St. Augustine Lighthouse

We did have a moment to visit the St. Augustine Light House recently!

Northern Kentucky River Monsters

I was able to check out the Northern Kentucky River Monsters a few days ago!


I am really happy that some indoor football action is going on in the state. Check out my other blog for some old articles on the Lexington Horsemen.


Speaking of the Lexington Horsemen (also known as the Kentucky Horsemen) there are some former Horsemen players on the River Monsters team!


Jared Lorenzen (who spent time with the New York Giants in the NFL) was going to be the teams GM. Somehow, he has found his way back on the field!

The Bank of Kentucky Center in Highland Heights is great too. It has a very new, clean feel to it. It felt like a small stadium, almost custom built for arena style football. I like this place.


I did see some weird things. The cheer leading team is called "The Bait." Seriously. I did not make that up. In fact, I wish they hadn't made that up.

Their mascot looks like the Swamp Thing. Check out the picture. Also, I did not see the mascot interacting with fans. Then again, it is a scary looking mascot.

Get out and see this team! They are putting on a great show, with seats as cheap as $7. Parking was easy too!

Oh, and their merch was very reasonable. They weren't trying to rip anyone off with shirt prices from $10-$15. I bought 3.

Again, it takes a lot to put a pro team like this together, find a venue, and players. PLEASE get out and support this team!

Greetings From Kentucky

I LOVE this old postcard! I love the fact that it shows two of my favorite Kentucky landmarks!

Natural Bridge, KY.

Another great Natural Bridge postcard, this one is postmarked 1973. For some reason, I think this shot makes the bridge look a lot smaller than it is.

Kennedy Space Center Complex- Florida

Going to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of not just this road trip, but of all of our road trips.

I am still amazed by space travel, the Apollo program, the ISS, and our Space Shuttles. I have to admit that it makes me a little sad that these things are a bit undervalued these days.

Ask any kid- heck, ask anyone, when the last Shuttle went up. They can't tell you if it was last month, last year, or a decade ago. They can name the American Idol winners in order though I bet.


Space Exploration is still exciting. It is still relevant. It gives me goosebumps!

At the Apollo/Saturn V Center, they showed that great film of JFK talking about going to the moon. They played that great quote about choosing to go to the moon because it is hard.

I thought about a friend recently arguing that there is no reason to go to the moon again. Man, could we use a little Kennedy attitude now!

So, getting the chance to visit the Kennedy Space Center was very exciting for me personally. We bought a ticket that included a bus trip through the launch areas. This was a great value, as our guide pointed out not only the launch pads, but a lot of wildlife. We saw manatees, turtles, and eagles (look at the picture!)! The photo of the alligator was taken from my car while the gator was in a ditch directly across from the main visitor center area.

I could go on and on about this area. I felt a little down on the bus ride back to the visitor center. They showed a video hosted by Gene Cernan (the last man to walk on the moon as of this time). In the video, Gene talks optimistically about the future of space exploration, even after the retirement of the Shuttles. Well, you may know that our space program is a bit in limbo at this time. Its future is uncertain. Not only that, but there are many people working at Kennedy Space Center that, after the Space Shuttles are all retired, will likely be unemployed. The Kennedy Space Center area could be devastated.

For now though (and hopefully in the future) the area is lively. LUCKILY, they were just awarded one of the shuttles, which should draw some visitors and help out.

A cool feature at the Space Center is that they have an actual astronaut at the Center each day! While I was there, Apollo astronaut (APOLLO ASTRONAUT!!!!) Al Worden was there! Seeing Al do his presentation, and getting his autograph was worth the ticket price alone.

Anyway, The Kennedy Space Center is a must visit at least once in a lifetime.

Main Street, Lexington

Second Street, Owensboro

"SECOND STREET BY NIGHT, OWENSBORO, KY."

This is another great old postcard. It is hard to find many postcards of Owensboro from any era!

I found this one recently. It might get framed because it is spectacular!

Random Thoughts On Friday

I thought now might be a good moment to mention space. You know, the final frontier.

I love space exploration. I read books about space whenever I can. In fact, right now, I am reading Apollo astronaut Charlie Duke's book.

Duke mentions that, while he is on the moon with Apollo 16, he gets word that a budget has been passed for the space program, which includes the shuttles. Charlie thinks about the possibilities of a space station, and a moon base.

Well, the shuttle program came (and is almost over). The space station happened. The moon base obviously did not happen.

How exciting it must have been for Charlie Duke, on the moon, to get such great news about something so wonderful. The future must of seemed so limitless then.

I know the Apollo program was watched closely by everyone. I remember watching some of the shuttle launches in school.

But now, I fear our feelings of aw have gone away. Our enthusiasm for the space program seems diminished. I truly hope this changes soon.

NASA did announce the museums getting the retired shuttles a few days ago. Again, I checked several sites before the announcement. I didn't see many that were pushing the story heavily. I REALLY hoped that one would find its way to Dayton, but that did not happen. Some other worthy museums got them. I was pulling for Florida and Dayton. I was 1 for 2.

Titusville Post Office- FL.

Highlands Hammock

http://www.floridastateparks.org/highlandshammock/default.cfm highlands Hammock was one of the first parks to become a state park in Florida. The Civilian Conservation Corps had a big hand in building and developing the park. There is a museum devoted to the CCC at the park. We stopped here as we were told it would be a great area to see some of the wildlife of the area. We were not disappointed! Check out the alligator! He was probably less than 15 feet away from us! I know, if you live in the area, it is no big deal. To me, it was pretty cool!

Macon GA- Cherry Blossom Festival

Random Shots of Atlanta

Postcard: Echo River, Mammoth Cave

"Echo River is the largest body of water yet discovered in Mammoth Cave and a boat ride on this river, down on the lowest level, is an unforgettable experience. Here, 360 feet underground, is found several species of eyeless fish."

Airport area Muffler Man, Atlanta, GA

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/3930

Roadside America calls this the East Point, GA Muffler Man. he is not far from the airport. Right across the street from him are several nice, restaurants.

The Creme Coffee House in Owensboro

The Creme in Owensboro has been mentioned on my other blog, but I wanted to give it a mention here too!

This might be my favorite coffee shop, in or out of the state. it is just perfect. I like everything about it.

There is some great local art hanging around the inside, and it is set up perfectly! I love lots of brick and wood in a coffee shop. The place feels calm.

The guys that put this great coffee shop in downtown Owensboro did it with heart, and with a lot of attention to detail. Some independent businesses, especially in a smaller market like Owensboro, may have put some thrift store table and chairs in to an old vacant business, drawn up a coffee shop sign, and declared that they were ready for business. The guys at the Creme didn't do that. Check out the photo of the gorgeous bar! Notice the art on the walls.

They have good stuff too. You can't go wrong ordering here. The staff has always been friendly too. Oh, and they have local musicians playing inside on the weekends!

Right next door, on both sides, are two other cool places I like. Check out the artsy gift shop right next door! They have a very nice small theater upstairs that can be rented for parties! My niece had a party here. I have some photos somewhere that I might try to put up soon.

On the other side of the Creme is another great store. They have some vintage Owensboro photos framed that they sell for a very reasonable price.

So, go downtown and check this place out!

Random Thoughts On Friday

Just a few very random thoughts. Travel- We just got back from a trip through Florida! More on that later, but I had a lot of fun! NASA and St. Augustine were amazing! Wow! Why didn't anyone tell me about St. Augustine before? That place is the real deal!

Commercials- I love that Chrysler commercial. The one with the Eminem song playing showing Detroit. Detroit needs that.

Music- Are you familiar with the band, The Low Anthem out of Rhode Island? Look them up and listen to some of their tunes. This is some of the best music I have heard in a long time. Very mellow. Good music to listen to while you drive around country back roads. Great lyrics. "Ghost Woman Blues" and "Matter of Time" are two amazing songs that I can't hear enough. Check out their site: http://www.lowanthem.com/site/

More Music: My favorite band out of Cleveland, Lo-Watt Radio, got a nice write up recently by Scene Magazine. Check that out: http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/local-band-in-focus/Content?oid=2426116