Lost River Cave Boat Tour Kentucky May 2022

 We finally got to take a tour of Lost River Cave in Bowling Green Kentucky!

Just Love Coffee Bowling Green Kentucky May 2022

 We had some of the best drinks ever at Just Love Coffee in Bowling Green Kentucky!

Lost River Cave Bowling Green Kentucky April 2022- no cave tour

 Lost River Cave was closed due to weather when we stopped by recently, but we still had a nice time exploring the nearby grounds!

"Hillbilly Jim- The Incredible Story of a Wrestling Superstar" by Gary P. West

I mentioned earlier that I got to meet Hillbilly Jim at the Kentucky Book Fair this year.  He was great!

 Well, I was pretty excited about reading his biography- "Hillbilly Jim:  The Incredible Story of a Wrestling Superstar" by Gary P. West. 

I enjoyed reading about Hillbilly Jim Morris and his life before wrestling.  The first part of the book covers Jim's high school sports career which transitions into a very shaky college basketball career. 

As a big athlete, Jim eventually gets involved in pro-wrestling.  He spends some time hanging out in Tennessee with the Lawler promotion, and he gets his first gimmick as a biker type named Harley Davidson.  He also works briefly with Stu Hart's promotion in the Canada.

Hillbilly Jim, with Gary West, covers a lot of ground in this book, including Jim's basketball career, Jim's thoughts on his pre-wrestling career gigs, and his musical talents. 

A brief history of wrestling is covered here and there too, making this a fun read for someone with little knowledge of wrestling and it's classic stars.  Morris does tell some behind the scenes stories, and he lets ya know what he thinks of many of his former colleagues.  For the most part, Jim seems careful about not talking bad about people... but he does open up about a few questionable characters (Adrian Adonis comes to mind).

Anyway, I don't want to give away any of Hillbilly's stories, but this is a fun read, especially if you grew up admiring this big hearted Kentucky giant like I did.  The book had a great, casual feel (you feel like Jim is simply telling his stories to the reader for fun with West's help).

Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort Kentucky

I THINK that the Kentucky Book Fair is held the first Saturday in November each year.  It is at the Convention Center in Frankfort.

I had to attend this year because there were several intriguing authors showing up.

I have been before, and I like this event a lot because it is very casual.  The vibe is friendly and relaxed.  Authors and readers aren't an uptight group for sure.

I had received an author list in the mail before the event and I immediately noticed several that I wanted to see at the fair.  The group was a pretty mixed bag, but there were some that jumped out to me.

Former professional wrestler Hillbilly Jim (Jim Morris) was there selling copies of his biography along with the books author Gary P. West.  I loved Hillbilly Jim when I was a kid, and I was super excited to say hi to him, and to pick up his book.

Jim was as nice in real life as his character was back in the day.  He is from Bowling Green, and we talked about our home towns.  He is very familiar with Owensboro, mentioning that he had wrestled at the Sports Center and done some stuff with WaxWorks in town.  Jim talked about his radio show, and his other interests.  He said something (I wish I remembered his exact quote) about trying to be the best he could be at multiple things.  It was very inspiring.

Hillbilly Jim is still a massive man.  You can tell that he works out and takes care of himself.  I just looked his age up on Wikipedia, and he could easily pass for a couple decades younger.

Someone else that I was excited about seeing at this event was Ian Punnett, former host of Coast to Coast AM.  I used to listen to Coast to Coast ALL the time, and I still enjoy catching it when I can.  Anyway, I thought it was a pretty big deal that Mr. Punnett was at the Fair.  He has just completed a book, "A Black Night for the Bluegrass Belle" which was available at the Kentucky Book Fair.  Ian was also as friendly as I hoped he would be.  I was glad to pick up his book about Verna Garr Taylor and the events surrounding her death in 1936.

Ian was very pleasant and talked about several topics with us, though he seemed just as curious about the people stopping by to see him.  He and Jim Morris both asked about us, what we did, where we were from, etc.  It was very sweet and sincere.

Ian even introduced us to his publisher from Acclaim Press.  I feel bad that I can't remember his name right now, but we ended up bumping in to him at nearly every other booth we stopped at- most of the books we bought on this day were published by Acclaim.

Setting next to Ian was Ronald Blair who has recently put out the massive volume "WILD WOLF- The Great Civil War Rivalry".  Blair is the great-great- nephew of Union Col. Frank Wolford who was a rival of John Hunt Morgan's.  Mr. Blair told me that his book is the result of sixteen years worth of work.  I picked his impressive piece of work up too.

The other person that I was really excited to see was Corky Withrow, who played minor league baseball for ten years, making it briefly to the majors in 1963.  Corky is from Central City and that's not too far from where I grew up.  Corky was lively and just a lot of fun.  We talked about growing up in western Kentucky, and when I told him that I met my wife at Berea, he had some Berea stories!

So, I have mentioned the four authors that I planned to see and pick up a book from, but there were still more interesting authors to visit with and books to check out.

We explored the convention center, and stopped here and there to talk to others authors who weren't on our radar, but maybe should have been.

We talked to Gerald W. Fischer who has written the book, "Battletown Witch" about an accused witch who was burned to death in 1840.  Her ghost has been seen in the area since then.

We also talked to a very nice and enthusiastic lady who told us about the Seckatary Hawkins Club books, which are being reissued.  They were originally published in the 1920s.  These sounded like very cute and fun young adult type books, that older adults might enjoy reading too.  I am going to have to look these books up a little more, because they sounded like great fun.

The book fair was a great event this year, and I look forward to attending next year!

Corvette Museum in Bowling Green (again)

Yes, I know, I just mentioned the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green not too long again.  Forgive me for bringing it up again but..... the place is cool.

Actually, this is getting to be the "must see" spot for out of town friends.  People visiting Kentucky want to see the sinkhole. 

I got to see it shortly after it happened (see my previous entry).  They are allowing more access to the area now though, AND all 8 cars have been pulled out (only 5 were out last time I was here).

All of the recovered cars are displayed at the end of your museum visit.  Make no mistake about it, the hole, and the recovered cars, are now the main attraction here.

I have enjoyed both of my visits here.  I am always looking for an excuse to take a road trip to Bowling Green, and this museum is classy and cool.  The staff members are all helpful and casual and corvettes are fun.

Check out my photos! 

Bowling Green Corvette Museum

I am not a car person.  Not at all.  In fact, I simply don't know a lot about them.

And I have never really been impressed with sports cars.  Its just not my thing.  I have always appreciated a good, reliable car... with a nice sound system.

I have known about the Corvette Museum in Bowling for some time now, and it has been on my list of places to get to, but I simply never got around to it.  Over the last few years when I have been in or near Bowling Green, it has been to see caves, a Hot Rods game, or something else. 

After seeing the footage and hearing all about the sinkhole that just opened up AT the museum, I really wanted to make it down.

Just in case you don't know, on February 12th, 2014 a sinkhole opened up in the Skydome area (the museums beautiful hall of fame showroom area).  Eight rare cars fell into the hole.  Luckily, this happened in the early morning hours, before the museum opened so no one was around. 

I know, I feel a little bad that I am just now getting around to mentioning one of the great, and unique places in our state, AFTER something bad happens there.  Still, I figured now was better than never.

Attractive Corvettes are displayed throughout the museum, along with various historical items relating to the car.  I was impressed with the fact that Roy Orbison's Corvette was on display!  I was sad to hear that Roy's car will be auctioned off soon by the family, so you might want to get to Bowling Green if that's a car you must see.

There was a nice display on the company's involvement with NASA, and several displays on the evolution of the car, racing, etc.  There is also an informative film when you go in.

Everyone working at the museum seemed excited to be there.  The young guys who sold us our tickets told us about some exhibits, and they stressed that they encourage photography.  The girl who took our souvenir photos told us all about a couple of her favorite cars.  The guy in the gift shop pointed out a couple of items I may have missed.  I was happy to see my fellow Kentuckians taking pride in the museum.

AND, I was impressed by the fact that the Corvette Museum is actually allowing a lot of access to the sinkhole.  You cannot go into the Skydome area at this point, BUT the museum has a glass wall up so you can look in the Skydome and see hard hatted workers doing their job around the sinkhole.  ALSO, 5 of the 8 cars that fell had been recovered when I visited.  All 5 are on display.

There is something very strange about rare Corvettes, protected in a museum being the victims of this kind of damage.  I mean, these are some of the most rare, and valuable ones around.  You know that the museum has insured them and taken much care in their handling.  These should be some of the most well preserved cars around.

But these uncommon natural occurrences can happen anywhere and change things.

Bowling Green Business University, Bowling Green, Kentucky 1934

Postmarked 1934!

Kentucky Dinosaur

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

Random Photos of Bowing Green

Book: The Spirit of Lost River

Hey, I picked up this nice little book for $5 at the Lost River Cave gift shop! It gives a nice easy to understand history of the cave, its uses, etc. There are some great pictures, and it is written in a way that a 5th grader or an adult can understand.

Great old photos in here too!

Lost River Cave- Bowling Green KY

Just a couple of miles down the road from the mall in Bowling Green is Lost River Cave!


I really liked this cave because the actual cave tour pretty much happens while you are on a boat!


You do have to walk a little bit from the main gift shop/visitor center to the cave but that's it. In my opinion, that makes this a good cave tour for anyone who might have trouble with their knees or with walking for a longer period of time.


The day we were there, they were setting up for a wedding! How cool is that? I took a couple of pictures. I did buy the book in the gift shop about the history of Lost River Cave, and it looks like the wedding area is the area where they used to have bands and dancing.


I really like the thought of music and events being held inside of show caves. I know many caves used to have such events. I guess now though, caves just don't seem like the appropriate venues.


The cave does claim that Jesse James hid out here for some time. This is a pretty cool story and it might have a little more legitimacy than some other claims. Then again, it seems that just about every historical place I go to claims that Jesse James hid there, shot a person there, etc.


The grounds around the cave are very nice and calm. There are short hiking trails. They have a butterfly garden too which is a bonus.


Lost River Cave has some "Blue Holes". Even after taking the tour and reading the book, I am a bit fuzzy on what these are exactly. I know there is one in a small pond on the grounds that was believed to be much deeper (several hundred feet deep), until they figured out that one of these blue holes was distorting the measuring technique.