Custer's Last Stand- southern Montana

Back in the mid-1980's- I don't remember just which year- I journeyed to Montana to visit Custer National Historical Monument. I had just finished reading an excellent documentary book, Son of the Morning Star, by Evan S. Connell. That well-researched historical account had really whetted my appetite to visit the site, and the day of my visit turned out to be noteworthy in an unexpected way.

Visiting the Monument adequately really takes several hours. By late afternoon, most visitors were leaving, but a small group of us were let in on a little secret by one of the naturalists. The newly-discovered grave of one of the cavalry soldiers was currently under excavation. Back in 1876, within days after the battle, the bodies of soldiers were for the most part buried where they had fallen. A cluster of monuments marked the specific site of the "last stand"; however, many other soldiers fell scattered over an area covering many acres and were left in unmarked graves. It was now in one of the outer-lying parts of the park that the new grave had just been discovered.

Following the naturalist's directions, our small group drove our cars along a narrow road and pulled off at the appointed spot. A short walk took us to the active dig. I don't know who the archaeologists were, but they basically stayed focused on task in their methodical work, ignoring the small group of us onlookers.

The open grave was about a foot deep, and a portion of a crumpled up human skeleton was evident. Most obvious was the exposed lower leg bone with part of a boot still intact on the foot.

As I reluctantly left the park a few minutes later, any doubts as to the significance of what I had witnessed were extinguished when I spotted an USA Today media van in the parking lot. Sure enough, on June 25th of that year (the anniversary of the battle), the cover story of USA Today newspaper featured an article about the Custer Monument, and did make reference to the grave I had seen, but did not include any photos of the grave. I felt pleased to have been at the right place at the right time.

Guest blogger

You know, I mention to people frequently that I have a couple of blogs about traveling. Several times people say that sounds interesting and that they would like to try that. I have told many people that they can use my blog to post pictures, or to talk about a fun travel memory. In fact, I was really hoping my blogs would be more communal, and that others would use them for that purpose.

Well, I have had a taker recently! My pal Mark offered to write a short entry, AND supply scans of some photos from a trip to the Custer Monument in Utah! Mark told me a great story about his trip there, and I asked if he would write up a little bit about his adventure. He agreed!

So, in the next day or so I will be putting up his story, WITH photos! This will be a great entry for anyone interested in some of the stranger points of visiting a site. I don't want to give his story away, but a skeleton is involved!

Pigeon Forge, TN.

Sunsphere- Knoxville TN.

We took a moment to drive by the legendary Sunsphere in Knoxville one morning. I am sure this place was jam packed in 1982 when it opened. On the day we went, we were the only ones there.

In fact, we weren't even sure if we would be able to get up inside of it. I was looking for a ticket seller or something like that.

Not here. We got on an elevator on the 3rd floor, took it to the observation deck on the 4th floor (there is a lot of distance between the two floors) and we were there!

They are keeping this attraction pretty simple at the moment. I did not see a souvenir booth or anything. There were a few kids playing in the park and that was it. It was easy to get to, and easy to see!

King of Kings Statue, Monroe Ohio

I found this picture of the old "King Of King's" statue near Cincy.

We all know it was burned after being hit by lightning, and last I heard, they were hoping to rebuild it.

It was something to see. This photo was taken from a moving car passing by a few years ago. We always called it "Touchdown Jesus" for obvious reasons.

I do hope it gets rebuilt, as it is a cool roadside attraction!

Book: Moon Walker by Charlie Duke

I still get a kick out of hearing about the Apollo program. In fact, I am a little baffled by the fact that everyone isn't still amazing by what we did during that period.

Only a fist full of guys have stepped on the moon. Charlie Duke is one of them.

I really enjoyed his book "Moon Walker." Duke talks about his time working his way up through the military ranks, and getting involved with NASA.

The book talks a lot about his time to, from, and on the moon. Obviously, that is the story most people want to hear. Duke doesn't let the reader down.

I was glad the he talks about many of the little details. Using the bathroom in space, the troubles of drinking orange juice while in a space suit, and other odd issues are covered.

Duke really comes off as a nice guy, and I am glad that he and his wife stick together for so long. The story of them meeting, dealing with astronaut issues (he IS away from home a lot) and finding a way to keep things going is very nice.

Charlie spends time talking about the stressors of the Apollo program ending. He has trouble figuring out what he should do next. Ultimately, he gets involved in beer distribution, but he later leaves that behind, feeling some ethical issues tugging at him.

Charlie does go on an extensive religious kick at the end of the book (he is very open about his Christianity). For those not interested in reading about his religious views, he does save it for the end. The first 250 pages or so are pretty much the story of his life and space exploration. The last 30 pages or so are his testimony. Someone not interested in that part could still read about Duke's life and not feel preached to if they skip the end.

Labelscar- a blog about malls

Hey, check out the blog "labelscar" at labelscar.com.

The guys that have put this blog together have done an amazing job!

When I travel, I really love visiting malls. There is something cool about a mall. You can get a feel for an area by stopping by their mall.

And we all have our own personal mall memories, and personal connections to malls. I have mentioned on this blog several times that I love the old Lincoln Mall in Owensboro.

Even when I travel, I feel connections to malls in different places. I was at the Opry Mills mall a few weeks before it flooded. I am hoping those guys are able to get things going again soon.

I could go on and on. There are some areas that we travel to a lot, and I enjoy stopping by the local malls in these places to see whats new, and what is still there.

Labelscar does a great job of giving a malls history, and they have lots of great pictures of the malls covered!

Muffler Man near Madisonville (sort of)

HEY! I don't think there are currently ANY muffler men in the state of Kentucky. VERY sad.

There IS the body of a muffler man near Madisonville! My dad actually spotted this one on a trip through western Kentucky.

He has no arms, and it looks like they have tried to make a head for him. Someone, help hook these guys up with a repro muffler man head (does such a thing exist?!?)!

He is on private property, but you can see him easily, though at a distance. I reported him to roadsideamerica.com and they have put an entry up for him!

Random Thoughts On Friday

WOW! The world has been a busy place lately!

I have neglected my posts a little lately, and I would like to promise my loyal reader (mom) that I will not let that happen much longer. I do have some travel pics and other things to get up soon.

Obviously, baseball season is going strong, and I have really been focusing on my baseball blog (kentuckybaseball.blogspot.com). Check that out if you haven't already!

Bloody Sunset in St. Augustine

When we stopped by the visitor center gift shop in St. Augustine, I checked out their local interest books. This one looked strange so I picked it up.

The book is about the actual events surrounding the murder of Athalia Lindsley, a St. Augustine local with a very interesting past. She had been married several times, she was an actress, and she was involved in politics.

The book is written by a newspaper reporter/friend of the victim. She writes from a perspective of an insider to the events going on.

There is some dispute over who did the crime. The victim had some issues with her husband and with a local politician. The crime itself is officially never solved, though one person does go to trial over it.

The story is generally weird on many levels. There is a witness to the crime, another murder victim, and a church lends its support to a suspect. Plus, this is the late 70s, during a time before much of the modern technology we have now to investigate crimes.

Manatee Viewing Station

While in Florida, we stopped by the Manatee Viewing Station!

The Big Bend Power Station maintains the area, and they do a very nice job. It is free to walk around, and they have a nice gift shop.

Oh, and they have one of my all time favorite tourist souvenir items, a toy made from a mold-a-rama machine!

We actually did not see one manatee, but we still had a great time. In fact, it is just a fun area to take a walk for the heck of it. We did see some cool fish and crabs! Click on the picture of the army of crabs! Thousands of them were running around!

Dawson Springs, KY

The Fountain of Youth- St. Augustine FL.

The legendary "Fountain of Youth" was a must see on our recent visit to St. Augustine!

Yeah, there is something cheesy about it. Even the park tells you that its pretty much just a spring, Ponce de Leon likely never stepped foot in the area, and a land owner in the early 1900s probably made up most of the legend of the place for the benefit of the tourists.

Still, it is darn cool. There is a cross in the ground that the old land owner suggested was put there by Ponce. It is still preserved right next to the fountain.

There are lots of artifacts relating to the early days of Florida's discovery here. They do a cannon shot every hour which is very cool. The actor portraying the Spanish soldier looked like he waled right out of casting and was very believable. He told a little history of the conflicts of the area, he explained the cannon, and then fired it! That was worth the $10 price of admission alone!

When I go back to St. Augustine again, this will be a place I look forward to visiting again. It is that cool!

St. Augustine, FL.

Several friends told us that we had to stop by St. Augustine while in Florida. I wish they had suggested allowing more time to explore the area. St. Augustine is the real deal.


If you know me well, you know that I love some of the more odd and historical touristy towns. I simply can't get enough of Salem Massachusetts. Savannah Georgia comes to mind too.


Well, St. Augustine is in the same family of towns as those two. Some interesting and odd events have occurred in these areas. Some of the structures and stories linger in the towns and add to the legend of the places.


And, to be honest, all of those towns have a "tourist trap" feel. I hate to use that phrase because some think of tourists traps in a negative way. Personally, I love them.


So, we drive in to St. Augustine and we immediately realized we needed to utilize our time wisely. There is a lot to see.


The staff at the visitor center were very helpful. A couple of trolley services sold tickets there, and there was a very nice gift shop. As I went through the gift shop, another staff person took a moment to tell me about how proceeds from the gift shop benefited their local historical society.


A highlight was the "Fountain of Youth." We really liked this place, and I will get a separate entry up for it.


St. Augustine is simply enough an attractive city. It looks nice. There are fun little shops everywhere, in addition to the museums and other places of interest.


There is a gift shop next to the jail we stopped at. Not to get off track, but the two of us each had a delicious hot dog and we shared a sweat tea for $8! For a touristy stop, and a nice hot dog and drink, I was very happy with the value.


The oldest Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum is there too! Who doesn't love Ripley's?


We visited the St. Augustine Lighthouse, which has been covered a lot lately. The place was cool, but it is a bit out of the way compared to some of the other attractions. It was fun (and exhausting) climbing the stairs to the top and all. If you only have a day in St. Augustine, I might suggest staying in the main area, since there is so much to do. Hit the lighthouse on your second day if you have one.

This is definitely I place I will visit again soon. I barely had time to see the main attractions, and I did not have enough time at any of the them.

Funnel Cloud in Beaver Dam!

Go to the CNN.com web site. They have an amazing video of a funnel cloud in Beaver Dam from a couple of days ago. I hope all of my friends there are OK.

I know the exact spot where the video was made.

Green River is up in Calhoun!

I took some pictures near Calhoun recently of the Green River. The rain has been non stop!