Catastrophic Events

The sermon today was about taking the path less traveled.  

Our minister quoted the last line in the Robert Frost poem. 

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel to both
And be one traveler, long I stood
I looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then, took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and I wanted to wear it;
As for the passing, there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves, no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

It got me thinking about the places we had visited the last few weeks and the strange events that have happened and are about to happen.
We ran across such things as the Black Patch Tobacco War of West Kentucky & Tennessee, Edgar Casey's "The Sleeping Prophet," The Sinkhole @ Corvette Museum Bowling Green, Earthquakes that created Reelfoot Lake Union City, Ky., Total Eclipse Hopkinsville, Ky & Sighting of Little Green Men Kelly, Ky IMPACT CRATER Cape Charles, Va.

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/Moments13RS/web/legislative%20moment%2016.pdf
Black Patch Tobacco War 1904-1909
Before the Civil War, Kentucky was one of the richest states in the union after the war, it was one of the poorest. Big business came to Kentucky, eliminating competition, manipulating prices, and undermining control. The price for dark tobacco was instigated by extremely depressed prices for tobacco crops.

Night Riders destroyed tobacco plant beds, barns, and equipment, as well as whipped and sometimes murdered the opposition farmers. 
Night Riders also attacked agents and destroyed the property of the ATC, setting fire to tobacco warehouses in Trenton, Princeton, and Hopkinsville. 
Not even a dispatch of troops by Gov. A.E. Willson was able to subdue the acts of violent intimidation.

https://www.edgarcayce.org/edgar-cayce/his-life/
Edgar Casey "The Sleeping Prophet" 1877-1945 
Born 1877 in Christian County Hopkinsville, Ky
Died 1945 Virginia Beach, Va
The majority of Casey's readings deal with holistic health and the treatment of illness. 
Casey dealt with these five categories: Health-related information, Philosophy and reincarnation, dreams and dream interpretation, ESP and psychic Phenomena and Spiritual Growth, Meditation, and prayer.
Casey was a very spiritual man, and Casey vowed to read the Bible every year of his life when he died in 1945, he had accomplished this task.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sinkhole-swallow-eight-cars-in-national-corvette-museum-in-kentucky/
The Sinkhole at Corvette Museum Bowling Green, Ky
February 10, 2016
Eight vintage Corvettes dropped into the abyss, Six owned by the Museum.
Two on loan(1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil)
The other cars damaged were a 1962 black Corvette, a 1984 PPG Pace Car, a 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette, a 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette, a 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette, and a 2009 white 1.5 Millionth Corvette.

Bowling Green sits amid the state's largest karst region - the Western Pennyroyal area, where many of Kentucky's longest and deepest caves run underground. Karst displays distinctive surface features, including sinkholes.

https://rootsrated.com/stories/the-fascinating-story-behind-reelfoot-lake
Earthquakes that created Reelfoot Lake Union City, Ky. 1811-1812
When earthquakes shot across the American Southeast in late 1811 and the spring of 1812, the landscape along the New Madrid Fault (which runs parallel to the Mississippi River Valley) changed dramatically. These tremors could be felt as far away as Washington, D.C., and even, according to some reports, Quebec City—nearly 1,400 miles away. This area of western Tennessee was still the frontier, so few settlers lived there to serve as eyewitnesses to the change of scenery.
What we do know, though, is that huge swaths of land slid, and rivers literally changed course as a result of the seismic activity. Fallen trees formed massive logjams, sandbars shifted, and islands were created and subsequently demolished. Among the more significant changes, the quakes opened a great hole in the ground that would be the basin of Reelfoot Lake. After the earthquakes, the Mississippi River backed up on itself, filling in Reelfoot Lake and flooding the once-dense stands of bald cypress trees.

https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/kentucky/

Total solar eclipse over Kentucky 

August 21, 2017

Kentucky experiences about the longest eclipse duration, just over 2 minutes and 41 seconds. The civic boosters in the Hopkinsville area are advertising this spot as the very best place in America to see the eclipse. On this very day of August 21st, the town of Hopkinsville whimsically celebrates a purported alien encounter with a Little Green Men festival, so the world of solar eclipses and alien encounters will conflate in Hopkinsville on this day.

THE POINT WHERE THE SUN, MOON, AND EARTH LINE UP MOST PERFECTLY DURING THE ECLIPSE IS NEAR HOPKINSVILLE. THIS IS CALLED "THE POINT OF GREATEST ECLIPSE," AND THE ECLIPSE DURATION HERE IS WITHIN 0.2 SECONDS OF THE MAXIMUM IN ILLINOIS.

Siege of ‘Little Green Men: The 1955 Kelly, Kentucky, Incident

August 21, 1955

The Sutton farmhouse family encountered humanoid-like creatures. 

At about seven PM, Bill Ray Taylor(visiting the Sutton family) was drawing water from the well when he saw a bright streak in the sky that disappeared beyond the tree line. About an hour later, Taylor reported seeing a flying saucer. 

The family spotted a creature and ran inside, got the shotgun, and started firing the shotgun at the creature. They shot one creature that was on the roof and one in a tree, and both floated to the ground. 

Either the creatures were impervious to gun blasts, or the men's aim was poor since no creature was killed. The family piled into the car and drove to town, but no sign of the creatures or spaceship was found. 

The next day, the US Air Force was involved, and the case was listed as unidentified (Clark 1998)

This being said, We are safe in no place on this earth. The path less taken will be the path I take.

The path of least resistance is generally the one taken.

Chesapeake Bay impact crater

The Chesapeake Bay impact crater was formed by a bolide that impacted the eastern shore of North America about 35.5 ± 0.3 million years ago, in the late Eocene epoch. It is one of the best-preserved "wet-target" or marine impact craters and the largest known impact crater in the U.S.

Continued slumping of sediments over the rubble of the crater has helped shape the Chesapeake Bay.

Until 1983, no one suspected the existence of a large impact crater buried beneath the lower part of the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding peninsulas. The first hint was a 20 cm (8 in)-thick layer of ejecta that turned up in a drilling core taken off Atlantic City, New Jersey, far to the north. The layer contained fused glass beads called tektites and shocked quartz grains that are unmistakable signs of a bolide impact.

In 1993, data from oil exploration revealed the extent of the crater.

🚗 2016 June 28, Tuesday, Day Trip to Scottsboro, Stevenson, Menton, Fort Payne , Section Alabama

Today we took hwy 72 east through Scottsboro stopping at Taco Bell for lunch, which was not a good idea. Made both of us have stomach problems later that day. I ordered the Nachos Supreme and Tea. Hubby ordered the $5 meal deal.

We rode on to Stevenson, Alabama to see the Stevenson Train depot, & hotel but the museum was closed.

Stevenson Depot and Hotel 

Reverse:

After the war, the depot and hotel continued as the center of life in Stevenson. Trains stopped here at mealtimes and passengers ate in the hotel dining rooms. Other passengers spent the night here; the hotel is so close to the tracks that it was said the trains "opened the hotel windows and pulled the covers off the beds." Generations recalled final passenger

departures and arrivals here, often sad and poignant especially during war times.

A group of citizens saved the depot from destruction during the Bicentennial in 1976 when the last railroad office closed. The depot was renovated for use as a community museum, which opened in June 1982. 

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places 5/13/1974

Stevenson Depot and Hotel 

A one-story depot building was constructed here in 1853 when the railroad was first laid through Stevenson. That building burned after the Civil War and was replaced by the present brick depot and hotel in 1872.

During the Civil War, Stevenson was a hub of activity. Union and Confederate troops skirmished here and the town changed hands more than once, though Stevenson mostly lay under Union control. Troops occupied the town and a large refugee camp sprang up between the depot and Ft. Harker, a quarter-mile east.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, horses, wagons, prisoners of war, refugees, wounded men, and others passed through Stevenson during the late summer and fall of 1863, before, during, and after the Battles of Chattanooga and Chickamauga. Harper's Weekly, an influential newspaper of the time, noting the juncture of East-West and North-South rail lines here, called Stevenson "One of the seven most important cities in the South."

Stevenson Hotel 

Stevenson Train Depot 

The sign outside said open Monday -Friday 8-3:30PM but it was closed.

Stevenson Depot Museum Hours Mon-Fir 8-3:30PM

I took a few pictures and we stopped at the Co-op that was next to the depot, for some more seeds and stuff to run off the groundhogs and rabbits.

Co-Op

We rode through Stevenson Park where we saw an old cabin, steam engine, birding trails, ballpark, and a mural about the Tornado of April 27, 2011, that hit the surrounding areas.

100-year-old Cabin 

Steam engine

We took hwy 117 to Desota Park stopping in Menton. We stopped at

Desota Falls, where we walked down the steps that lead to the large boulder near the falls but were very disappointed because the fall was almost dried up. Water was falling but not much. The damned area was full of people swimming and two men trying to push a log over the dam.

Several people came to see the falls and a few walked further down the walkway but we stopped at the top.

Desota Falls

Swimming at Desota Falls

We rode to Fort Payne stopping at a Mayfield Ice Creamier for one scoop of Rocky Road and One scoop of Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream which we shared. 

Mayfield Ice Creamery 

We saw the Junkasorus along the way then we rode through Fort Payne not stopping. 

Junkasorus

We took hwy 35 back to Scottsboro stopping at a park overlooking the Tennessee River which was a beautiful site. The park was next to several large homes.

Train Depot in Fort Payne 

Weathington Park is Dedicated to the perpetual Public use of the citizens of the Town of Section by Scott & Patty Weathington and gratefully received on behalf of its citizens by Bob Matthews, Mayor of 2012

Weathington Park overlook 

We crossed the bridge at Section where we could see the Bellefonte Plant.

From Scottsboro, we traveled to Kroger's in Huntsville to fill up with gas. They usually have the best gas prices for mid-grade gas.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Athens for dinner.

Hubby ordered a bowl of soup and hamburger which he could not finish. I ordered a child's vegetable plate of pinto beans, turnip greens, chow, chow, and cornbread. I ate the crust off of one of the cornbreads, finished the beans, and left about half the greens.

Hamburger

Pinto Beans, Turnip Greens

We were home by 7PM.

My stomach hurt all night not sure if it was the Nachos Supreme or the beans or both.

2014 March 11, Tuesday, Day Trip to Waynesboro, Lawrenceburg, Elkmont, Pulaski, Athens, Elkton

We traveled north on hwy 43 to hwy 64 West to Waynesboro.
Along the way, we saw many silos, barns, cattle resting in the pasture and farm equipment sitting silent.
There was not a lot of traffic along the highway and the trees were still bare from the harsh winter.

Traveling to Waynesboro

Traveling to Waynesboro

Next, we traveled hwy 64 east through Lawrenceburg stopping at Mimosa Cemetery to take a few pictures of tombstones.

Dena Stribling 

Hwy 64 east to  Pulaski we passed The Brass Lantern, horses in the pasture, New Prospect United  Methodist Church and New Prospect School.

New Prospect School

Next, we took hwy 7 through the town of Elkton Tennessee where we saw a solar panel, the historic site and marker of Forrest September Raid Sept 27, 1864.
The Aaron Venable Brown 1795-1859 marker, John Calvin Brown marker and Neill S Brown marker which were near Ward's 24-hour Truck and Trailer Services. All three brothers served as governor of Tennessee

Governor Aaron Venable Brown
A native of NC, Aaron Brown studied law in Nashville and moved to Pulaski to practice. He served four terms in the State Legislature, three terms in Congress and one term as Governor, 1845-47. In 1850 he wrote the Tennessee Platform of the Southern Convention. Governor Brown died in Nashville 

Governors Neill Brown & Governor John Calvin Brown
Three miles NE Neill S Brown was born April 18, 1810. A veteran of Seminole War, in 1837 became a member of State Legislature, in 1847, Governor of Tennessee. In 1850 he was US Minister to Russia and 2870 member of the State Constitutional Convention. He died in 1886.
John Calvin Brown was born in the same house as his brother, Neill June1, 1827. Enlisting of the Confederacy in 1861, he commanded a division at the war's end, having been twice wounded. Member 1869 Legislature and president 1870, Constitutional Convention elected Governor that year and again in 1872. Died Aug 17, 1889, buried in Pulaski.

We traveled from Elkton Tennessee to I-65 to hwy 84 in Elkmont Alabama

Welcome to Alabama 

We stopped in the town of Elkmont where we saw The Red Caboose Restaurant, the Chèvre Artisan Creamery established 1989.

Belle Chevre, an award-winning artisanal goat cheese maker, recently opened a flagship storefront in Elkmont. The store offers Belle Chevre products, accessories, and accompaniments in a boutique-style shop.

Historic Elkmont has just a few buildings but it did have a train station and a red caboose that we could walk inside and a couple of historic markers. Tennessee and Alabama Central Railroad and Elkmont Alabama.

The L & N Caboose

The Red Caboose Restaurant 

Our last stop was at Antioch Cemetery in Elkmont where I took many pictures of Civil War Tombstones.
Private Company D 12 Alabama Cavalry Miles Rainwater Compton
Private Company H 9 Alabama Cavalry Willis B Vaughn
Private Company B 11 Tennessee Cavalry Solomon Cox
Private Company I 58 Alabama Infantry Samuel McCurry
Private Company C 12 Alabama Cavalry Lafayette Hughs
Private Company K Tennessee Cavalry William Able Corpier
These were just a few of the soldiers that were buried in the Antioch Cemetery that served in the Civil War and all in different companies.

🚙2015 ~ Jan 20-22, Road trip to Gulf Shores, AL

Early Tuesday Morning I ask hubby if he wanted to go on a road trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Day 1: January 20, 2015

We were on the road at 10:00 am.

We stopped at 10:40 am at Chick-fil-a in Athens to use the restrooms and eat an early lunch.

We both ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, diet coke, un-sweeten tea (me) and we shared a large order of waffle fries.

We both had a calendar card that we used for a free grilled chicken sandwich and a drink.

Our final cost was $1.80.

We traveled US 72 to I-65 from Athens to Birmingham where we saw signs for places like Hartselle, Vinemont, Cullman, Hanceville, Warrior, Gardendale, Fultondale, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, and Hoover.

We passed through Birmingham where we saw several very tall buildings and the Vulcan statue facing downtown Birmingham.

We stayed on I-65 passing through Pelham, Alabaster, Montevallo (home of the American Village), Jemison, Clanton, (rest area) Millbrook, and Prattville into Montgomery.

We saw as we crossed the bridge the tall downtown building of Montgomery.

We stayed on I-65 South toward Greenville, Georgina, Evergreen, (another rest stop and restroom break) and Atmore.

We turn east onto Highway 287 toward Bay Minette and then we turned onto highways 59/31 south, which took us through the town of Stapleton where highway 59 went southeast and highway 31 went southwest.

We stayed on highway 59 east, which took us through the town of Loxley.

At Loxley, we took Highway 90, which took us through the towns of Robertsdale, Summerdale, Foley, to Gulf Shores.

Our first stop was at Gulf Shores Public Beach where we walked on the sandy beach.

Gulf Shores Beach feeding birds
There were a couple of young men trying to surf but the waves were too small.

We saw a woman with birds flocking all around her; they were waiting for her to feed them. Finally, she ran out of bread and said to the birds, “I am sorry but the food is all gone as she walked away.”

We got back into the van and hubby drove us a little further down the beach.

We stopped to watch the sunset.

It was amazing watching the sun go from a bright yellow into an orange, red as it slowly disappeared into the Gulf which took just minutes.

There were many people there just to watch the sunset, some walked along the beach, others stood under the shelter while others sat in their vehicles facing the sun.

Everyone was spellbound at the sight.

Sunset at Gulf Shores

Hubby drove us to Lulu’s 200 East 25^th Avenue Gulf Shores, Ala.

We could hear music and someone singing as we approached the restaurant.

We were greeted and taken to table 43, which had a great view of BAT who was entertaining the crowd.

BAT is a singer-songwriter, heavy folk, and acoustic entertainer.

BAT sounds like The Beatles, Queen, Simon & Garfunkel, Billy Joel, and Eagles.

LULU'S 

He had the audience singing the lyrics of many different songs along with him.

He did many old television show theme songs such as Green Acres, The Brady Bunch, The Adams Family.

We ordered the Big Fry Seafood Basket (serves 2), which includes shrimp, Oysters, Crab Claws, and Fried Fish.

Big Fry Seafood Basket

The meal was served with French fries, coleslaw, and hushpuppies $30.99.

After a very good meal, and awesome entertainment we left Lulu’s and Hubby drove us to Staybridge Suite.

We checked in and took our luggage to room 315 on the third floor.

Tonight at the hotel, they were having a wine tasting so we came back downstairs to sample the different wines.

On the food bar, there was Mac & cheese, & Fiesta Salad, with all the beer on tap and soda that you could drink.

There were about seven different kinds of wines and I sampled all of them but the only one that I liked was the white Zinfandel.

It was a social hour and we talked to a couple from Atlanta, GA. They were like us getting away from the cold and sickness.

Hubby talked to another man about politics.

We finished our wine went upstairs and soaked in a tub of hot water, watched some TV and went to bed.

Day 2: Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The next morning we both took a shower, dressed and went downstairs for breakfast, which was about 7AM.

I ate an omelet, two sausage links, covered in syrup, a few walnuts, and diet coke. Hubby ate an omelet, two sausage links, ham, a burrito and drank a glass of orange juice.

We went back upstairs grabbed our luggage; looking around to make sure we were not leaving anything and checked out.

We thanked the woman at the register told her how much we enjoyed our stay and would defiantly return.

Hubby drove us back to the public beach for one last walk on the sandy beach and where I could take some early morning pictures.

Gulf Shore Waves

He then drove us to Orange Beach, FL so I could purchase 10.00 worth of scratch-offs. I won eighteen dollars that were eight dollars more than I started with.

We rode back to Gulf Shores stopped at the restrooms at Gulf shore Park and then we're on our way home.

We stopped at Burris Farm Market in Loxley where we purchased a bag of Pecans/Walnuts for $10.88, boiled peanuts $2.99, Molasses $5.99 and banana blueberry bread $2.99; we spent $24.91.

We walked back to the van got inside to put our purchase in the back seat. I reached back for the banana bread for I wanted a slice but it was not in the bag.

I walked back inside and told the woman at the register she had forgotten to give us one of our bags.

She apologized and I said if I had not looked inside for the bread we would drove off without the bread and Molasses.

I got a plastic knife to cut the bread from the bakery.

We were going to stop at Peach Park for some peach ice cream and peach pie but they were closed for a private party.

We stopped at Munchies Chevron in Calera, Al to fill up with gas. Cost $35.00 price $2.13 for unleaded plus and held 16.36 gallons.

We stopped a couple times at rest stops but did not stop again until we reached Athens.

In Athens, we stopped at DQ where I ordered a chili with cheese hot dog with onion rings and diet coke.

Hubby ordered a hamburger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles with French fries and diet coke.

Our last stop was at Lucky’s car wash at 4:09PM spent $8.00.

We were home just before 5pm.

We had a wonderful trip, where we walked along the sandy beaches of Gulf Shores, watch the sun fade into the gulf, ate seafood at Lulu’s, tasted wine at Staybridge Suites, won $8 on scratch off ‘s in Orange Beach, had a restful sleep at Staybridge Suites and a safe ride home.

Who could ask for more?

BAT Entertaining 

Staybridge Suits bed

Condo's and Hotels along the beach