A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Day 3 – July 17: After a good night’s sleep, and breakfast with Mike and Alta, I headed north through portions of the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, passing thru Waynesville and picking up I-40. Continuing north on I-40 (skirting the Great Smokey Mountains National Park) I passed thru Newport and across the border into Tennessee, where I visited James White’s Fort located in Knoxville, TN. This “Fort” is a representation of an 18thCentury settlement that began in 1786 when James White built his 1st fortified log cabin in this area. Other settlers soon built around White and by 1791 the Southwest Territorial Capital was moved to White’s Fort and renamed Knoxville. The antique cabin furnishings and other historical utensils and equipment make this a living museum of late 18th Century pioneer life.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
After that brief trip back in time, I headed northwest on I-75, across the border into Kentucky where I visited the Harland Sanders (KFC) Museum located Corbin, KY. This museum is the home of the very first Kentucky Fried Chicken Café started by Harland (The Colonel) Sanders in 1940 and where he created his famous ‘KFC Secret Recipe’. Sanders had his ups and downs with fires, highway route changes and recessions, but in 1960 he began selling KFC franchises, and his business began to boom. In 1990 the original building was renovated and opened as a KFC cafe and museum, where visitors can enjoy their favorite KFC meal and visit the museum which displays a replica of the Colonel’s office, kitchen, and other Colonel Sanders artifacts and memorabilia.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Now I headed north on I-75, skirting the Danial Boone National Forest and passing up the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame Museum in Mount Vernon, KY (I had visited that museum on another Road Trip). I by- passed Richmond, KY so I could arrive in Lexington in time to spend some quality time with my friends Max and Anita in Lexington, KY. When Greta (My Garmin) had me exit I-75 I just figured I was getting close to my new destination. However, that was not the case. I was taken on a superius route for miles thru farmland, on back roads, and finally thru neighborhoods before I finally arrived at my friend’s house. What was that all about?
Photo Credit: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/garmin-drive-52
Max and Anita laughed and told me a lot of other people had the same problem, and there didn’t seem to be a logical explanation for it. Our family had been church friends with Anita’s family from the mid-1960s and Anita was one of my daughter’s best friends in junior high and high school. We had a marvelous visit and Anita cooked so we didn’t have to go out for dinner. After that delicious meal, we spent a lot of time reminiscing about our family’s activities during the early days of the nation’s Apollo space program in our hometown of Titusville, FL. When we were all talked out, they helped me get my things into their guest room where they put me up for the night. They warned me that the local 2:00 am train whistle might wake me, but I never did hear it. I must have been in a deep sleep when the train went by.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
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