2025 - WHERE WILL THE YEAR TAKE ME

 

Well, 2024 was a fun year that largely was made up of a number of short trips. My longest adventure in 2024 was my trip up to Jamestown, New York and over to visit several Presidential Sites in Ohio. It was an interesting year for me and one the took a little a little more planning than I am used to since I put myself on a schedule for those trips.

So, what’s on hand for 2025? Well, there are a number of things on the whiteboard. Whenever I come up with and Idea for a possible trip it goes on to the whiteboard. That’s the first step. Then I start looking at hotels and a route for each trip listed on the whiteboard. The next step is to start dripping pins of places to stay, restaurants, and points of interest along the way. If the trip makes it to this point, then I start seriously laying the groundwork for the trip. It is at this point that the trip makes the final cut or for a number of reasons removed from consideration.

Since, I didn’t take an extended trip in 2024 there are a few longer trips on the list. So, as I turned the page from 2024 to 2025, what’s on the White Board.

1.      AMTRAK SOUTHWEST CHIEF TO LOS ANGELES

Since I took my first long distance Amtrak trip to Phoenix, Arizona in 2018, I have always wanted to take another one. So, I put this trip at the top of my list in early 2024. The plan was once I got to Los Angeles was to rent a car and spend a couple of traveling around southern California.

There are a number of Bucket List sites in Southern California that I want to visit including both the Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon Presidential Museums. There are a number of cemeteries that are on my List to visit in the L. A. Area. At the top of that list is the Westwood Memorial Park, Forest Lawn Glendale, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills and the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

Sadly, this trip has been removed from the 2025 list due to the massive wildfires that are devastating the Los Angeles Area.

2.      AMTRAK CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR TO SAN FRANCISCO

This is also a bucket list trip for me. It is billed as Amtrak’s most Scenic Route as it goes from Chicago all the way to Emeryville, California. Along the way it goes through both the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

My plan is to rent a car and spend a few days in the San Francisco Area before heading down to Visit Kings Canyon, Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.

My original plans for this trip was to take Amtrak’s Coast Starlight down to Los Angers and Then travel back to New Orleans on the Sunset Limited and then take the Crescent back to Lynchburg, Virginia and renting a car to drive home.

While this trip is still on the board it may end up coming off due once again to the Fires in Los Angeles and the overall crime situation in San Francisco.  I have a couple of Friends who live in t Bay Area, and they are doing their best to discourage me from coming to the bay area because of the crime and lack of police power to ensure my safety.  They have told me that the Entire Bay Area is crime ridden and no one is safe.

Again, this trip is still on the board, but I have a feeling it may come off the 2025 board and hopefully find it’s way back in 2026 or 2027.

3.      SUNSHINE BUS TOUR – SAN FRANCISCO & PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Like Traveling by Train, I also like traveling on Bus Tours. While they are more structured than I am used to, they do allow me to meet some wonderful people while just sitting back enjoying the trip. All the planning has been done for me.

I have taken a couple of longer trips offered by Sunshine Tours and have enjoyed them immensely. When I got Sunshine’s 2025 Catalog, the 20-day cross country trip to San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest jumped out at me.

In addition to Visiting places like Salt Lake City, Pike’s Peak, the Garden or the Gods and the Eisenhower Center in Kansas on the way out we also get to Visit Oregon and Washington before starting the Trip Back.

On the way back we would visit Idaho and Montana on our way to Yellowstone National Park, before visiting the Site in South Dakoka like Mount Rushmore and Deadwood.

I haven’t committed to this trip, but it is moving up on the board. I am currently waiting to receive a 2025 Abbott Tour Catalog to see if they offer a similar trip. While I really enjoy Sunshine, I have discovered that they tend to be quite a bit higher than similar trips offered by Abbott.

4.      ANNUAL NCAA MARCH MADNESS ADVENTURE

One trip that is already pretty much finalized is my annual NCAA March Madness adventure. Last year I traveled to Pittsburgh for the first and second rounds of the Tournament and this year I will be returning to the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

I have attended the tournament several times in the past and it has been a good experience. The arena features on-site parking, which is always a plus. I purchased my tickets for all three sessions of the tournament during the early buy period back in October.

I was able to get a lower-level ticket just 10 rows up from the floor. In anticipation of attending the tournament in Raleigh, I made hotel reservations back in July at a Holiday Inn just 4-miles from the Arena. In doing so, I was able to avoid the special event rate increase. My 4-night stay averages out to just under $150 per night. I checked the rates for the same period right after the first of the years and the average for the same period was just under $190 per night.

5.      ARKANSAS-MISSOURI ADVENTURE

This trip would be a week to 10—day adventure that would take me along the Ohio River in Kentucky before crossing into Missouri. I would pretty much stay in Southern Missouri visiting Poplar Bluff, West Plains and Branson. From Here my options are to either head up to Joplin before crossing into Northeast Oklahoma and eventually back to Arkansas.

6.      MICHIGAN - ILLINOIS GREAT LAKES ADVENTURE

This trip was high on my list for 2024 but due to a couple of scheduling issues, I ended up pushing it back to this years. This is another adventure that has a number of Bucket List sites on it. Hopefully I can make this trip happen as I really want to spend a couple of day visiting Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

My plan is after visiting the Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, I wall travel across southern Michigan, through Ann Arbor, and Lansing before arriving in Grand Rapids. In Grand Rapids I will be able to cross the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum and Gravesite off of My Bucket List.

Then it’s around Lake Michigan, to the west side of Chicago where I can visit a couple of Cemeteries that are on my list. There are a few graves in Westlawn Cemetery that I want to visit including Jack Ruby the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy and Movie reviewer Gene Siskel.

Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery is the final resting place of many Chicago gangster and Organized crime figures including Sam Giancana and Al Capone.

Then it’s off to Rockford Illinois where I want to visit Historic Auto Attractions, which has one of the largest collections of Presidential vehicle and artifacts in the country. It has a coach that belonged to President Ulysses Grant along with a number of More recent presidential Vehicles. 

It also has a number of other historic vehicles including the Ambulance that transported Lee Harvey Oswald to the hospital after he was shot by Jack Ruby.

Everyone that I have talked to has told me to allow for at least two day to complete the tour of this huge Museum.

7.      ANNUAL BIRTHDAY VACATION

Every years since I retired in 2018, I have managed to take a trip to celebrate my birthday. In the past, I have visited places like Nashville, Pigeon Forge and Virginia Beach. This year I am looking at heading south to Florida.

For several Years I was fortunate enough to be able to vacation with my friends Pete and Valerie Ramey at the Norfolk Southern Lay By on Anna Maria Island. I enjoyed those trips and have longed to return and spend some time in the Sunshine State. 

For this trip I am looking at traveling down the east coast of Florida, visiting St. Augustine, Daytona and the Space Coast. I am looking at making this another 7–10-day trip.

8.      GULF COAST ADVENTURE

When I took the Los Angeles Amtrak Adventure off the Board, this is the trip that replaced it. I haven’t done a whole lot of planning on this trip and if it stays on the board, it will more than likely be a late August, early September Trip or maybe even a November/December Trip.

What I have looked at for this trip is maybe visits to Tallahassee, Florida, ad Mobile Alabama before Heading back north through Mississippi to Memphis and heading home on Interstate 40.

This trips has the possibility of turning into a longer Mega adventure by continuing west along the Louisiana Gulf Coast with stops in New Orleans, and Baton Rouge and maybe on to Houston, College Station and Dallas before heading back east through Arkansas or Northern Louisiana.

I have a feeling that if this does turn into a mega adventure it will be pushed back to 2026. But we will wait and see.

Right now, my first solid 2025 trip is My March Madness Adventure to Raleigh. I don’t have anything planned for February but that could change if I get cabin fever and want to take a short weekend or 5-day spur of the moment trip.

Well, that is where I stand for 2025. Nothing is etched in stone, and it is safe to say not all these trips will stay on the board.  But as of right now all, except for the Amtrak – Los Angeles Trip, are still very much under consideration.

It’s going to be interesting over the next few weeks to see which ones drop off and which one turn into reality. I hope you will check back from time to time to see where 2025 takes me. Until then ENJOY LIFE’S JOURNEY.

LOOKING BACK AT 2024 - PART 4

 

FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA

AUGUST 16-19, 2024

August saw me hit the road for another little Weekend Trip that I didn’t really do a lot of planning. I knew I wanted to make the Fredericksburg area the hub for this adventure and made hotel reservations for a couple of nights in that area. My thinking was I could make a an easy drive up to the Springfield Metro Station and maybe take the Metro into Washington D. C. For the Day.

On the way to Fredericksburg, I stopped at the New Markert Battlefield and the Virginia Civil War Museum.  Then it was off to Warrington, Virginia to visit the grave of John Singleton Mosby, who was known as “The Gray Ghost” of the Confederacy.

My plan for Saturday was to drive up to Springfield and Take the Metro into Washington. But there were several protest going on around the National Mall and the last thing I wanted to do was get into that mess. So I opted to revisit the National Museum of the Marine Corps. I also stopped at the Quantico National Cemetery where I visited the grave of Watergate Figure Charles Colson.

Sunday was my last day in Fredericksburg so I took advantage of the Light Traffic on Interstate 95 and headed to visit a few cemeteries in Northern Virginia. Among the notable people that I visited was, United States Senator Robert Byrd, Presidential Aid Lyn Nofzinger, Author William Safire and Hall of Fame NBA Coach Red Auerbach. By early afternoon, traffic was beginning to pickup and It was time to head west out of the Northern Virginia Area.

One the way I decided to return to the Holiday Inn, in Charlestown, West Virginia. Before leaving and making my way toward home I decided to spend the morning touring the Harper Ferry National Park. I had visited Harpers Ferry several years ago and took this opportunity to return to the site of John Brown’s Raid in 1859.

After spending the morning at Harpers Ferry, I wrapped up this little weekend trip and headed home.

TIME FOR A REUNION

OCTOBER 11-13

The College Football Season began the last of August and with me being a Wake Forest Demon Deacon Season Ticket Holder, the opportunity to travel was limited. However, I did make time to travel back to My hometown of Tazewell to attend My 50^th High School Class Reunion.

The last reunion that I had been to was our 20^th back in 1994.  Since then so many of my friends and classmates have passed on. While I have managed to keep in contact with some of them on Facebook, a lot of them I have seen in 50 years. I was really looking forward to this weekend.

We started the weekend on Friday night by attending the Tazewell – Virginia High Football Game at Bulldog Stadium. This was a great warm-up for the main event on Saturday Night.

More than 50 of my former classmates gathered at the Red Barn at the Historic Crab Orchard Museum. What a wonderful Night it was visiting with friends and classmates and hearing about what they had been up to for the past 50 years.

Sunday morning several of us go together for a little informal breakfast before saying our goodbyes and returning or our lives. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend. I hope we don’t wait another 50-years to do it again.

BIRTHDAY AT THE BEACH

OCTOBER 15 – 18, 2024

My final trip of the season was a birthday visit to Virginia Beach. Every year since I retired in 2018, I have made it a point to take a short trip for my Birthday. One year I ended up in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Area. Another year I spend the week in Nashville. Even during Covid I managed to get out of town and just drive around the remote areas of Virginia and West Virginia.

This year My niece and I headed down to Virginia Beach. While there was a chill in the air and we didn’t spend a lot of time on the actual beach, we did enjoy our time at the ocean. On day we did make our way across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and spend several hours on the Shore.

While on the Eastern Shore we visited the Historic Custis Tombs, where the ancestors of the Custis Tombs Women who generations later married George Washington and Robert E. Lee. We also visit the historic area of Cape Charles before making the trip back across the bridge to our Virginia Beach Hotel.

I also found time to visit the First Landing State Park and the Cape Henry Lighthouses. These sites are on Fort Story, which is an active Military Base and I had to go through some security screening. After spending a couple of hours visiting the historic sites, it returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and visiting some of the shops and cafes.

Our trip to the beach was my last trip of 2024.

I finished out the year attending Wake Forest Football and now Virginia Tech Basketball is occupying my time.

Even though I didn’t take any really long trips this year, I enjoyed the shorter, more structured trips. These 2024 adventures saw me travel a total of 5,553 miles and visited 6-states. What does 2025 have, well I do have some plans. Like always, I have a bunch of stuff on the planning board. I will let you in on some of the places that I am looking at early in the New Year, but you will have to stick around throughout 2025 to see what made the cut and where I go.

Until next then,  I hope everyone has a Safe and Happy New Year.

LOOKING BACK AT 2024 - PART 3

 

I LOVE LUCY AND SOME PRESIDENTS

JULY 10 – 15, 2024

July saw me hit the road for the longest adventure of 2024 which saw me travel1,289 miles through 5-states.

The first day out I traveled back to Pittsburgh where I overnighted at the Drury Inn near Pittsburgh Airport.  Along the way I stopped in Charleston, West Virginia and spend a couple of Hours touring the West Virginia State Capitol, Before heading up to Steubenville, Ohio to visit the final resting place of Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder. I spent the night at the Drury Inn near the Airport in Pittsburgh.

After spending the night in Pittsburgh, I made my way up to Jamestown, New York, which was the home of Comedy Actress Lucille Ball. Jamestown has really embraced their Lucy Connection.

Jamestown is home to the National Comedy Center which is a great interactive museum that pays tribute to all of the comedy greats. From Abbott and Costello and Laurel and Hardy to Don Rickles, Johnny Carson and everybody in between. The National Comedy Center doesn’t leave anyone out.

Admission to the National Comedy Center also includes admission to the Lucille Ball – Desi Arnaz Museum. This is a wonderful Museum that has a treasure trove of artifact relating to everything Lucy and Desi. It also has a number of props from the Long running TV Show “I Love Lucy,” including a full size replica of the New York Apartment and the Hollywood Hotel Suite featured in the Show.

I also drove out to the Lucille Ball Memorial Park where two very different statues of Lucy are located. One is a horrible statue that has been dubbed the “scary” Lucy statue. It was so bad that in 2016 a new statue was commissioned and dedicated. Original plans was for the scary Lucy to be scrapped but it had such a cult following that it was save and today stands about 100 yards or so from the pretty Lucy Statue.

Of course, I had to visit Lakeview Cemetery where Lucy’s cremains are interred in the family plot. Just a short walk from Lucy’s final resting place is the grave of B. F. Goodrich. Yes the same B. F. Goodrich that is famous for tires today.

After ending my time in Jamestown, I made my way down to the Cleveland Ohio area.  The next few days I spend traveling around Ohio visiting several of Ohio’s Presidential sites. I started off with a stop at the James Garfield Presidential Site in Mentor, Ohio.  This was the home of our 20^th President, who was one of two Ohio Presidents to be assassinated.

I also spend a good amount of time visiting Cleveland’s Lakeview Cemetery. It is here that President Garfield is resting in the impressive James Garfield Memorial.  This is unique because the caskets containing the remains of the President and Mrs. Garfield at resting in the lower rotunda of the memorial. This is unique in the fact that the caskets are on open display and have never been Buried.

While at Lakeview Cemetery I also visited the graves of some other notable people including, John D. Rockefeller, Basketball Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond and Major League Baseball Player Ray Chapman who was the only Major League Player to die directly from an injury received during a major league game. I also visited the Memorial to noted F. B. I. agent Elliot Ness whose ashes were scattered in a nearby lake.

Also, while in the Cleveland Area I visited several other cemeteries and paid my respects to such notable people as Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Feller, Baseball Umpire Billy Evans and Dr. Sam Sheppard who was convicted of the 1954 murder of his wife. His conviction was later overturned. His case is largely thought to be the basis for the TV Show and Movie “The Fugitive.”

From Cleveland I moved down to the Canton, Area where I visited the William McKinley Memorial which the final resting place of President William McKinley who along with President Garfield was assassinated.  Before leaving Canton I drove out to the Sunset Hills Burial Park to visit the Grave the great New York Yankee Captain, Thurman Munson.

I have been travelling for more than 50-years and have made 100’s of hotel reservations. On this trip I made what could have been a major mistake.  When I was making my hotel reservation I thought I had reserved a room at the Holiday Inn in Massillon, Ohio when in reality I had mistakenly made my reservation for the Holiday Inn in Millersburg, Ohio.

I discovered my mistake when the directions popped up in my google maps. This could have been a major mistake. But instead of having a 10-mile drive to the Hotel, I ended up having to drive about 40 miles to Millersburg.

The hotel mistake wasn’t bad. The Hotel itself was great and in the heart of the Amish Country. It also allowed me to make the drive over to Marion, Ohio where I visited the Home of President Warren G. Harding and his adjacent Presidential Museum.  Before leaving Marion, I stopped at the Harding Memorial which is the final resting place of President Harding and his wife.

I had a few more places that I had wanted to visit here in Ohio but like I said, these shorter trips are more structured and scheduled and while here in Marion I realized that I need to start heading back toward home. So, I made my way toward Columbus where I spent my final night of this trip.

Before Leaving Columbus, I made a quick stop at Union Cemetery. I had wanted to visit the graves of Legendary Ohio State Football Coach Woody Hayes but heavy rain made that impossible so I made a quick stop at the Mausoleum to visit the tomb of Dave Thomas who founded the Wendy’s Hamburger Chain.

On the way back home I stopped in Circleville, Ohio and visited the grave of my favorite character on the TV Show “Two and a Half Men.” Here in Forest Cemetery is the final resting place of Conchata Ferrell who played the housekeeper Berta on the popular show.

My last stop of this trip was in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. I spent a little more than an hours visiting the Ohio River Front where the flood wall is painted with historic murals.  Also in downtown Point Pleasant is the Mothman Statue and Museum.

My final stop was at Battle Monument Park. Here stands the huge monument dedicated to the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant. Also, within the confines of the park is the grave of folk figure, Indian Scout and spy Mad Ann Bailey. Just a short distance from Mad Ann’s grave is the grave of Chief Cornstalk, who led his warriors again colonialist under the command of General Andrew Lewis in 1774 during Lord Dunmore’s war.

From Point Pleasant it was an easy drive home ending what turned out to be my biggest trip of 2024.

LOOKING BACK AT 2024 - PART 2

 

MIDDLE & EAST TENNESSEE

MAY 30 - JUNE 2, 2024

April and May were busy months for me as I stayed busy getting ready for my Nieces High School Graduation. I didn’t want to travel over Memorial Day weekend, so I waited until after the holiday to hit the road for another little weekend trip.

This time I headed down to Franklin Tennessee where I visited the graves of a number of Country Music Stars that are buried in the Franklin Area. Williamson Memorial Park is the final resting place of several Grand Ole Opry stars including of Longtime Grand Ole Opry Announcer Grant Turner, Brothers Sam and Kirk McGee, and Skeeter Davis.

Anytime I come to Franklin, I have to stop by Mount Hope Cemetery and visit the grave of Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, who is better known as Cousin Minnie Pearl.

While in Franklin I made the 30-mile drive down to Columbia Tennessee where I spent the day visiting the Home of President James K. Polk and visiting the National Confederate Museum.

I enjoyed a personal tour of the only surviving home of President James K. Polk. I was the only visitor and enjoyed the informal nature of the tour.

Just outside of Columbia is the National Confederate Museum. It’s a very interesting museum that has a large number of unique artifacts relating to the Confederacy, including a number of battle flags.

The Museum is also the Final resting place of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. General

Forest was originally buried in Forrest Park in downtown Memphis Tennessee, But in 2020 the body of the General and his wife were disinterred from their Memphis grave and taken to a secure location while a permanent gravesite could be located and prepared. On September 18, 2021 General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife Ann were reinterred on the Grounds of the National Confederate Museum at Elms Springs.

Back in Franklin, I had planned on spending the evening and the next day in downtown Nashville. But heavy rain and severe storms were forecast throughout most of Middle Tennessee. So, the next morning I decided to cut my visit to Nashville short and head back east and try and get in front of the weather.

I was for the Most part successful as by the time I arrived at Buc-ees in Cookeville, Tennessee the weather had cleared up enough that I was able to make my way up to the Historic Brushy Mountain Prison.

This was a really interesting place as I spent a little more than two hours taking the self-guided tour of the old prison that once housed James Earl Ray, the Man convicted of kill Martin Luther King, Jr.

I spent the night in Oak Ridge Tennessee before driving home and ending a short but enjoyable weekend trip.

ZOO FUN

JUNE 24-26, 2024

In June, My Niece, Jalynn, her Friend Gracie and I headed down to the Greensboro Area of North Carolina for a little three-day two night vacation. This was a really short but great trip right in our backyard.

On the way down we stopped at the Greensboro Science Center. None of us knew what to expect so our expectations were low. To say we were amazed would be an understatement.  The Science Center is so much more than “science.” It is part science center, part aquarium and part zoo. We had only planned to spend a couple of hours here but ended up spending most of the afternoon.

We spent the night in Asheboro, North and was up early the next morning and arrived at the North Carolina Zoo just a few minutes after it opened. This is a very large natural habitat zoo. When I say it requires a lot of walking, I am not joking.

Being that we were there in Late June the Temperature was in the 90’s which added to the challenge. We spent about 4 hours there and by the time we finished my Fitbit indicated that we had walked over 6-miles.

The girls spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel pool and I spent it nursing my old knees in my cool hotel room. After a good night’s sleep, we drove home the next day.

LOOKING BACK AT 2024 - PART 1

Well, as we come to the end of another year I’s time to look back on what happened in 2024 and look forward to 2025. In 2023 I manage to take an epic15-day adventure with Sunshine Tours visiting New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah. 

This year, while I didn’t take a long mega adventure, I did manage to take a number of shorter trips and stayed a little closer to home. This was by plan as I look at hitting the road for another mega adventure in 2025 (maybe). More about that a little later. 

The one thing about these shorter trips is they are a lot more scheduled and structured than the long adventures where I drive myself. In my longer trips, while I have a lose itinerary and schedule, I usually play it by ear, especially when it comes to making hotel reservations. 

Being that these shorter trips require a greater degree of scheduling, I tend to make my hotel reservation for the entire trip before leaving home. That was the case for my first trip of 2024.

COLONIAL VIRGINIA 

FEBRUARY 2-4, 2024

I managed to get an early start this year as I hit the road in early February for a short weekend trip to Colonial Virginia. I left home on Friday, February 2, 2024, and traveled down Williamsburg, Virginia.

I spend the morning of the next day touring the Jamestown Festival Park and Historic Jamestown, site of the first permanent English Settlement in the New World. I had visited the festival park a few years back, but it had been over 50-years since I had been to the site of the Original Fort, that was site of the 1607 settlement. 

The afternoon saw me visit the Yorktown Battlefield, the site where British General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington on September 28, 1781, ending the Revolutionary War. Before leaving the Colonial Area,

I made the short 20-minute drive down to the Hampton Memorial Gardens. He I was able to pay my respects to Donald Bexley who played Fred Sanford’s best friend “Bubba” Bexley on the popular TV Series Sanford and Son. Donald was born in Jamestown, Virginia on March 10, 1910. He was a longtime friend of Redd Foxx, and Redd saw that Don had a reoccurring role as Bubba on on "Sanford and Son" from 1972 to 1977.

I spent the Night at the Hampton Inn in Ashland Virginia before heading North to take the driving tour of the Chancellorsville Civil War Battlefield. The highlights of the tour was visiting the site where General Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own men which resulted in his death some 10-days late.

I also Visited Ellwood Plantation when medics under the direction of Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire amputated his left arm. While the manor house was closed, I visited the family cemetery where General Jackson amputated left arm is buried. 

My final stop on this short weekend trip was at Fairview Cemetery in Culpeper, Virginia. Here I visited the Recently relocated grave of Confederate General A, P. Hill. 

Until Recently, General Hill had rested beneath a large monument in the medial of a busy street in Richmond. Like most of the Confederate Monuments, The Hill Statue was removed as part of Richmond’s attempt to hide from its history. As a result, General Hills Remains were disinterred and move to Fairview Cemetery in his hometown of Culpeper.

From Culpeper I made my way home. This little quick weekend trip was a great way to start my 2024 travel season.

NCAA PITTSBURG 

MARCH 20 – 26, 2024 

My second trip of the year was my annual trip to the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. I have attended the First and Second Rounds of the Tournament every years since 2001 with the exception of the Covid year in 2020 when the entire tournament was cancelled, and the closed tournament held in Indianapolis in 2021.

This year I decided to head north to the PPG Paints Arena in the Steel City. While I have been to Pittsburgh several times for Pirate Baseball at PNC Park, this would be my first visit for Basketball at the PPG Paints Arena. 

Sometimes when I come to Pittsburgh for Pirate Baseball I stay at the Holiday Inn – North Shore which is on Federal Street right across the street from PNC Park. I have always enjoyed my stays at the Holiday Inn North Shore, so I decided to stay there for the NCAA Tournament. The Holiday Inn is only about a mile from the PPG Paints Arena and walking to the arena would not be out of the question, depending on the weather. The rate was a little bit higher but when you consider I don’t have to pay for event parking, I might actually save a little money. 

My games were set for Thursday and Saturday, so I left home and traveled to Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Upon arriving on the Banks of the Three Rivers, I soon realized that walking to and from the Arena would not be an option. When I left home it was 52 degrees and upon arriving at the Holiday Inn I was greeted with subfreezing temperatures and snow showers.

So rather than walking I left my car parked in the Holiday Inn Lot and took a Uber/Lyft to the Arena. The cost of the ride ranged from $11.56 to $18.12 including a $5.00 tip for each ride. Still cheaper than the $40 parking fees for the lots and parking garages throughout the downtown area. 

My Pittsburgh Bracket included opening round game between: Kentucky vs Oakland Texas Tech vs NC State, South Carolina vs Oregon, and Creighton vs Akron.  

NC State began its run to the Final Four here in Pittsburgh with an 80-67 win over the Red Raiders. Oregon sent South Carolina Packing 80-73 and Creighton defeated Akron 77-60. But the upset of the tournament saw the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland University defeating the Kentucky Wildcats 80-76.

I was sitting among a number of Kentucky Fan who needless to say were not happy. One guy was so upset he told his friend that they should fire Coach John Calipari on the spot and not even let him back on the plane. Little did I realize that this would indeed be the last game the John Calipari would Coach at Kentucky. Just a few weeks later, Coach Calipari would resign as the Kentucky coach and take the Head Coaching Job at SEC Rival Arkansas.

Friday was an off day for games in Pittsburgh and I spent the day walking around, visiting the statues around PNC Park visiting the sites along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, It was a really cold day but there were several coffee shops and cafes that enabled me to get way and enjoy a hot cup of coffee on the way to visit Heinz Field, the Mr. Rogers Memorial and several other monuments that are along the banks of the Three Rivers. 

No trip to Pittsburgh would be complete without a visit to Primanti Brothers. While there was a modern Primanti Brother right across the Roberto Clemente Bridge, I decided to walk a little bit further and have a late lunch at the Original Primanti Brothers on the Strip. 

Games resumed at the PPG Paints Arena on Saturday and our two games were scheduled for 7 and 9:30 p.m. It was a cold rainy day in Pittsburgh, and I spent most of the day in my room. I did take a walk across the street and had a nice lunch at SoHo Tavern. They had TV’s and I enjoyed watching some tournament games from other venues while having lunch. Since I would be taking a Uber/Lyft to the Arena later today, I had had a couple of beers while watching the games. It was an enjoyable way to spend a cold, rainy afternoon. 

Both of my games at the PPG Paints arena went to overtime. It took Overtime for N.C. State to defeat Oakland 79-73 in the first game of the night. The final game of the evening saw Creighton, needing double overtime to defeat Oregon 86-73. This would end my basketball season for the year.

Sunday I checked out of the Holiday Inn and rather than heading home, I decided to extend my trip a couple of more day and explore Pennsylvania. Before leaving Pittsburgh I stopped at the Christ our Redeemer Catholic Cemetery just a few Miles North of Downtown Pittsburgh. Here I visited the graves of the father and son owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art and Dan Rooney, along with Legendary Professional Wrestler Bruno Sammartino and Long time Steeler Coach Chuck Noll. 

Next to Christ Our Redeemer Cemetery is Westview Cemetery where I stopped and visited the grave of Barney Dreyfuss, who was the original owner of the Pittsburg Pirates, and the man that built Forbes Field. 

Leaving the Pittsburgh are I headed east and made a stop at the Unity Cemetery Near Latrobe, Pennsylvania and stopped at the final resting place of Fred Rogers, who hosted the popular Children's TV Show “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood from 1968 to 2000. 

Next up was a stop at the Flight 93 National Memorial. I have been here a few times in the past, but I always feel the need to stop here when I am in the area just to pause and remember what happened on that horrible day and to pay my respects to the heroes of Flight 93. 

In Altoona, Pennsylvania I made a quick stop at Rose Hill Cemetery where I visited the grave of and actress and journalist that not many people these days will know or remember. Despite her 23-year career that encompassed over one hundred and twenty motion picture appearances and chorus girl roles from the Broadway theatre stage to motion pictures, Hedda Harper is best remembered for her newspaper column and radio show that focused exclusively on Hollywood gossip, a subject she was able to tell more about to her audience due to her Hollywood insider status. I remember Hedda Harper from her appearance on shows like “I Love Lucy,” “What’s My Line,” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

From Altoona, I made my way up to the College Town of State College, Pennsylvania, which is home to Penn State University. I made a quick Photo stop at Beaver Stadium, home of Nittany Lion Football and the Bryce-Jordan Center home to Nittany Lion Basketball. Then is was over to the Spring Creek Presbyterian Cemetery to visit the grave of long time Penn State Football Coach, Joe Paterno.

On Monday, I started making my way back toward home and Made a quick stop in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania which is home to Bucknell University. At the Lewisburg Cemetery I paid my respects to Baseball Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson. During a 17 years career he recorded 2,502 strikeouts, 373 wins and 79 shutouts with an earned run average of 2.13. He pitched three shutouts in the 1905 World Series, a record that still stands today and will probably never be broken. He died at the age of 45 on October 7, 1925, from the complication of Tuberculosis.

The rest of the day was spend just piddling a long, just seeing what I could find. I ended up in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia and made a stop at Elmwood Cemetery in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. 

Here I visited the grave of Notable railroad photographer O. Winston Link and John Holliman. John Holliman was one of three CNN Reporter who reported live from the Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad in 1991 during the Allied attack on the Iraqi Capital during the Gulf War. Holliman, Peter Arnet and Bernard Shaw was dubbed “The Baghdad Boys. 

Tuesday was the final day of this trip. This would be a cemetery day as I would travel about the graves of several notable people. First stop was at the grave of Radio and Television Personality Arthur Godfrey in Leesburg, Virginia. Then I was off to Trrinity Episcopal Church Cemetery to visit the grave of Jack Kent Cooke, who was the Longtime Owner of the Washington Redskins. The last stop was at thee Leeds Community Cemetery in Hume, Virginia to visit the grave of “America’s Weatherman,” Willard Scott. And with that my 2024 NCAA Basketball Adventure came to an end.