Greenbrier Hotel and Golf Course, White Sulphur Springs West Virginia Old Postcard

I picked up these two postcards showing the grounds of the LEGENDARY Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia recently.  They are unused, and both have a slight crease.  
 

Arial View Of Niagara Falls Old Postcards

 This colorful Niagara Falls postcard shows the falls from a generally unique angle.  It went through the mail to a friend in Pennsylvania in 1957.

"Extreme Expeditions 3: Bigfoot Versus Yeti" by Adam Davies

On our recent trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, we stopped by "Bigfoot in the Smokies" in Townsend.  The shop is a cool gift shop devoted to all things bigfoot.

The place is cool, and I found several things there that I had to have.  

One thing I noticed was a section of Adam Davies books, signed by the author.

Well, I realized that Adam Davies was actually there at the shop running the place!

Mr. Davies is a well-known researcher in the cryptid world.  He is all over the place.  In fact, we had just been watching a Josh Gates show featuring Adam!

He was very friendly, and he told us he is at the shop frequently, but not every day.  

So, I picked up the book "Extreme Expeditions 3:  Bigfoot Versus Yeti".  The volume is an interesting read, and each chapter kind of covers a specific investigation that Davies participated in (I picked volume 3 up because it includes his adventure with Josh Gates).

The book is perfect.  It is interesting and honest.  The author will let you know that, on many investigations, nothing happened.

BUT, that's not always the case, and he does have some interesting encounters.

 

Panoramic View of Niagara Falls Old Postcard

 This wonderful postcard of Niagara Falls is unused and undated.  I am guessing that it is, or is close to, a century old.

Portland Head Light by Night, Portland Maine

 I have been there many times myself.... I found this old postcard of the "Portland Head Light by Night, Casco Bay, Portland, Maine" and I think it is just perfect.  The postcard is unused and undated.

General View of Falls from Canadian Side, Niagara Falls Old Postcard

 This postcard went through the mail to a mother from her children in 1924!

Niagara Falls Old Postcard

 Another great unused postcard showing Niagara Falls.  I am guessing this one was bought sometime in the 1950s.

Greetings from Niagara Falls, Canada Old Postcard

 This is a fun postcard from many decades ago (any guesses, judging by those old cars?).  It was unsent and undated.

Mothman.... in Berea Kentucky

You know I love Berea Kentucky....  and Mothman.

Not too long ago we were walking our dogs in Berea, and I saw this sign- featuring the Mothman statue in Point Pleasant West Virginia.
 

"Strange Kentucky Travels: The Haunted and Unexplained" by James Ambs

I guess it isn't too vain to let you know that I have written a book.  It has been out for a few months now, and I want to be humble....  but I am very proud of it.

I will tell you a little about why I wrote the book, and the book itself.

I have read a ton of weird and strange books.  The more obscure, the more regional and local- the better.  I get so excited when I travel, and I find some odd book about that place's legends.  The more DIY, the better.

I have a nice collection of such books.  If you have ever seen my bookshelves (and various bookstacks throughout my house) you know.
 

I organize them by state too.  All states are represented, even the few I haven't visited yet.  Sure, I have an impressive collection of Civil War books, and biographies of politicians....  but most of my books are about bigfoot, ghosts, haunted houses and just strange stories.

There are some regional authors I love (Vermont's Joseph Citro, Troy Taylor from Illinois, and Kentucky's own Keven McQueen are well represented in my collection).  There are also many self-published books.  Some are full of misspellings and have some errors- but thats OK- it gives them character.

I treasure some of those unedited self-publications...  some of them held together by staples.

Some are better than others.  I have been frustrated by some books that have mostly reprinted Wikipedia articles while utilizing Wikicommons and other public domain photos.

I was born in Owensboro.  I have lived most of my life in Kentucky.  I am constantly taking road trips throughout the state.....  I kind of felt like I was uniquely qualified to write a very authentic book on some of the strange stories in Kentucky.

So, I started writing about my favorite "weird" spots in Kentucky.  I started organizing my pictures (I have tens of thousands).  I started work on putting my book together.

It became a bit of an obsession.  There are literally hundreds of interesting and strange places, and stories.  The book I wanted to write would be thousands of pages.  Even edited down, I was looking at hundreds.

I have tried to be selective too.  A friend of a friend's story about a shadow person their grandma saw was not what I wanted to include.  I wanted to only include the well-known, and well documented stories.

Also, I wanted this to be a bit of a travel guide.  So, I give a brief retelling of the legend, then I try to give addresses of places associated with the legends.  I tell about my own experiences at each site (I have been to all of them- most of them many times).  If there is a cool shop or coffee shop there, well, I will mention it too!

AND, I have included photos, all taken by me (or someone in my party during a visit).  Again, I wanted this to be real, authentic, and very DIY.  No wiki sources here.  Pictures are in color too.

"Strange Kentucky Travels:  The Haunted and Unexplained" has info on the hauntings at Carter Caves, Waverly Hills, The Seelbach Hotel, Leah Smock, Pearl Bryan and Bobby Mackey's Music World, Caver Floyd Collins, and Portal 31.  I have a chapter on the last legal public hanging in the US, which happened in Owensboro....  a story I grew up with.  There is a chapter on the legends of the Red River Gorge.  I also included a chapter on Adams Tennessee's Bell Witch.  Yes, that legend is generally not associated with Kentucky, but it is only a few miles out of the state.  Most Kentuckians can visit Adams in a day or weekend trip easily.

I am working on more volumes.

Check it out and let me know what you think.  Thanks!

Chapel of the Holy Cross Sedona Arizona 2025

Here is a quick look at the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona Arizona!

Montazuma's Castle, Arizona

Montezuma Castle- National Monument. Prehistoric Indian ruins, 54 miles east of Prescott, Arizona.

Montezuma Castle Arizona 4 2025

We had a great visit to Montezuma Castle in Arizona in April, 2025!

Seip Earthworks Bainbridge Ohio

The Seip Earthworks are near Chillicothe Ohio!

Random Thoughts on Friday- Halloween Music

 Its Halloween.  I love Halloween, more so the season and the vibe than the actual day.  Check out my posts...  I love going to all of the spooky festivals and reading books about ghosts and monsters.

Really, I'm an all year long Halloween person.  I do go into full Christmas mode on November 1st, but right around the start of January, I'm back to Halloween.

I heard a program on NPR the other day.  They were talking about Halloween music.  Its not as defined as Christmas music.  The show played a few songs (many I had never heard of).  Of course, "Thriller" and "The Monster Mash" were played.

I talked to a friend recently.  He shared his "Halloween playlist" with me.  I have a similar playlist.  The only song we had in common was Donovan's "Season of the Witch."

He had a couple of songs from the Shining Soundtrack on his.  I hadn't listened to those outside of watching the movie....  but they were good and creepy.  I'll be hunting down that soundtrack soon.

I probably have 100 songs on my Halloween playlist.  Most of mine are just dark or have a weird scary or ghostly reference.  Some I remember hearing at a Halloween party from years ago.

If you care, here are a few of my favorites- Van Morrison- Into the Mystic, Langhorne Slim- Zombie, John & Mary- Angels of Stone, Equation- Drowning Man, Dar Williams- Christians and Pagans, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown- Fire, Patty Larkin- Phone Message, John Prine- The Sins of Mephisto, Huck 2- Evelyn, Cheap Trick- Ghost Town, Crash Test Dummies- The Ghosts That Haunt Me, Gil Scott- Heron- Me and The Devil, Tori Amos- Happy Phantom, Jane Voss- Do You See That Moon, The Low Anthem- Ghost Woman Blues, and others.  A few obvious ones are themes from the X-Files, and Twilight Zone, and Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London.

Serpent Mound Peebles Ohio 2025

We visited Serpent Mound in Peebles Ohio again!

ScareFest 2025 Lexington Kentucky

Here is a brief video mostly of me exploring "ScareFest" in October 2025!

GoblinCon Hopkinsville Kentucky October 2025

I had a great time at GoblinCon 2025, celebrating the Kelly Encounter/Hopkinsville Goblins that appeared in the area in 1955!

Visiting Kelly Kentucky and the Hopkinsville Goblins 2025

AND, I made a quick visit to the little town of Kelly....  it is small, but it is legendary in folklore and UFO circles!

"The Van Meter Visitor" by Lewis Voss and Nelson

"I found a copy of "The Van Meter Visitor- A True & Mysterious Encounter with the Unknown" by Chad Lewis, Noah Voss and Kevin Lee Nelson recently.

I really like this writing team.  It is obvious that, among the three of them, they cover the topic of their books thoroughly.  The book is about 225 pages, but I felt like it had a lot more info than that between the covers.  It is thorough and thoughtful.

They consider a topic very completely.  They examine all of the known info available on this strange Iowa encounter from 1903 and they offer various thoughts and theories.  This one to me is similar to Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster in West Virginia.  It has a certain credibility to it.

I would love to attend their annual Van Meter Visitor festival....  It sounds like this town has embraced their strange story from over a century ago.  Oddly, I WAS in Van Meter many years ago.....  Back in 2012 to visit the Bob Feller Museum!  I think a road trip back is needed!