21Sep 2014 by David Kravetz

Highway 61 Visited: The Blues Highway of Mississippi – Day 1

Backroads Discoveries, Bakeries, BBQ Places, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Eateries, Family Travel, Farmland, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Landscapes, Large Statues, Mississippi, Muffler Man, Murals, Museums, National Monuments, National Parks, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, States and Provinces, Tennessee, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 61, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Water Towers, Wildflowers, Yard Art
Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn have all sang about it. And now, Sumoflam has driven it. US Highway 61 cuts down the middle of Mississippi, all the way from Memphis to Natchez and more. Highway 61 is better known as "The Blues Highway" as many of the famed Blues musicians grew up along this swath of the state just east of the Mississippi River. In July 2014 I had the opportunity to travel this famed highway from North to South, visit many of the small towns and learn more about Blues History. It was an amazing drive through rural Mississippi! The highway, Route 61, actually extends 1407 miles north to south all the way from Wyoming, Minnesota to New Orleans. The highway generally follows the course of…
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13Sep 2014 by David Kravetz

Life Gets Busy – Blog Suffers

Arkansas, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Family Travel, Farmland, Large Statues, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Murals, Place Names, Texas, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 61, Vintage Neon, Wall Art
To all of you who faithfully follow my Travel Blog, I don't want you to think I have quit writing. I am in the midst of an extremely busy work season (I work in high school sports web management and social media and it's football season!) I still have plenty to write: US 61 through Mississippi, a drive through the swamplands of Louisiana, a visit to Galveston, some back roads in Texas and more. Indeed, life has sent me this way and that way. So, watch soon for more fun and quirky offbeat back roads travel.
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01Sep 2014 by David Kravetz

The Back Road to Memphis: US Route 79

Backroads Discoveries, BBQ Places, Bucket List Trips, Car Art, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Farmland, Found Metal Sculptures, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Kentucky, Landscapes, Large Statues, Murals, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, States and Provinces, Street Art, Tennessee, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Water Towers, Yard Art
With this post I continue blogging about some of our wonderful US Highways as I strive to avoid the interstates in my travels. In June, I took a trip to Galveston, Texas for a family reunion. The entire length of the trip was predominantly US Highways or State Highways as I made my way to Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and then southern Texas. The first leg of this trip would take me from Lexington to Russellville, KY where US Highway 79 begins.  Following that highway, I would make my way into downtown Memphis, TN. From there I would catch US Highway 61 (The Blues Highway) down through Mississippi (the next post in this series). Though I have been throughout a good part of Kentucky and also have taken trips into Tennessee…
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17Aug 2014 by David Kravetz

Three Texas Giants – Giant Statues of Southern Texas

Arkansas, Backroads Discoveries, Dream Highways, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Kansas, Large Statues, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Roadside Attractions, Texas, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places
Texas is the home to three giant free standing statues, all of which exceed 70 feet in height (including the pedestal/base). This puts these giants in the top seven tallest monuments in the United States. The tallest of the three is the "Tribute to Courage" statue of Sam Houston, located in Huntsville, Texas.  This one stands 67 feet but also has a 10 foot pedestal, giving it a ground to top height of 77 feet. The second tallest of the giants is the 76 foot tall Stephen F. Austin "Father of Texas" Statue in Angleton, TX. The third giant doesn't quite fit the nature of these two Texas heroes.  Instead, the Quan The Am Bo Tat (Also known as Quan Am - Mother of Buddha) statue in Sugar Land stands…
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13Aug 2014 by David Kravetz

The Two Towers of Paris – Tennessee and Texas

Backroads Discoveries, Cross Country Road Trips, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Tennessee, Texas, Unique Places, Water Towers
This is a tale of Two Towers - both in a place named Paris, but one is in Tennessee and the other in Texas. The map below shows that they are about 8 hours away from each other. There are seventeen towns in the U.S. with the name of Paris (and one in Ontario, Canada as well -- and I lived there for a while).  I have been to Paris in Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Idaho, Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri.  But the towns of Paris, TX and Paris, TN are the only ones to have an Eiffel Tower that is fairly large.  Paris, Michigan has a smaller one.  And there are a couple of other places, such as Atlanta, Austin and Las Vegas that have them.... but I am focused on…
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09Aug 2014 by David Kravetz

From Cody to Carhenge with a Jackalope in-between

Animals, Backroads Discoveries, Birds, Bison, Bucket List Trips, Car Art, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Family Travel, Farmland, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Landscapes, Large Statues, Murals, National Monuments, Nebraska, Pronghorn Antelope, Roadside Attractions, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 20, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Wyoming, Yard Art
After a marvelous time in the mountains of Wyoming and Montana, it was time to head east through the high deserts of Wyoming and across Nebraska and eventually back home to Kentucky. After a restful evening at the Moose Creek Lodge in Cody, Wyoming, I was ready to hit the road running early the next morning. I had visited Cody in 2013 and so I didn't spend a lot of time, but I did want to get back over to the Buffalo Bill Center and take some pictures of some of the numerous statues there. After about 30 minutes in Cody, I was soon heading southeast on Wyoming Highway 120 towards Thermopolis. This is a scenic drive through rolling hills of sage brush. I drove through the town of Meeteetse…
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02Aug 2014 by David Kravetz

Carhenge: One of America’s Premier “Car Art” Sites

Backroads Discoveries, Bucket List Trips, Car Art, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Museums, Nebraska, Roadside Attractions, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Yard Art
In late May of this year I finally had an opportunity to hit one of my "Bucket List" sites - Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska. This "Car Art" site (see my post on Car Art from last August) ranks up there with the other well known sites, Cadillac Ranch, in Amarillo, Texas and the former "Spindle" (Cars on a Spike) by Dustin Shuler that was displayed at Cermak Plaza in Berwyn, Illinois until May 2008. Unlike Cadillac Ranch, which is set up on a farm in Amarillo, Carhenge is actually owned by the city of Alliance, Nebraska and is touted as one of their main tourist attractions. My trip to Carhenge was on the the next to last leg of my return trip home from Montana (see the full day's post…
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29Jul 2014 by David Kravetz

Dream Highway: US Highway 212 and the Beartooth Highway

Animals, Backroads Discoveries, Birds, Bison, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Deer, Dream Highways, Elk, Geologic Formations, Horses, Landscapes, Montana, National Parks, Pronghorn Antelope, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 212, US Highway 89, Vintage Neon, Wyoming, Yard Art
Like so many other people, I have a bucket list of places I want to visit in my lifetime. On my trip in May 2014 I was able to scratch off TWO of them!  The first was a trip across US Route 2 from Michigan to Montana, with a stop in Bemidji, MN to see the giant Paul Bunyan and Ox statues (so it was kind of a three for the price of two really).  You can read about that portion of the trip HERE. The second, and perhaps more thrilling and fulfilling to me, was being able to travel US Highway 212 across Yellowstone and then over the Beartooth Highway, one of America's greatest Scenic Byways.  This 68 mile trip makes its way through Yellowstone and then from the…
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24Jul 2014 by David Kravetz

Montana Trip: US Highway 89 thru Montana – South 89

Animals, Backroads Discoveries, Birds, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Deer, Dream Highways, Eateries, Family Travel, Farmland, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Horses, Landscapes, Large Statues, Montana, Murals, National Monuments, National Parks, Place Names, Pronghorn Antelope, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, Street Art, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 2, US Highway 212, US Highway 89, Vintage Neon, Wall Art
After spending a nice day with my children and grandchildren along US Highway 89 north of Great Falls, it was time to begin the long trip back to Kentucky  the next day. I would begin the return trip with a quick jaunt south on I-15  to Great Falls and then south on US 87/89 towards Kings Hill Pass on the Kings Hill Scenic Byway, which runs along US 89 from the US 87 junction to the US 12 junction just north of White Sulphur Springs, Montana. Before moving on, I should mention that on the previous day we made a quick stop in Conrad, Montana to see if there is anything interesting there.  Conrad is south of Shelby and just off of I-15, so it is easy off and easy…
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23Jul 2014 by David Kravetz

Montana Trip: The Other Rock City

Backroads Discoveries, Geologic Formations, Landscapes, Montana, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 89
While on a trip to Montana in late May 2014, I had the opportunity to visit a place called Rock City, just north of Valier, Montana. (see my recent post on that trip) In and of itself, Valier is not too exciting of small town but it is scenic as it borders Lake Frances, a great bird estuary. With my daughter, her husband and my grandchildren in tow, we ventured to Valier on our way to Choteau, Montana in order to take a ride out to "Rock City." It is about a seven mile drive due north of town. This is not the same Rock City that is located near Chattanooga, Tennessee and has advertisements on barns all over the southeast as shown below. Instead, this Rock City is a…
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