03Mar 2018 by David Kravetz

Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland – Calvert City, KY

Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Car Art, Cross Country Road Trips, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Junk Art, Kentucky, Murals, Museums, Mythical Creatures, Offbeat Places, People Shots, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Street Art, Toy Collections, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 68, Wanderlust, Yard Art
Down in southwestern Kentucky, Calvert City (near Paducah) there’s a little back road (actually US Highway 68) that takes you to a place called Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland. It is not necessarily what you would think of as a “garden,” but it is certainly hillbilly fun. And the toyland is amazing! I visited there in early February 2018 and had a real good time with the proprietor Keith Holt who, ironically, looks like a hillbilly! I will tell you upfront, this place is not for everyone. Some people may look at it is a big junkyard. Others, like myself, look at it as a large folk art gallery. And, along with that is a fabulous toy collection and some smaller collections of things such as soda cans and…
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25Jul 2016 by David Kravetz

A visit to Damascus, Virginia

Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, Bike Trails, Bridges, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Farmland, Flowers, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Kentucky, Landscapes, Murals, Muscovy Duck, People Shots, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Street People, Tennessee, Train Bridges, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 119, US Highway 23, US Highway 58, Virginia, Wall Art, Wildflowers, Yard Art
Last weekend we made a trip to Damascus, VA with the goal of Julianne and our daughter Marissa riding their bikes on the Virginia Creeper Trail, one of many wonderful Rails to Trails bike trails that can be found in this part of the country.   I will have a different post about the Virginia Creeper Trail as part of my Bike Trail Series, but I wanted to post an article about the non-bike portion of our trip to Damascus, Abingdon, and Bristol, VA.  Besides the bike trail, there is so much more to see and do on a  road trip down to this part of Appalachia. We began our trip by leaving early in the morning on Saturday to drive to Damascus via the towns of Hazard and Whitesburg…
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17Jun 2016 by David Kravetz

Northern Ohio: Kirtland, Novelty, Chagrin Falls & Cuyahoga Valley NP

Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, Bike Trails, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Ghost Signs, Landscapes, LDS Temples, Murals, Museums, National Parks, Ohio, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Wall Art, Waterfalls
During a trip in May 2016 I visited my birthplace in the Little Italy neighborhood (See Little Italy Post) of Cleveland and then spent a day with family driving around Cleveland and catching a few sites (see post about Cleveland).  On my final day I picked up my wife in Kirtland, OH.  She had been there for a conference with her sister.  While there we visited a few places and I also had the opportunity to drive a few back roads while they were busy on the conference.  Actually, some of the locations I visited on one of the mornings prior to returning to Cleveland, but they are all compiled here. On the Sunday morning I was there we got the special opportunity to ring the Temple bells at 9…
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13Jun 2016 by David Kravetz

A Super Day in Cleveland

Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Bridges, City Skylines, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Large Statues, Murals, Museums, Ohio, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Street Art, Television Shows, Train Bridges, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Water Towers, Yard Art
I recently made a trip up to Cleveland to visit family in Little Italy (see the post about the Little Italy neighborhood HERE).  While there, I got to spend a day with my sister and her husband visiting sites in and around Cleveland as well as a few small treks on my own.  With the challenge of only a couple of days, I made it a point to visit some of the quirky and offbeat sites as well as a couple of historic things.  We saw a good deal of Cleveland and also visited the Kirtland area, which will be added to a different post. I started off one of my mornings by going to Lake Erie at Kenneth J. Sims Park in Euclid, which is right on the lake…
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01Jun 2016 by David Kravetz

Cleveland’s Little Italy – A Trek Back To My Birthplace

Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, Eateries, Family Travel, Ghost Signs, Murals, Ohio, People Shots, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Street Art, Street People, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Wall Art
My thanks to the following for their assistance in this post: Anthony Gambatese, Nicole Laurienzo, Ray Kristosik, Nancy Phillips, Nancy Starvaggi Schaffer, Dominic Gogol and my great Laurienzo family. Nearly 60 years ago I was born in the neighborhood known as "Little Italy" in Cleveland. I was not there for long as my mother took me and left when I was nearly 9 months old in 1957.  My first trip back there happened around 1993 or 94, and I haven't visited but only four or five times since, and typically for one or two hours at a time as I passed through to another destination. In mid-May 2016 I had the opportunity to visit for an extended time and get to know the neighborhood that I could've grown up in.…
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12May 2016 by David Kravetz

Staycation Mini-Roadtrip: Kentucky Highway 89

Backroads Discoveries, Bridges, Car Art, Eateries, Family Travel, Farmland, Flowers, Geologic Formations, Giant Things, Horses, Kentucky, Landscapes, Large Statues, Murals, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Staycations, Town Names, Train Bridges, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 421, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Wildflowers, Yard Art
Oftimes when we think of a road trip, we typically think of some far off location with fun sites and unique places to visit.  Indeed, we may often overlook what is right in our backyard.  Thus the word "Staycation" was born.  A staycation is typically defined as a period in which an individual or family stays home and participates in leisure activities within driving distance, sleeping in their own beds at night. Most of the time it involves dining out more frequently than usual. Staycations achieved popularity in the US during the financial crisis of 2007–2010. I personally have taken a few of these in my own home town of Lexington and in surrounding areas around Kentucky.  Last Monday was one of those days that I wanted to get out…
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27Apr 2016 by David Kravetz

A to Z Challenge: The W Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Antsy McClain, Arkansas, Backroads Discoveries, Bison, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, Car Art, Covered Bridges, Cross Country Road Trips, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Iowa, Landscapes, Large Statues, Lewis and Clark Sites, Mountains, Murals, Museums, Mythical Creatures, National Monuments, National Parks, Ontario, Place Names, Post Offices, Random Thoughts, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Selfies, South Dakota, Texas, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 14, US Highway 16, US Highway 169, US Highway 20, US HIghway 59, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Washington, Water Towers, Wyoming, Yard Art
During the month of April I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge has each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. My blog is number 1337 out of 1670 participating blogs. This year my A to Z posts will take you across the back roads of America to many unique towns. To see what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the link: A to Z Theme Reveal List for 2016 The W Towns Wharton, Texas Lots of fun things to see in the little town of Wharton.  My main reason for visiting Wharton was to visit the Tee Pee Motel, a retro throwback to the 50s and…
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25Apr 2016 by David Kravetz

A to Z Challenge: The U Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Backroads Discoveries, California, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Kentucky, Landscapes, Large Statues, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Texas, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 101, Yard Art
During the month of April I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge has each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. My blog is number 1337 out of 1670 participating blogs. This year my A to Z posts will take you across the back roads of America to many unique towns. To see what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the link: A to Z Theme Reveal List for 2016 The U Towns Uncertain, Texas There are not many towns in the country that begin with the letter U, but I have a couple of good ones here, especially the first one -- Uncertain, Texas.  Though their…
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20Apr 2016 by David Kravetz

A to Z Challenge: The Q Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Arizona, Backroads Discoveries, Bridges, City Skylines, Cross Country Road Trips, Illinois, Kentucky, Landscapes, Murals, Museums, Ohio, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 95, Wall Art
During the month of April I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge has each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. My blog is number 1337 out of 1670 participating blogs. This year my A to Z posts will take you across the back roads of America to many unique what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the link: A to Z Theme Reveal List for 2016 The Q Towns   Quincy, Illinois I mentioned the town of Nauvoo, Illinois in my N Towns post a few days ago.  Just down Illinois 96 south of Nauvoo is the town of Quincy, Illinois.  Like Nauvoo, or Hannibal, Missouri,…
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09Apr 2016 by David Kravetz

A to Z Challenge: The H Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Antsy McClain, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Big John, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Iowa, Landscapes, Large Statues, Michigan, Muffler Man, Murals, Museums, National Parks, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ontario, Place Names, Post Offices, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Television Shows, Texas, Town Names, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Waterfalls, Yard Art
During the month of April I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge has each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. My blog is number 1337 out of 1670 participating blogs. This year my A to Z posts will take you across the back roads of America to many unique what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the link: A to Z Theme Reveal List for 2016 The H Towns Hell, Michigan I can't in good conscience include a post about towns that begin with H without starting with Hell, Michigan. Located near Pinckney on a beautiful forest drive, Hell is a great tourist spot.  There are…
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