🚗2017 July 11, Tuesday, Day Trip to Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Ate a waffle topped with cool whip, blackberries, and walnuts for breakfast. Hubby put syrup on his waffle.
We stopped in Loretta for lottery tickets before beginning our journey to Hopkinsville, KY.
We were traveling I-24 past the Nissan Stadium Home of the Tennessee Titans around a quarter till eleven.

Nissan Stadium Home of the Tennessee Titans 

We arrived at Rest Area in Oak Grove Kentucky around 11:30AM. We always have to stop and check out the rest area/Visitor Center in every state. Mississippi has some of the best rest areas that I have seen.
Kentucky is known for its thoroughbred racing tracks and Kentucky Bourbon Trails and we saw a little of both here.

Horse Racing and Kentucky Bourbon

We were seated at Logan's Roadhouse in Hopkinsville Ky at 11:57AM. Hubby ordered the Logan's Roadhouse hamburger and I ordered the Cod Fish with homemade chips.
The girl who waited on us was very busy and it seemed to take quite a while to get our food.

The fish I ordered was undercooked, and not very good and hubby said his hamburger had no taste.

Cod Fish with chips, coleslaw, and tater sauce
the fish was tuff and the breading was not done on the inside, but it did look good.
When cooked right it is delicious.

The real American Roadhouse Hopkinsville, Ky

Pennyroyal Area Museum on Ninth Street.

Former United States Post Office Building now PennyRoyal Museum 

We were greeted by the curator who was eating her lunch. We paid the small admission price and the curator gave us a short history of the PennyRoyal Museum.  
She said, the museum was a former Post Office and it still had windows where people would send packages and purchase stamps.
She also said that we could send a postcard to someone or to ourselves, put it in the mailbox on the table and they would stamp it. 

Don't forget to send a postcard and put it in the mailbox here.

Upstairs in the PennyRoyal Museum, we saw a display about the early life of a Pioneer in Hopkinsville. 

Pioneer Life in Hopkinsville

Behind the loom was a quilt telling the history of Hopkinsville
25th Annual Quilt Show
Hopkinsville Heritage Quilt
Quiltmakers
Designed by Dixie Thomas
pieced by Kathy Croft
Quilted by Edna Baker, Linnie Wallis, Kathy Croft, Nell Young & Betty Young 

Downstairs we saw a York Square Grand Piano 1870 made by Weaver Piano and Organ Company, and a Winton Upright Piano, 1920 made in Chicago, Il.
We saw local notables such as Billy Boley the Ventriloquist. 
We saw Robin Penn Warren the National Poet, and several displays about Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows.
We saw The Mechanical Wonder Horse, ridden by three generations of children from 1907 to 1994.
We saw a display of the Brook Memorial Hospital and Doctor Phillip C. Brooks.
We saw a hand-carved wooden display about the Trail of Tears by George Barrette Floyd.

 Wooden Carved replica of the Trail of Tears

Display about Edgar Cayce the Sleeping Prophet

http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/the-life-and-times-of-edgar-cayce.aspx 

The Kelly Encounter (Little Green Men)
The Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter was a claimed close encounter with extraterrestrial beings in 1955 near Kelly and Hopkinsville in Christian County, Kentucky, United States. 
UFOlogists regard it as one of the most significant and well-documented cases in the history of UFO incidents, while skeptics say the reports were due to "the effects of excitement" and misidentification of natural phenomena such as meteors and owls. Psychologists have used the alleged incident as an academic example of pseudoscience to help students distinguish truth from fiction.

The Tobacco War 1904-1911
http://www.nkyviews.com/Other/text/text_night_rider_movement.html

There is a story behind each display that could be told. 
I bought three Post Cards and we paid $2 each to visit the Transportation Museum.

The Transportation Museum was located across the street from the Pennyroyal Museum. It was once a Fire Station. 

There was a crew of men working on the roof and they were repairing the Clocktower. (Many years ago the Captain's room caught fire and burned the first clock tower which was larger than the one now on top of the firehouse.)
The firehouse was built before automobiles and the first fire truck was pulled by horses.

The curator said
We have the first (Auto) fire truck ever used by the fire department
It was bought by a former firefighter, and he restored it to its glory days.
He gave the town the firetruck when he found out the town was opening a Transportation Museum inside the old firehouse.

We saw a couple of Dalmatian dogs, a couple of fire trucks, a carriage, Firemen's boots, caps, and the original fire pole the firemen used. We saw a couple of miniature train displays, benches from a train depot, a sleigh, and three different Gasoline tanks the Shell, Gulf, & DX.

First Gasoline-powered Fire Truck and Dalmatian 

Clock Tower being repaired

Firemen's hats

Miniature Train Display and another fire truck.

Our next stop was the Casey Jones Distillery.

The Casey Jones Distillery

 Grape, Peach, and Apple Casey's Cut
Casey's Moonshine, Barrel Cut, and Total Eclipse Moonshine.
Lights Out

At the distillery, we sampled the Casey's cut Eclipse-A-Rita, the Peach, and Apple.
We were shown how the Moonshine was made, and how it was bottled.
There was a wedding later that day at the distillery.

Many different events happen here including the upcoming Total Eclipse on August 21, 2017.
The weekend of August 18 in Hopkinsville is the place to be for the greatest view of the total eclipse.
There will be music, vendors, hot air balloon rides, and much more.

Our next stop was the Commemorative Trail of Tears Park.
Inside the small cabin, we meet a Cherokee Indian Woman.
She told us how this very spot was a chosen way to stop for the Indians on the Trail of Tears.

The nine flags representing the states of the Trail of Tears
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
The removal of the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole

https://www.britannica.com/event/Trail-of-Tears

Commemorative Trail of Tears Cabin

Statues at the Trail of Tears

We stopped at Chick-fil-A in Hopkinsville, where we ordered Lemonade, Peach Milkshake, and some chicken fingers.

Chick-fil-a Hopkinsville KY 

Peach Milkshake (my favorite), Chicken strips, and Lemonade

Our next stop was the Fort Campbell Memorial, Park 

As we traveled through Nashville we encountered work traffic.

The sunset on the clouds as we encountered our last mile home
around 8PM

2016 September 9, Friday Arvel Bird Celtic Indian

Last night we sat on the front lawn of the Florence Library to watch a performance of the celebration of the Native American heritage, culture, and history. 

The performance featured musician Arvel Bird (Paiute) and storyteller Amy Bluemel (Chickasaw). The event was sponsored by the Oka Kapassa Festival, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and Florence Public Library.

Arvel Bird (Piaute)

Arvel Bird (Piaute)

A Native Dancer

Amy Bluemel a Native American Story Teller,  entertained us by telling us a story about Flint the Giant. 

About how a small Indian boy overcame his fear of the giant. 

She also told a story about fire and how each animal tried to retrieve an ember of fire.

The buzzard attempted to retrieve the fire but it burnt the feathers off his head. The Crow attempted to retrieve the ember but he swallowed the ember and he lost his voice.

The opossum attempted to retrieve the ember and it but off his furry tail. 

Grandmother Spider weaved a basket and returned with the ember of fire but no one wanted to attend the fire so, it burned out.

Amy is a registered member of the Chickasaw Nation and she performs at schools, libraries, camps, and museums. 

Amy Bluemel a Native American Story Teller

If the stories fall silent, who will teach the children? Chief Dan George.

We also saw a tribal dance performed by a young American Indian. 

The performance lasted until 7:00PM.  We stopped at Wendy's for a fifty-cent chocolate frosty.