David's Tea- Liberty Township, OH

 I wanted to mention briefly that we stopped by another David's Tea, this one located near Cincinnati, in Liberty Township Ohio.

We love the one in Indianapolis, but we were in the southern Ohio area...  and we were thrilled to stumble across another David's Tea.

Concert Memories: Kansas, Owensboro, KY, 11/27/1992

Kansas at the Executive Inn in Owensboro in 1992.....  Its funny to me now...  because that seems like a long time ago.  I went with my buddy Vernon and I remember him talking about how they were more of an arena band back in the 70s.  The 70s seemed like a long time ago when this show happened.

I remember Kansas doing their hits, and sounding really good.  Other details form this show that happened over 25 years ago escapes me now.

I feel lucky that I was able to catch some shows at the Executive now though. 

Mammoth Cave River Styx Tour and a stay at the Mammoth Cave Lodge!

 We had been itching to get back to Mammoth Cave for some time!  We really wanted to visit in the winter too, so a few days ago we went down!

I remember one day in high school…..  lets say in the early 90s….  it snowed a lot, and me and my buddy Brent decided to drive to the National Park for the day.  We truly felt like we had the entire park to ourselves.  I’m sure there were some other people there, but I don’t remember them.  It was a great day to visit.

Well, when my wife and I went on a nice January weekend, we had a bit of a similar experience!

Also, we had never stayed at the Mammoth Cave Lodge so we thought this might be a nice weekend for that!

We drove down very early on a recent Saturday.  It had been windy and rainy.  There was debris in the road as we drove towards the MCNP.  Even within the boundaries of the park we had to watch out for small twigs and branches.

It is always a great drive though.  AND, I never fail to see plenty of deer around the visitor center.

We arrive right as the visitor center opened, and we went in to pick up our tickets for our 9am River Styx tour.  The tour had sold out, as there are less tours offered in general on winter days.

We met our tour guide, Teddy, under an awning right behind the visitor center.  Teddy was a very pleasant young man and he told us about the basics of the tour and he then led us down the steep hill to the historic cave entrance.  Our tickets were torn and we went down into the cave.

The River Styx tour is the normal historic tour, but with a brief side trip to see the river that runs through the cave.  Teddy explained that they used to do boat tours at Mammoth Cave on the River Styx.  That ended in the 90s though when they realized that the boat tours were affecting the animals in the river.  The boats were removed and given to Lost River Cave, where you can still take a boat ride through a cave!

It was fun looking down on the river on this little trip.  They actually do not have lighting in this area, so guests are able to carry supplied lanterns with them.  It’s a pretty cool experience.

You cover a lot of ground on this tour.  We walked by the Giants Coffin, and through Fat Man’s Misery.  I hadn’t been through this part of the cave in a while.  Its very twisty and turny, and I noticed a lot of tall people having trouble squeezing through here too!

Near the end of our 2 plus hour adventure, it felt almost like it was raining in the cave at one area.  One of the guides told us that it had been raining hard during our tour, causing the water to come down.  Later, after leaving the cave, we would see water flowing forcefully down various hills, creating a very cool waterfall effect towards the cave.

There is a long stairway tower that you must go up at the end of this path to leave the cave.  It is a bit intimidating when you see it, but there are several places along the way to stop for a break, if needed, as you walk up.  Our guide Teddy joked that, if the guides need a break, they will stop and point to a rock, any rock, and talk about it for some time as they catch their breath.

After our great River Styx tour, we went to the Mammoth Cave Lodge and had lunch in their Green River Grill.  I’ve always enjoyed this restaurant.

My wife had a very nice salad, and I had a catfish po boy with some great chicken soup.  It was a very nice meal and we enjoyed it and the setting of the restaurant very much.  We had a great waitress too who kept our water cups full!

We stopped by the gift shop at the lodge for some postcards.

  

There was a very pleasant young volunteer there named Quintin.  We ended up talking to him for some time.  I asked Quintin if there were any new tours coming up at the cave, as I feel like I have taken then all several times.  Quintin is a big fan of the cave himself, and he excitedly told us that the park is working on REOPENING a couple of old show caves on the property!

An old theme park and cave called Wondering Woods is being cleaned and prepared to reopen!  Also, one of Floyd Collins’ caves might be open for tours too!  I’ve googled around after hearing this, and these rumors look to be true!  I was so glad that I got to talk to Quintin about this and to hear about the old caves opening again.  I am really looking forward to having the opportunity to visit these caves when they reopen!

We ended up checking in to our room at the Mammoth Cave Lodge.  The main lodge building houses a couple of gift shops and restaurants.  You check in there, and then drive to your room. 

This was a fun experience, but I am not sure if I would stay at the lodge again.  

There were some issues (one of the beds had a stain on it, a window was cracked, and we couldn’t get any TV channels).  These were all very minor issues.  The window wasn’t that noticeable, the other bed was perfectly clean and we wouldn’t have watched much TV anyway…..  but, our room was far from perfect. 

Also, for the price, we could have stayed at the very comfy Grand Victorian Inn we had stayed at before nearby.

There was a great view from our lodge room though.  Looking out, there was just woods.  We left the blinds open all night and that was great.

We did drive away from the park in the evening and had dinner at Cracker Barrel.  I love the nearby Cracker Barrel, and we had a great waitress named Jessica, and great food too.  We would actually go back again in the morning before leaving town, and had another great waitress named Tonya.  More great food (I LOVE Cracker Barrel breakfasts).

Back to our night at the Lodge....  as we drove back from dinner to a VERY empty parking lot in the dark, we saw a TON of deer!  They were everyone!  Some were very sweetly laying down right next to the main lodge building.

We did see, at a bit of a distance, some deer crossing the road (again, it was at night and dark) but the deer were closely followed by another critter hot on their trail!

There was one other car at one of the lodge buildings, but that was it.  It gave us some comfort knowing that we weren't totally alone.

I joked with my wife that there is the hockey mask wearing ranger who patrols the park at night.  She didn't think this was as funny as I did.

As we left the park early Sunday morning, we noticed that a tree had fallen in the road.  It must have happened after we drove through the night before, after getting back from Cracker Barrel.  Park staff had obviously sawed through it though, and cleaned up most of it.

"Burger Chef Murders in Indiana" by Julie Young

I saw that a new book had come out about the sad and tragic Burger Chef Murders that happened in the Indianapolis area in 1978.  I had to pick it up and read it!

If you have ever heard about this very famous unsolved crime, it definately haunts you.  VERY briefly, four young people working the closing shift at a Burger Chef restaurant were kidnapped.  Less than $600 was taken.  The four kids were found later found murdered in a wooded area.

The crime has never been solved, though many have claimed that they had a pretty good idea of what happened.  There are, however, MANY different theories among those who have researched the crime.

Julie Young's book does a good job of recounting what happened, and in discussing the people in the story...  but there isn't a lot of new information to add to the story if you are familiar with it.  I did learn from the book that, sadly, a couple of the siblings of the victims would get into trouble after the crime on drug related charges.  One sibling in particular very sadly participates in a murder too.  This obviously brings up speculation about the involvement of drugs in the original crime.

"Burger Chef Murders in Indiana" is an easy read, and it is a very good starting point for anyone interested in reading about the crime.

"Road Trip: A Pocket History of Indiana" by Andrea Neal

I stumbled across the interesting little book on Indiana history, "Road Trip, A Pocket History of Indiana" by Andrea Neal while on a recent trip to Indianapolis.

I really liked reading this book straight through...  as it told some good stories about the state's history, and it gave a site you can visit associated with that part of Indiana's story.  I will definately be keeping this book around as a reference book too for road trips.

The book gets in to some of the very interesting facts of the state that sometimes get over looked.

Author Andrea Neal covers the great Presidential history associated with the state, including mentioning some of the Hoosier candidates that ran but lost.

She also covers some Purdue related influences on Space Exploration.

There is an interesting museum that is located at a former jail.  A couple of legendary criminals wth local ties were housed there at one time.

This is the kind of book that you will probably want to keep a pen and paper handy to take notes (I did) as the volume gave me ideas about things I might want to look up later....  and it also gave me some ideas for future road trips!

"Blood Trail" by Steven Walker and Rick Reed

I recently had a conversation with an old friend.  I told him about an experience I once had.  A friend let me borrow a book about a true crime with which he had a minor connection.  The book related to an area where we both had lived.  Well, as I read the book, I realized that I had personally known one of the people involved at one time.  Its a strange feeling.

Well, my friend told me about the book "Blood Trail" by Steve Walker and Rick Reed.  My friend had a bit of a connection to the case professionally.

So, I had to find a copy of the book!  This is a pretty thick paperback at over 350 pages.  It was a quick read for me though, as much of the story happens in towns I know well...  Evansville Indiana, Owensboro Kentucky and Lebanon Ohio.

Though sad, tragic and brutal at times, it was interesting reading about a murder that occurred in southern Indiana.  I hate hearing about things like this happening...  but it proves that horrible crimes can happen in your back yard.

This one actually happened (and was discovered) shortly after I left the area years ago, so I really didn't hear much about it when it occurred.

Still, I am always interested in any history relating to the Owensboro and Evansville area, even if it is dark.

The book, co-written by one of the main Evansville PD guys working on the case, covers the arrest and investigation relating to a disappearance/murder.  He gets a confession, and then has to deal with all the legal red tape and technical issues that could have prevented a confession from being used in court.

Confessions to more murders follow complicating things even more....  but the confessions seem questionable at best.

Caves of Chattanooga by Larry E. Matthews

I was so glad to find a copy of Larry E. Matthews "Caves of Chattanooga"at a reasonable price recently (thanks to Amazon bots, the books price had been artificially inflated to over $250 for some time).

Anyway, I really liked his other book, "Caves of Knoxville and the Great Smoky Mountains" and I really wanted this as a companion book.

Just like in the Knoxville book, Larry gives a very nice history of more caves.  These are great books to read through, and to keep on your shelf for later reference.

Concert Memories: The Pretenders, Akron, OH. 02/28/2000

While working in Akron Ohio in the very late 90s/early 00s, I was able to catch a Pretenders show!

I went with several co-workers to this one and we had a great time.  We actually worked just a short walk from the venue, so we walked to the show after work!

This was kind of a big deal at the time too, because, even though Chrissie Hynde was from Akron, I think this was the first time the Pretenders actually played IN Akron.

I do remember Chrissie Hynde being her usual self with a rock-n-roll chip on her shoulder.  I remember someone putting flowers on the stage for her, and her kicking them off.  I also remember her talking VERY openly about the drug influenced deaths of 2 other founding members of the band.

The Pretenders played all of their hits, and I really remember having a great time seeing them on this night.

"With Bowie Knives and Pistols: Morgan's Raid in Indiana" by David L. Taylor

I bought this great little book (about 120 pages) at the wonderful Village Lights Bookstore in Madison Indiana!

Author David L. Taylor put together a very nice, easy to read small volume on General Morgan's Raid into Indiana.  Its brief, to the point, and easy to understand.

Also, its very accessible.  This would be a nice book to pick up for a young reader developing an interest in the Civil War.

Taylor talks about the path that the Confederates took, what towns they went through, and he discusses the impact and legacy of the raids into the northern state.

The book is a bit outdated at the end, as he mentions the Morgan statue in downtown Lexington (which was very recently moved to the Lexington Cemetery).

I like the authors writing in "With Bowie Knives and Pistols:  Morgan's Raid in Indiana".  The story flows well and you get a good picture of what the raiders did and how they lived during the raid.

Concert Memories: The Guess Who, Evansville, Indiana

I THINK I saw The Guess Who at Casino Aztar in Evansville in 1995.  That sounds right, but I am not sure.  If anyone can help me with the date of this one, I would really appreciate it.  I usually keep ticket stubs, concert reviews from papers, etc. but I didn't with this one.  It was a "show up for a free concert" kind of deal.

I went to this show with my brother-in-law Nathan (actually, I am not sure if he was married to my sister yet at this point) and his brother Keith.  The place was jam packed, and it was tough even getting to a spot where you could see the band.  Good crowd though. 

The Guess Who are a complicated band in many ways.  Bassist Jim Kale and drummer Gary Peterson are the original members keeping the band going, but they have both dropped out at various times.  AND, I think I read at some point that they have "rented" the name out to other former members of the band for reunion shows.  Checking Wikipedia, it looks like there were some years (1983) where two entirely different lineups of the band toured.

I am ok with this sort of shifting lineup situation.  I think it is cool that the spirit of the music is kept alive.

Anyway, I remember this show being a lot of fun.  They played all of their hits, and I remember thinking that the sound was just great.  I also remember the band sticking around to sign stuff at their merchandise table.  I did pick up this nice photo (I think they were selling them for $5) and I bought a live greatest hits CD.  The live CD, by the way, had some GREAT, rockin' versions of the old songs, and I still listen to that one a lot even now.

I remember telling the guys that I really enjoyed the show, and, even though I am sure they heard that all the time, they all acted very appreciative to hear that.

"Blessings in Disguise" by Nancy Mehl

I've started reading some of the Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries books.....

I have talked a lot here about my appreciation of the Amish, and especially of Sugarcreek Ohio.  Well, I found out that there is a book series based on the area!

These are the kind of books that I usually avoid....  I read a lot of travel books, true crime and history.

I do love Sugarcreek though...  so I am reading these here and there.

The Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries kind of remind me young adult/Scooby Doo type books, but with a bit of a religious/faith based element.

I did enjoy the first one I read, "Blessings in Disguise".  It involves a wife hiding out and pretending to be Amish in an effort to avoid an abusive husband.  A new-to-town shopkeeper and some Amish friends try to figure out if one of a few mysterious new men in town might be the husband.

The books are a quick and enjoyable read.

The books do present a very idealized version of the Amish.  Again, I have really enjoyed being around the Amish and I admire them.... but they have their issues like the rest of us.

Still, these are fun books with very enjoyable (and clean) stories.  I look forward to reading more in the series.

Christ Centered Church's Live Nativity in Lexington KY

I attended events at a few different churches right before Christmas.

One event, at a church I will not name....  was a bit of a disappointment.  We had never been to the church before, and we were going to meet our friend, who goes there inside.  The entry way was not clearly marked.  We apparently went in a wrong door.  A lady came by acting very annoyed that we came in the wrong way and made it clear that she would need to escort us to the lobby to to meet our friend.

The rest of the event had a bit of a fake stiffness to it too.....  I hate to be critical of a church, but this wasn't the kind of welcome I would expect at any church.

We had a much more positive experience at Lexington's Christ Centered Church.  They had a very sweet and enjoyable "Live Nativity" event.  They had some cute live animals there too!  I neglected to take any photos as we drove through, except for getting a couple of pictures of the cute camel!  You could pet him and take your picture with him too!

After we drove though, we were invited inside of the church for soup and other treats.  They had a couple of different soups, hot chocolate, apple cider, and some cakes.

A member took us around to show us their sweet little church and they told us, when I asked, about some of the things they do to help out in the community.

I was glad to hear about what these guys are up to, and to see their place.  I thought it was very sweet that they were providing soup and snacks to anyone too.

Christmas Lights in Lexington Kentucky

 We spent a few hours driving around Lexington and looking at some lights for Christmas!

Here are a few photos from a few of the more well known spots in town!

Celebrities Passing in 2019

I was watching one of those shows about the celebrities who died in 2019.  It hit me that I had met several of them.  I realized that I am very glad that my path got to cross with theirs.

They mentioned Petper Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars films.  We actually met him a few times here and there at comic and sci-fi cons when we were younger.  He was always a pleasant matter of fact kind of guy.  He was a giant too.  When I shook his hand the tips of his fingers would just about touch my elbows.  I recall watching one of the more recent Star Wars films and my wife and I both realized that the guy playing Chewbacca couldn't be Peter Mayhew.  The movements and mannerisms weren't the same.  We stuck around to watch the credits and realized that another actor had taken over.

At some of the same venues, we met Sid Haig many times.  Sid was an actor who had been around for forever (I saw an old A-Team episode the other day that he was in).  He had a major acting comeback appearing in Rob Zombie movies, and man, was he appropriate for Rob and the horror genre!  Sid always seemed happy to meet fans and talk about his films.

80s Icon Eddie Money was mentioned.  We saw a show of his one night in Akron Ohio.  He stuck around afterwards and signed autographs.  He was very friendly and seemed to appreciate his fans.  "Take Me Home Tonight" is one of my all time favorite songs.  I remember him saying something about not having a lot of fans....  but that he had a lot of friends.

I was glad that the show I was watching felt the need to mention the passing of Nick Clifford, who I mentioned here recently.  Nick was the last living carver who worked on Mount Rushmore.  It was a real thrill meeting him.  He seemed like a pleasant, but maybe somewhat shy fellow.  he signed his book in the gift shop at Mount Rushmore.

AND I was thrilled to see a few mentions of the passing of Eva Kor, who we met in 2013.  Please read my post on her and google around a bit about her.  I hate it that another holocaust survivor is no longer with us, but she left behind a heck of a legacy.

Wilmore Kentucky

A few days after the Wilmore Old Fashioned Christmas Event, we went back to the town just to explore the shops on a normal Saturday.

There are several very nice little small independent shops.  They are all worth checking out.  We found some nice gifts.  I found several cute local themed stickers!

We wanted to make a point to patronize the Solomon's Porch, a small coffee/lunch place in town that I mentioned before.  They recently had a situation where a car ran in to their building and caused some serious damage.

They are still open and functioning.  We had some nice sandwiches and enjoyed the atmosphere.

WE also picked up a couple of groceries at the IGA in town too.  It reminds me of the one I used to go to with my mom in Owensboro when I was young.  I had a few friends in high school that worked there too before it folded.

Wilmore Old Fashion Christmas in Kentucky!

Several years ago, some friends invited me out to Wilmore’s big Christmas party known as “Wilmore’s Old Fashioned Christmas”.  We had a great time, and I have wanted to go back for some time.

 Each year, however, I found myself busy on the first Saturday of December so I couldn’t go.  Well, this year I made sure that I was able to make it!

 Wilmore is a very attractive small town anyway, but when they go all out for Christmas, it really becomes something special.

 We didn’t get to see their parade or anything, as we did get there a little late, but we did get to walk among the crowd and visit the various businesses.

 We got to town a bit late too, and we had to search for a scarce parking spot.  We found one quickly.  AND, finding parking in Wilmore, even during this crowded event was not that big of a deal.

 Our first stop was the town IGA.  A friend went with us who estimated that they have attended a dozen or so of these events said we should go there first.  The good people there were handing our small cracker sandwiches and pop!  Each time one was handed out, a “Merry Christmas” was exchanged.  It was very sweet, cheerful and festive.

 AND, at the front of the store was a great country band!  They were doing Cash as we left.  I would have loved to have stuck around and listened, but my friends wanted to explore more.

 After that we stopped at a bank and found another great band playing.  More treats were handed out by very sweet locals.

 Other places were handing out different snacks, all given freely with no expectation of purchase or anything.

 We went into City Hall and Elvis was there!  He was entertaining anyone visiting City Hall.  This was the same Elvis we saw earlier in the year performing in Danville at Pioneer Playhouse.  He was nailing it in his authentic King gear.

 My mother in law went with us.  Elvis started singing directly to her and we all had a great laugh over it!  As a side note, I have always been a huge Elvis fan and I love getting to see a great Elvis tribute.

We also went inside of a small religious reading room/prayer room location.  A wonderful young lady was singing and playing the piano.  Like the other musicians I have mentioned I would have really enjoyed getting to see more of her set.

The music alone here was exceptional.  There were at least four acts performing this night that I would love to see on another day when I could stick around for a full performance.

 As we walked around, we found some interesting businesses that we will have to check out on another day!  The small town looks to have TWO quality coffee shops!

 One beautiful old church was open for visitors to walk through.  In addition to having some very ornate windows worth seeing on their own, the church was displaying some privately collected nativity scenes.  I love miniatures like this, and I really enjoyed seeing them!

 There was a very sweet lady hosting visitors at the church.  We really enjoyed talking to her.  Her husband was outside the church handing out cups of hot chocolate!

 As the evening winded down, we made our way to the large church for their service to end the evening, which was very musical and fun.

If I heard correctly, there have been 31 “Wilmore Old Fashioned Christmas” events.  During this service, a show of hands was asked for of people who had been to all of them.  I did see some hands raised!

 Also, the collection plate was passed only once during the service.  It was passed to collect donations to help out a small local business that had something bad happen to them earlier.  It seems that a car crashed in to Solomon’s Porch Café earlier.  I thought it was very sweet that they took up a collection to help the business out.

This is a great event, in a great town.

I want to get back soon just to visit some of these friendly businesses again!