FL, GA, TN, KY – May 2025

Ah, back on the road again!  And as you can see from the title, I’ve covered a lot of ground in a very short period of time.  The trip has been mostly uneventful thus far, and as shown above, I’ve had a really nice collection of spacious full hookup pull-thru sites along the way.  I’m certainly hoping my good fortunes continue with me in the coming months.  In the meantime, there is lots of ground to cover so here is what I’ve been up to.  Better get yourself comfortable, as this is another long one!

Lake Wales, FL

I only had a week and a half during the month of May to wrap things up before my departure.  So I did the normal routine of packing away all my outdoor furniture and various decorations into the shed.  I had made arrangements to have two new Air Conditioners installed on the RV – supposedly to be done onsite by mobile techs.  However, product availability and delivery delays forced me to bring the RV to the maintenance shop on the Friday before the Monday upon which I was scheduled to depart.  Nothing like cutting it close!  I had also made arrangements to drive my car over to my brothers on that same Friday, then have a final good by lunch with all brothers and a couple cousins.  We all met up at a really cool bar/restaurant that turned out to be quite good.  Following lunch, my brother Don drove me back to my place, then I jumped into my truck to go and pickup the RV.  It was a hectic day, but everything turned out really good.  I got my car into my brothers garage for the summer, all the maintenance on the RV was completed, and I had a terrific lunch with family.  All in all, a win all around!  Thanks Don for letting me once again use your garage for car storage, and for lunch and the ride back.  Looking forward to seeing you all again when I return in the fall.

Also, just before I left, I was able to close the deal on something I’ve been looking to purchase all winter long.  I carry quite the arsenal of Internet options as I travel.  Having Internet connectivity is very important and critical to my well being.  So, to improve my chances of having good usable Internet, I subscribe to cellular based options from the big there – Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T.  99% of the time, one of these options will provide me with a usable Internet to stream and surf.  Well, last summer when I was in the middle of nowhere in northern Montana, I had virtually no Internet for my 7 day stay.  Fortunately, most days were spent playing tourist so it wasn’t too bad – only evening entertainment was lacking.  To remedy this issue, I made the decision to purchase a used Starlink Mini satellite dish that I can use as a backup to the backup to the backup in case none of the cellular options are working.  They have plans that allow me to turn the service on and off a month at a time, so if needed, I can go ahead and subscribe for a month to get me by, then off again to go back to the cellular options as I continue my travels.  Anyway, I’d been checking Facebook Marketplace regularly to find a dish for sale at a reasonable price, and finally came across one.  I bought it, tested it, and now it’s tucked away in the event I ever need it.  I’m glad I’ve got this additional option in my arsenal.  Now I should never be without Internet – wahoo!

Lastly, despite the inevitable consequences, I decided to share a brief video of me returning to the home base from having the ACs installed, and my many attempts to back the RV onto my lot.  It really is a crap shoot!  Sometimes I get lucky and it goes right in, while other times it’s a battle to the death.  Unfortunately for me, this time was the latter and all was caught on my security cameras.  So, for my embarrassment and your entertainment, here is me attempting to get back onto my site.  Enjoy!

Perry, GA

My actual first official stop was in Lake City, FL.  But, I’ve been there a few times before, and was only there for a two night stop.  So, not much to report from there.  Next, I continued my trek north to Perry, GA.  Not much to see or do in this little town, but in Macon, GA, – some 30 miles to the north, was ripe with activities.  Most notably, Macon is the hometown of famed music group The Allman Brothers Band.  It was brothers Duane and Gregg Allman, along with base player Berry Oakley, 2nd guitarist Dickey Betts, and two drummers Jai Johanny Johanson (aka Jaimo) and Butch Trucks that were the original founders of the band here in Macon.  The house that they used to live and practice in now serves as an Allman Brothers museum.  It’s filled with tons of band artifacts, music gear, albums, and all sorts of really cool memorabilia.  Also the actual bedrooms where the Allmans and Oakley slept had been fully restored to their period norms.  It was quite the amazing museum and a really cool trip down memory lane.

Just a couple miles from the house museum is Rose Hill Cemetery – the final resting place of Duane and Gregg Allman, Berry Oakley, and Butch Trucks. The sites are protected by a wrap around fence presumably to keep out the crazy fans.  I also noticed their grave sites are nicely manicured and beautifully adorned with flowers and other landscaping.  The rest of the cemetery is quite sloppy and almost totally overgrown.  I guess someone or some organization is funneling funds for their upkeep.  Sad that the rest of the graves don’t have the same level of attention.

Cartersville, GA / Nashville, TN

Next I traveled just north east of Atlanta to the quaint little town of Cartersville, GA.  And for the record, now I remember why I hate driving through or around Atlanta.  Geez – Way too much traffic!  Anyway, I landed in Cartersville which though I had not stayed here, I had explored the area a bit the last time I was nearby.  But, there was much more to see.  First up was a visit to the Booth Western Art Museum.  At 120,000 square feet, it is the 2nd largest museum in GA, and reportedly the largest western museum in the country (oddly enough located in the east).  It was quite the place!  Made up mostly of western art including paintings and sculptures – the bulk of which were from the private collection of the museum’s founder who happens to be a successful local businessman who apparently prefers to remain anonymous.  In addition to the art collection, there was a room filled with outfits that were from famous western movies.  For example, the outfit shown at left, top left was worn by Don Deluise in the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982).

The other apparent area of interest of the museum’s founder was that of US Presidents.  In one of the rooms, he had pictures of every President going back to George Washington, along with a bio and a personally written and signed letter from each.  It was quite the impressive collection!  Then, in another room, were these amazing giant paintings of Presidents by the century known as the Commanders in Chief Project.  One picture featured all 18th/19th century Presidents, another all 20th Century, and the last depicts all 4 Presidents that have held office in the 21st century.  There is also lots of room on the latter to fill in as new Presidents are voted into office.  The artist is Ross Rossin and the work producing these paintings was done here in the museum back starting in 2017, and at the time was live streamed on YouTube for all to watch.  What a really cool idea!

Next, I visited the Tellus Science Museum.  Apparently, this was once just a small museum featuring rocks, gems, and minerals, but once again the same philanthropist who founded the Western Art Museum acquired then totally expanded the museum to what it is today.  In fact, there is even another entire wing currently under construction for some additional expansion.   Tellus Science Museum features four main galleries: The Mineral Gallery, The Fossil Gallery, Science in Motion and The Family My Big Backyard. A 120-seat digital planetarium and an observatory with a state-of-the-art 20-inch telescope is also located at Tellus.  The mineral gallery was really cool with lots of gems, and at 7 feet tall, 5 feet wide, and weighing in at 4,400 pounds, one of the largest amethyst geodes in the world (at left, top right).  There was even a meteorite (at left, bottom left) that crashed through a local Cartersville home back in 2009.

The fossil section was filled with all sorts of artifacts including skeletons of giant prehistoric creatures.  The Science in Motion area featured the first ever built modern Electric Vehicle (EV) car from General Motors.  Introduced in 1996 and known as EV1, it featured lead acid batteries and had a range of between 55 and 95 miles – depending on the number and weight of its occupants.  Just over 1,000 of these vehicles were made when the program was scrapped in 1999 due to the cost to produce, and the lack of profitability.  Most of the cars were recalled and destroyed by 2003, while this one being exhibited is one of the few that remain.  In addition, a nice collection of antique outboard motors lined the walls – with many representatives from the early 1900’s.

The other interesting exhibit in the Science in Motion section were these NASA items.   In particular, this really cool moon rock was featured.  Its composition is Basalt, and believed to be around 3.3 billion years old.  It was collected from the surface of the moon on August of 1971 on the Apollo 15 mission.

Last up was this rare nose cone from a NASA Space Shuttle.  In fact, it was actually from the Space Shuttle Columbia.  It is one of the only surviving pieces of that space vehicle which was destroyed as it returned to Earth in February 2003.  No, this isn’t some miracle survivor, but rather was removed and replaced before Columbia’s final launch.  It flew eleven prior missions which is evident from the black scorch marks featured on this piece.  Definitely an interesting piece of history!

Here in and around Cartersville, I found this truck.  It resides in the parking lot of the Wes-Man’s restaurant, and its claim to fame is that it is painted, sometimes daily, to feature a specific event or simply just to change its color.  On my visit, it was a tribute from Chad, wishing Gabe a happy birthday.  Tomorrow, who knows.  This thing has so many layers of paint on it! Besides exploring Cartersville, I took a trip to Rome, GA to chase after a few other Roadside America oddities.  On the way there was what is known as the Porto Futurus, or Doorway to the Future.  These archways made to resemble ancient Roman aqueducts were constructed near the interchange leading into Rome.  Really cool!  Also visible from the highway, though not really a Roadside item, was this massive construction undertaking.  A roughly $5B investment by Korean giants Hyundai and SK will bring roughly 3,500 jobs to this Bartow County community making electric vehicle batteries.  It is supposed to be operational sometime in 2027.  Nice investment in this community!

Downtown Rome had a few interesting Roadside items.   First up was this gem known as the Labyrinth of Rome. It was created as an adaptive reuse of what originally was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s as an erosion control pond. Later it was utilized as an amphitheater by folk artists in the 60’s and 70’s as a space for reading poetry and playing music. 5,490 bricks were laid end-to-end, over a kilometer, to form the circular labyrinth.  It was quite the peaceful place.  Next up was this strange statue that sits in front of the city hall building, featuring a female wolf with human infants Romulus and Remus sucking on its teats.  It is believed to have been a gift from Rome Italy in 1929 and has something to do with an Italian silk mill company that was setting up shop here in Rome, GA.  In any case, very disturbing and creepy!  Next was the Tomb of the Known Soldier – Pvt Charles Graves.  In March 1922, the troopship Cambria returned the final 1,065 bodies of the known dead to the Unites States.  The last body removed was Charles Graves – designated as “representative of the Nation’s Known Dead of The World War”.  He was to be laid next to the Unknown soldier at Arlington Cemetery, but at the request of the Graves family, his body was returned here to his native Georgia.  Finally, for you fans of the Netflix hit show “Stranger Things”, here is the Creel House as featured in the show.  It is actually located here in Rome, GA.  I’ve not watched the series, so I don’t have much else to offer on this one.

While I was in Cartersville, I had the pleasure of catching up with Mary Gail.  MG, as she is often referred to, was one of many IT auditors that performed government IT controls audits of me and my IT practices and operations back in the day.  Despite being on opposite ends of the audit table, we became friends and she remains a loyal follower of the blog.  It was great seeing and catching up with you MG!

The other half of the IT auditor team from back in the day is Thomas, who resides in the Nashville area.  So, since that was to be my next stop, I reached out and we got together for a terrific BBQ lunch.  The last time I had seen Thomas was quite awhile ago back in Sep of 2019 when I last traveled through the area.  He has since retired, and now enjoys a more leisure lifestyle.  While audits are generally not fun, I honestly looked forward to Thomas and MG coming out to MD for a week or two of control checks.  They are both just the nicest auditors you could ever hope for.  Nice seeing you again Thomas and enjoy your retirement!

Ive been to Nashville many times in both my working and retired stages of life.  So, I’ve seen all the big stuff there is to see – Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry, and the like.  So this time I focused on the more obscure sites to see as recommended by Roadside America.

First up was a visit to Berry Hill and the amazing mural works of Scott Guion.  He started doing fence murals in 2015, as evidenced by the fading of some of his work. But it is also evident that he continues to put his artistic talents in the area as many of the fences are beautiful, bright, and fresh.   The town of Berry Hill, often called Music Hill, is a small suburban town south of Nashville with a population of just over 2,000.  The town has become the music recording and production hub of Nashville beginning in 1970 when Buzz Cason purchased two homes and converted them into his Creative Workshop recording studio.  Many other studios have been established, and the rest as they say, is history.

Next was a visit to Shelby Park to visit this Big Dripping Bird.  This shiny reflective metal giant mockingbird appears to be melting, and was created in 2012 by artist Lawrence Argent.  Definitely different!

My next stop take me to a somewhat retro/vintage store that happens to also contain the tour bus used by Ernest Tubb and the Texas Troubadours.  This 1964 Silver Eagle known as the Green Hornet was Ernest’s home on the road from 1970 to 1979 during which the crew logged in over three million miles traveling to all 48 continental states as well as all through Canada.  Mr Tubb retired the bus in 1979 and donated it to the Ernest Tubb Record Shop that once resided at this location here at the Music Valley Village.  The bus underwent a full restoration in 1995 and was returned and has been parked here ever since.  Though this location is no longer the Record Shop, the lucky tenant who happens to rent out this space also gets the bus display as a bonus.  It was a pretty cool looking bus, and certainly a comfortable way to travel back in the 70s.

My next visit was to a sort of tourist trap, but it was free of any admission so I figured I’d give it a look.   Ben Jones, aka Cooter Davenport from the hit TV series Dukes of Hazard, created a show themed museum called Cooter’s in his hometown of Sperryville, VA.  The museum was such a success, he opened up three more – ones in Nashville and Pigeon Forge TN, and one in Luray VA.  The “museum” was mostly a collection of the thousands of commercial merchandise products that flooded the market.  It was amazing just how much Dukes of Hazard stuff there was that you could buy back in its heyday.  They did have some original memorabilia including show scrips, and a collection of Daisy Dukes that may or may not have been worn by actress Catherine Bach.  And of course, the four showcase vehicles including the General Lee, the Dixie Jeep, the tow truck, and the cop car were all present.  Again, more than likely replicas and not originals from the show.  While I wasn’t a big fan of the show, it was kinda fun to see this collection of stuff.

Paducah, KY

Paducah had always been on my list of places to visit.  A former coworker from about a decade ago moved from VA to here in Paducah, and I told him when I retired, I’d come through town for a visit.  Well, I finally made it, and I’m glad I did!  I arranged to have lunch with Tony, and he decided to invite his whole family out to meet me.  So it was Tony, his wife Susie, his sister Kay, and his nephew Zach that I had the pleasure of seeing and enjoying lunch with.  His sister Kay is a die hard old-school camper (using a tent), so we had some nice conversations about that.  I had met his wife Susie many years ago during one of our IT off-site conventions, and it was nice seeing her once again.  Zach and Uncle Tony apparently have a good relationship – presumably mostly around video games. It was really nice seeing all of you!  The next day, Tony volunteered to join me on some Roadside adventures so while we were out on the road, we grabbed another lunch at a really good family restaurant.  There surely does seem to be a food theme with many of the folks I connect with along my travels!

So first up, Tony and I explored downtown historical Paducah.  The town with a population just over 27,000 was very impressive.  They have a lot of history, which is very well represented throughout the town with monuments, historical signage, murals, and preservation efforts.  The town sits along the shores of the Ohio river, just at the convergence from the Tennessee river.  In fact, one of the towns major history events was a massive flooding in 1937 which literally wiped out the town.  Lessons from that event encouraged proactive steps so prevent reoccurrence so soon thereafter, the Army Core of Engineers built a 12 mile flood wall along the river’s edge, at a height three feet taller than the height from the flood.  Murals all along the wall beautifully tell the story of the towns history through pictures.  Openings at various point along the wall preserves the wonderful view of the river, but can be closed shut with inserts when needed.  Several other floodings have occurred throughout the years, and are preserved in markings along one of the walls (at left, lower left).  The town also has a history related to Lewis and Clark, and a nicely done set of statues titled “On the Trail of Discovery” commemorates that.  The town of Paducah was actually laid out in 1827 by explorer and surveyor William Clark.

It was the beautiful riverfront that made Paducah a largely transportation town.  The railway made its presence in a big way and when combined with the river, and the vast agricultural industry in the area, the town became quite the hub of trade and transportation for goods to and from places all over the country.  Also of note, in 1950, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission selected Paducah as the site for a new uranium enrichment plant. Construction began in 1951 and the plant opened for operations in 1952. Originally operated by Union Carbide, the plant has changed hands several times. Martin Marietta, its successor company Lockheed-Martin, and now the United States Enrichment Corporation have operated the plant in turn. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) remains the owner. The plant was closed in June 2013, and the Department of Energy began the process of decontaminating and shutting down the facilities.  Just recently on the news, I heard that the current administration is looking to expand our nuclear power generation, but our dependence on foreign sources for enriched uranium might hamstring those ambitions.  So, who knows – maybe this place will be fired up again and brought back online.

So here’s a crazy Roadside story that I thought would be interesting to share.  I visited the grave of Charles “Speedy” Atkins – a black man born in 1875.  He spent most of his life working the tobacco farms, which based on how quickly he got his tasks done, was how he got the nickname Speedy.  He lived a poor mans life, enjoying fishing in the Ohio River in his free time.  It was there in that river in 1928 where he accidentally drowned and died at the age of 51.  Having no family, the city turned over his body to A.J. Hamock – the town’s only black undertaker and, as it turns out, a good friend of Speedy’s.  A.J. decided to embalm his friends body using various preservatives he had been experimenting with.  It did such a good job preserving Speedy, that he decided to keep him around in the funeral home as a sort of mascot.  He was mostly kept in a closet, but would occasionally make appearances for local viewers to see.  This went on for decades until A.J’s death in 1949.  His surviving wife Velma took over custody of Speedy and continued the storage and viewing practice for another 45 years.  She had planned to finally burry Speedy in 1991 for what would have been her late husband’s 100th birthday, but actually waited until May of 1994.  It was a big event, attended by over 200 people.  The details of this history had spread throughout, and many news organizations would tell the story of the man who lived for 51 years and died a pauper, then continued on in death for 66 years only to be buried as a celebrity.

Also, one of the other draws to the town of Paducah that contributed to putting it on the map is that it is home to the National Quilting Museum.  Now I’m not much of a quilter, and frankly know very little about quilts, but it seemed like an interesting place to visit, so off we went.  Boy, was I amazed!  I often thought of quilts as just some random patchwork of various fabrics sewn together and made into a blanket.  Well, while that is certainly true, there is also an artistic element to the construction of those quilts, and what amazing works they can become!  The museum was started by Paducah locals husband and wife Bill and Meredith Schroeder who themselves were quilting enthusiasts and collectors.  They wanted to start a museum that would celebrate the work of today’s quilters and advance the art of quilting by sharing it with those of us who had not previously experienced the art form.  I gotta say, I was hugely impressed!  Also, I did take a lot of pictures in the museum – too many to feature here in the blog.  So please do yourself a favor and follow the link at the bottom to my photos page where you can see all the amazing pictures I took here in the museum.  You won’t be disappointed.

There were lots of Roadside items to check off here in the town of Paducah as well.  First up, to coincide with the quilting theme, is this 22 foot tall chrome needle, and the attached simulated red thread that extends 46 feet weaving in and out of the ground behind it.  This is the work of artist Michael Terra.  Very cool!  Next up was this monument (at left, top right) dedicated to the 1937 flood.  At the time it was the greatest natural disaster in the history of the U.S., driving over one million citizens from their homes.  Over 90% of the city was inundated with damage exceeding $22M.  Besides the flood wall that was built to the tune of $8M, additional flood controls were created through a chain of dams and other upstream reservoirs at a cost exceeding $200M to the Tennessee Valley Association.  Nice that all these flood protections are in place to keep this really neat town safe and dry.  Also in town was this doctors office whose front was built to look like the Jefferson home Monticello.  Also in town is this mushroom man named Milo the Thirsty Sproket holding a pizza and a mug of beer.  It’s all there to represent a brewery, a pizza joint, and a tech business center called Sprocket that all occupy this old Coca-Cola bottling plant building.  Nicely done!

Also in Paducah is Kentucky’s representative from the Trail of the Whispering Giants Indian statue series by artist and my text buddy Peter Toth.  This one was created in 1985, and was repaired by Peter in 2016 after a 2015 storm knocked off part of his headdress.  Speaking of which, according to Peter, this is the only one in his series that features the buffalo hunter hat.  Too cool!  Along that same theme, a once teepee themed liquor store, followed thereafter by an ice cream stand,  now sits empty waiting for its next tenant.  Hopefully someone will turn it into something fun.  Last up is this water fountain that was created by the National Humane Alliance  designed to be a watering hole to serve up water for horses, dogs, cats, and people.  About 125 of these fountains were donated to cities all across the United States and Mexico between 1902 and 1915, with about 70 of them believed to still be publically visible.  While the Paducah edition is present, it is surrounded by bushes that frankly make it very hard to see and enjoy.  Maybe something that can be corrected by the city.

Next, Tony and I crossed the Ohio river taking us into Illinois to the town of Metropolis. This town of just under 6,000 has a long history going back to Native Americans, the American Revolution, and the Civil War.  Later, it became a riverboat gambling venue which led to the town’s casino and hotel.  But, with a name like Metropolis, it would be on April 25, 1972, when the Illinois State Legislature passed Resolution 572, declaring Metropolis for its “Project Superman” community program.  So now the town is everything related to the man of steel.  A 15-foot tall bronze statue (at left, bottom right) sits in front of the county courthouse, along with a museum that features everything Superman.  A large sign on the main road leading into town makes it clear that this is Superman town.  Each year on the second weekend of June, Superman fans from all over the world gather in Metropolis for their annual 4-day Superman Celebration, which features celebrity guests from movies, television, and the comic book industry.  So, they’ve taken what was a fictional name of a town from a TV series, and turned it into something big for the community.  Though Tony mentioned that he had not been to the actual event, he was once in town just before it was about to begin, and he said the place was packed.  So, it’s likely a huge event.

It’s not just Superman himself that gets all the attention here in town.  Pretty much anything and everything Superman related is found in town.  For example, a statue of Louis Lane with her iconic Daily Planet icon sits just a few blocks away from the museum.  Also down the road, this giant piece of Kryptonite is said to bring luck to all who rub it (assuming it doesn’t kill you).  They even have what would be considered other unrelated icons dressed up to play along.  A Bob’s Big Boy has been transformed into Super Big Boy, and even Marilyn Monroe has had her iconic image given a Supergirl makeover.  It was a fun trip in a fun town with lots to see and enjoy.  I may have to try to get back through here sometime during the annual festival so that I can experience that fun event.

Last up to review from Metropolis, IL, and to wrap up this rather lengthy and seemingly never ending blog, is a couple more Roadside attractions.  I first take you to the Big John grocery store – with a 28-foot tall Big John the grocery clerk welcoming you.  Not to be confused with the seemingly similar Muffler Man (which I’ve seen and reported on many over the years), Big John is unique to this grocery chain.  Conceived during the summer of 1967 by the General Sign Company (in business 1939-2010) in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  I don’t know how many were made, but original Big Johns are rare –  probably less than ten exist, and only a half-dozen are known to be publicly accessible.  This one here in Metropolis seems to be doing well.  Last up, we visited the towns cemetery to visit the gravesite of  Robert F. Stroud.  What?  You don’t recognize his name?  Well that’s ok, neither did I.  But, you might recognize him by his other name – that is the Birdman of Alcatraz.  He was imprisoned at Leavenworth, KS, where he was allowed to keep birds in the jail, and where he became very knowledgeable on the subject.  But, after he killed a prison guard there, he was sentenced to life in solitary and was transferred to Alcatraz.  Interestingly, despite getting the nickname Birdman of Alcatraz, he was actually never allowed to posses or keep any birds following his transfer there. In 1959, with his health failing, Stroud was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisons in Springfield, MO, where 4 years later, he would die.  I’m not sure what brought him to be buried in Metropolis, but alas this is where he is – surrounded by bird artifacts at his gravesite.

Final Thoughts

Wow – I really should have broken this up a bit, but alas, I just kept writing and telling my stories.  It is certainly evident that I’m back on the road and have lots to share as I travel about.  I’ll try to do better and not make them so long.  But, I hope you enjoyed this little adventure with me, and I look forward to sharing lots more in the coming months.  In the spirit of having lost Pope Francis and going through the process of choosing a new Pope, I thought this little cartoon fitting.  Anyway, off I go to more adventures and more blog writing.  Until next time, be well and safe travels.

I only show a sampling of my adventure pictures here in the blog, and do so mostly in collage format for brevity and ease of reading. If you want to view an album containing individual full fidelity and hi-res images of all my travel pictures related to this specific blog, click the image below. Enjoy!