McKay Used Book Store- Knoxville

Recently, a friend tipped me off to McKay's used books in Tennessee! This place is great!

I can look through used books all day long. I really love finding a cool old out of print sci-fi novel, or a book about travel.

This place had everything! I found an obscure baseball book signed by the author for $4, a couple of books on regional folklore, and others. The store had a free books bin right outside the entrance door too.

mckaybooks.com

Randon Thoughts on Friday

Man, things are busy here!

I do have some entries to get up soon. Lots of photos on the camera, and not enough time to load them on to my slow computer.... But it will be done!

I think I am going to rejoin my two travel blogs again. All of my faithful readers (thanks mom!) know that a few months ago, I split this blog in two. One would cover my home state and my favorite state- Kentucky! The other would cover the rest of the country. Well, I think I will just go back to the original format of a Kentuckian travelling around the state.... and everywhere else.

The minor league baseball season will be winding down in the next month. That means I will be celebrating Halloween! The season will have a huge influence on my entries coming up in the next few months. My personal Halloween season goes from early August through the end of November.

You know I love the obscure. I love rare old postcards, pictures of odd tourist stops, and reading forgotten books. Well, there is something pretty mainstream that I am excited about. I am VERY excited about a NEW Planet of the Apes movie coming out. The previews give me goose bumps!

Wienermobile

We took this photo of the Wienermobile in the Florence area.

LUCKILY, I have crossed paths with the Wienermobile more than once. In fact, I have watched them go by on the road a time or two. Man, are they cool!

Check out my entry on my other blog entry about the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. I have a photo of one there.

This photo was taken while my car, and the Wienermobile were both in motion, so it is not perfect.

Downtown Knoxville Farmer's Market

Knoxville has a GREAT farmers market set up downtown! I am JUST really getting to be familiar with this area, and man is it growing on me! They have some very nice indy shops and restaurants in the area.

here are some photos!

Random Thoughts On Friday

What a great time for a road trip! The weather has been nice, and there is a lot going on!

I did want to mention briefly that the last space shuttle mission EVER has just launched! STS-135 will be the last one.

I do hope that the country gets back on track with space exploration. There is a ton to gain from it. Also, we will no longer be a major player in space travel! Heck, it looks like we really won't be much of a player at all.

I hope everyone takes a moment to remember the glory days of Apollo, and the excitement of watching the shuttles go up. More importantly, I hope that Americans everywhere think about the possibilities. I am still hoping another moon landing,an asteroid landing, or a man on Mars happens in my lifetime.

Hillbilly Hot Dogs

Yes, I know I covered Hillbilly Hot Dogs before, but the place is just that cool.

Seriously, I can't say enough that this is one of the few places out there getting a ton of hype that deserves it. In fact, this place alone justifies a road trip to the Huntington West Virginia area.

If Hillbilly Hot Dogs served lesser quality food, I would suggest you go because of the cool decorations and set up.

If Hillbilly Hot Dogs had the same quality of food, but was in a bland location, i would tell you to go for the amazing dogs.

Luckily, the owners of Hillbilly Hot Dogs care about selling a good product in a unique atmosphere.

We once again set in the same bus and enjoyed our dogs and fries.

GO NOW! Eat the best hot dog ever! Make sure you tip at least a couple of dollars (because they deserve it!) AND so you can have the "Weenie Song" sang to you personally! Sign their wall! Eat on a bus!!!

'nuff said.

hillbillyhotdogs.com

Huntington WV.

Orlando, FL

Bass Pro Shop- Sevierville, TN

I almost hate to admit it, but Bass Pro Shops are kind of becoming a bit of a road side attraction. They are just that cool. Even if you are not the outdoors type, they are fun to walk through.

We used to do day trips to the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville. My dad, who has hunted and fished all of his life would go on these trips. Anyway, he would go hang out at the bass pro shop while we covered the mall.

I stopped by the Bass Pro Shop near Knoxville and just had a fun time. I found some great hiking shoes, and I was there when they fed the fish!

Check it out though, I really like this place!

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.