Tag Archives: #Roadtrip

2022 Road Trip-Part 17A

1 Mar

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 17 (6/1/2022)

This morning after breakfast I headed southeast 40 miles on US-431 to try and find the Slosheye Trail Historical Marker, said to be, located in Hawkinsville, GA.  Greta (My Garmin) found the marker in front of the Pulaski County Courthouse (you can barely make out the marker in the photo below).  The marker informed me that the Slosheye Trail once extended from Hawkinsville, on the Ocmulgee River southwest some 65 miles to Drayton, on the Flint River and was used by Indians and early fur traders as early as 1750.  It continued to be a major travel artery in the Georgia frontier area for many years.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed south 45 miles on US-129 to visit the Blue & Gray Museum located in the Fitzgerald Depot in Fitzgerald, GA.  The Blue & Gray Museum displays 1200+ Civil War artifacts, photographs, and memorabilia dating from the early 1800s.  The Blue & Gray Museum shares space in the 1900s Fitzgerald Depot with the AB&A Railroad Exhibit, which includes antique railroad artifacts and memorabilia related to the growth of Fitzgerald and the surrounding Ben Hill County area dating from the 1800s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

I continued south about 10 miles on US-129 to visit the Confederate Monument located on the lawn of the Irwin County Courthouse in Ocilla, GA.  This monument was erected in 1911 and is dedicated to all the Georgia soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War.  This massive Irwin County Courthouse was built in 1910 to replace the first county courthouse which was built in 1883, and has served the Irwin County residents until the present day.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was another 30 miles south on US-129 to where I was looking for the Old Coffee Road historical marker in Nashville, GA to see what that was all about.  It turns out The Old Coffee Road was established in 1823 and built by General John Coffee.  It was the first road to link the Ocmulgee River, near Fitzgerald, to Thomasville for the transport of goods back and forth to this area. 

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Before leaving Nashville, I drove over and stopped to check out the CarterParrett Railnet (CPR).  This turned out not to be a museum, but a rail-yard for another small private railway (80 miles of track) that only services the southern part of central George.  I took a quick photo and continued on my way to find the next museum.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

I headed south another 60 miles on US-129, across the border, to visit the Old Hamilton County Jail located in Jasper, FL.  This museum is situated in the old restored 1893 two-story brick Hamilton County jail, which was the only county jail in Hamilton County until 1984, when a new county jail was built, there in Jasper, to replaced it. This museum displays antique artifacts, photos, and memorabilia tracing the history of the Florida jail system in the 1800s.

Photo Credit: www,Bing images/old hamilton county jail jasper florida

—–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

Tags: , , , , ,

2022 Road Trip Part 16B

22 Feb

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 16 Continued (5/31/2022)

After the visit to the Criswoldville Battlefield I drove into downtown Macon to visit the Allman Brothers Band Museum located in the Midtown area of Macon.  This museum is housed in the 1900 Grand Tudor style home (known as the ‘Big House’) where Duane Allman and his brother Gregg started a popular American musical revolution (Southern Rock) during the 1960s and 1970s there in Macon.  The museum displays artifacts and memorabilia from the Allman Brothers Band and other groups during their popularity.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Before leaving Macon, I drove a few miles north of the city, to check out the old Fort Hawkins.  The fort was built by the U.S. Army in 1806, in what was then part of the western frontier.  Overlooking the Ocmulgee River, the fort was used by the army as a military command headquarters for the southwestern frontier, and as an Indian training post, to help further Native-American and European-American interaction.  The fort was named for Benjamin Hawkins (1754-1816), who was serving as General Superintendent of Indian Affairs at the time. 

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was another 20 miles south on US-129 to where I visited the Elberta Train Depot located in Warner-Robins, GA.  This small depot was built in 1816 and served the residents of Houston County as a whistle-stop for many years.  Moved to this location in 2003, the depot now serves as a museum displaying antique railroad artifacts related to the history of the railroad’s influence in the Warner-Robins area dating from the late 1800s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was only a couple of miles south on US-129 from the Elberta Depot, to where I visited the Museum of Aviation located adjacent to the Warner-Robins Airforce Base.  I was pleased to find this military museum off the base and accessible to the public.  This large museum has a really great collection of some 80 static displayed military aircraft, from the single engine Forward Air Control (Bird Dog) to the giant C-141 ‘Starlifter’ multi-engine cargo plane.  The ‘Military Airlift Command’ is represented by 15 of their larger aircraft displayed around the outside of the main museum building.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

As I was passing the Boone Bradford Plaza there in Warner-Robins I happened to see the Splinters Axe House and stopped to see if they were open.  They were open, and since I had missed seeing the one in Lexington, SC this morning I went in to check it out.  I told the young man who was in charge of the house that I didn’t want to throw an axe because of my bad shoulders, but just wanted to see how it worked.  He gave me a short demonstration of one and two handed over-head, and under-handed throwing.  I was really impressed with his skill with the axe.  He made it look so easy.  However, it really is too much for me and my shoulders.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was getting late, and I was getting hungry, so I thanked the young man for the demonstration and gave Greta (My Garmin) the address of the motel in Bryon, GA which was only about 15 miles west of Warner-Robins.  It wasn’t far, and before I knew it, I arrived at the motel.  I got checked in, got my things into my room, and warmed up my leftover fried pork chops meal from ‘The Lizard Thicket’ and enjoyed that delicious ‘Soul Food’ (minus the iced tea & cornbread muffin) again.  Yummm!

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

With a full tummy, I recorded my day’s activities and tried to find some TV to watch.  I couldn’t find anything that interested me, so just went to bed in hopes of getting a good night’s rest.

—– 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

Tags: , , , , , ,

2022 Road Trip-Part 16 A

15 Feb

#Road

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 16 (5/31/2022)

This morning after breakfast, I headed southwest out of Columbia 15 miles on US-1 to visit the Craft Axe Throwing Company located in Lexington, SC.  I have heard about axe throwing, and I’ve read about it. My son tells me he has done it, but I have never been in one of these places to see what it’s all about.  When I got there, this place didn’t open until later in the day, so I just continued another 60 miles southwest on I-20 to visit my first museum of the day.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

This took me across the border, not to a museum, but to Broad Street in downtown Augusta, GA where I stopped to take a photo of the Confederate Monument.  This impressive 76-foot-tall monument, also known as the Richmond County Confederate Monument, was erected in 1878, and is dedicated to all those Georgia Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Just a few blocks from the Confederate Monument, there in Augusta, I saw a mural on the side of a building that honors the musician, James Brown, and his contribution to the music world as the ‘Godfather of Soul’ music.  It appears that the mural by artist, Cole Phail, was the winner of a Greater Augusta Arts Council contest in 2020, and named his mural ‘The Spirit of Funk.‘

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed 35 southwest on US-1 looking for the ‘Old Quaker Road’ historical marker located in Wrens, GA.  I couldn’t find the marker, but the internet tells me this marker designates where that important road ran thru this area in around 1769.  As it turns out, this area is also where the ‘Famous Indian Trail’ connected Augusta with many of the Cherokee, Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws Indian tribes in the mid to late 1700s.

Photo Credit: www.bing.com/old+quarker+road+historical+marker+wrens+ga

It was another 30 miles southwest on SR-88 to where I visited the Old Jail Museum located in Sandersville, GA.  This museum is housed in the old 1891 Victorian era sheriffs’ home and jail, and really doesn’t look like the ‘Old Jail’ I was expecting on the outside.  I was sure it had been given a major facelift at some point, but no, that is the way it was built.  Looks like the sheriff lived in style.  The museum is filled with historic jail artifacts as well as historic local county, and state memorabilia dating from the mid-1800s.  The old jail has a gallows yard at the back of the house. That’s not a pretty sight.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was just a few blocks from the Old Jail where I planned to visit the Sandersville Railroad Museum.  However, what I found was the privately owned Sandersville Railroad, which is a relatively short section of track used for freight between Deepstep and Tennile.  The Sandersville Railroad was formed in 1893 with only 3-miles of track.  The railroad continued to grow, over the years, until now it provides rail transport services to a variety of companies on its 37-mile rail system, which also has links with the Norfolk-Southern Railroad.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed west 30 miles on SR-24 to visit the Museum on Main located in Scottsboro, GA but it was closed.  So, I continued west another 35 miles on SR-57 to visit the Griswoldville Historic Battlefield located just outside Macon, GA.  This historic site is dedicated to the memory of the northern and southern soldiers who fought at the Battle of Griswoldville, when General Sherman made his famous ‘March to the Sea’ from Atlanta to Savanah in November of 1864.

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

Tags: , , , , , , ,

2022 Road Trip-Part 15B

9 Feb

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 15 Continued (5/30/2022)

After another trip down memory lane at the Morrison Motor Car Museum (I especially liked the DeLorean display), I headed southwest 25 miles on I-85 to check out the Charlotte Motor Speedway.  There were no races going on today (looks like I missed the Coca Cola 600 race there at the Charlotte Motor Speedway by just one day), but I got this cool photo of the track entrance.  I love watching NASCAR racing and just get a thrill seeing one of these famous racetracks.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was only a couple of miles from the Charlotte Motor Speedway to the Hendrick Motorsports Complex there in Charlotte, where I wanted to visit the Hendrick Motorsports Museum, Performance Shop, 40/5 Race Shop, 9/24 Race Shop, and Engine shop but they were all closed for the after-race holiday.  I was disappointed as Jeff Gordon (No.24) was one of my favorite NASCAR drivers.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I drove into downtown Charlette to visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame located in their new ‘Uptown’ facility.  This Hall of Fame (Shrine) is dedicated to the memory of NASCAR racing history and the drivers and race teams that made the sport possible.  The NASCAR Hall of Fame offers 50 interactive experiences including an ‘iRacing Simulator’ that tests your racing skills on your favorite NASCAR racetrack, NASCAR Cup winning race cars, and much more.

Photo Credit: nascar hall of fame north carolina – Bing images

Before leaving Charlotte, I headed over to the Jackson Homes area to visit the Carolina’s Aviation Museum located adjacent to the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport but they were closed.  I was surprised to find a museum of this size, situated right next to an international airport closed, but that’s what the guard at the entrance gate to the North Carolina Air National Guard Base told me.  So, I took a photo of their ‘Gate Guard’ and headed for my next museum.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed south 30 miles on I-77, across the border, to visit the Comporium Telephone Museum located in Rock Hill, SC.  This small museum displays artifacts and memorabilia that records the history of the telephone and other technologies for communications in the Rock Hill area dating from 1894.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Leaving Rock Hill, I headed south 45 miles on I-77 to visit the South Carolina Railroad Museum located in Winnsboro, SC.  This museum has several pieces of restored antique rolling stock and other railroad related artifacts.  However, the museum is best known for its weekend hour-long train rides pulled by their restored 1927 Baldwin 4-6-0 steam locomotive #44 on a section of the Rockton, Rion & Western Railway.

Photo Credit: https://www.coladaily.com/sc-railroad-museum/

Next, I continued south another 30 miles on US-321 to visit the South Carolina Military Museum located in Columbia, SC.  This turned out to be another museum located on a military base that is closed to the public except by special pass.  It was after 5:00, and I couldn’t get a pass today anyway, so I headed downtown to the Elmwood Park area to check out the world’s largest ‘Fire Hydrant’ located in the ‘Busted Plug Plaza.’  Standing 40 feet tall, this piece of ‘Art’ weighs 675,000 pounds and may be the reason it is leaning (not sufficient foundation).  

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Just a few blocks from the Busted Plug Plaza, I stopped on Hampton Street to take a photo of the ‘Never Bust Chain’ that appears to link two large office buildings together across an alley.  Built in 2000 by artist Blue Sky (Warren E. Johnson), who is also the designer of the aforementioned World’s Largest Fire Hydrant.  The ‘Never Bust Chain’ is said to be intended to ‘Bring Together Industry & Art Culture’ while others in the city describe it as a whimsical artistic prank.  However, it should be noted that the ‘City Fathers’ must have had to approve its installation.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

I was getting hungry by now and had looked up places to eat there in Columbia.  The one I selected was the “Lizard Thicket” restaurant located in the Elmwood Park district on Elmwood Avenue (US-21).  This restaurant specializes in regional Southern home-style cuisine (Soul Food) and I ordered their fried pork chops with collard greens, black eyed-peas, and creamed corn.  It was served with freshly baked cornbread muffins and strawberry jam.  What a delicious taste treat!

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

With a full tummy (I had enough left over for dinner tomorrow) I took my brown bag and headed for the motel there in Columbia.  Greta (My Garmin) found the motel with no problem, and I got checked in.  I got my things moved into my room, recorded my activities for the day, and went to bed.  No need for TV tonight.  I was too tired.

—–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

Tags: , , , , ,

2022 Road Trip-Part 15A

1 Feb

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 15 (5/30/2022)

This morning after breakfast, I headed south out of Winston Salem 25 miles on I-285 to visit the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Museum located in Lexington, NC.  This museum has a great collection of NASCAR race cars and memorabilia about the lives, times, and drivers of the RCR team from its inception to the present day. Visitors can walk down thru the years of NASCAR racing with each RCR race car they pass.

Photo Credit: Richard Childress Racing Museum – Bing images

At some point after leaving the RCR Museum, I heard a clicking noise coming from the front of my van.  It turned out to be a screw in my left front tire.  I looked up ‘Tire Repair’ on the internet, but they were all closed for the holiday.  I drove slowly, trying not to dislodge the screw until I could find someone to repair it.  Luckily the screw stayed intact, so the tire didn’t go flat.  I finally found a WalMart Auto shop there in Lexington that was open, and got the tire repaired.  Whew!  I was afraid I would never find anyone open today.  Thank you Lord.

Photo Credit: walmart auto tire repair – Bing images

After being saved by the WalMart Auto Repair people from a major desaster, I headed southeast out of Lexington 30 miles on US-64 to visit American Classic Motorcycles Museum located in Asheboro, NC.  This museum has one of the country’s largest private collections of antique Harley-Davidson motorcycles dating from 1936 to 1978.  The collection is displayed in a two-story building along with a gift shop, a motorcycle repair shop, and the Heritage Diner.  Located at the intersection of I-75 & US-64, on the outskirts of Asheboro, this museum is a real All-in-One stop.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

While I was in Asheboro, I headed over to visit North Carolina Aviation Museum located adjacent to the Asheboro Regional Airport.  This museum has two large 20,000 sq. ft. hangers filled with around 15 restored civilian aircraft dating from the 1930s to the 1950s.  There are lots of other aviation related artifacts and memorabilia, along with lots of model airplanes, in the Aviation Hall of Fame and the Piedmont Airlines display areas.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed downtown to visit the Carolina Classic Cars Museum there in Asheboro.  This museum is a huge showroom filled with sports cars, exotic, and classic cars, as well as late model muscle cars and trucks that are on display by sellers for buyers to inspect. It is truly an auto buff’s eye candy store.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

I headed southwest out of Asheboro 55 miles on SR-49 to visit the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame located in Kannapolis, NC.  As it turns out, the Music Hall of Fame shares the same building with the CURB Music & Motorsports Museum.  The N.C. Music Hall of Fame honors 75+ local North Carolina inductees and groups, from all music genres, over the years.  The CURB Music & Motorsports Museum is the private motorsports collection of racecar enthusiast, Mike Curb, who is also the founder of Curb Records.  The CURB collection includes NASCAR race cars, Indy cars and modified race cars dating from the 1940s and includes some 700+ wall displays and photos.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

As I was on my way to visit the Stewart-Hass Racing, there in Kannapolis, I passed the Research Campus of the University of North Carolina and stopped to take a photo of that impressive building.  I’m always surprised at the accommodations of some universities, compared with the old WWII wood-framed structures the university I attended used for some of their classrooms and workshops.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was only a few miles to where I visited Stewart-Hass Racing, where I discovered NASCAR Cup Series champion, Tony Stewart, and Gene Hass, founder of Hass Automation created this facility to design and manufacture unique parts and assemblies for their winning NASCAR Cup Series racing team cars.  The amazing capabilities of this facility blew my mind!

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

The next 10 miles south on US-29 went fast and before I knew it Greta (My Garmin) notified me that I had arrived at the Mustang Owner’s Museum located in the Carpenter Industrial Park in Concord, NC.  This museum has on display some 25+ Ford Mustangs dating from the 1964 World’s Fair introduction model to the present.  The museum also has a Mustang Hall of Fame for annual inductees and hosts local Mustang events throughout the year.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was just a few miles to where I visited the Morrison Motor Car Museum also located there in Concord.  Jimmy Morrison and his brother created this museum, which displays over 50 beautifully restored antique cars, classic cars, street cars, muscle cars, and modified race cars and motorcycles, some dating from the 1920s to the present day.

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

Tags: , , , , , , ,

2022 Road Trip-Part 14A

18 Jan

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 14 (5/29/2022)

This morning after breakfast, I headed southeast out of Charleston, WV 60 miles on I-64 to visit The Veterans Museum located in Beckley, WV.  This is a small ‘All Wars’ Museum that displays military artifacts following the history of U.S. Military involvement in wars from the Revolutionary War to the present conflict in the middle east.  They also have a scale model of the Battleship West Virginia (BB-48) on display.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

From Beckley I headed south 40 miles on I-77 to visit the Mercer County War Museum located in Princeton, WV.  This museum is housed on three floors of the old renovated 1928 Princeton Municipal Building. The museum is another of ‘Those Who Served’ museums that displays local artifacts honoring southern West Virginia, Mercer County, and local Princeton members of all U.S. military services who served in wars dating from the Civil War to the present.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

While I was in Princeton, it wasn’t far to where I visited the Princeton Railroad Museum located in the old restored early 1900s Princeton Depot.  Known as the “Richest Little Railroad in the World,” the depot served as one of the stops on the Virginian Railway’s Hampton Roads to Deepwater route from 1909 to 1959.  This museum has two floors filled with local railroad artifacts related to the development of the railroad from the early 1900s.  The restored 1949 Virginian Railway caboose No. 308 is displayed outside the museum for visitors to go thru.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Leaving Princeton, I headed south another 40 miles on I-77, across the border to visit the Great Lakes to Florida Highway Museum located in tiny Wytheville, VA.  This turned out to be a small museum situated in an old restored 1926 gas station.  This small one-room museum displays antique gas station artifacts and tells the story of the early highway (US-21) that was used to connect the states of Ohio and Florida during the early 1900s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Before leaving Wytheville, I drove downtown to check out Edith Bolling Wilson birthplace.  This museum is situated on the second floor of the old restored 1860s Wilson home and is filled with antique artifacts of the life of Edith, from her birth in 1872 to her death in 1961.  As I’m not an American History scholar, I had no idea what an influential person Mrs. Wilson was in her later years.  It turns out she not only was First Lady to Woodrow Wilson, our 24th President, but it is said that she was also a descendant of Pocahontas, and was somehow related to Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Robert E. Lee.  What a lady!

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Leaving Wytheville, it was less than 10 miles east on I-81 to where I planned to visit the Mansion at Fort Criswell, VA but the address Greta (My Garmin) took me to was nothing but a sign pointing which way to go on a rutted wagon trail that was closed off with a barbed wire fence.  Their website describes the place as an elegant mansion filled with mid-1800s furnishings, but that trail didn’t work for me.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

So, I picked up I-77 and headed south 20 miles to check out the Planet Chopper (?) located at the intersection of Woodlawn Road and Coulson Church Road in Woodlawn, VA.  I pictured a motorcycle museum or shop, but what I found was a three-story travelers bunkhouse, store, and motorcycle repair shop, all closed with no one in sight.  It appears to be a motorcycle B&B and support organization to help riders enjoy touring the surrounding area on their bikes or on rentals.

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

Tags: , , , ,

2022 Road Trip-Part 13 B

11 Jan

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 13 Continued (5/28/2022)

After that interesting adventure at the Ark Encounter, I headed south 30 miles on I-75 to visit the Toyota Manufacturing Plant located in Georgetown, KY.  I had hoped to get a tour of the plant.  However, the plant had suspended their tours because of Covid-19, and I was disappointed.  So, I just continued south another 25 miles on I-75 to visit the Aviation Museum of Kentucky located at the Blue Grass Regional Airport in Lexington, KY.  This museum displays a collection of 15+ beautifully restored military and civilian aircraft, a repair facility, and an aviation history library.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now it was about 30 miles southeast on I-64 to where I visited the Bluegrass Heritage Museum located in Winchester, KY.  This museum is not about music.  It displays ancient Eskippakithiki Indian artifacts, and early pioneer to present day memorabilia related to the history of the local ‘Bluegrass Region.’  An Eskippakithiki Indian village replica helps visitors see how the Native Americans lived and worked during the early 18th century time period.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Next, I headed east about 100 miles on I-64, and across the border, to visit the Museum of Radio & Technology located in Huntington, WV.  This museum has many artifacts and lots of memorabilia on display that tell the story of the evolution of the radio and a number of other technologically associated devices that have changed our way of communicating from the early 1800s to the present.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

While I was in Huntington, it was just a short drive to where I visited the Callis P. Huntington Railroad Museum.  This is really two museums.  The one I visited is their outdoor museum which displays the 1949 Baldwin steam locomotive (# 1308) and several other restored static pieces of rolling stock representing the C & O railroad activities dating from the early 1900s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Just a short distance from the Huntington Railroad Museum, I swung by the Taylor Auto Collection, there in Huntington, long enough to take a photo.   I was told the museum was closed because Jimmie Taylor had passed away.  That was such a shame, because Jimmie had a very nice collection of beautifully restored early 1900s cars in his museum.  What was strange to me, was that this is the second time during one of my road trips that I have arrived at a museum that was closed because the founder had recently passed away.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Leaving Huntington, I headed east 20 miles on I-64 to visit the Blenko Glass Museum located in Milton, WV.  I had tried to visit this museum during another road trip a couple of years ago, but they were closed that day and I missed seeing their beautiful collection of blown glass objects.  Well, today they were open and what a fabulous display they have for sale in their museum and showroom.   I would have bought DiVoran one of their lovely glass pieces, except she has several glass pieces from our trip to Italy, and is always trying to reduce the clutter of other glass objects she has.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now it was another 20 miles east on I-64, across the Kanawha River, to where I wanted to visit the Nitro Museum located in Nitro, WV.  This is another one of those museums I missed getting to visit on that other road trip a couple years ago, and now I missed it again.  I hope to one day be able to get inside this museum, as I am interested in all things that explode, and I think this museum would be fun.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now it was less than 10 miles southeast on SR-25, and back across the Kanawha River, to visit the C & O Depot Museum located in St. Albans, WV.  This museum is situated in the old restored 1896 C & O train station and displays antique railroad artifacts and memorabilia related to the Kanawha River Valley area and its growth, from the early 1900s, mostly due to the C & O railroad activities.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed southeast about 15 miles on US-60 to visit the Clay Center located in Charleston, WV but it was closed by the time I got there.  This huge Arts & Sciences Center would have been interesting, but I just didn’t have the time today, so I just took a photo and headed for my motel there in Charleston.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

I gave Greta (My Garmin) the motel address and she took me right to it.  I got checked in and as soon as I got settled into my room, I heated up my leftover Colorado Omelette from IHOP and enjoyed the delicious meal again (just half of what you see in the photo below).  Yummm!  What a treat.   Then I recorded my day’s activities and tried to find something on TV to watch, but to no avail.  So, I just went to bed since it had been a very long day and I really was tired.

Photo Credit: ihop colorado omelette – Bing images

—–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

Tags: , , , , ,

2022 Road Trip-Part 12A

21 Dec

My Take

Bill Lites

Day 12 (5/27/2022)

This morning, after breakfast, I headed northeast 25 miles on US-24 to visit the Science Central located in Fort Wayne, IN.  This science center is housed in the old original 1809 City Light & Power plant.  A 30,000 sq. ft. section of this 75,000 sq. ft. building has been renovated for use by the Science Central and is filled with interpretive exhibits and will keep children of all ages busy all day.

Photo Credit: https://preparmy.com/fort-wayne/science-central/

It was just a few blocks from the Science Central to where I stopped to check out the Old Fort Park there in Fort Wayne.  This park is a living history fort replica of the original fort, built on this site in 1816 by Major John Whistler, at the confluence of the St. Mary, St. Joseph, and Maumee Rivers.  The fort has several log homes and buildings with 1700s furnishings, and hosts the annul Colonial America, and other 1700s era re-enactments for visitors from far and wide.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Next, it wasn’t far from the Old Fort Park to where I visited the Indiana National Guard Base and the 122nd Fight Wing Heritage Park located adjacent to the Fort Wayne International Airport (Baer Field).  This outdoor aviation park displays seven restored static aircraft utilized by the Indiana Air National Guard since 1947.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed downtown to visit the Firefighters Museum there in Fort Wayne.  This museum is located in the old renovated 1893 firehouse No. 3 and served Fort Wayne until 1972, when a new firehouse was built.  The museum is set up to represent an 1800’s firehouse, with living quarters on the second floor and a fine collection of antique fire engines downstairs in the engine bay, that date from 1860s.  The museum’s fire engine centerpiece is the 1893 Amoskeag horse-drawn steam fire engine that was first used in Detroit, Michigan.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

From the Firefighter’s Museum, it wasn’t far to where I visited the Fort Wayne Railroad Museum.  This museum is situated in the old 1914 Baker Street Station and displays antique Railroad artifacts and memorabilia that date from the early 1900s.  The museum also has one of the last 1944 Nickle Plate Railroad steam locomotives (No.765) which they use, along with other pieces of rolling stock, to give visitors local excursion rides and other event train rides, during the year, from New Haven to Angola.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

On my way to Decatur, IN to visit the Peace Monument, I had to detour thru Monroeville, and was impressed with a city mural I passed.  So, I stopped to take a photo of this mural before continuing on my way thru more back roads.  From that mural, it’s not hard to guess what most people who live in the Monroeville area do for a living.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Greta (My Garmin) finally got me to Decatur, IN and found the Peace Monument there on the grounds of the Adams County Courthouse (in the background).  This beautiful cenotaph memorial was designed by Charles Mulligan in 1912 and is in honor of peace and the sacrifice of all soldiers in war.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now, I headed southeast 35 miles on US-33, across the border, to visit the Gasoline Alley Museum located in St. Marys, OH.  I was a fan of the Gasoline Alley gang comics when I was a kid and was eager to visit this museum.  However, it was nowhere to be found.  I talked to some locals at a gas station near the ‘address’ for the museum, but they said they had never heard of the museum.  It’s hard for me to believe the museum was not known by locals of a small town like St. Marys when I see the photos of the museum on the internet.  Bummer!

Photo Credit: https://aldrichpears.com/gasoline-alley-museum  

—–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

Tags: , , ,

2022 Road Trip-Part 11B

14 Dec

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 11 Continued (5/26/2022)

The inside portion of the Grissom Air Museum displays various military aviation and space related artifacts and memorabilia.  These include photos of Gus Grissom and the Mercury Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7), in which he was the 2nd American astronaut to orbit the earth.   Grissom was the 2nd American astronaut to fly twice in space in the Gemini 3 (Molly Brown) space capsule with John Young.  I also checked out the cockpit of the museum’s restored F-4 Phantom while I was there.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Almost next door to the Grissom Air Museum, I stopped to see what they had going at the American Huey Museum, but it was closed.  So, before I left Peru, I drove over the check out the Peru Historical Circus Winter Quarters.  Since it wasn’t WINTER the area and buildings all seemed deserted, with just a few circus wagons scattered around the grounds.  I took a photo of their sign and was on my way to the next museum on my list.  

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed northeast 15 miles on Alternate US-24 to visit the Wabash County Historical Museum located in Wabash, IN.  This museum is filled with local artifacts and memorabilia related to the history of the city of Wabash and the surrounding Wabash County area dating from the time of the Native Miami Indians and French fur traders of the early 1700s to the present.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Next, I headed northeast 20 miles on US-24 to visit the Forks of the Wabash Historic Park located along the Wabash River in Huntington, IN.  This village park museum is set on the site of the signing of the historic Treaty at the Forks, in 1838, that allowed the extension of the Erie Canal into the Wabash Valley.  There are restored original and replicas of 1800s cabins, buildings, and a church, with period furnishings, on the site to help educate visitors about the life and times of the early settlers to this area.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

While I was in Huntington, I checked out the Veterans Memorial located next to the city’s Memorial Park.  This memorial honors veterans from all branches of U.S. military services.  The Memorial 

is used to celebrate several military events each year, and historical markers around the Memorial honor past Huntington citizens who have contributed their lives and talents to our nation’s history.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

 It was only a short drive to where I visited the Corn Coast Comics, which turned out to be a computer games and all things ‘geek’ store and was closed.  So, for my last museum today, I drove over to check out the Sheets Wildlife Museum there in Huntington.  This museum is a collection of animals, fish, and bird taxidermy displays of hunter, Sumner B. Sheets, which he has taken during his many hunts all over the world.  A unique example is the 2nd largest polar bear ever known to have been taken.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I gave Greta (My Garmin) the address for tonight’s motel, there in Huntington, and she took me right to it.  After I got checked in, I asked the desk clerk for good restaurants there in Huntington, and he rattled off a list of restaurants close by.  I selected the Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant, where I had their Chili Relleno plate which came with yellow rice and refried beans.  That was indeed a delightful meal. Back at the motel, I recorded my day’s activities and went to bed.  No TV tonight.

Photo Credit: https://www.nomascantina.com/items/chili-relleno

—–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

Tags: , , , , ,

2022 Road Trip-Part 10B

30 Nov

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 10 Continued (5/25/2022)

While I was in Lincoln, I wanted to take a look at the World’s Largest Railsplitter Covered Wagon.  This tribute to Abraham Lincoln, and the historic western movement, was built in 2001 by David Bentley and was displayed on Historic Route 66, in Divernon, IL until 2009 when it was moved to this location, for all to see and appreciate.  I have to agree this IS the largest covered wagon I have ever seen.  I think it is much more impressive in some of the other photos I have seen, with the canvas cover in place.  The photo below will give you some perspective as to its actual size.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was only about four miles from the World’s Largest Covered Wagon to the Lincoln County Airport where I wanted to visit the Heritage In- Flight Museum, but they were closed.  So, I headed northeast another 10 miles on I-55 to visit the J. H. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum located in Atlanta, IL.  This is a fully restored, and operating, 1903 wooden grain elevator (amazing) that was used to store locally harvested grains until the Illinois & Midland Railroad could load and transport it to places like Terre Haute, Indiana and other destinations on their early 1900’s rail route.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

While I was in Atlanta, IL I wanted to visit the 19-foot-tall ‘Paul Bunyan’ holding a giant hot dog statue (one of the many Old Route 66’s mythic Muffler Man Statues) that was supposed to be located on SW Arch Street.  Greta (my Garmin) took me to the correct address, but the Paul Bunyan statue had been replaced by a large Golden Eagle Statue.  I took a photo of the eagle thinking I could read the wording on the plaque later, but the words came out blurred, so I’m not sure what the eagle is supposed to represent.  

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed northeast 20 miles on I-55 to visit the Prairie Aviation Museum located adjacent to the Central Illinois Reginal Airport in Bloomington, IL.  This museum is filled with model aircraft, photos, and aviation memorabilia, while their outside airpark has a collection of several restored civilian and military aircraft on static display dating from 1945.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Next, I travelled 50 miles southeast on I-74 to visit the Illinois Terminal located at the Event and Meeting Center Plaza in Champaign, IL.  This famous MTD terminal was originally built in 1896 by the Terminal Railroad Co. to serve the railroad needs of the city of Champaign and the surrounding Champaign County during the late 1880s.  The old Terminal and Meeting Center have been renovated several times over the years to their present status as the Illinois Terminal.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now it was time to head for my motel for the night.  I gave Greta (My Garmin) the motel address and it only took her a few minutes to get us to the Urbana, IL location, which was only a couple miles east, on the outskirts of Champaign.  I got checked in, got my things into the room, heated up my leftover Riblets Dinner from Applebee’s, and enjoyed that delicious meal again.  YUMMMM!

Photo Credit: https://yahoo.com/applebees+riblets+plate

—–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

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries

%d bloggers like this: