Winchester Ohio and Morgan's Raid

 While we were in very rural Southern Ohio, we drove through Winchester....  there is a historic marker mentioning the towns connection to John Hunt Morgan and the Great Raid in the Civil War.

Keeneland Horse Racing Lexington KY April 2023

I put a short video together from my time at Keeneland here in Lexington this year!  We have really started to enjoy horse racing there!

"Thunder Dog" by Michael Hingson with Susy Flory

 "Thunder Dog- the True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero" by Michael Hingson with Susy Flory is a GREAT BOOK!  I have been going down the 9/11 rabbit hole again and this book really got my attention when I was googling around for books on the topic.

VERY briefly, the story is about Michael Hingson, who is blind, and his guide dog, Roselle, as they escape from the World Trade Center on that terrible day.  They literally walk down 78 flights of stairs to escape the building after the first plane hits.  Of course, they still have a way to go before getting home safely.

The author does a great job of telling his and Roselle's story, and he also talks about his life as a blind person.  It was fascinating to hear about how he has been able to pretty much live his life like anyone else.  He has hobbies, and has been very successful in his career.

His parents were very supportive and he was always motivated.  There is a great story about his dad getting upset with neighbors who were concerned about Michael riding his bike as a child!

Higson does give the reader a great telling of his experiences right there in the middle of things on September 11th.  I was very moved by his story involving his and Roselle's encounter with a fireman going up the stairs as they were going down. 

I could go on and on about this book.  Its a great, easy read.

Murphin Ridge Inn West Union Ohio

So, I believe Murphin Ridge Inn in Southern Ohio is our new favorite B&B......  We had a very relaxing stay here, and we had some delicious meals too.  No TV, cell service was iffy, and it could not have been more perfect.

Its in a very rural area with a large Amish population.  This is a perfect spot to visit to totally relax.

Deer at Murphin Ridge Inn March 2023

 While staying at the flawless Murphin Ridge Inn in Ohio (more on that later) we saw some deer right outside of our room!

Peebles Ohio March 2023

 Check out the pleasant little town of Peebles Ohio!

Greene Beanery Coffee Peebles Ohio

The Greene beanery in Peebles Ohio is in a great old historic building!  It was once a B&B!  Now, it is just a perfectly little coffee shop that feels so cozy.

Icy Strait Point Alaska September 2022

We are almost out of Alaska (though I still have several videos of Vancouver to post from our cruise!) but I wanted to put up a quick video of our exploration of Icy Strait Point in Alaska.

"White Pass & Yukon Route Handbook" by C.E. Mulvihill

I mentioned that I picked up "Ride Guide to the Historic Alaska Railroad" before getting on the Alaska Railroad trip that we enjoyed.  Well, while in Skagway, I picked up the similar "White Pass & Yukon Route Handbook" by C.E. Mulvihill.

I think I paid about 10 bucks for this one.  Even though we weren't able to enjoy this ride, I was glad to get this book.  It literally gives a mile by mile description of what can be seen on your journey! 

We are talking about a return visit to Alaska, and this book has made me really want to get in some track miles when we go back to Skagway.

I would love to know of other similar train related guidebooks that are available.  Any suggestions?

 

Skagway Alaska September 2022

I have already posted about our two GREAT excursions while we were in Skagway Alaska on our cruise....  Well, this is a quick look around the town itself.

Ketchikan Alaska Free Shuttle

 

This is just a short video I put on youtube of our ride around Ketchikan on the city's free shuttle.  This is mostly made for locals, so there was no narration or anything like that.  I pretty much left it out of the video, but I did have an interesting, though hard to understand conversation with a fellow who was very drunk.

"Murder at 40 Below" by Tom Brennan

So, I wanted to do some reading on crimes in Alaska before our cruise....  Luckily, I found this volume.

In fact, the state should probably be proud of the fact that there aren't a whole lot of true crime books about it.

BUT I did find the very fascinating book, "Murder at 40 Below" by Tom Brennan.  The author has put together a book about all of the well known murders that have gone down in Alaska.

Brennan tells about 10 of the most shocking that have occurred.  AND, though the strange crimes in Alaska are few and far between, there are some terribly strange ones.  The descriptions of some of these crimes are pretty vivid and sadly some involve children (as victims and one as a killer).  The author doesn't hold back.

The characters are a collection of drifters, unappreciative family members, artists and others.  The very fascinating Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz) is covered here.

This is a very well done book covering true crime in Alaska.  I felt like the author connected the crimes to the location.  You feel the remoteness and the coldness- I think if the author never mentioned the crimes were in Alaska, you could probably guess it.

Noche Mexican BBQ Louisville Kentucky

Check out Noche Mexican BBQ in Louisville Kentucky...  on Bardstown Road.  GREAT unique Mexican restaurant!

Martin Groves- "Beasts Between the Rivers"

I grew up in rural Western Kentucky and I spent a lot of time in the Land Between the Lakes area.  I'm not a hunter myself, but I know my dad, uncles, cousins, and other friends spent a lot of time hunting, camping, and fishing down there.

Well, over the last year or so, I had heard on some of the more fringy podcasts that there had been some strange sightings there.

So I was very interested to check out Martin Groves books that came out recently about strange happenings at LBL.

First off, each of the books is worth picking up for their spectacular covers alone!  Very well done artwork by Tony Merkel.

The first book, simply titled "Beasts Between the Rivers" is Martin Groves' personal telling about his and a friend experiencing some weird things while turkey hunting at Land Between the Lakes.  Things are thrown at them, they see what might be a man hiding in a ghillie suit and they are eventually attacked by "Dogmen".  There is more....

Martin has been involved in law enforcement for decades, and his story is very believable.  As he describes his experience, well, it sounds like a very traumatic thing.  It makes sense that someone who went through that would tell it the way Groves does.  He describes the sounds and fear vividly.  He also talks about the confusion he went through as he first saw the monsters.

His friend with him that night experiences even more dramatic stressors that would affect him forever.

Martin also hears about the death of another hunter that night- that is mostly brushed off by rangers.

The second book, "Beasts Between the Rivers:  A Trace of Death" is Groves' book about his own research involving strange sightings at Land Between the Lakes after having his own- he asks around and finds many other people with similar stories.  Martin gives some more details about his own mid 90s experience from the first book, AND the author has another weird experience himself close to his first encounter, this time in 2022.  This one is even more strange!

Most of the reports in the second book are similar, and many witnesses describe a creature like the ones Martin saw, though there are a couple of stories of the traditional Bigfoot type.

A book like this does cover common ground when it comes to mysterious creatures- like cover ups (a ranger even opens up to the author about some things he saw).  Several witnesses say they were encouraged to forget about this event, or they were told bears or coyotes were responsible.

Even if you are a skeptic, but enjoy a good scary read, the first book especially could satisfy that need.  Again, the author is very believable, and writes his book in a casual way.  You feel like you are listening to a pleasant local telling you about his horrific adventure.

Dinos Under Louisville Mega Cavern Kentucky

I ALWAYS love having an excuse to go to the Mega Cavern in Louisville.  The place is just cool, and it is so unique.

I recently heard that they were having a "Dinos Under Louisville" event- with life sized animatronic dinosaurs....  I knew I had to check that out!

So, here is my mostly complete drive through video!

Random Thoughts on Friday: Remembering Lexington's Jim Varney

I wanted to just take a second to babble on about Jim Varney.  My path never crossed with his, though he rests eternally a very short distance from where I live now.  I am so proud of how far that Kentuckian went.

I remember him from his movies and commercials as a kid.  He was just a funny character.

My friend Heather lived near him back in the day.  She never met him, but loved his movies.  As a kid, she always hoped that she would bump in to him sometime.  Well, of course the one evening that she did not go to the grocery with her mom was the one night that her mom met him.  Heather's mom reported that he was a very nice man.

Everyone knows that he spent some time doing theater at the always entertaining Pioneer Playhouse in Danville (a young John Travolta and Lee Majors would also spend some time there).  I have read in a couple of sources that Jim Varney was a brilliant actor who could do Shakespeare.  

That is impressive, but I can't name a single brilliant Shakespearian actor...  I know Jim Varney though.

I was watching a season 3 episode of Alice the other day....  a show I am going back and watching right now....  and there he was.  Jim Varney.  It was like bumping in to an old friend.
 

The Red Onion "Ghosts and Goodtime Girls Tour" Skagway Alaska

Oh man, we had a great time on the "Ghosts and Goodtime Girls" tour we took while in Skagway Alaska.  This was really a lot of fun, and if you find yourself in Skagway, you need to do this!

The Red Onion Saloon, which is now a brothel museum (in the past, it was simply a brothel) and restaurant does the tour.  One of the "girls" (wink, wink) does the tour.  Of course these are playful tour guides employed by the Red Onion now, playing the character of one of the ladies from the past.

Our guide, Amanda Mount, had us cracking up the whole time.  I kid you not, I laughed so hard at times tears were coming out of my eyes.  

The tour does use a lot of innuendos....  so it might not be the best for kids.  I will say that some of the older folks on our cruise did this tour too and they raved about it. 

Skagway was definitely a highlight on our cruise, and this excursion was tops.  It gets my highest possible recommendation.

"Southern Ohio Legends and Lore" by James A. Willis

Back in 2013 (I think) I bumped in to James A. Willis doing a book signing in Indianapolis.  He was promoting some of the "Weird US" books that he had contributed to back them.  "Weird Indiana" and "Weird Ohio", among others, have his name all over them.

I really enjoyed chatting with him back then.  You could tell that he really enjoyed talking about and investigating, well, the weird.

I was really happy to hear that he would be at the Frogman Festival in Mason this year (see my video from the event).

I picked up a couple of new books from him, and I really enjoyed his newer work, "Southern Ohio Legends and Lore".

One thing that I really love about Weird Willis...  and this makes his writing superior to a lot of other ghosty type books out there...  is that he RESEARCHES what he is writing about.  You know, he goes to the library and checks out what is DOCUMENTED about a place or a legend.

In this book, he does his research and finds exactly how certain urban legends came about.  Strange stories involving a horseshoe mark on a grave and a headless biker are examined.  Willis finds out that there is SOME truth to these crazy stories, and discusses the REAL places and characters that contributed to their origins.

Some of the other stories involve a prison escapee that has never been seen since leaving, exploding boats and blimps, the son of President Taft, and, of course, the Who.

A very cool story you will want to read involves James Willis' personal connect to the old "Touchdown Jesus" that went up in flames.

You simply can't go wrong with James A. Willis.  He tells good stories, and gives you a lot for your money with any of his books.  This one gets my highest possible recommendation.

 

Frogman Festival Ohio 03 04 2023

So, I found out about the Frogman Festival in Mason Ohio kinda late....  this just wasn't on my radar until the last minute.  Still, with short notice, we made plans to go.

Here is my video from the event!

"The Lake Michigan Mothman" by Tobias Wayland

I picked up "The Lake Michigan Mothman:  High Strangeness in the Midwest" from it's author, Tobias Wayland at the recent Frogman Festival in Mason Ohio.

You know I am a fan of the mysterious Mothman, and it was interesting to find a newer book, tracking the strange creature's movements outside of the Point Pleasant West Virginia area.

I can't say that I understand the Mothman any more after reading this book, but the volume does contribute a whole new rabbit whole to jump in to concerning him.

Wayland documents the newer sightings of Mothman, which have MOSTLY been near Chicago, though there have been other reports spread out, but still kinda near.  I was impressed to hear about a sighting in Indiana just a couple of years after the Silver Bridge collapse- often linked to the 60s sightings.

Tobias makes some other interesting observations about the more recent sightings too.  The author gets in to conspiracies and coverups, without going too far out in left field.  There are links to UFOs, witches, pterodactyls, and the Creeper from Jeepers Creepers.  Oh, and I was particularly impressed with investigating done in a Mexican American area of Chicago.

You will want this book on your book shelf right next to Keel and Coleman.

 

Dawes Glacier Holkham Bay Alaska Sept 2022

 

AND....  here is a brief video of our experience with a glacier on our Alaska Cruise!

Capitol Building in Juneau Alaska

While in Juneau, we took a self guided tour through the capitol building.

Juneau Alaska September 2022

 

On our cruise, we were very lucky in that we were able to spend a good amount of time in Juneau!

Skagway Alaska Dug Musher Excursion

One of the many highlights of our Alaska Cruise involved going to a dog musher camp in Skagway.  This was truly something very unique.

Sure, the "main event" was getting to go on a ride where the mushing dogs pulled the car.....  but we got a whole lot more on this excursion.

Our driver/guide Axl gave some great info about the town of Skagway.  We got to ride a unique monster truck type vehicle up and down a mountain.  And, we got to play with some puppies at the end.

Check out my video...  and if you are doing an Alaska Cruise make sure you do this excursion!

Alaska Cruise Excursion: Icy Strait Point Tram and Gondola Ride

On our cruise, we stopped at the cute little area known as Icy Strait Point.  This community has greatly benefited, financially, from the cruise shops stopping by- and they are pretty open about that.

Though it was a very rainy and cold day, we enjoyed a nice excursion here, listening to a local discuss the area and culture.

We took a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain, and then we had a tram ride as we listened to his stories.