Beautiful Downtown Burbank - Day 1 / March 10, 2020 by Mark

Latitude 34.10, Longitude 118.23
North Hollywood, CA

We’ve made it to our hotel room after a day of flying from Columbus to Denver to Long Beach. If you’re wondering how the coronavirus has impacted air travel, it appears to be noticeable if not dramatic.

Here’s a shot from John Glenn Airport—but it was early.

We managed to get our own row on the plane, if only on the first leg of the trip. We’re re-formulating our seat picking strategy for the ride back.

Long Beach is a small airport—how small? Well, we left the plane going down outside stairs. I would have taken a shot of this, but Sunny California greeted us with a cloudburst.

The forecast shows some form of rain every day—let’s hope they are wrong.

We stopped at a Puerto Rican restaurant on the way called Mofongos for our first meal of the trip. I had a dish involving plantains, pork rinds, and pork shoulder, while Mindy had the chicken stew.

After checking in at the hotel, we had a little time left in the day, so we went over to the Television Academy—specifically the “Hall of Fame” gallery in front.

It was SO WET in Los Angeles today--HOW WET WAS IT???

The mostly-forgotten inventor of television as a technology. He was crushed by RCA and their attorneys.

OK, that’s plenty for one day. Tomorrow, we’re off to see the Mouse.
#beautifuldowntownburbank

Beautiful Downtown Burbank - Day 0 / March 9, 2020 by Mark

It’s time for another trip. Last year was not the best—we spent a lot of time helping out on family medical issues including my father-in-law’s death, and we never really took a vacation just for us.

In January, Mindy sprang the idea of a California trip, specifically the Los Angeles area. The centerpiece of the trip is seeing my favorite game show in person (you know, the one involving correct pricing), as well as Disneyland, studio tours, and general Hollywood tourism.

Looming over all of this is the Coronavirus. After consulting with my doctor (who said don’t change your life, and enjoy the trip), we’re going forward, making sure we’re taking the precautions we’ve been hearing over the last month. At this point, it looks like attractions will not be as crowded—a big plus for us. I’ve been doing a lot of research, and I suspect we will be very busy.

Tomorrow, we’re flying to Long Beach via Denver, then off to our hotel in #BeautifulDowntownBurbank. More to come.

Atlanta to the Coast - Addendum / November 8, 2019 by Mark

One place we didn’t make it to on the trip was Ashville, OH. We had planned to stop there, but the site would have been closed by the time we arrived.

I had read about the world’s oldest working traffic light several years ago, and our tour took us very close to it. It wasn’t until Mindy did some research that we determined it was only 25 minutes from our house!

So, we just completed a quick trip down to check it out, at Ohio’s Small Town Museum in Ashville. The manager took us on a guided tour of the place, and had a lot of interesting info. Here’s the traffic light in question. It was originally installed in 1932, and was taken down for maintenance in the 80’s. Unfortunately, the state wouldn’t let them put it back in operation, since the colorblind couldn’t use it.

More interesting exhibits there…

A flag from around the time Ohio became the 17tth state.

Roy Rogers worked in the town at the local cannery. He got fired for always singing on the job…

A local theater (in the same spot as the museum), which died with the talkies.

All in all, a worthwhile jaunt to see the light and the other exhibits. That’s all, folks!

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 8 / October 29, 2019 by Mark

Our last day began with a trip through the misty mountains (which took longer than planned due to a GPS set to “no tolls”)…

…before making it to Charleston, WV and Mexican food at Plaza Maya.

This was just down the street from our fourth state house of the trip, and by far the largest. It’s a U-shaped building with the senate and house of delegates at each end. So I’m guessing employees get their 10K steps in without a problem.

Next to the prerequisite veterans’ statues is one celebrating women vets. Mindy noted that the names of those responsible for getting it in place were all men…

The rotunda is under reconstruction, so we couldn’t see a lot inside.

Our final stop on the road trip was a strange mini-museum dedicated to Big Boy restaurants. Apparently, one of the original drive-ins was located here. Now it’s in a parking lot.

Then we pointed the car toward home.

The whole trip ran just over 2000 miles over 8 days, and we are happy to be home. I’ll be posting a video covering the whole trip next week under the “From the Pop Culture Bunker” banner on SFPPN. Thanks for following us!

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 7 / October 28, 2019 by Mark

Our penultimate tour day began with a cameo by RBG.

Then we were off to our third state house of the trip, and by far our smallest one. The Raleigh capitol is roughly the size of many county courthouses.

We did have a bit of excitement there—someone was filming a production onsite. we saw extras standing in place, waiting to walk through the background.

Across the street was the North Carolina Museum of History—compact but well laid out (and free). It included 2 exhibits tailor-made for us: quilts and classic toys.

On the road to Roanoke, we came upon Shangri-La, a tiny town built in the front yard of it’s creator (who passed away decades ago).

A quick lunch at Gina’s Family Restaurant - a burger and a fish sammich.

We made it to the Roanoke hotel, took a nap, then went down into town. We started with a NY slice.

Did you know Roanoke has a hipster district?

We had read about a giant star up on a mountain, so we drove up a spooky road to find it.

We finished things up with a post-star snack at Blue Cow Ice Cream.

That will do it for today. I just spent 90 minutes getting these loaded up (thanks slow hotel internet!) Tomorrow, a final statehouse, and then home.

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 6 / October 27, 2019 by Mark

An abbreviated post today, as we spent most of the day visiting with friends and family in NC.

After breakfast with an old college friend and his wife, we drove into Raleigh and hit a couple “big things”. First, we dropped by the Daily Planet…

…and then “Big Acorn”, which is “dropped” every New Year’s Eve in Raleigh to celebrate ala Times Square.

The rest of the day was spent with our niece and her family—a lot of fun! Thanks, guys.

Back to the regular schedule tomorrow—another statehouse, then onto Virginia.

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 5 / October 26, 2019 by Mark

After a night in a very comfortable room (thanks hotel points!), we kicked things off at the Edgar Allen Poe branch library at Sullivan's Island. Built originally as a military bunker with 2 feet thick walls and iron doors. Poe was stationed there, hence the name. Inside, a regular library.

This goes under the category of—what the???

One of many bridges we crossed today—there’s a lot of islands here.

Our first major stop—the Charleston Tea Company. It’s the only place in the US where tea is grown and processed (they make tea for Bigelow and Sam’s Club, among others). Here’s shots of the processing center. It takes less than 24 hours from field to tea bags.

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 4 / October 25, 2019 by Mark

After a surprisingly comfortable night (if you walk out of your room and you’re outside, its a MOTEL, not a HOTEL)…

…we went down the street to fulfill one of our road trip rules. We visited an obscure museum—in this case, the Vidalia Onion Museum.

On the way to Savannah, we stopped to pick up our mail.

Savannah. Home to Spanish Moss and a LOT of bars. If you’ve ever gone on a cruise, you would recognize a port of call—five stores endlessly repeated. Despite that, it was pretty.

Lunch was held at the British Tea Company—meat pies! A Cornish pasty and chicken curry, plus a very thick shortbread.

The afternoon had a Gothic theme. First, the Bonaventure Cemetery, which was the site of the book and film “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”. It’s very creepy.

Second, the ruins of the Sheldon Church, which was burned down in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

Finally, we made it to Charleston. We’re still on the outskirts (it took a couple attempts to find the hotel—Charleston must have an issue with signage). While waiting for a Baptist convention to check in, we went across the street for dinner—shrimp po-boy and an omelette.

OK, that’ll do it for today. Onto Charleston and NC!

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 3 / October 24, 2019 by Mark

LAT 32.1 LON 82.2
Vidalia, GA

A shorter day, so we’re still in Georgia. We started in Atlanta and our second state capitol of the trip. It’s quite a beautiful building, although less grand than Kentucky. It’s also more of a hassle to visit, even after waiting until later in the morning to attack the freeways.

Legally, every state capitol must come with a two-headed calf.

Then, we headed across town to Ponce City Market, a massive facility with a hipster uber-food court, apartments, and shops.

Mindy read about this chicken place, so we tried it—a long wait but fantastic food!

This is a Chicken Pot Hand Pie (and biscuits).

After a stop at Pearson’s Farms for pecans, we made it to the onion capital of Georgia. We’ll check out the museum tomorrow. Meanwhile, just a few minutes away is Santa Claus, a (very) small town built in 1941 to get people to come to a pecan farm in the area.

That’s plenty for one day. Off to Savannah and Charleston tomorrow.

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 2 / October 23, 2019 by Mark

LAT 33.5 LON 84.29
Marietta, GA

A little later than planned as we were out carousing with our niece Maggie (aka walking around a town square then eating tacos).

Today started out at the Museum of Appalachia, a combination old-timey town, petting zoo, and museum of oddities. The latter, involving 250K objects, was collected by one guy.

…pigs and peacocks (that natural combination).

Some of the oddities were very odd indeed.

I thought my friend Cat would appreciate this.

This is a perpetual motion machine, built in the 1800’s. The inventor insisted on removing a few parts so others couldn’t steal his idea. Unfortunately, he left it that way, and no one can figure out how to fix it.

Here’s a creepy metal coffin—the plate above goes over the face hole.

Here’s a lovely piece of early 20th century racism.

This guy’s history is far more interesting than the mini-mill he built.

If you’ve ever seen those concrete crosses, here’s where they came from.

They moved this cabin from the spot where Mark Twain was apparently conceived (but never lived).

This is the cabin used in the old Daniel Boone TV series (Daniel Boone was a maaan…yes, a biiiig maaan…)

Then, we moved through Knoxville, and the fabulous Sunsphere. This was home to a World’s Fair, and made famous on The Simpsons for storing wigs.

Moving on to lunch at City Cafe Diner—a really good sammich, and a piece of cake that got devoured before we took a pic (so here it is in the dessert case).

I believe the cake is dense enough that light cannot escape it.

We later came upon an atomic-powered mouse that was terrorizing an exterminating company.

Moving on to an impressive rock garden behind a church, with lilliputian buildings made out of pebbles, shells, and cement.

Finally, we made it to Marietta, GA. Home our niece and Big Chicken (she’s not a big chicken, it’s just an attraction at a KFC—forget it).

She also took us to the Marietta Square, and a huge food market. We had some yummy tacos, and they had margaritas (I was the designated driver).

After some playtime with Maggie’s dog Ripley, it was time to return to the hotel and collapse.

Tomorrow, Atlanta, pecans, onions, and St. Nick’s southern HQ.

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 1 / October 22, 2019 by Mark

LAT 36.9 LON 84.5
Clinton, TN

It’s time for another road trip—down to the Southeast to see relatives, friends, and more wacky attractions. We’re driving a loop to Atlanta, Charleston, Raleigh, Williamsburg, Roanoke, and back home.

Today, we toured the first of several state capitals in Frankfort, KY. It was quite ornate both inside and out. However, it rather overshadowed the small town (population 27,000) it inhabits.

Then, we stopped at the Parkette Drive-In for lunch, consisting of a “shrimp box”, a pork tenderloin sammich, and chili cheese fries.

Suddenly, there was a monster attack!

Actually, a mascot for a fireworks store (that burned down).

After checking in at the hotel, we drove over to Norris Dam, the first of the Tennessee Valley Authority projects.

Tomorrow, more attractions, Atlanta, and our recently married niece.

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 12 (Finale) / May 11, 2019 by Mark

Reporting from home…

The final day of most trips is uneventful, and this one was no exception. We went over familiar roads we’ve traveled dozens of times—so there’s little to report.

We were home for several hours before I remembered I needed to dash off a blog entry. Here’s the final picture…

So, just over 3,000 miles and 62 hours of driving this trip, covering 12 states. It was a lot of fun, but we’re glad we’re back home.

Hopefully, there will be a little less of a delay before my next blog entry.

#BayouWeddingTour

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 11 / May 10, 2019 by Mark

Reporting from Indianapolis, IN. We’re only a few hours from home, but we have found that if we make a final long dash we end up exhausted. So, here we are.

Today was Big Things Day, featuring the world’s largest <fill in the blank>.

Here’s the world’s SECOND largest rocking chair—why second? More in a minute.

Here’s a giant ice cream cone at an elementary school in Affton, MO for some reason.

Here’s the world’s largest chess piece, outside the Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis.

But the main event was Carey, IL—the world’s headquarters for the world’s largest objects.

So here’s the world’s largest rocking chair. It eclipsed the previous #1, so that’s considered the largest chair on Route 66.

Here’s the world’s largest see-saw (under construction).

The world’s largest FUNCTIONING wind chime.

The world’s largest mail box. You can even drop off actual mail inside.

The world’s largest (non-wearable) wooden shoes.

Why is this all in one small Illinois town? Because there’s a workshop that churns out massive working versions of various objects. I assume Batman villains frequent this place.

Meanwhile, at the closed giant objects factory, the Penguin is completing a purchase!

Well, we crashed early at the hotel. It’s been a long trip (but a lot of fun), and the final day is tomorrow.

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 10 / May 9, 2019 by Mark

Reporting from Rolla, MO.

We’ve been in three states today, starting with Oklahoma, which offered us a cheery good morning.

There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow…

After some driving and possible wrong terms (we couldn’t get two GPS’s to agree), we found ourselves at the border of three states.

We then visited the Joplin Museum Complex, which is a strange assortment of random stuff that adds up to an interesting experience.

Joplin was founded on mining, so there’s a large exhibit on that.

Dennis Weaver was born here. Chief? (something for the MSTies out there)

There’s a miniature circus exhibit and the…

Plus cats wander around the museum freely. All for $2 a head (yours, not the cats).

By then, it was time to eat. Open faced beef sammich, taco salad, and homemade pie from Granny Shaffer.

We had already planned to stop in Carthage to see Marlin Perkins’ statue (he of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom) when I read 20 minutes earlier that Jim Fowler (the guy who wrestled the wildebeest while Marlin had Mai-Tai’s in his tent) died today at 87. RIP

We then reached a second…well you know. This one was in a parking lot.

There’s a rest stop on I-44 (aka Route 66) that has miniature versions of attractions on the way.

When we saw the “World’s Largest Gift Store”, you know we had to stop. Bonus—Lucy’s old car. Where’s Fred and Ethel?

Yet another attraction is the Uranus Fudge Factory. Let the puns begin!

So we wound up in Rolla, which houses Stonehenge—at least a miniature version.

No one knows who they were, or what they were doing.

OK, that’ll do it. Wi-fi is giving out. More tomorrow.

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 9 / May 8, 2019 by Mark

Reporting from Claremore, OK.

We started in Pauls Valley, and saw the daily Amtrak come through the rainy station.

But the real reason we were there was the Toy and Action Figure Museum. This guy has an ENORMOUS collection, organized by room and genre.

The only exception to the organized collection is the massive amount of random figures in the “bedroom”.

Later, we stopped in Norman, OK to add to our collection of TV stars in bronze. This time it was the late James Garner of Maverick and Rockford Files fame.

Then it was off to Oklahoma City for our third capitol building of the tour. We were very impressed with the Louisiana and Texas sites—Oklahoma, not so much. Parking was almost nonexistent, the building is under construction, and someone had the genius idea of inviting the local high school jazz orchestra to perform in a marbled rotunda. We were there for about 10 minutes.

Is this a state capital or a subway station?

Yep—Oklahoma sold NAMING RIGHTS to their state capitol!!!

Mindy did a search for “fried pies in OKC” and found this place. Just a small lunch…

We also tried to visit the OKC memorial, but again, parking not really an option. Oh, well—I didn’t want to be depressed anyway. We did see a giant toothbrush, though.

Moving on to Route 66 (where you can apparently get your kicks) and “Pops”, a convenience store/soda emporium.

Once we made it to Tulsa, we found the “East Meets West” tableau, showing old and new transportation in an impass.

OK, it took quite a while to transfer this all over hotel wifi, so more tomorrow.

#BayouWeddingTour

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 8 / May 7, 2019 by Mark

Reporting from Pauls Valley, OK (where the waving wheat, can sure smell sweet, when the wind comes right behind the rain…)

The day began back in Waco, TX—hence the waffle.

We drove into town, which boasts the the king and queen of cable home decoration, Chip and Joanna Gaines. It’s quite the empire.

Then it was off to the Dr. Pepper museum. There’s quite a history here of the various sodas (or pops, if you prefer).

We had lunch at an Asian food truck. Quite yummy. Our meal was only slightly impacted by a dive-bombing butterfly (don’t ask).

Waco certainly keeps it weird.

I noticed a billboard for “The American Domino Company”, so we stopped in. We left with a Number Domino 15 set.

Then it was off to Ft. Worth and the Water Gardens. They shot scenes for the film Logan’s Run here.

The next stop involved no photography—the US Mint. My mother will be happy to know I got in without a problem (she’ll know what that means).

A strange spot in suburban Denton, between two normal homes, is “The Chairy Orchard”. Is it an art installation? A neighborhood meeting spot? In any case, there’s a lot of places to sit.

Another un-photograph-able attraction was Magnetic Hill, in the middle of nowhere, Oklahoma. It’s one of those places where gravity supposedly goes haywire. It’s just an optical illusion—it seems like your car rolls uphill—but it’s fun.

Well, that’s plenty for now—I’m worn out. More tomorrow.

#BayouWeddingTour

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 7 / May 6, 2019 by Mark

Reporting from Waco, TX—

We had originally planned to stay two nights in Austin, but our experiences there seemed to run 50/50.

Our breakfast was fantastic. The Magnolia Cafe served us “the Love Miga”, a breakfast taco and a LARGE pancake. Yummy! Mindy is already trying to figure out how to replicate it at home.

However, lunch was a different story. Black's is based in Lockhart, reportedly the Nirvana of Texas 'Que. We were unimpressed. The meat was decent, but the baked beans were a little soupy--kind of like refried beans with liquid smoke added. Pecan cobbler (the review said you could eat a pan of it) was basically pecan pie broken up. Overall, #citybarbeque does a better job.

We found a lot of interesting stuff, from hipster locations to historic ones, outside of downtown.

…but Downtown was another matter. There was an event going on which basically took traffic down to a standstill. (I had no idea Austin was so big!) We ended up dropping a couple of places.

We did manage to see our second state capital building of the tour.

After a trip to the top of Mt. Bonnell for a peek…

We made the judgment call to move on.

There were a few sites we wanted to see on the way to Waco, but they all seemed to be on these strange elongated “service roads” next to the highway. If you didn’t catch them, you had to go miles out of your way and backtrack. So we moved on.

Mindy did find an interesting snack—rolled ice cream. It’s quite the performance as they put liquid on a super-chilled surface…

Time to wrap it up—more tomorrow. #BayouWeddingTour

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 6 / May 5, 2019 by Mark

We’re back on the road post-wedding and all the accompanying parties. A lot of fun, and the ceremony/reception was great. But now, we’ve made it to Austin, TX.

Since Lake Charles, we have hit no less than three Buc-ee’s. What’s a Buc-ee, you ask? Imagine a convenience store hopped up on steroids and Red Bull. It’s EN-OR-MOUS! They are well spaced to sell you a a large drink and then have another store an hour and a half later when you need the facilities.

You could spend a week shopping here. The also have infinite gas pumps.

One of the Buc-ee’s even had the “world’s longest car wash”.

In addition to convenience stores, we also stopped in Houston to see an art installation celebrating John Glenn and Yuri Gagarin, the first two men to orbit the earth. It’s near an old NASA site. The display has a huge set of tiny holes that, when seen at a distance, shows Glenn’s photo from the capsule.

In addition, Houston reportedly had the “Big Bubble”—an art installation with a red button next to a bridge, which was supposed to generate a, well, big bubble in the river. It must have been down today—no bubble.

That stop did let us discover a George Bush (41) monument. <political comment> He’s the dictionary definition of “grading on a curve”—a President who looks a lot better than what we have today.

Another stop was the Igloo cooler plant, which has an interesting security shack.

In Austin, we tried out Mighty Fine Burgers, and they met that definition.

OK, I’m getting tired. Touring Austin tomorrow.
#BayouWeddingTour

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 4.5 / May 4, 2019 by Mark

A mini-entry from Lake Charles.

Mindy and her sisters went to the shore to see alligators and stick her toes in the Gulf.

We later attended the wedding rehearsal dinner at the party house. It’s quite the facility. Since we’re in the Bayou, they had a crawfish boil, so we gave it a shot. If you like lobster, you’ll probably like it—but get ready for some work to get it out.

The wedding is later today. They had the nerve to hold it on Free Comic Book Day, so we’re sneaking out this morning to go to a local shop.

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 3.5 / May 3, 2019 by Mark

Writing this entry late—we were out into the wee hours (which for me is about 10:30p).

We headed off to Baton Rouge and the state capitol. It’s a very impressive building, especially considering it was built during the Great Depression. Governor Huey Long didn’t take no for an answer.

Google just went ahead and made this panoramic view for me.

We went up the tower and took a look outside.

Then it was off to the old Governor’s mansion (Governors’ ? Governors ?). Docent Frank talked our ears off with some great stories about the place.

Gov. Long had it built like the White House so that “he could find the light switches when he got there”.

On the way over to Lake Charles, we drove around Rayne, LA. It’s touted as the “Frog Capitol of the World” because they caught and sold frogs to restaurants throughout the South. It’s teeming with statues.

Rayne also boasts the only “wrong way cemetery”. They are traditional laid out east to west, but when this one was started north to south, they just left it that way. Add to that the above ground crypts standard in the Bayou, and you get a creepy sight.

Finally we made it to Lake Charles, where we’re attending our niece’s wedding.

Entries may be sparse for the next couple of days, but we’ll see. If not, we’ll continue on the second leg of the trip. #BayouWeddingTOur

SFPPN

Ubi qualitas significationem non tenet, sed tempus vastatum valorem habet.

Beautiful Downtown Burbank - Day 1 / March 10, 2020 by Mark

Beautiful Downtown Burbank - Day 0 / March 9, 2020 by Mark

Atlanta to the Coast - Addendum / November 8, 2019 by Mark

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 8 / October 29, 2019 by Mark

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 7 / October 28, 2019 by Mark

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 6 / October 27, 2019 by Mark

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 5 / October 26, 2019 by Mark

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 4 / October 25, 2019 by Mark

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 3 / October 24, 2019 by Mark

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 2 / October 23, 2019 by Mark

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 1 / October 22, 2019 by Mark

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 12 (Finale) / May 11, 2019 by Mark

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 11 / May 10, 2019 by Mark

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 10 / May 9, 2019 by Mark

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 9 / May 8, 2019 by Mark

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 8 / May 7, 2019 by Mark

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 7 / May 6, 2019 by Mark

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 6 / May 5, 2019 by Mark

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 4.5 / May 4, 2019 by Mark

Bayou Wedding Tour - Day 3.5 / May 3, 2019 by Mark

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