Horsemania in Lexington Kentucky

http://www.kentucky.com/horsemania/
I know in Cleveland they had guitars. Cincy had pigs. Lexington has horses. I love the painted horse statues all over downtown! Here are a few of my favorites. Artique next to Joseph Beth has some small ones that also look great. Check them out!

Random Thoughts On Friday

The weather has been a little cooler lately in my neck of the woods! The heat was getting to me!

I am already getting my flannel shirts out and fantasizing about some apple cider.

This should be a great weekend to get out and do something! The Multi-Cultural Festival is going on in Owensboro. The Woodland Park Art Festival is going on in the Lexington area too!

http://www.lexingtonartleague.org/woodland.htm

Don't forget that baseball season is winding down. Get out and see a game!

I do have a camera full of pictures from a few different trips recently that I am overdue on unloading! I need to get some pictures up soon of another trip to Indianapolis. Their State Museum, and their War Memorial Museum are unbelievable! At the War Memorial, they have a room devoted to the USS Indianapolis. If you are not familiar with this WWII ship and it's story, look it up. The ship was hit and went down. The survivors were in the ocean for 4 days before they were rescued.

Postcards: Berea College

The bottom card is postmarked 1953 using a "Berea College Sta." cancel!

It reads: The Anna Smith Hall is the newest addition to the Campus for College Girls. This beautiful building is ultra-modern inside and out, and has rooms for about seventy girls.

The top card is in great shape, and shows James Hall. It hos no other identifying marks on the back.

Kentucky Explorer Magazine

Hey! Check out Kentucky explorer magazine! My friend Mary has introduced me to this one! I wish I had known about it long ago!

There are some regional mags that are, in my opinion, very thin, and full of adds. Some regional publications are obviously struggling for content. I am very frustrated when a magazine about an area does an average article on a trend that has nothing to do with the area. I recently read a nice article about "going green" in a regional magazine that had nothing to do with that region.

NONE of those problems occur in Kentucky Explorer. This is a very real magazine about Kentucky loaded with great articles and pictures, often provided by readers.

If any of my family or friends (Mom) are reading this article, a subscription would be a great birthday gift! Again, A SUBSCRIPTION TO KENTUCKY EXPLORER MAGAZINE WOULD BE A GREAT BIRTHDAY GIFT!!!!!!

Random Thoughts On Friday

Today is a Friday the 13th! Celebrate as you see appropriate!

I personally do enjoy horror movies. It might be a fun evening or night for viewing one of the classic "Friday the 13th" flicks. It might also be a good day to kick off your Halloween season festivities (I think I have mentioned before that I like to celebrate Halloween starting in late July, I usually settle down on my festivities relating to the holiday in mid November).

This reminds me of some road trips from previous seasons- relating to scary movies! I can't think of any mainstream scary movie with a strong Kentucky connection, but many were filmed towards the north.

Pennsylvania is a hotbed of horror film locations, many of which I have visited!

Horror icon George Romero put Pittsburgh on the horror map filming just about everything in that area. "Night of the Living Dead" was filmed in the Evans City area, and "Dawn of the Dead" was filmed at the Monroeville Mall, which is still a functioning (and very happening) mall! Tom Savini directed his "Night of the Living Dead" remake in nearby Washington PA.

Phoenixville PA. was the filming site for "The Blob". Phoenixvlle is a very fun, cozy town with a great 50sish downtown area. PLUS, they have a great "Blobfest" each year!

If you are up for a more ambitious road trip to the states of New jersey and Connecticut, you might be able to see some of the filming locations for the first couple of Friday the 13th movies!

I have personally made road trips to each of the places I have mentions, and I will try to get some photos and entries up soon for the Halloween season!

Rabbit Hash, KY.

Check out Rabbit Hash! This is one little area I have had on my list of places to go to for some time, but I just haven't been able to get there.

We stopped by on a casual day of just driving around. We were told that the town is tough to get into on a Sunday, as bikers fill up the area. There were plenty here on this particular Saturday!

This is a really cool area, right next to the river, and just very casual!

Big Bone Lick State Park, KY.

Kentucky has such a great system of parks. I am really interested in the state parks now.

I know many people make the drive to Northern Kentucky and Southern Ohio often. It is such a great area.

I also know that a lot of people have noticed the sign for "Big Bone Lick" state park.

The park is really only a few miles off of the main road. It is easy to get there.

When we walked inside the visitor center, the very friendly and informative staff started chatting with us immediately. This was one of the most informative staffs ever. We were given information on the history of the park and the area. Every question was answered. We were even given directions to Rabbit Hash and to a local restaurant! Oh, and the ranger gave us a very nice map of state parks!

We were told to go check out the bison, as they were close to the main fence. We appreciated the tip off!

The visitor center itself was very nice, with several displays. Check out the mastodon skull! There are other bones and relics on display.

Independence MO.

We stopped by Independence while we were in the Kansas area. This was a great little town well worth a visit.

Frank James spent some time in the jail here. Future President Harry Truman had a first job here at Clinton's (which is still in operation) and some LDS members consider the town to be a very significant place.

We went to the visitor center for the Harry S. Truman Historical Site and had a very nice chat with a ranger there. The ranger had spent several years working at the Arch in St. Louis and talked about the differences in working at the two historic sites. I believe she said that the Arch gets 40,000 visitors a week, while the Truman site gets the same number in a year. The staff at the visitor center were very helpful not just about the Truman sites in Independence, but they were helpful with giving us information about the entire area.

The Temple, connected to the LDS religion is here, and it looks amazing. We actually noticed some other very nicely constructed buildings dedicated to other religions.



There are some very nice antique shops. I found some great older postcards in the area!

A real treat that we found by accident was the Court House Exchange. We had lunch here one day. We were all very happy with the food (I had a perfect Reuben) and the atmosphere was cool.

On the outside from the street, the place looks like any other bar. When you go inside, you go downstairs, and have your meal in an old basement type area. The building has been around a long time, and it is rumored to be haunted. It felt haunted!

This is a fun small town with a lot of history.

Random Thoughts On Friday

Hey, check out the Shaker Village craft fair this weekend:
http://www.shakervillageky.org/

Berea is having their quilt festival this weekend too!

Something cool is going on next weekend at Mammoth Cave (the weekend of August 14th). I heard a little about it on the radio. It looks like they are offering free self guided tours over that specific weekend!

I am starting to get excited about the changing season and Halloween is my favorite holiday. I know there are some ghost walks that you can do now, and some areas will offer them closer to the holiday. Does anyone know of any good ghost walks going on in some of the smaller Kentucky towns? How about Tennessee or Indiana?

I will try to get some ghost walk links up (and maybe some reviews) soon.

Hallmark Visitor Center and Museum-Kansas City

We made several stops while in Kansas City. I have mentioned that we were very impressed.

I was particularly impressed with the class shown by Hallmark, and I wanted to put up a separate blog entry about their visitor center.

We walked in around opening time. In fact, we got there a few minutes early, by our watches, but the very sweet lady watching the desk came and opened the doors.

She enthusiastically told us about the company and the visitor center when we walked through the door. She explained the center and talked about the pride the company was taking in their

100th anniversary.

There were several displays throughout the museum area. I personally enjoyed the old postcards, and seeing some of the other products made by the company.

There is even an area where you can see cards being printed and made. There is a machine where you can make your own gift wrap bow! VERY COOL!


There is a very comfortable theater showing a short film about the company and its artists.


On the way out, our incredible hostess gave us some Hallmark freebies! We left with some postcards and singing cards! The visitor center is admission free, AND they hook you up on the way out!

I would put Hallmark at the top of your "must see" list if you are in the area. The very top.

Postcards: Berea College

The top and bottom postcards are used, and they are both postmarked 1914!!!

The bottom two are both of Phelps-Stokes Chapel. We would see moves and Convos here a lot when I was a student.

The middle card is dated 1953 in writing. It reads:

Student labor built Phelps-Stokes Chapel in 1904; its auditorium accommodates the student body of approximately 1700. The William G. Forest Memorial Chimes are in the chapel tower, and are played several times daily by students.

Postcard: Diamond Caverns, Park City, Ky.

Random Thoughts On Friday

Hey, the Fright Night Film Fest is in Louisville this weekend! This would be a GREAT way to kick of the Halloween season early!

http://www.frightnightfilmfest.com/

On the sports front, I noticed that wikipedia is listing a couple more American Basketball Association teams in the state! They are showing a "Team Gold" in Corbin, and an "East Kentucky Energy" in Pikeville! The successful Kentucky Bisons in Owensboro look to still be active, and Lexington's Bluegrass Stallions are working on playing in a new league (though their web site has not been updated in some time).

I found a site for the Pikeville team

http://eastkyenergy.com/

Good luck to these guys!

I will try to find out more about the teams and moves. I really love the thought of having SEVERAL professional basketball teams in the state!

Postcard: Lincoln Marriage Cabin

"Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, parents of Abraham Lincoln, were married in the cabin June 12, 1806, by Rev. Jesse Head. The cabin has since been moved to Fort Harrod at Harrodsburg, where it is housed in the Lincoln Marriage Temple. Fort Harrod is an exact reproduction of the first settlement in Kentucky."

Postcard: Gabe's Restaurant, Owensboro, KY.

Some of the postmark and the writing on the card giving a description of Gabe's have obscured each other on the back.

The sender talks about going to Anderson's in downtown and to the shopping centers. She also says there is good food here!

Postcard: Old Man of the Falls, Cumberland Falls State Park

"Cumberland Falls State Park is eighteen miles southwest of Corbin, Ky., and northwest of Williamsburg, Ky. The waterfall, 68 ft. high, is one of Kentucky's principal attractions. At times the falls reflect a unique "Moonbow."

Postcard: St. Louis Arch

I would love to find some old postcards of the St. Louis Arch. The postcard style I love had been phased out by the time the Arch went up in the 60s.

Luckily, the gift shop at the Arch sells a great postcard book with 8 very retro looking postcards for $8.95!

The old Busch Stadium is on several of the cards.

Since the book is currently commercially available, I will only scan the cover (shown) for this blog.

Postcard: Obelisk at War Memorial Indianapolis

I swear, this will be my last Indianapolis mention for a while. I just thought I should scan another great old linen postcard.

Postcard: Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Indianapolis

This postcard is canceled 1922! It still looks great for its age.

All of my readers (mom) know that I love this town and feel it is underrated. This is one of my favorite monuments around.

You need to go to this monument and just look around Indy's downtown to appreciate it.

Random Thoughts On Friday

I was driving between Florence and Lexington last night and the weather was mad! It would rain buckets and then stop. After that, it would rain again!

I really like the Florence area. I think they have a great mall, and the water tower is an icon. Hats off to the Starbucks up there too. I love the indy coffee shops, but that particular chain store has a classy crew in a cozy little location.

There is a lot going on around the state right now. There is a horror convention in Louisville coming up, and a festival in Lexington right now.

Postcard: Old Mother Ann, Eastern Point, Glouster, Mass.

It is hard to tell, but I think this one is postmarked 1929!

I went whale watching in this area not long ago. The town is beautiful and full of character. The book and film "The Perfect Storm" are linked here.

This postcard is still very representative of the town even today. Sea, sky and boats.

Postcard: Montezuma's Castle, Arizona

Another great tourist stop in Arizona, while I am talking about that state.

"Montezuma Castle, the best-preserved cliff dwelling in the United States and one of the most spectacular of its type, was built in part probably as early as 1000 A.D. It had no connection with Montezuma, leader of the Aztecs. Its name is a misnomer which seems to have been bestowed by early white visitors."

Postcard: Meteor Crater between Flagstaff and Winslow Arizona

"This crater was formed by the falling of an immense meteor which threw out over 300,000,000 tons of debris. It is 700 feet deep and three miles in circumference. The meteor is estimated to weigh 5,000,000 tons and is composed of iron, nickel, platinum, and other rare materials. The crater is easily accessible to visitors."

This is still a great stop when vacationing in Arizona.

2010 Kentucky Visitor's Guide

HEY! Pick up this Kentucky visitor's guide the next time you are out. It is FREE and it is available at the parks, visitor centers and other locations. I picked mine up at the Berea Visitor Center, which has a TON of other great info on attractions around the state.

This is about the most perfect guide I have found for the state. It does a great job of breaking down the regions and telling what you can find in each.

It is complete in it's listings of attractions and top events. Web sites are noted too.

I am always picking up state travel guides, and the Department of Travel and Tourism did it right with this publication. Sure, there are some (relevant) adds, but the quality of the content is perfect.

Some travel guides have a few nice photos of the well known land marks and a few mentions of some of the lesser ones. Not this one. This one has all the info you need to get started on a trip to any Kentucky area.

Kansas City Kansas

Kansas City Kansas was a great little area too! We checked out their Independent pro baseball team, the Kansas City T-Bones. They have a great all grass field. I love watching independent minor league teams, and this was my first chance to see a team in this league.

Their park is part of a larger development area called Village West. The area reminds me a lot of Easton in Columbus, but this is bigger.

The Legends at Village West is a massive lifestyle center. There is a dinosaur themed restaurant that I did not have time to check out, but I was amazed at the decorations outside of it. The Legends might have perfected the whole mall/lifestyle center/theme park hybrid. I hope to have some more time to spend here at some point.

We had BBQ at a nice place called Arthur Bryant's. Good BBQ is bad for me. I like it so much that I can keep eating it even when I know I have reached my limit. I experienced that here.

I must stand by my regional loyalties though. I'll take my Owensboro BBQ over any other, but then again, that is what I was raised on. The food here is a bit different and I did enjoy trying a different regional variety. They had several different sauces, and I liked them all. We had a very generous portion for not a lot of money.

Both Kansas City areas are fun, and they are very unappreciated tourists spots. People were friendly and there was a lot to do, not to mention there is some great food!