

AND, in my opinion, the good people in Adams hosting these events are selling themselves short.  This is simply a perfect event in a great little town with a ghostly legend.  Make sure you set aside a full day, if not 2-3 for this.

You can probably measure the crowd that shows up in the hundreds, no more than a couple thousand I would say.  Parking, getting around, finding something to eat.....  that stuff won't be a problem.  Its all well managed here.

We found some fun vendors and friendly locals here.  Moss's Restaurant is here too...  Love that place.  You can fill up a whole day.

Anyway, check out my video.  We got to Adams in the morning, and, including a visit to eh Bell Witch Cave, and lunch at Moss's, we have a very fun and eventful day.

One repeated theme/line from the play is "in this place, on this ground."  There are signs up with the phrase too.  I thought this was a perfect line to enhance the spook value of this event, as the play is performed at an outdoor theater on land owned at the time by John Bell.

Dona Maria's Tamales Berea Kentucky 2023

There is a great new Mexican Restaurant in Berea- Dona Maria's Tamales!

Halloween This Year

 

I love Halloween, every year.  I look forward to it, and I kinda start my Halloween season sometime in July.

Actually, I enjoy ghost stories, spooky movies, and folk legends all year long.  It just kind of amps up the months leading to the end of October.

I enjoy going in to stores and seeing the displays (see photos).  If you are like me and grew up...  well, decades ago....  you probably remember older displays.  I remember a lot more witches and werewolves in years past.  I really miss seeing all of the old cheap masks that had the rubber bands in the back.  When I was a kid, they had those everywhere.  Hundreds at K-Mart and grocery stores.

I did notice, at a Wal Mart this year, that they had a few masks like that.  Not the huge selection from 30+ years ago, but a few.  

I wanted to make a point to really soak in all of Halloween that I could this year.  I wanted to make sure every weekend and week night was full of seasonal festivities.

Unfortunately, I had some flu/cold stuff going on that knocked me down for a couple of weeks.  Still, we did a lot!

In fact, we squeezed in a couple of things that I really enjoyed, and hope to make a tradition.

In Chillicothe Ohio, we got to see a great production of a play involving the Frankenstein Monster.

The play was great, and a haunted trail was put on after the performance that was brilliant.  It was put on by the same people that do "Tecumseh!" which we also saw for the first time earlier this year.  We loved that production too.

At the end of October, we went to Adams Tennessee for the Bell Witch Fall Festival.  We have been to Adams many times, but this was our first time there in October for this event.

Adams is ground zero when it comes to the legend of the Bell Witch.  The town has a cave, a cemetery, and other sites to see relating to the ghost that, according to legend, tortured a family in the late 1810s and later.

AND, they have a festival leading up to Halloween.  The first night of the festival is devoted to story telling.  The next few weekends, they have a musical "Smoke" about the tobacco wars in the area, and the famous Night Riders.  The next weekends are devoted to showing the play "Spirit" which covers the Bell Witch legend.

A repeated theme/line from the play is "at this place, on this ground."  They also have signs up with the phrase.  The line really adds to the authentic spook factor, as the play and festival are performed on land once owned by John Bell.  The old home, cemetery and cave are all really just short walks away from the outdoor theater where the play is shown.

I hope to make it back to Chillicothe next year for whatever spooky production they do, and I want to get back to Adams for their Bell Witch Fall Festival.  

Just Love Coffee Berea Kentucky 2023

I was so happy to see one of my favorite small coffee chains, Just Love Coffee, taking over the old Mario's Pizza location in Berea!

Spoonbread Festival Berea Kentucky September 2023

We were lucky enough to spend a little bit of time at this years Spoonbread Festival in Berea!