Unexpected Discoveries – Less Beaten Paths of America

06Mar 2025 by David Kravetz

2024 in Review: Town Name Murals – My 500th Post

Arkansas, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Family Travel, Graffiti Walls, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Less Beaten Paths Books, Missouri, Murals, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Route 66, Selfies, Tennessee, Texas, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Wall Art, Wanderlust, West Virginia

[caption id="attachment_40088" align="alignnone" width="640"] Sumoflam in Fate, TX[/caption] First of all, this is my 500th blog post since beginning my blogging in 2008!! When I am traveling I am always going through the small towns and big ones on the lookout for large murals that welcome visitors to their towns and cities. This continued to be one of my objectives in travel in 2024. There is always a great variety of these from large to small. Unlike my regular mural posts, I don't spend any time looking for the artists of these signs. Just want to share the photos and the locations. Have a lot from Oklahoma and Texas since I took a couple of trips there. Let's go!! Enjoy the Ride. [caption id="attachment_40163" align="alignnone" width="640"] Welcome to Hillsboro, TX[/caption]…

03Mar 2025 by David Kravetz

2024 in Review: Favorite Murals and Street Art

Arkansas, Big Cities, Books, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Deer, Eagles, Graffiti Walls, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Less Beaten Paths Books, Missouri, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Oklahoma, Roadside Attractions, Route 66, Selfies, Street Art, Texas, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Wall Art, West Virginia

[caption id="attachment_40078" align="alignnone" width="640"] Having fun with Groucho in Richmond, Indiana[/caption] As many of you already know, I am a big mural and street art enthusiast. In 2024 I took well over 500 photos of murals on my various road trips through about 15 states. This will be my first post of three or four mural posts, with this one focused on my most favorite finds in the year. I am always amazed at the creativity of mural and street artists. There is so much out there and such a variety of art to be found. From unique graffiti to massive portraits of famous people to representing history in art. There is seemingly no end to what can be found in even the smallest of towns to the corners of…

18Feb 2025 by David Kravetz

2024 in Review: Roadside Attractions – Part 3 – Whimsical and Unique Roadside Attractions

Adventure, Arkansas, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Big Cities, Books, Car Art, Cross Country Road Trips, Dinosaurs, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Horse Art, Horses, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Junk Art, Junk-art Sculptures, Kansas, Kentucky, Large Statues, Less Beaten Paths Books, Missouri, Museums, Mythical Creatures, National Monuments, National Parks, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Oklahoma, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Route 66, Sculpture Parks, Selfies, Tennessee, Texas, Tourist Traps, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Unique Shops, West Virginia, Wood Carved Bears

MORE WHIMSY FOUND ON THE ROAD This is the final post for unique roadside attractions from 2024. This one is a hodge-podge of interesting attractions and even a few "seasonal" things that were whimsical and fun that I found along the roads of America. [caption id="attachment_39633" align="alignnone" width="452"] Goofing around with the Welcome Bear at Brizendine Brothers Nature Park in Greenville, Kentucky[/caption] Slack Plaza Sculptures - Charleston, West Virginia Two 16-foot-tall whimsical musicians (plus a smaller dog) were installed in Charleston's Slack Plaza in December 2021. Sculpted by Pittsburgh artist James Simon, they were created to show off West Virginia's Appalachian music history. [caption id="attachment_39370" align="alignnone" width="422"] Charleston Slack Plaza Banjo player and dog[/caption] [caption id="attachment_39362" align="alignnone" width="437"] Charleston Slack Plaza fiddle player[/caption] Brother Morgan - Giant Warhammer Figure -…

29Jan 2025 by David Kravetz

2024 in Review: Roadside Attractions – Part 1 – The Big Stuff

Adventure, Arkansas, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Cross Country Road Trips, Dinosaurs, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Garth Brooks, Giant Things, Illinois, Indiana, Junk Art, Junk-art Sculptures, Kansas, Kentucky, Large Statues, Less Beaten Paths Books, Missouri, Muffler Man, Murals, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Oklahoma, Quirky Things, Roadside America Books, Roadside Attractions, Sasquatch Art, Selfies, Street Art, Tennessee, Texas, Tourist Traps, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, West Virginia, Yard Art

At the beginning of 2024 I had hopes of traveling across the country to Washington State, but sadly, that didn't work out. Sickness, job losses and other challenges seriously reduced my travels. Despite all of that, I still was able to get some travel in. I had the opportunity to travel to or through eleven different states as I visited my sister in Texas and in Oklahoma. She also traveled with me on a couple of occasions. I also made trips to Ohio for family, a small trip to West Virginia and trips to Indiana and Missouri for my late 2024 job with Uranus Fudge Factory while it lasted. Along the way, as is my travel routine, I hit up numerous road side attractions and oddities. I had a few…

23Jan 2025 by David Kravetz

2024 in Review: Street Signs and Cemeteries

Adventure, Arkansas, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Cross Country Road Trips, Family Travel, Kentucky, Less Beaten Paths Books, Missouri, Offbeat Places, Oklahoma, Place Names, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Signs and Billboards, Stop Signs, Tennessee, Texas, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places

This post is kind of a follow up to yesterday’s post on town names. There were so many town names that the post was longer than anticipated. Its always fun running across unique street and road names. And then there are the interesting cemetery names as well. Here are a few from my 2024 road trips: Okay Road - Pink, Oklahoma Okay Road in Pink, Oklahoma Garth Brooks Road - Yukon, Oklahoma Garth Brooks Road in Yukon, Oklahoma Mickey Mantle Dr. - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Mickey Mantle Dr. - Oklahoma City. Mickey Mantle was from nearby Commerce, Oklahoma Happy Valley Rd. - Happy Valley, Tennessee Happy Valley Road - Blount County, Tennessee Johnny Bench St. - Binger, Oklahoma Johnny Bench was from Binger, Oklahoma Easy St., Rogers, Arkansas There is…

22Jan 2025 by David Kravetz

2024 In Review: Unique Town Names

Adventure, Arkansas, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Bike Trails, Black Bear, Books, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Church Signs, Cross Country Road Trips, Deer, Distilleries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Ghost Signs, Ghost Towns, Graffiti Walls, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Landscapes, Less Beaten Paths Books, Missouri, Murals, National and State Parks, Historic Sites and More, National Parks, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Oklahoma, Place Names, Post Offices, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Selfies, Signs and Billboards, Street Art, Tennessee, Texas, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Volunteer Fire Departments, Wall Art, Wanderlust, Water Towers, Welcome Signs, West Virginia

As many of my followers know, in my travels, among all the things I see, I am always on the lookout for unique town/place names and fun street signs. Last year was no different. In fact, I was even fortunate enough to get to two of my Bucket List locations while traveling. Following are the places I visited in 2024 along with photos and, in some cases, the histories behind the names. NOWHERE, OKLAHOMA [caption id="attachment_39134" align="alignnone" width="640"] Nowhere Bait Shop - Nowhere, Oklahoma[/caption] A long time resident of my Unique Town Names bucket list has been Nowhere, Oklahoma. Who doesn’t want to take a selfie in the middle of Nowhere? [caption id="attachment_39139" align="alignnone" width="640"] Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere[/caption] I had a trip to Oklahoma in late November…

15Nov 2024 by David Kravetz

2023: Year in Travel and Other Stories – Part 3 – June and July

Adventure, Antique Shops, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, Books, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Burger Joints, Cross Country Road Trips, Farmland, Geologic Formations, Kentucky, Landscapes, Less Beaten Paths Books, Murals, Museums, National and State Parks, Historic Sites and More, National Monuments, National Parks, Offbeat Places, Place Names, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Signs and Billboards, Tennessee, Town Names, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 31, US Highway 70, Wanderlust, Waterfalls, Welcome Signs

The month of June 2023 kicked off a very busy couple of months of travel including some big road trips and a long-awaited and long overdue trip to Florida and the Gulf Coast (see post here). The month started off with a visit to Grayson Lake State Park in Kentucky and the area around it including Carter Caves State Park. We had visited both of these places in the past, so I am not posting much from that first week. However, in mid-June Julianne and a friend went kayaking near Magnolia, Kentucky While they did, I made my to Hodgenville, Kentucky and the Lincoln Heritage areas nearby. Hodgenville has a couple of nice Lincoln statues in the town square. And they have a fairly well known hole in the wall…

09Jul 2024 by David Kravetz

2023: Year in Travel and Other Stories – Part 2 – April and May

Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Bike Trails, Books, Bridges, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Covered Bridges, Family Travel, Farmland, Flowers, Hiking Trails, Kentucky, Landscapes, Mountains, Murals, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Sheltowee Trace, Staycations, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Welcome Signs, Wildflowers

The second quarter of 2023 was not a super busy travel period for me. I was still recovering from my shoulder injury, but was thrilled to begin "breaking in" the new (to us) GX460. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="649"] Mural in McKee, KY[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="651"] Sheltowee Trace near McKee[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="651"] I was struck by the beauty of this old house in McKee, KY[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="651"] Nature on the Sheltowee Trace[/caption] Our first trip was once again associated with the Sheltowee Trace as we traveled to McKee, Kentucky. While Julianne hiked, I drove into the countryside and made a few new discoveries. After her hike we did our traditional Mexican Food restaurant visit, this time hitting up the El Dorado Restaurant in McKee. It was…

05Apr 2024 by David Kravetz

2023: Year in Travel and Other Stories – Part 1

Adventure, American Kestrel, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Belted Kingfisher, Camel, Distilleries, Eagles, Family Travel, Geologic Formations, Kentucky, Landscapes, Less Beaten Paths Books, Museums, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 31

The year 2023 was a roller coaster ride!! Some wonderful travel opportunities happened, but there were accidents and operations that seemed to throw hurdles in the way. Following is a highlight post for the year. [caption id="attachment_37711" align="alignnone" width="640"] Welcome to Hocking Hills, Ohio[/caption] We actually started off 2023 on the road with a trip up to Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio. My wife met her sister and they camped out in the cold with our daughter in a nice big tent. I spent the night in a nearby motel in Logan, Ohio. It was January. It was cold. While they slept, I visited Lake Logan State Park to check it out. Much of the lake was nearly frozen over. Logan, Ohio is a nice little town. Saw a…

14Aug 2023 by David Kravetz

2023 Gulf Coast Road Trip: A Breakfast Surprise in Houma

Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Less Beaten Paths Books, Louisiana, People Shots, Selfies, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places

Home Sweet Houma mural in Houma, LA In July we took a 3001 mile road trip through ten states over eight days. We visited many local eateries along the way - I take road trips with an “Eat Local” philosophy. Bayou Country Café in Houma, LA We spent the fourth night of our trip in the fabulous city of New Orleans. But we wanted to get on the road early and get down to Houma for breakfast. Houma is one of the main places for the filming of the History Channel’s “Swamp People” and is in the heart of Cajun country. We had hoped to find a good “Cajun” place for breakfast. Inside the Bayou Country Café After looking at options, we decided on the Bayou Country…

Category: Unexpected Discoveries