Tag Archives: Museum

2023 Road Trip-Part 19

24 Jan

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 19 – August 2:  

After breakfast this morning, I packed up my things and met Billy in the lobby of the motel to start today’s museum hunt.  We headed south out of Valdosta for 35 miles on US-129, across the border into Florida, to visit the Old Jail Museum located in Jasper, FL.  This museum, also known as the Hamilton County Historic Old Jail Museum, is situated in the original old 1893 two-story jail building that served as Hamilton County’s only jail until 1984.  This museum displays antique jail exhibits, artifacts, and photos to help visitors get an idea of how prisoners lived at the turn-of-the-century in rural Georgia.  The building was originally designed, as many jails were in the 1800s, to house not only prisoners but also with living quarters for the local Sheriff (Warden) and his family.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now we continued south another 20 miles on US-129 to visit the Live Oak Union Passenger Depot Museum located in Live Oak, FL.  This museum is situated in the old 1861 Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad (SF&W) freight depot and was restored in 1885 to serve Live Oak and the surrounding Suwannee County area’s expanding railroad business.  The museum displays antique railroad artifacts, photos, and memorabilia related to the influence the railroad had on the growth of this area in the mid-1800s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

After leaving Live Oak, we headed southeast about 25 miles on US-90 to just west of Lake City, FL where we picked up I-75 and turned south.  We had gone about 35 miles south on I-75 when ‘nature’ called, and we pulled into the nearest Rest Stop.  After that refreshing stop (we needed some exercise), we noticed this sign for the Snake Wall, and checked it out.  It turns out that it is an inclined walkway that is described as “A unique piece of functional art (curving 325’ long) that successfully combines protection of the surrounding ecosystem and the roadway” and also provides access to the Payne Prairie Overlook.  An impressive design, and it gets your blood pumping at a good rate, all at the same time (sorry, but the info marker was weathered).

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now it was another 45 miles south on I-75 to visit the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing located just south of Ocala, FL.  I had visited this museum on another road trip, but Billy hadn’t been there, and he wanted to see all the racing machines.  We spent a long time looking at the 90+ drag racing machines and another 50+ beautifully restored antique cars in the Antique Car building.  WOW!  What a collection!  We learned that they race R/C model drag racing machines at the museum once each month, and Billy and I are planning to visit that event as soon as we

can.  Sounds like a lot of fun.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Leaving that amazing museum, we continued south on I-75 another 15 miles to visit the Florida Carriage Museum in Weirsdale, FL and the Florida Pioneer Village in Dade City, FL but they were both closed.  So, continuing another 35 miles south on I-75 we visited the Mission Base Museum & MOSI located just west of Thonotosassa, FL.  This hugh facility Is a scientific playground for all ages, with 100+ hands-on activities including the Mission Moon Base Lunar Colony, VR Simulator and a planetarium.  It was obvious from the number of kids in the lobby that school was out, at least for this bunch.

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

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2023 Road Trip-Part 18

17 Jan

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 18 – August 1

 After breakfast this morning, I packed up my things and called my son, Billy, to let him know I was on my way to pick him up.  We said our goodbyes to Lacey (she had to go to work) and Lisa (she was driving their car back to Florida) and Billy and I headed south 25 miles, thru morning rush-hour traffic, on I-85 & I-285 to visit the Waffle House Museum located in Decatur, GA.  This small museum is located on the site where Joe Rogers and Tom Forkner opened their first Waffle House Restaurant in 1955. Since we didn’t have a tour appointment, we just took photos and headed for our next museum on today’s list.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now it was only 15 miles southwest on I-20 & I-85 (more morning traffic) to visit the Hapeville Depot Museum located in Hapeville, GA but it was closed.  So, we continued south another 10 miles on I-75 to visit the Old Train Depot Museum located in Jonesboro, GA.  This museum is situated in the old 1867 M&W Railroad depot that replaced the original 1846 M&W depot and was restored in 1880.  The museum displays early 1800s railroad artifacts and memorabilia, as well as being the home of the ‘Road to Tara’ Museum, which has a collection of ‘Gone with the Wind’ artifacts, costumes, and movie memorabilia.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

After that interesting museum visit, it was only about 15 miles south on US-41 where we tried to visit the Army Aviation Museum located adjacent to the Clayton County Airport in Hampton, GA.  We had no trouble finding the airport, and the sign for the museum.  We followed the arrow on the sign, over some really rough roads and behinds some airplane hangars, but we just couldn’t find the museum anywhere.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

So, we gave up on finding that museum and continued south about 100 miles to visit the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum located in Leslie, GA.  For some reason Greta (my Garmin) took us over many back roads on a circuitous route (supposedly on US-19) to get us to this museum.  We finally arrived at the museum and found it to be one of the largest and most interesting museums we have visited on this road trip.  There were literally thousands of telephones, arranged in pretty much chronological order, dating from that instrument’s inception, in 1875 by Alexander Graham Bell, to the present.  This is a very impressive museum!  It was worth the trouble we went thru to find it.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

After that amazing tour of the Telephone Museum, we discovered we had ended up almost 20 miles west of I-75 (the reason for all those back roads to get to Leslie).  Now we needed to head back east on US-280 to visit the Cordele Rail Museum located in Cordele, GA but found that it was closed when we got there.  So, we continued south another 40 miles on I-75 where we visited the Tifton Terminal Railway Museum located in Tifton, GA. This museum is situated in the old restored 1910 Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) depot and displays antique railroad exhibits, artifacts, and memorabilia dating from the mid-1800s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

By now we were getting hungry, and I gave Greta (my Garmin) the address of the motel 50 miles south, in Valdosta, GA and she took us right to it.  I had told Billy the night before that I had a leftover Pork Chop dinner from the night before, so Lisa had made him some ham and cheese sandwiches for his dinner in the motel tonight.  He told me that he was tired and was going to head to bed after we finished our dinner, so I warmed up my leftover Pork Chop plate and enjoyed that delicious meal again.  What a treat that was.  As usual I couldn’t find anything on TV to hold my interest, so I just recorded the day’s activities and went to bed.

Photo Credit: https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/pork+chops+greenbean+cassarole+potatos+gravy

—–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

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2023 Road Trip-Part 15

27 Dec

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites                                                    

Day 15 – July 29: 

 After Breakfast this morning, I packed up my things and headed east out of Little Rock on I-40 for 30 minutes to visit the Lonoke County Museum in Lonoke, AR but they were closed.  So, I continued east on I-40 for another 45 minutes to visit the Central Delta Railroad Museum located in Brinkley, AR.  This museum is housed in the restored 1912 Union Railroad Depot and displays antique railroad artifacts and memorabilia related to the influence of the railroad on the Monroe County area over the years, dating from the early 1800s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

Continuing east on I-40 for another 25 miles, I visited the St. Francis County Museum located in Forest City, AR.  This museum has recently been moved into the Historic 1906 Rush-Gates house and displays artifacts from Dr. J. O. Rush, such as his medical clinic, a Native American room, including many pre-historic items from Dr. Rush’s collection, a parlor room, and a ’Hall of Schools’ room depicting the evolution of the St. Francis County education system over the years.  Other display rooms include a genealogy room and a railroad room.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

Now it was another 45-minute drive east on I-40, across the famous Mississippi River (the border), to visit the Metal Museum located adjacent to De Soto Park in Memphis, TN.  I had visited Memphis on another road trip, but most of the museums I had visited on that trip revolved around Elvis Presley and the Country Music Industry.  I found that the Metal Museum is very unusual and is dedicated to the art of ornamental metal design.  The museum displays a wide range of metal artwork ranging from jewelry to weathervanes, swords, unique BBQ devices, and many others.  The museum offers visitors an opportunity to watch a blacksmith at work forging metal artwork of all types.  His creative ability is simply amazing!

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

It was just a few blocks drive from the Metal Museum to where I visited the Edge Motor Museum located in downtown Memphis.  This museum displays a variety of some 25+ sport and muscle cars dating from a 1913 Ford T Runabout, that tell the story of the American Sport Car from the prospective of their historical and cultural significance.  

The cars come from different sources, and the selection is rotated from time to time as other cars become available for display.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

Over a couple of streets from the Edge Motor Museum I visited the Fire Museum of Memphis.  This museum is situated in the restored 1910 Fire House #1 and displays fire engines, firefighting equipment, and memorabilia dating from the late 1800s.  A unique ‘Fire Simulation Room’ demonstrates how residential fires can start and how the local fire departments fight and control those fires.  Interactive firefighting stations are available for the education of persons of all ages.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

My plan was to visit the PT Boats Museum located in Germantown on my way out of Memphis, but they were closed.  Bummer!  I had been looking forward to that museum as I love the WWII version of ‘David vs. Goliath’ with the small plywood PT Boat up against the giant Japanese Battleship.  Oh well, maybe next time I’m in the area.  So, now it was southeast on US-72 another 10 miles to visit the Morton Museum of Collierville History located in Collierville, TN.  This small museum displays antique artifacts and memorabilia related to the Bellevue Female College that operated in Collierville from 1872–1904 and the many lives that this educational institution touched over the years.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

On my way out of Collierville, I stopped to take a photo of the Battle of Collierville historical marker.  The marker describes one of the bloodiest Civil War Battles, for control of Collierville’s Union Supply Base, to take place in Shelby County during that war. 

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

Continuing east on US-72 for about an hour, I crossed the border into Mississippi and wanted to tour the Cocoa Cola Bottling plant located in Corinth, MS but there were no tours today.   So, not to be discouraged, I drove over to visit the Historic Corinth Depot (also known as the Corinth Crossroads Museum) there in Corinth.  This museum is housed in the third railroad depot to be built on this site (1st -1857, 2nd -1912 & 3rd-1960), and displays antique railroad artifacts and many Civil War memorabilia related to the fight for control of this strategic railroad crossroad during historic that war.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

It was almost time to head for the motel for the evening, there in Corinth, so I gave Greta (My Garmin) the address.  But on the way I spotted the local Cracker Barrel and stopped for a plate of their Crusted Fried Pork Chop with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and one of their famous biscuits with butter and honey for dessert.  Yummmm!  I can’t eat all that food at one sitting.  That means there was plenty left over for another delicious meal tomorrow evening.

Photo Credit: 

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/pork+chops+greenbean+cass arole+potatos+gravy  

By the time I got to the motel, there in Corinth, I was ready to relax and I recorded today’s activities.  No TV tonight, as I was tired and ready for a good night’s sleep.  So, ZZZZ….. 

—–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

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America’s North Country Trip~Part 15

27 Dec

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

 

 

 

Day 15 (Friday)

 

Before leaving Lincoln this morning, I swung by the Frank H. Woods Telephone Museum but it wasn’t open. So, I just headed northeast on US-6 for the short trip it took me to find and visit the Greenwood Railroad Museum located at the Greenwood Village Park in Greenwood, NE. It was early when I got there and found that this small museum was only open by appointment.

 

 

Not to be deterred, I continued northeast on US-6 another 10 miles or so to visit the SAC & Aerospace Museum located just to the east of Ashland, NE. This is a very impressive museum, consisting of two large hangers where more than 40 nicely restored historic aircraft, missiles and space vehicles are displayed.

 

 

Next I made a side-trip to the southeast to visit the Brownville Historical Railroad Depot Museum, located in Brownville, NE. This museum turned out to be a small preserved 1875 depot, with local railroad artifacts related to the railroad’s influence on the surrounding area and a caboose.

 

 

There was not a lot to see there, so I went up the street to take a peek in the Sage Memorial Museum. This was a very small store-front museum highlighting Native American activity in southeast Nebraska, along with local artifacts and other memorabilia.

 

 

It appears, from an historical marker at the edge of town, that Brownville was first settled soon after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which permitted settlement of the territories west to the Missouri River. The city flourished until the railroad passed it by in the late 1860’s, and was soon thereafter almost completely abandoned. According to the 2010 census, only about 132 people now live in Brownville.

 

 

Now I headed north on I-29 to visit the Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Center located just southwest of Nebraska City, NE. This interpretive center focuses mainly on the natural and scientific discoveries recorded by the Lewis & Clark expedition of 1804-1806, which included some 122 new animals & 178 new plants.

 

 

Next I made the short trip back into town to visit the Kregel Windmill Factory located in downtown Nebraska City, NE. This turned out to be one of the most fascinating museums I’ve come across. According to an historical marker out front, it is said to be the last intact historical windmill factory in the U.S. it consists of the original work shop, with all its equipment, where George Kregel built Eli-brand windmills from 1902 until 1941. The tour guide said that all of the equipment still worked, and there were even racks of stock still there ready to be made into the next windmill order.

 

 

Now I made my way back to I-29 and headed north to visit the RailsWest Railroad Museum located in Council Bluffs, IA. This museum is housed in the 1899 Rock Island Depot, which replaced the original 1869 depot that was destroyed by a rail car explosion in 1881. The museum displays artifacts and memorabilia related to the eight railroads that have served the Council Bluffs area until the mid-1980’s. Outside the museum are the Union Pacific locomotive #813 and the Burlington & Quincy locomotive #915, along with other pieces of restored rolling stock.

 

 

Before leaving Council Bluffs for the last time, I tried the CAF Museum located at the Council Bluffs Municipal Airport again, just on the chance that someone might be at the museum. Of course they were closed, so I just wondered around the ramp looking at the private airplanes that were tied down there. I said, “HI” to a young man heading for one of the planes there on the ramp. He would get into his plane and fly off to who-knows-where, and wished I could join him. Oh well, I would just have to wait until tomorrow for my airplane ride back to Florida.

 

 

So, now I headed west across the Missouri River to find my motel for the night in Omaha, NE. After I got checked in, I went looking for someplace to eat dinner. I settled on the “Twisted Fork Grill & Saloon” located in the Old Market District of Omaha. This restaurant’s claim-to-fame is that they say they serve American comfort food with a “Cowboy Twist.” I can highly recommend them if you are ever in Omaha.

 

 

—–To Be Continued—–

 

 

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My 2016 Dawn Patrol Rendezvous~Trip Part 2

11 Jan

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

 

Day 2 (Friday 9/30/2016)

 

I got off to a late start this morning because I wanted to check out the Eddie Rickenbacker Airport again before I left Columbus. The other reason I was not in a hurry this morning was because the first museum I was going to visit did not open until 10:00.

 

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So, after seeing that the Rickenbacker Airport was not open for operations yet, I headed for the Champaign Aviation Museum located just north of Urbana, Ohio. This was a very small museum with only three aircraft which consisted of a  B-25 Mitchell bomber, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, and their major project, a B-17 Flying Fortress called the “Champaign Lady.” All three aircraft were under one phase of restoration or another.

 

2

 

One of the volunteers at the museum wanted to know if I had ever visited the Waco Aircraft Museum near Troy, Ohio.  I told him I had not known of it, and he gave me directions to the museum. On my way to Troy to visit that museum, I came across The Depot Coffee House, which is located in the historic Pennsylvania Railroad Depot in Urbana, Ohio. This depot was part of what was once called the “Panhandle Railroad” (late 1850s) and was on the route taken by the funeral train, in 1865, which carried President Abraham Lincoln on the way to his resting place in Springfield, Illinois. I stopped to look over the depot and use their restroom. It was a little hard to tell that it had once been a railroad depot.

 

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Now I headed southwest to check out the WACO Aircraft Museum, located adjacent to the Historic WACO Field just south of Troy, Ohio. Wikipedia informs me that the WACO Aircraft Company was the largest manufacturer of civil aircraft in the country in the late 1920’s and early 30’s. I didn’t realize this, and as it turned out, this very nice (small) museum is dedicated to the memory of those times. The museum consisted of a dozen or more vintage Waco aircraft dating from the 1920s. The lady at the desk turned out to be my tour guide and gave me a personal tour of the museum and its history.

 

4

 

I know my friend Terry will be jealous of my chance to visit the WACO Air Museum, as he is a “Golden Age of Aircraft” kind of guy that loves any kind of

Bi-plane, especially any WACO variant. I’ll send him photos of the planes in this museum and hope he can visit it someday.

 

5

 

Then it was on down the road to visit the America’s Packard Museum located in downtown Dayton, Ohio. This was one of the most amazing automobile museums I have been to lately. Their collection consisted of 50+ vintage Packard automobiles of every possible description, many of which are one-of-a-kind or special order vehicles, dating from the early 1920s to the late 1940s. Each of these Packard automobiles has been beautifully restored, and all are in perfect running condition.

 

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From there, I headed south on I-75 to visit the Wright Brothers Airport. This airport has a museum honoring the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers. It also operates a growing fleet of “look-a-like” replicas, including a 1910 Wright “B” Flyer, nicknamed the “Brown Bird.” Unfortunately I didn’t get to the museum before they closed (2:30) and they were only open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I’m sure I will see other 1910 Model “B” flyers at some of the other museums I will visit during my four-day stay in the Dayton area.

 

7

 

So, now I headed a few more miles south on SR-123 to visit the Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad Museum located in Lebanon, Ohio. This museum features periodic four-mile nostalgic train rides, which are themed with favorite children’s characters including Thomas the Tank Engine and Clifford the Big Red Dog. The museum was closed and only advertised their next one-hour train rides, to be on October 5 & 13. Since these train rides seemed to be tailored more for children, I didn’t think I would be missing too much.

 

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Just another few miles southwest on I-75 I visited my last museum for today, called the EnterTrainment Junction Model Railroad Museum, located in West Chester, Ohio. This has to be the largest model railroad layout that I have ever seen.  I’ve seen videos of the huge indoor model train layout in Germany, but I have no idea how it compares in overall size with this model train layout. I forgot to ask one of the museum hosts how long it took to build this model train layout, but it had to have taken many years. With several representations of American life, built around our nationwide railroad systems, this model railroad museum was outstanding.

 

9

 

After I located tonight’s motel and got settled in, I treated myself to dinner at the Mason, Ohio Outback Restaurant. I had a delicious “Pork Porterhouse” entre’, with garlic potatoes, stewed veggies, and a garden salad,. Yummm! And, I had enough left-over for a repeat tomorrow night. Double Yummm!

 

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—–To Be Continued—–

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