2016 October 1, Saturday Banana Puddin' Festival, Car Show and Quilt Show Centerville, TN

I couldn't sleep, so I was up at 3 A.M., watching TV and writing in my journal.
Ate a banana and two pieces of sausage for breakfast.
We were on the road by 7:30 A.M., taking our time as we rode to Centerville.
The sun was just rising, and a cloud of mist hung over the ground.

We travel north on hwy 43 turning left on hwy 50 near Columbia.
Vendors were still sitting up at their booths when we arrived.
We walked around downtown, stopping to look inside the old courthouse, which housed several vendors.
Outside, we stopped in front of the chicken wire MINI Pearl to take a couple of pictures.

Minnie Pearl 

We followed the signs to the open field where the Banana Pudding  Festival was being held.
Inside the gate, we were asked if we were first-timers and given a banana sticker with 'first-timers' written across it. Several people were placing pins on a large map to show where they were from.

Monkey Head

Smokey the Bear

Entering the Pudding Festival 

The woman said we have thousands of people from all over the world who come to our festival. We have a couple who come from Australia every year.

The Cook-off
The cook-off consisted of ten contests, and we watched the first five.
Each contest made two of the same puddings: one for the judges to sample, and one for the audience to judge.
The first pudding was to be auctioned off.

The first 5 contestants in the Cook-off

One of the contestant's Banana Puddin dishes

At 10 A.M., we were at the Puddin' Path for 10 samples of different banana puddings.

The Puddin' Path Samples 

#1 Moon Pie Banana 

Baked by the Puddin'

Baked By: Bon Aqua United Methodist Church 

#2 The Chisel (Chocolate)

Baked by: Fairfield Church of Christ Youth

#3 White Chocolate & Caramel Banana Pudding

Baked by the Relay for Life: Friends of Hope Team

#4Bell's Best Banana Pudding

Baked by: Shady Grove United Methodist Church 

 #5Pickadeli at the Hicadeli

Baked by Thomas Hickman Hospital

#6 Pudding & Pearls Banana Pudding

Baked by: Centerville Woman's Club

7#Caramel Cheese Cake Banana Pudding

Baked by: East Hickman Baptist Youth

8# Party-line Banana Pudding

Baked by: Nunnelly United Methodist Church 

9#Classic Southern Banana Pudding

Baked by: Mt Zion AME Church 

#10Cinnamon Roll Banana Pudding

Baked by CrossRoads Cowboy Church

The puddings consist of bananas inside a variety of puddings from various organizations.
Each organization had baked the pudding to raise money for its cause.
The Pudding path cost was $5 per person.
Once you tasted each pudding, you could vote for your favorite with a donation.

We could not eat all the samples; some were very good, while others were not so good.
My favorite was the cheesecake banana pudding.

We stayed to listen to a couple of songs performed by a trio of young people from the same family.

We strolled through the park, stopping to examine what each vendor had to offer.
We stopped at the car show and took several pictures.
We saw a replica of Mini Peal riding in a jeep.
From the car show, we walked a few blocks to The First Baptist Church on 123 Church Street to look at the Hickman County Quilt Guild.
The show featured "Something old, Something new"!
Their mission is to promote an interest in the art of quilting.

Something Old, something new 

Two of the sweet ladies that we met at the Quilt show

My quilt pick!

We rode to Grinder's Switch.
Grinders Switch was the fictional hometown of the comic character Minnie Pearl, created and portrayed at the Grand Ole Opry by comedian Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, who grew up in the nearby Colleyville neighborhood of Centerville.

Watertower at Grinders Switch 

Grinders Switch 1940

Minnie Pearl said, People always ask me, 'Where is Grinder's Switch?"

As I grow older, the place is no longer a little, abandoned landing switch on a railroad in Hickman County. Grinder's Switch is a state of mind -- a place where there is no illness, no war, no unhappiness, no political unrest, and no tears. It's a place where there's only happiness, where all you worry about is what you are going to wear to the church social, and if your feller is going to kiss you in the moonlight on the way home. 

I wish all of you a Grinder's Switch.

On our way home, we stopped at Ponderosa in Lawrence to eat an early dinner and a late lunch.
We both ordered a steak and salad.

We still had a couple of hours to visit the Oktoberfest in St Florine.
The tractor was loaded with passengers as we approached.
We loaded into the wagon and rode around the festival.

Riding in the Wagon 

Oktoberfest

The Senior Center building was full of history about the German families that had settled in St Florine.
We walked inside, but I stopped at the first display and began talking to one of the family members who lived in the area.
By the time I stopped talkin, the festival was about over.

M can return tomorrow.

⛴Trip to Cape Cod

September 22, 2012

My daughter and I rode from Newington, Connecticut, to Cape Cod, Mass.

We stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast and ordered 8 Munchkins.

We rode across the Sagamore Bridge, and facing us was the Rotary sign that said, "Welcome to Cape Cod."

We visited the white-and-red Bass River Lighthouse, which sits among the townhouses in West Dennis. 

Bass River Lighthouse

We visited the Lighthouse Inn, which now sits atop the Lighthouse Inn in West Dennis.

Behind the Inn was a rock wall that made a circle in the Bass River. We walked along the wall, stopping to take several pictures. It was a beautiful place for a wedding. 

Light House Inn Lighthouse

Rock Wall 

We ate lunch at Kreme and Kone's, a family-owned clam shack in West Dennis, where we were served the best seafood on Cape Cod.

We split a plate of grilled Halibut on a bed of rice with coleslaw and a vanilla ice cream cone for dessert. 

We stopped at the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Easth, where we used the restrooms and toured the museum.

The museum featured artifacts, photos, and art from the Mashpee Wampanoag and Aquinnah tribes.

The Visitor Center also featured pictures and articles highlighting the natural and cultural forces that shaped Cape Cod's beaches. 

I bought a couple of postcards, Nauset Lighthouse and Three Sisters. 

 Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham 

 Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham 

We also stopped in Eastham to take pictures of the Georgian, Late Victorian-style Eastham Windmill.  

It is the oldest windmill on Cape Cod. It was constructed in 1680 by Thomas Paine in Plymouth. 

We visited the 18th-century Judith Baker Windmill in South Yarmouth. The windmill faces west to Bass River, and nearby is a small boardwalk and beach. 

Judith Baker Windmill

In the town of Orleans, we walked along Nauset Beach, where we saw the Three Sister Lighthouses, & Nauset Lighthouse.

Three Sisters Lighthouses 

Nauset Beach 

Nauset Lighthouse

We saw the historic markers: Three Sisters lit the Way; The Nauset Lights, Pushed back by the sea; & The Long, Black Cable. 

The sun was going down behind the large sand dunes when we reached Provincetown, MA. My cell phone was about dead, so I did not take many pictures in Provincetown.

We stopped at Far Land Provisions, located at 150 Bradford Street, Provincetown, MA 02657.

We saw the Pilgrim monument, founded in 1892, that overlooks the town. It was said that the Pilgrims spent five weeks exploring the tip of Cape Cod. 

 Pilgrim Monument

We walked several blocks, taking in the sights. We saw people sitting on the benches in front of Town Hall watching the world go by. 

We saw drag queens along the street, inviting us into the drag shows; one had a southern accent. I asked the drag queen where he was from, and he said Georgia. Imagine a southern in Provincetown.

We walked along MacMillan Wharf and back through Commercial Street, where we saw shops, galleries, and a Portuguese bakery. 

We spent the night at South Wellfleet Motel. 

September 23, 2012:

We ate a hot breakfast of bacon and eggs in the Motel's restaurant.

We walked barefoot along the sandy beaches of Chatham Harbor.

We saw the black-and-white Chatham Lighthouse.  

Chatham Lighthouse

Chatham Beach 

We saw a white, two-story house with three chimneys and a red roof sitting next to the lighthouse. It was enclosed inside a wire fence. In front of the wall was the historical marker about the History of Chatham Light. We also saw the historic marker of The Mayflower Story and The Rescue of the Pendleton. 

Nearby was the Chatham Beach-Tennis Clubhouse. 

We rode past the White building of the First Congregational Church, United Church of Chris,  established in 1720.

The two-decker steeple had a clock face on three sides of the church.

In Chatham on Seaview, we saw an antique building, and in the downtown area, we saw a Corner Toy Store. 

At 3 Rivers Road, Orleans, we visited the Jonathan Young Windmill, where we saw the interior workings of a windmill. The wind shaft in the interior is attached to the brake wheel/bull wheel (wooden gears).

Jonathan Young Windmill

We walked along the beaches of Marconi, located six miles north of the Salt Pond Visitor Center. 

The waves were high, and we saw men wearing rubber suits and surfing. It was too cold for swimming, but not for the dogs, who happily jumped into the splashing waves. 

The next morning, we bought ferry tickets to Vineyard Haven.

We parked the car and rode the bus to the ferry at Oak Bluff.  

On the bus, we met a couple.. They asked where we were from, and they said they had family living in Florence on Robins Lane.

ferryboat 

Everyone got off the bus and loaded onto the ferry.

The ferry took us to Martha's Vineyard. 

In Martha's Vineyard, we walked to Ocean Park, where we saw a flock of geese.

In the park, we saw a bandstand, some markers, and a statue. September is the offseason, and it was getting late, so most stores were closing or had already closed. 

We stopped in The Good Ship Lollipop Store, where I bought some animal cookies and Diet Pepsi. 

The store owner's wife named the store The Good Ship Lollipop.  

We saw many store signs as we walked through the town. We saw Ben & Bill's Chocolate, Ice Cream, and Candies, Skinn & Fat sandwiches, Bite on the Go, Pirate Jack's burgers, Sharkey's Cantina, Oldies Memorial Fountain, Laughing Bear, It's me, Murdock fudge, and Boat skipper. 

Vineyard and Vines 

We did not want to miss our ride back to the main island, so we hurriedly walked back to the ferry station, but the last ferry left at 6:30 P.M.

We were told to take bus 13 to Vineyard Haven; it was the only ferry back to the mainland.  

We hurriedly walked toward bus 13, but it was going the wrong way. We had to wait for bus 13, which would take us to Oak Bluffs, where we could catch the next ferry.

The couple we met earlier was on bus 13.

On the ferry ride, we met two women who lived in Johnston, RI.

Riding the ferry 

Riding the ferry 

Riding the Ferry 

One of the women said she worked in the Art and Drama Department at the local college in Johnston, and that her husband owned a business.

The other woman said her husband was an angler. 

The two women were on vacation together, and my daughter talked their heads off. 

We rode the bus to the parking area, where everyone got off and went to their cars. 

We rode to Val's house; he was watching the Patriots play the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots lost by one point, 30-31. We spent the night in Johnston. 

Let us not forget!

Let us not forget!

Thousand fill the asphalt

Their roar shakes the earth

A police car leads the pack

Crowds line the streets

Trail of Tears Ride 
Waving their

Flags

in Remembrance 

Thousand walks the path

Many die! 

Their cries are not heard.

In Waterloo 

Loaded onto boats 

Taken to 

Oklahoma

Where the Indians were loaded onto boats in Waterloo

The Singing River 

Calls!

There is no place 

like

Home! 

Once again tears fall!

Thousand fill the asphalt

Their roar shakes the earth

A police car leads the pack

Crowds line the streets

Waving their

Flags

in Remembrance 

Let us not forget!

The Trail of Tears!

Wooden Indian at Spring Park 

Tears 

Indian Family 

Trail of Tears Memorial 

2016 September 10, Saturday, Oka Kapassa, British Car Show &🎂🎂🎂 Birthday at Pond Springs

My first stop was the dollar store for a Diet Coke and a package of NeKote's cookies, my favorite.
I ate the package of NeKote cookies and drank a Diet Coke, not a very good breakfast, but I was hungry and did not want to stop anywhere to eat. 
I arrived at Joe Wheeler Lodge and State Park around 11:00 A.M.
I parked near Joe Wheeler Lodge, which was on a hill. 
The parking lot below looked full, so I had to walk down the hill to view the cars. 

The cars at the British car show were parked in the shade near the bank of the Tennessee River.
The first row of cars faced the Tennessee River, so I walked along the sidewalk, taking pictures. When the front row ended, I walked back through the grass to view the second row of British cars. 

I saw sailboats, cabin cruisers, and motorboats tied up at the pier on the Tennessee River.
I got a picture of most of the cars on display.
When I finished taking pictures, I walked back up the hill and drove to Wheeler Plantation.

Jaguar

1960 morgan

1951 Riley 

I saw Jaguars, Class A; MGB, New Mini Class O, 2007 Jaguar Vanden Plas, Empire, Morgan Plus 4 DHZ, Riley AMD, DHC, Vanden P125 Princess 1300, Empire Sedan, 1961Austin Healy Buqaye, & 1959 Austin Healy, 1977 Trump TR6, 1972 Trump TR6, 9171 Trump TR6, 1973 Trump, 1969 Trump, 1979 Trump Spitfire, 1975 Trump Spitfire, 1975 MGB Roadster, 1980 MGB, 1976 MGB, 1980 MB, MG Roadster 1975, 1959 MGA Twin Cam, 1959 Austin Healy. 

Tennessee River full of Sailboats

I took 101 across Wheeler Dam, turning left onto hwy 270, then left on Alt 72 east/20, traveling to Wheeler Plantation at Pond Springs. 
I arrived around 12:00 P.M.. At the entrance to the Wheeler Home, a Fire/Rescue Truck with its ladder extended displayed the words "City of Courtland."
I saw several motorcycle riders, men dressed as Confederate Soldiers, with 1st Battalion Mechanized Cavalry written on the back of their shirts. There were two black, one white, and two brown horses standing near the white fence near the house. 

City of Courtland Fire-truck

Horse and riders 

Motorcycle and riders

Joe Wheeler Home at Pond Springs

The Well-house 

The slave quarters 

Vendor selling food 

I talked to a woman whose father worked as a plantation caretaker many years ago.
She told me a story about when she was in school and had to write a paper about the plantation.
Her teacher gave her a D because she said no one could go inside the plantation to look at the papers. She did not know that her father knew the owner and had let her do her homework by reading the papers. The owner called the school, and she got an A.
I walked to the cemetery, looked into the well, and a couple of the outside buildings.

My Next stop was going to be Spring Park in Tuscumbia. I traveled west on Highway 20 to Highway 72 West, then turned right onto South Woodmont Drive. 
I parked near Cold Water Book Store, and I walked down the hill to Spring Park.
I walked around taking pictures of the creek, ducks, swans, geese, vendors, and the people who were in the park.

Swan, Ducks @Spring Park 

I watched the Indian dances and listened to the storytellers and music.
Amy Bluemel, a Native American storyteller, told a story to the children who had gathered around her. 

Native Tribal Dancing Oka Kapassa 

She told a story about a baby rattlesnake.
He begged for rattles; finally, he received them, and he frightened everyone he met until one day he tried to scare a little girl. 
She was frightened, but she also stomped on the little snake rattles, destroying them.
He went home crying and should have listened to his father. 
Amy was still telling stories when I left. 

Amy Bluemel, a Native American Story Teller

I was hot, tired, and very thirsty.
I walked through the park, past the waterfall, wanting to put my feet into the water, but I did not stop. I kept walking along the sidewalk up the hill to where I had parked.
I rode to Chick-fil-A in Muscle Shoals, where I ordered a kid's strip meal, which included two chicken strips, a fruit cup, tea, and ice cream. 
At Chick-fil-A, I tried to upload my pictures to FB and Flickr, but the internet was too slow.

Ice Cream with Fruit

Chicken fingers