Unexpected Discoveries – Page 3 – Less Beaten Paths of America

09Apr 2022 by David Kravetz

Towns of America A to Z: The H Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Adventure, Arizona, Arkansas, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, BBQ Places, Big Cities, Big John, Books, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Burger Joints, Canada, Church Signs, Cities and Towns, Cross Country Road Trips, Distilleries, Donut Places, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Himeji, Ice Cream Places, Illinois, Japanese Castles, Kentucky, Landscapes, Large Statues, Less Beaten Paths Books, Michigan, Muffler Man, Murals, National Parks, Nature and Scenery, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Peter Wolf Toth, Place Names, Post Offices, Quirky Things, Random Thoughts, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Selfies, Sheltowee Trace, Signs and Billboards, States and Provinces, Texas, Tourist Traps, Town Names, Toy Collections, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Unique Shops, Uniroyal Gal, Utah, Wanderlust, Water Towers, Waterfalls, Welcome Signs, Whispering Giants

Happiness is another A to Z post. Today I post about places that begin with the letter H. As with all of my posts, I have been to all of these places and all of the photography is mine as well. I never write about places I haven't personally visited. And why not start with something Happy? I'll take you to Hell and back on this post, but you will leave with some Hope and Happiness, among other things. ENJOY THE READ! ENJOY THE RIDE! HAPPY, TEXAS [caption id="attachment_27700" align="alignleft" width="300"] Happy is that way (notice it is the opposite direction from Hell -- see below?)[/caption] There are only three towns named Happy in the United States, and I have been to two of them, which are both featured here. …

05Apr 2022 by David Kravetz

Towns of America A to Z: The D Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Adventure, Airlines, Arizona, Arkansas, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Bike Trails, Books, Bridges, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Burger Joints, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Enchanted Highway, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Hiking & Biking, Illinois, Junk Art, Junk-art Sculptures, Kentucky, Large Statues, Less Beaten Paths Books, Missouri, Murals, Nebraska, North Dakota, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Oklahoma, Place Names, Post Offices, Quirky Things, Random Thoughts, Restrooms, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Route 66, Selfies, South Dakota, Street Art, Texas, Tourist Traps, Town Names, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, US Highway 18, Water Towers, Welcome Signs

I continue on my A to Z journey today as I take you on a trip to a few places that begin with the letter D. Unlike the previous posts, all of the locations in this post are in the United States. Nonetheless, I think you'll find some interesting places that, perhaps, you have never heard of. Since my name is David, I am gonna start out with a couple of my namesake towns. ENJOY THE READ! ENJOY THE RIDE! DAVID, KENTUCKY [caption id="attachment_34703" align="alignleft" width="300"] David, Kentucky[/caption] David, Kentucky is a small coal mining community in the Appalachian highlands of far eastern Kentucky. It was named after David L. Francis, who was the president of the Princess Elkhorn Coal Company, which built the town. There is still a…

04Apr 2022 by David Kravetz

Towns of America A to Z: The C Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Adventure, Animals, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Canada, Car Art, Cebu, Cross Country Road Trips, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Illinois, Iowa, Junk Art, Junk-art Sculptures, Kentucky, Large Statues, Less Beaten Paths Books, Lewis and Clark Sites, Lighthouses, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Murals, National Parks, North Dakota, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Philippines, Place Names, Post Offices, prairie dogs, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Route 66, Selfies, South Dakota, Tersier, Tourist Traps, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Welcome Signs, West Virginia

It's another year and another opportunity to provide a fun VIRTUAL road trip. For the 2022 A to Z Challenge, I will be taking you, the readers, to some of the many places I have visited. Almost every little town to every big city has something unique to offer visitors. I hope to take you to some of these places across the United States, and even to Canada, the Philippines and Japan on some select posts, for a virtual trip to see places you may not know about. Today's post covers a number of towns and cities that begin with the letter C. These are all over the place, including the Philippines and Canada!! I have been to dozens of towns that begin with the letter C, but here is…

13Mar 2022 by David Kravetz

New Murals in Lexington – 2021 PRHBTN and More

Books, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Eateries, Graffiti Walls, Kentucky, Less Beaten Paths Books, Murals, Quirky Things, Selfies, Street Art, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Wall Art, Welcome Signs

I have fallen seriously behind in my blog posts recently. I am trying to catch up and would be seriously remiss if I did not do my annual post about new murals and wall art in Lexington. Last October was the celebration of the 10th anniversary of PRHBTN. This is the group that brings in famed street artists from all over the world to put wonderful art on the walls of Lexington. For 2022, PRHBTN brought in a few artists that have been here before, including the whimsical Kraken art of Patch Whisky, the lovely realism of Alexandrea Pangburn, colorful artist GAIA, and a couple of others including Key Detail, Joe King and Aerosol Kingdom (who worked with Alexandrea on the 2022 project). Along the way, I have also come…

10Mar 2022 by David Kravetz

Blogging from A to Z Challenge – Theme Reveal

A to Z Challenge, Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Cities and Towns, Cross Country Road Trips, Less Beaten Paths Books, Place Names, Post Offices, Selfies, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Welcome Signs

Traveling across the United States (and even other places) is eye-opening and fun. There are an abundance of quirky roadside attractions, great touristy places to spend money on trinkets and unusual stuff and then there are the places you actually go to. Back in 2017 I wrote and published my first book -- Less Beaten Paths of America: Unique Town Names. The book featured a number of unique, funny and quirky town names I had visited over the years. Since publishing that book, I have come across many more unique town names in my travels, such that I wanted to share them in posts. The Blogging from A to Z Challenge provides a perfect format for doing this. I have participated in this challenge for five years running now and enjoy…

31Jan 2022 by David Kravetz

The Year in Travel – 2021 (Long post – may take a minute to load)

Adventure, Back Roads, Bike Trails, Books, Bridges, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Church Signs, Family Travel, Hiking & Biking, Hiking Trails, Indiana, Kentucky, Landscapes, Less Beaten Paths Books, Mountains, Murals, National and State Parks, Historic Sites and More, National Parks, Nature and Scenery, Offbeat Places, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Place Names, Post Offices, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Roadsigns, Sandhill Cranes, Selfies, Sheltowee Trace, Signs and Billboards, Staycations, Street Art, Town Names, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Unique Shops, US Highway 127, Virginia, Wanderlust, Waterfalls, Welcome Signs, West Virginia, Yard Art

What an interesting year 2021 turned out to be for me. I started out the year with dreams of a road trip down the Florida panhandle to the southernmost point, but it didn't pan out. With COVID on the rampage, there were limitations and I didn't want to risk getting out too much. But, I was also very heavily engaged in doing support driving for the Sheltowee Trace Association and my wife and daughter who participated in the 2021 STA Hiking Challenge, hiking sections of the 343 mile trail each month. This took up a great deal of my time and ended up becoming the theme of my fifth Less Beaten Paths book, which was published on November 30 (see the bottom of this post for more details). I drove…

16Sep 2021 by David Kravetz

Visiting Muhlenberg County, Kentucky: A Visit With the Big Twigs

Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Family Travel, Giant Things, Hiking & Biking, Hiking Trails, Kentucky, Large Statues, Less Beaten Paths Books, Murals, National and State Parks, Historic Sites and More, Nature and Scenery, Offbeat Places, People Shots, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Signs and Billboards, Tennessee, Travel Blogging, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Wall Art, Wanderlust, Welcome Signs

[caption id="attachment_33710" align="alignleft" width="300"] Sumoflam visiting with Happy Malone[/caption] This is the seventh post in my series on Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. On August 18, 2021 I was invited by Misty Deason, the owner of Apple House Mercantile and a member of the Muhlenberg County Board of Tourism, to come out for a visit. She now carries my Less Beaten Paths books in her shop and wanted me to come out and sign them and then visit some of the major tourist attractions in this small, but unique, Kentucky county. [caption id="attachment_33695" align="alignnone" width="700"] The Big Twigs[/caption] I had many reasons for a visit to Muhlenberg County via Misty's kind invitation. Besides signing the books, I was most excited to visit with the county's newest giant residents in Lake Malone…

22Aug 2021 by David Kravetz

Visiting Muhlenberg County, Kentucky: The Music and Motorsports Museums – Part I

Adventure, Backroads Discoveries, Chet Atkins, Everly Brothers, Family Travel, Ike Everly, John Prine, Kennedy Jones, Kentucky, Merle Travis, Mose Rager, Murals, Museums, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Staycations, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places

[caption id="attachment_33608" align="alignleft" width="300"] Don Everly put his 1977 MG on display in the Music Museum.[/caption] Yesterday was August 21, 2021. Famed singer and part of the Everly Brothers, Don Everly, passed away at the age of 84. Just a few days ago I was standing next to his car and listening to Everly Brothers music at the Muhlenberg County Music Museum. We had been discussing how Don Everly was still alive and well and living in the county. Things can change in an instant. That said, I had a fun time visiting the dual museums -- The Muhlenberg Music Museum and the Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum. Both museums are housed together in a large building on First Street in Central City. My guide, Misty Deason, owner…

20Aug 2021 by David Kravetz

Visiting Muhlenberg County, Kentucky: The House of Onyx

Adventure, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Kentucky, Less Beaten Paths Books, Offbeat Places, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Staycations, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Unique Shops, Wanderlust

[caption id="attachment_33560" align="alignleft" width="255"] House of Onyx Brass Plaque[/caption] Take a drive down North Main Street in Greenville, Kentucky and you will come across a very non-descript tan brick building with a bronze plaque on the front as well as a brass name across the wall. All they say is "House of Onyx Inc." The bronze plaque also includes an inscription with the Established 1967 and the names Fred & Shirley Rowe. My guide, Misty Deason, the Proprietor of Apple House Mercantile, would tell me nothing about the place, but said we were going there and that I would be very surprised. I am always up for a "mysterious place" and so I was all in. [caption id="attachment_33593" align="alignright" width="300"] DFW Elite Toy Museum plaque in Haltom City, Texas[/caption] Only…

19Aug 2021 by David Kravetz

Visiting Muhlenberg County, Kentucky: Apple House Mercantile

Adventure, Antique Shops, Backroads Discoveries, Books, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Family Travel, Kentucky, Less Beaten Paths Books, Nature and Scenery, Selfies, Sheltowee Trace, Staycations, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places

[caption id="attachment_33549" align="alignleft" width="300"] Apple House Mercantile, Central City, Kentucky[/caption] On August 18, 2021 I had the opportunity to get an in-depth visit to Muhlenberg County, Kentucky courtesy of the Misty Deason and also the some of the tour departments in the county. I originally met Misty along the Sheltowee Trace in 2020. She saw some of my photos from the trail and began following me on Facebook. As she had recently opened a new tourist/gift-centric business called Apple House Mercantile in Central City ( 110 W. Everly Brothers Blvd.), she wanted to add my travel books to her inventory. This then blossomed in an invite to visit the county to see the newly dedicated Big Twigs at Lake Malone State Park, as well as a number of other places…

Category: Unexpected Discoveries