Quirky Boston

You know I always look for the odd, unusual or just plain weird things wherever I go.  So I thought I'd treat you to some of the quirkier things I saw in Boston.

Fire Alarm boxes

These boxes are on street corners all over Boston.  Installed in 1852, they were the most modern system at the time, using telegraph to notify the fire stations.  They are still in use today and still relying on the telegraph!

Gas Station?

What looks to be an ordinary gas station turns into a parking lot during home games of the Boston Red Sox.  According to our tour driver, the owner of this station can make as much as a half a million dollars a season just by parking cars.

Eat and leave!

This sign in McDonald's warns you that you need to eat your McMuffin in 20 minutes or less, then leave.  While we were catching a quick breakfast one day, the city police came through and told one individual he needed to leave - he was sleeping in one of the counter chairs.  So they do mean business!

Can you guess who this is?

Edgar Allen Poe was born here, although he fought a career-long battle with  Boston area authors.  In 2014, he finally returned home.

Purple glass

See the two panes of glass that are purple in this row house?  You can find this glass in structures around the city.  When the John Hancock building was being built, the glass maker used the wrong formula for the glass for the 60 story tower.  It resulted in glass that would turn purple when the sun hit it.  Not a good look, it was decided.  Since the glass maker had to absorb the astronomical cost of the mistake, he sold the glass to individuals who then used it in their buildings.  So, today, it's a status symbol to have purple glass in your home!

The skinny house

As in any major city, real estate is expensive and limited.  This shows that any sliver of space can, and will, be used.

Cemetery

Cemeteries are all over the city.  I think one of the earliest tombstones we saw was from the late 1600s.

 

King's Chapel

This church was originally a wood building, erected in 1688.  In 1749, this stone church was built around the original structure and, when completed, the wood was disassembled and removed through the windows.  Our tour guide told us the plans for the building of the church were sent in three parts and, for some reason, the package containing the third part, the steeple, was never received and that's why it doesn't have one.  Sounds like an interesting story, but I couldn't verify it.

Parkman Bandstand

The Boston Commons, where the bandstand is located, is today a smoke-free zone.  But in the mid-19th century, when public smoking was banned city-wide, this is where the gentlemen of the era would come to partake of the wicked weed.  It consisted of a circle of benches and came to be known as "Smoker's Circle."  The bandstand replaced the benches in 1912.

For my Colorado and Oregon people, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this tshirt!

Until next time...

Beans, beans...

Imagine driving a winding road in the Smoky Mountains, turning a corner and coming upon this...

Yes, that Bush's Best Baked Beans - my favorite!  It's located in Chestnut Hills, TN which isn't much more than a wide spot in the road so this company must provide a lot of jobs.

The plant

The visitor center houses a museum, general store and family cafe.  The museum was already closed, but the general store was filled with all kinds of Bush souvenirs.

And I got to have my picture taken with Jay and Duke. He wouldn't tell me the secret recipe, though!

We didn't have Nipper with us, but were glad to see he would have been welcome!

This is one reason I love to travel a bit off the beaten path.  Who knew that a product I use on a regular basis has its roots in rural Tennessee!

Until next time...

Nashville - The City and the TV Show!

Welcome to Tennessee!

When last I wrote, we were leaving Alabama and headed to Nashville.  Crossing state lines, we always try to stop at the first welcome center.  It's interesting to me to learn how each state sees itself as represented by the style of the center.  Tennessee's log cabin-style building and cozy interior call to mind its humble beginnings as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians and very much embodies the pioneer spirit for which the state is known.

Welcome center interior

We got settled in our campground and headed to the city with plans to tour a museum and the state capitol building, among other things in Nashville proper.  Big lack of planning on my part!  The last time I visited the city, in 2004 or so, I remember it as being a small "big" city similar to Denver in the early '90s.  It's now over a million and a half in population and growing by leaps and bounds.  It's projected to double in size by 2030 and judging by the construction going on everywhere, I believe it!  

Ever driven in New York City?  Downtown Nashville reminded me a lot of that fun experience, with narrow streets, parked delivery trucks taking up most of the lanes and limited, expensive parking ($20 a day - yikes!).  While we had addresses and our handy GPS for finding the venues we wanted to visit, we had no idea where the parking lots/garages were and it was, of course, raining!

After driving around for a while, we decided that a hop-on, hop-off trolley tour was going to be best way of seeing the sites in the city.  So it was back to the campground to do a bit more planning and try again another day.  But, on the way out of town, we did manage to find this little gem.

The Bluebird Cafe

For those of you that enjoy the prime-time soap opera called Nashville, this little venue plays a big part in that show.  I was totally surprised to find that it's far from downtown, in a suburban strip mall!  It's a very small place, only seats about 90 people at a time and is, in fact, one of the prime venues for performers hoping to be "discovered."  Only open for two shows nightly, by the time I got to the internet to try to book a seat, the shows were all sold out during our stay in the area.  But I did get to peek in the window and it looks very much like the set of the tv show.  Check one more thing off the bucket list!

Until next time...

Duck Dynasty!?

Our next planned stop had us traveling the width of northern Louisiana along Interstate 20.  Those of you who have traveled around this great country of ours know that interstates are notorious for their lack of scenery.

View from the passenger seat.  A whole lot of nothin' to look at!

So I was surprised when, just outside of Monroe, LA, I saw a sign advertising Willie's Duck Diner and a suspiciously familiar silhouette.  Some quick research verified that West Monroe, LA is, in fact, the official Duck Commander Home Town - home to the Robertson family of Duck Dynasty fame.  Now, I've watched the show a couple of times, but in no way could I be called a die hard fan.  However, it was only 2 1/2 miles away, we needed gas at some point anyway and I was curious enough to make the detour. t

While we didn't get to eat at the diner, we did get to see one of the four must-see places for Duck Dynasty fans - the Duck Commander Warehouse. 

Tour bus in the parking lot

  

Themed semi in the parking lot

The warehouse is basically a huge gift shop, but, besides anything you could imagine with  a DD logo or saying on it, there were a couple of unusual things to look at.

Want something pertaining to the TV show?  This is the place to get it!

Arguably the world's largest duck call

The shack where it all began.

Giant wood carving of the silhouette that originally drew me in.

For those of you reading who are big Duck Dynasty fans, there's a tour that will take you around to all the locations you've seen on the shows.  But we needed to gas up and get back on the road, so that was it for us. 

Until next time...

Cruisin' the Caribbean - To Hell and Back

The day we docked in Grand Cayman began with a tropical rain storm.  Plans previously made to spend the day at the beach were scratched and we decided to take it easy on the ship and debark if and when the weather cleared a bit.  And clear it did, so we caught a short ferry to the island, intending to do a bit of souvenir shopping and then return to some serious relaxing.

Welcome

Once we got on island, the local tour companies beckoned and we decided to go to Hell and back.  Yes, there is actually a city named Hell.  And it is a popular destination from which to send postcards with a "Hell" postmark!

Things being somewhat disorganized and laid back in port, we boarded a bus not completely sure where we would end up.  But it's an island so how lost could we get?  The bus quickly cleared out at stops along the way and we ended up being the only people left, a real benefit when taking a tour that was actually only a taxi ride.  We were able to have a real conversation with the driver and learned a lot about Grand Cayman and his life there.  We even got treated to an original musical composition he wrote and recorded when he was inspired by a hurricane that devastated the island in 2008.  I love it when, travelling, you get to really talk with the local people!

Our driver, James, was born and raised in Grand Cayman, but educated in England.

Anyway, about Hell.  This little area of the  island is home to limestone rock formations that, according to local legend, "must be what hell looks like."

It's also said that if you throw a pebble into the rocks, it echoes and sounds as if it's falling all the way to hell.

However it got it's name, the name stuck and a tourist destination was born.  A post office was built and tourists get a kick out of responding "I went to Hell and back" when asked what they did that day.

And what's a tourist destination without a souvenir shop?

Need to send a letter?

The drive to Hell and back was pleasant and provided just a small taste of what the island is like.  There were flowers everywhere, chickens in most backyard and interesting traffic signs.

Yield, politely

And sadly, in my opinion, there were signs of America everywhere...

 

Almost any American fast food you can think of was on the island.  There was even an Office Depot!

Back at port

So, after going to Hell and back, we did a little shopping (how can you not?!), boarded the ferry back to the ship and chilled for the rest of the day.  Like Cozumel, there was too much to see and not enough time in which to do it.  Another return trip, maybe?

Until next time...

Fried Pies, a Lumberyard and the Father of our Country

This post is going to be kind of a catch up of the last bit of time we spent in Texas before going on our cruise, so I hope you enjoy it!

When I said the Father of our Country, I'll bet you immediately thought of George Washington.  Well, from the point of view of a Texan, you would be wrong.  Children in Texas schools were taught that Sam Houston was the "Father of our Country", the country referenced, of course, being Texas!  And in Huntsville, TX is arguably the second largest free standing sculpture in the United States (the first being the Statue of Liberty), honoring the Texas statesman in the way that only Texas can - with a 67' tall statue that towers over Interstate 45!

While you can see the statue from the highway, our GPS routed us off the highway north of it.  Winding along a country road and following the signs, we came first to the Visitor Center.

The Visitor Center is built in the style of a dogtrot house that would have been popular in Houston's time and sits on heavily wooded acreage.

We have not yet seen any sign of a statue, let alone a giant one!  But walking a meandering trail behind the visitor's center, we came across this...

A giant head

Interesting, but not really indicative of what's to come.  We rounded a corner on the trail and this vision appeared...

From the rear

But even this view does not do justice to the enormity of this statue.   To put it into perspective, take a look at this...

That's Sid, standing in front of Sam Houston!

That's all there is to the park/attraction (aside from the ubiquitous gift shop, of course!), but it was well worth the detour.

We started seeing signs for fried pies in Oklahoma, but didn't have a chance to stop for any.  So, once we got into Texas, finding an authentic fried pie was high on the agenda.  As some of you may know, Sid's mother used to make the most amazing apricot fried pies and we hadn't had one in a long time.  So we finally found a place near where we were camped and we made the detour one night to pick some up.

Fried pie - couldn't wait to sink our teeth into it!

Big disappointment!!!  Turns out, these were actually made in Oklahoma, frozen, then shipped to franchises in Texas to be fried and sold.  It tasted nothing like the fried pies we remembered and more like the packaged "fried pies" you get at Walmart.  But we did have fried pie success at another stop; read on!

Eating out is very popular with all of Sid's relatives so we did that a lot while we were in East Texas.  One restaurant that stood out was the Lumberyard Cafe, in Edgewood, TX.

Nondescript exterior

Unique menu

The cafe sits right on the main road and was once actually....wait for it....a lumberyard!  The lumber barns are still in the back although they look to be used for storage now.  The food is mostly Texas comfort food, good simple fare that fills you up for a reasonable cost.

We can't really go anywhere without Sid checking out the chicken fried steak!

We made a return trip on a Friday night for fried catfish.  Big portions and excellent hush puppies.  And the fried pies were heaven!  We scarfed them up so quickly I didn't get a picture!

Next up...cruisin' the Caribbean!  The next few posts will be about our first ever cruise with 8 of Sid's elementary school friends on the occasion of their 50th high school reunion.

Until next time...

The Richest Acre in the World

World's Richest Acre, in fact, is what downtown Kilgore, TX advertises as its claim to fame. And after pumping over 2.5 million barrels out of the ground on this acre, I'm pretty sure they've got a lock on the title!

World's Richest Acre in the late 1930s

Oil Derricks on the World's Richest Acre today

In the days before regulations were enacted forbidding it, there stood a forest of oil derricks over more than 1000 wells on this one acre plot of land.  The city has recreated some of that skyline with the World's Richest Acre Park in the original downtown area.  Not confined to the park, abandoned oil derricks and pumps are seen in yards throughout the city and the few grand old homes remaining from that era are falling into disrepair.

Lou Della Crim home 

Each derrick in the city sports a large star on top and Sid remembers his family making the trek to Kilgore every year at Christmas to see them lit up.  For this reason, Kilgore is also know as a City of Stars.

Kilgore, as some of you may know, is also the home of the world renowned Kilgore College Rangerettes. Organized in 1939, it is still today the dream of many high school girls to be a Rangerette.

The Rangerette Museum was closed the day we visited, but this painting is on the side of the building.

Falling under the category of weird, we saw this on our way home from Kilgore.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but each table in this rest area sits under an oil derrick.

Rest Area on I-20

We've now moved to Sid's cousin's house in preparation for boarding Nipper and leaving Julie in their care while we cruise the Caribbean.  Not sure when the next post will be, but it's off to blue skies, sumptuous food and ocean breezes for us!

Until next time...

The Salt Palace

It's been a somewhat quiet week here on the home front and very rainy, but we have managed a little sightseeing.  I've been dragging Sid around to the little towns he grew up around and forcing him to be a tourist. He says it's giving him a whole new perspective on places in which he spent a good portion of his childhood!

Grand Saline (meaning "large salt") is a tiny little town of about 3200 people best known as the "saltiest town in Texas" and the site of the largest and highest-quality salt deposit in the country (owned by none other than Morton Salt).  The town was named for the large salt deposits found to the south of town in the 1800s; deposits are so large that it's estimated that they could supply the entire world's need for salt for the next 20,000 years!

The plant is one of the largest employers in the county.

This plant produces the majority of table salt used in this country.

Surprisingly, they also produce all the iconic packaging on site.

The plant no longer gives tours, but you can visit the Salt Palace to take a virtual tour and learn about the salt industry.  Originally constructed by proud residents of the city in 1936, the building resembled the Alamo.

Photograph of original Salt Palace

But, exposed to the East Texas rain, the building gradually melted away (yes, I said melted!) and had to be rebuilt.  Again, the second building suffered the same sad fate and, with the third iteration, while not "palatial" by any stretch of the imagination, the city figured out a way to protect it's creation.

Current "Salt Palace" in Grand Saline, TX

It is, in fact, constructed of rock salt chunks (ask me how I can be sure!) and houses a little museum full of all things salt related.

Outside the museum sits a huge hunk of rock salt

A little off the beaten path, but worth the detour, the drive to Grand Saline was beautiful.  There has been so much rain down here that every little depression in the ground is filled with water and the multiple lakes are filled to capacity.  And, while the bluebonnets are on their way out, the sides of the roads are filled with other wildflowers in white, yellow and purple and everywhere you look is lush and green.

Until next time...

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