TOMBSTONE TOURIST: ST. PETER'S & JEFFERSON BARRACKS NAT'L CEMETERY

When I visited St. Louis a few years back, I was able to visit many of the area's historic cemeteries. My visit included the large and well-known CALVARY and BELLEFONTAINE Cemeteries. My final stops in the St. Louis area were at the St. Peter's Cemetery and the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

St. Peter's Cemetery was established in 1855 when 34-acres near the intersection of Lucas & Hunt Roads. Since then, St Peters has expanded to its current 119-acres and is the final resting place of such notables at Baseball Hall of Famer Cool Papa Bell and Tuskegee Airman Wendell O. Pruitt.

A steady rain was falling as I pulled through the gates of St. Peter's and I immediately made my way to the grave site of James Thomas Bell, who is better known as "Cool Papa."

"Cool Papa" Bell was born in Starkville, Mississippi and was regarded as one of the greatest players ever to play the game of baseball.  Cool Papa played in the Negro Leagues from 1922 - 1946 and by all account was one of the fastest players in baseball history. Fellow Negro League teammate Josh Gibson once said that Cool Papa was so fast he could flip the light switch and be in bed before the room got dark.

When his playing days were over,Cool Papa worked as a scout for the old St. Louis Brown and later in life served as a security officer and custodian St. Louis City Hall.  In 1974 he became the 5th Negro League player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Cool Papa Bell suffered a heart attack and died on March 7, 1991 and is resting here in St Peter's Cemetery.

The rain had picked up and was coming down harder by the time I finished my visit to the grave of Cool Papa Bell and I decided to cut my visit short but not before making a quick stop at the grave of famed Tuskegee Airman Wendell O. Pruitt.

Wendell Pruitt was born and raised in St. Louis and during World War II he enlisted in the Army Air Corp.  He was already a licensed pilot and was assigned to the Cadet Flying Program in Tuskegee, Alabama.  He was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group. The 332nd initially flew P-47 Thunderbolts before switching to the P-51 Mustang.  Known for their distinctive red tails the 332nd became known as the "Tuskegee Airmen."

During the war Captain Pruitt flew 70-combat missions and was credited with three enemy kills.  As a result of his expert flying ability, Captain Pruitt became a flight instructor and returned to Tuskegee. Captain Pruitt was killed along with a student pilot during a training exercise at Tuskegee on April 15, 1945 and was buried here in St. Peter's Cemetery.

It was raining harder and after finishing my visit to Captain Pruitt's grave and I decided to leave the Cemetery and grab some lunch before heading south to the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. 

After a quick lunch, I made my way south of Downtown St. Louis to the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.  By the time I drove through the gates of the National Cemetery the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared.

There were two reasons that I wanted to visit Jefferson Barracks. I wanted to visit the graves of  Jack Buck and Michael Blassie.

My first stop was at the grave of long time St. Louis Cardinal and Major League Baseball announcer Jack Buck. One of the great voices of the game, Jack Buck began is play-by-play career with the Cardinal in 1947, a position he held for almost 47-years.  He is best know for his catch phrase, "That's a Winner," which he would say after every Cardinal Win.

Buck worked the major networks calling both football and baseball, which earned him induction into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  Jack Buck died on June 18, 2002 and is resting here in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

Just a short wake from Jack Buck's grave is the final resting place of Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie. Lieutenant Blassie's remains were originally unidentified and were designated as the
unknown service member from the Vietnam War. His remains lay in state in the rotunda of the United States Capitol before being interred at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery on May 28, 1984. 

On May 14, 1998, his remains were exhumed on May 14, 1998 and as a result of advanced DNA testing he was positively identified. At the request of his family the remains of Lieutenant Blassie were reinterred at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery on July 10, 1998.

After spending some additional time visiting the graves of several Medal of Honor recipients, it was time to head back to my hotel and prepare to continue my adventure and move on to Kansas City.

Here is a short video documenting my visit to St. Peter's and Jefferson Barracks.

A LITTLE Q & A

I am just a week away from the start of my 2018 NCAA Vacation which will take me on a tour of Texas. If all goes well this will be pretty long trip. Right now it's looking like at least 3-weeks and maybe longer. With that being said some folks have ask a few questions about my travels and about my alter ego "The  Tombstone Tourist." So I though this would be a good time to try and answer some of those questions. So here goes.

Why did you start blogging? I have always kept a journal of my travels dating by to the cross country trips that I took with my dad in 1984 and 1988. Those wasn't exactly blogs, but hand written journals in a spiral note book.  From those early notebooks where I record my thoughts and documented my adventures, I have evolved into online blog containing photos of my trip.  Now with my upcoming trip to Texas, I plan on incorporating video. We will see how that goes.

Why can't I comment on your blog post?  The answer is you can and I like comments but I found out very quickly that all comments are not appropriate for a family friendly blog.  So all comments are held in a queue for review. Once I review the comment I will decide if it is suitable for public viewing.  If so the comment will be published. If it is not suitable then it will be deleted.  So far I have deleted most of the comments because they are either spam or from trolls that just go around making inappropriate comments on peoples blogs. Just this morning I had 9-comments waiting for review. Six of the 9 were spam, and the other 3 were from trolls.  Needless to say they were all deleted. I also do not open or publish any comments containing photos, or links. Yes, it's censorship, and some may not think it fair, but I really don't care. Play nice or don't play at all.

When you travel how often do you post and are the post live?  I try and post at least every couple of days when I am traveling. The key word there is TRY. Some days are extremely long and quiet frankly when I get to the hotel the only thing I want to do it is shower and relax. That's why I again try and have some blogs already written and queued up ready to post. No, it is not live. It is usually a couple of days behind. This is for safety and a lot of work goes into each entry, especially editing the photos and videos.

How do you find the cemeteries and the grave of the people that you visit: I use a number of websites to help me find the cemeteries and graves. My go to website is Find A Grave. This website has millions of grave listings and most of the cemeteries listed have an address listed. Many of the graves within a cemetery have a plot location listed. Some even have the GPS coordinates which is really helpful.  If all that is listed is the section then I usually end up walking and searching the section for the individual grave.  If the GPS Coordinates are listed I can use the mapping app on my photo to quickly find a particular grave. Also many of the larger cemeteries have an online map and search feature where I can simply enter the name of the individual and it will show the plot location on a map.

Why don't you just go to the cemetery office and ask for help: Some cemeteries are very helpful others are not.  Cemeteries like Bellefontaine in St. Louis have a very large number of well known graves and realize that they are a tourist attraction and welcome tourists.  They have even printed a booklet that they sell at the office that is extremely helpful in locating the famous grave within their cemetery. Other cemeteries will help you with a map and the staff will mark the a couple of  plot for you.  Don't go into the office and expect the office staff to look up and mark 15-20 sites for you. Not going to happen and you shouldn't expect them to. There are cemeteries that charge you for looking up grave sites while other will only assist relatives.

Of the cemeteries you have visited, which one is your favorite:  My favorite as far as the number of famous people who are buried there has to be Bellefontaine in St. Louis. There are more than 200 famous people buried there and as I have already said they are very tourist friendly.  Probably the most beautiful cemetery is Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. It is without a doubt one of the most beautifully landscaped cemeteries in the country.

What are some of the cemeteries that you haven't visited that are on your bucket list? Any of the cemeteries in the Los Angeles area, especially Westwood Memorial Park, Forest Lawn - Hollywood and Glendale, Hollywood Forever and Holy Cross.  I plan on crossing off a bucket list cemetery on my upcoming trip to Texas by visiting the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. I also want to revisit Sparkman-Hillcrest Cemetery a few other Dallas area cemeteries.

Getting away from questions about the Blog and Cemeteries, a few people have wanted to know about my travel and how much planning goes into each trip. So while I am answering questions let me get a few travel questions out of the way.

How much planning goes into your trips: The answer is it varies. Little or no planning goes into day trips.  For weekend and short trips, I research hotels and attractions in the area, but really outside of the major attractions, very little advanced planning is done.  For long trips like the one coming up, I do quite a bit of planning. In fact I started planning this trip a little over a year ago.  I start by laying out a general route, and looking for attractions, cemeteries and hotels along the route. The route will change several time during the early planning stage. Once I get a general Idea of where I'm going and how I am going to get there I start putting together a lose itinerary. Again this will change during the planning stage and it will change once I get on the road. Once I get the itinerary I begin to look seriously at listing attractions including addresses, GPS coordinates, hours and admission. The trip plan for the upcoming Texas trip is 27-pages and was just completed this past Thursday. Once I finish it was printed and has been placed placed in a notebook, which will serve as my trip bible once I get on the road.

How many miles a day do travel? The first day of a long vacation is what I refer to as "Get away Day."  I look at anything within a days travel is something that I can always get to or go back to. So the first day is usually the longest travel day of the trip, which is usually is about 500-miles.  The rest of the trip each days travel will ideally be between 250 and 300 miles or less.

How do you decide where to stay?  I am a firm supporter of two hotel rewards programs; Choice and Holiday Inn. My favorite hotel chain is Choice Hotels, which feature such brands as Comfort Inn & Suites, Quality Inn and Sleep Inn. I like them because they are for the most part clean and have reasonable rates and with incentives I can get free nights quicker. I am also a member of the Holiday Inn Rewards program. Holiday Inn's are generally a little more upscale than Choice and many have on site restaurant. Plus they are about $20-$30 a night more than Choice. It also take longer to accumulate free nights. Between Choice and Holiday Inn I have enough point for about 14 - 17 free night.  Just like everything, these hotels have their share of duds, and before making reservations I take each hotel that is on my long list of possibilities and I do a Yelp and Trip Advisor search and compare reviews. I can usually spot fake reviews or reviews that are written by someone who has an ax to grind and just writing a review because they didn't get their way. People who are extremely critical and have only a couple of reviews are pretty much discounted. The same can be said for reviews that are especially glowing, those reviews are either written by the hotel or a friend of the management. Those reviews I also discard.  If a hotel gets good reviews on both sites then they make the short list and will probably make it into my trip book. Most locations have at least two hotels listed in the the final trip book, while large cities like Dallas may have as many as 6 or 8 that make the short list into the trip book. One thing about staying in large areas, I have found that if your stay a few miles outside the city you can save a substantial amount of money on the nightly rate.  When researching my hotels for Austin, Texas, I found that hotels in Austin were well over $100 a night. But by staying a few miles outside the metro Austin area in Round Rock, I was able to save about $50 per night.

How far in advance do you make hotel reservations? Again it depends, If I know I have to be in a certain place on certain date then I make reservations well in advance.  For example, I knew that I was going to be in Dallas for the tournament and those dates are not going to change, so I made my hotel reservation for my Dallas Stay back in October of 2017. Plus, I often get a good rate before the special event rate kicks in.  My King room in Dallas that I booked in October is reserved for an average  rate of $79 a night. Now the same room which is 6 miles from the American Airlines Center is listed at $129 a night. But most of the time when I am traveling and I am flexible I usually make my reservations a couple of nights in advance.

Do you use third party booking sites or make non-refundable reservations which are often cheaper? I have use third party booking sites a couple of times but I am not really a fan for a couple of reasons.  If there is a problem with the rate or the room more often than not you have to deal with the third party site and their customer service reps are not easy to get in touch with and are not really interesting in resolving the problem. Where as if I book directly through the hotel, I am dealing with first the front desk who 99% of the time really want to help you resolve the issue. If they can't resolve the issue on site, then I can still deal the corporate office who are determined to find a resolution.   One example of this was last year in Huntsville, Alabama. I booked a room using a third party site. When I got to the hotel I found that the hotel was over booked and could not honor my third party reservation. The desk clerk told me that I would have to deal with the third party site, that the hotel was under no obligation to refund my advanced payment. The only solution the third party site offered was refunding my credit card within the next 5-business days .I ended up going to a nearby Choice Hotel Property and even though they had no vacancies, the clerks were determined to helps me and called around to several other hotels and finally found me a room. I usually book my rooms through the hotel website, that way if there is a problem I am dealing directly with the hotel and not some third party. I am not a fan of the non-refundable rates, as they charge your credit card immediately and you are basically buying something sight unseen. If I get to the hotel and find it is not exactly the cleanest property or in an unsafe neighborhood, they are under no obligation to refund my non-refundable rate.  I am just not into buying a pig in a poke.

Well that's about all I got for you for now. I hope you find this little question and answer sessions at least a little interesting. If you like the blog be sure to comment and if you really like it be sure to subscribe.

DAYTONA 500: FROM GREAT AMERICAN RACE TO WHO CARES

Today is the annual running of what was once called the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. It was a few years back one of the great sporting events in the America. Tickets were hard to come by and the Daytona International Speedway was sold out. Spectators and Fans would arrive days in advance and set up camp in the infield and all around the 2.5 mile facility. Hotels for miles in any direction were commanding to top rates and were booked solid as much a year in advance. 

From Pole Day qualifying, the Busch Clash, the Gatorade Twin Qualifying Races, to the Goody's 300 on Saturday and finally the Daytona 500 on Sunday, there was always thrills and anticipations. For me it meant taking off from work and kicking back and watching or listening to each event. 

I can remember those classic duels between Richard Petty and David Pearson, and the likes of Cale Yarborough and the Alabama Gang.  I can also remember Junior Johnson both as a driver and as an owner who employed such stars as Darrell Waltrip and Neil Bonnett.

Yes, as they say, those were the good ole days. But they were also NASCAR's Greatest days. During the 1970's, 80's and early 90's NASCAR has a tremendously loyal fan base, that was centered in the south. Fans would not only flock to the super speedways of Daytona, Charlotte and Talladaga, but to places like Darlington, Rockingham and North Wilkesboro. Every track was sold out and were installing more seats to handle the demand for tickets. Places like Daytona, Charlotte and Talladega were seeing sell out crowds totaling well over 100,000 people. 

But in the mid to late 1990's something happened. NASCAR forgot where it came from and started to expand. Abandoning such places as Rockingham and North Wilkesboro in favor of place like Chicago, Las Vegas and Southern California.  While the first few races sold out at those new tracks, the novelty soon wore off and more and more empty seat began to show. There were no solid fan base in these new cities and the curious spectator stopped showing up. 

Along about the same time the politically correct police legislated the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company out of the sport.  For more than 20-years R. J. Reynolds had been the title sponsor of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The loss of Winston and the abandonment of it's southern fan base was the beginning of the end of NASCAR as a major player in the world of sports.

Then in the 2001 Daytona 500, NASCAR lost it's biggest star when Dale Earnhardt lost is life in a last lap crash.  When Dale Earnhardt died, so did NASCAR.  The final blow came in 2007 when NASCAR's long time President and CEO Bill France, Jr., died leaving control of the sport to his son Brian France and other members of the France Family. Bill France, Jr., and Sr., spent 50-years building NASCAR into the worlds Premier Motorsports Organization. It has taken less than 15-years for the sport to be destroyed under the current France Family leadership.

In the years since NASCAR abandoned its southern fan base, and since the death of Bill France and Dale Earnhardt, the sport has plummeted in popularity. Today there are thousands of empty seats, and hotel rooms are readily available. The tracks of today have no character and are basically all the same. The same can be said for the cars. In the sports hey day it was call Stock Car Racing because the cars resembled those on the local dealers showroom floor.  Today, the cars all look the same, you can't tell a Toyota from a Ford. And the Drivers of today are aloof and could care less about what few fans the sport has left. 

Gone are the days of drivers like Richard Petty and David Person getting out of their cars after a 500 mile race and signing autographs until all the fans has been satisfied. Gone are the days of drivers having character and personality. Driver Interviews today are sound bites written by PR firms. Drivers rarely go off script. Today the drivers only care about their sponsors and how quick they can get back to their motor home and isolate themselves from the fans. 

Back in the day where NASCAR was king, this entire week would have been something that I would have marked on my calendar. There was a time when I wouldn't miss a Busch Clash, or a Goody's 300 and certainly not the Daytona 500.  But today, its just another day, I haven't watch a NASCAR event in years. I can't tell you who is on the pole or who won the qualifying races.  Hell, I can't even name 5 drivers who are starting today's race. 

I haven't watched a NASCAR race in years and won't be watching today.  I could care less about what was once known as The Great American Race and from the looks of all  the empty seats, I am not alone. 

SELF IMPORTANT PEOPLE ARE NOT REALLY IMPORTANT AT ALL

Sometimes I am amazed at how arrogant and inconsiderate people are. I don't know if it is just me or if I am getting older and tend to notice just how inconsiderate people are these days, but over the last few weeks I have certainly found that the rudeness of people has been magnified.  I worked in public service for more than 40-years and I can say without a doubt more people in general are more demanding, rude and inconsiderate than they use to be. There use to be a certain degree of respect between people, but today that respect has dwindled. One more thing that I have discovered, people have no respect for themselves, so how can they have respect for others.

Don't get me wrong the majority of people are polite and a benefit to society. But the rude and demanding people tend to stick out more and get most of the attention. Over the last few month I have experienced a few examples of just how rude and demanding people these self-important people can be.

The Food Lion Parking Melt Down: Back in November I was parked at the Food Lion Store near my house. It has a large parking lot that serves Food Lion and a couple of other small businesses. The parking lot is never full and there is always parking close to the store. 

This one afternoon I'm returning to may car with my purchase, and as I am putting my bags in the trunk this one car pulls down the aisle and stops behind me.  The parking space on my right is handicapped, and the space on my left was vacant. I also might add the three spaces directly in front of me were vacant. 

As I finish putting my bags in the car, I looked and thought that the lady in the car sitting in the aisle might be pulling into the space to my left, but she was just sitting there. I get in my car and started replying to a text message before pulling out. As I was typing my message I heard someone blowing a horn. I looked around saw the woman that was sitting in the aisle was blowing her horn and waving her arms motioning me to move.

I went back to my text message and heard the horn blow again and then a few seconds later she actually got out of her car and came up and pecked on my window. As I cracked the window and she lit into me saying "You (meaning me) need to hurry up, I am waiting for this parking space." I look at her and say "You kidding, right?" 

She again said that she wanted may parking place and I "needed to hurry the hell up."  Me being the smart ass that I am I just looked at her and said, "I'm still using it, and she could have it when I was finished," and rolled the window up and went back to my text message. 

As she went back to her car the language she used would make a sailor blush but she finally got the message and went around and pulled into of the three a parking spaces in front of me.  As she began her trek into the store she couldn't resist giving me the finger. 

Again me not willing to let her have the last word, I pulled out of my space and rolled the window down and yell, "Hey, I'm done now, you are welcome to it," which generate a F-You and another finger.

Starved For Attention at Cracker Barrel:  The job of a waitress is a thankless job and one that I could never do. As a waitress you must smile and pretend that the customer is always right, even when they are not. I could never make it in the restaurant business because I could never smile and pretend that an overbearing, attention seeking, customer is right. 

Back in December, I was traveling back from my weekend in Pigeon Forge and stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Abingdon, Virginia. I was quickly seated next to a man and a woman. It was obvious very quickly that the woman was arrogant and educated well beyond her intelligence. Our waitress was heading toward me to take my drink order when she was stopped by "Miss Important"  She told the waitress that she wanted a "fresh glass of water, with a larger slice of Lemon."  The water glass in front of her was full and still has a small piece of lemon affixed to the lip of the glass.

The waitress smiled and said yes ma'am, and continued on to my table and quick took my drink order, which was met by an audible sigh from Miss Important. 

A couple of minutes later our waitress reappeared and dropped off  her "fresh water" with two slices of Lemon, and proceed on to drop off my drink and take my food order.  As the waitress turned, Miss Important again stopped her and as is she could bring some bread to "munch on" while we wait on our food. 

The waitress quickly returned with not only the bread but their food order. A few minutes later My waitress came to deliver my food and was again stopped by Miss Important. This time she wanted a new bowl of "fresh greens" because these had too much juice and she couldn't pour in the vinegar. 

To make a very long story short, the waitress could not pass Miss Important's table without being stopped for something. This one woman was manipulating this poor waitress who through it all continued to smile and do he best to tend to this overbearing lady while not neglecting her other customers. An to make matters worse, on their $28.00 ticket Miss Important left a $1.00 tip. 

People like Miss Important irritate me to no end and it was all I could do to keep from telling this overbearing woman that the world does not revolve around her. But I didn't, however I did leave a note and $10.00 tip on my $13.26 ticket just to let the waitress know how much I appreciated her and to thank her for doing a job that I could never do. 

Cell Phone Check-out: One of the things that ticks me off more than anything are people who think their cell pone conversations are so important that they hold up the checkout line at the grocery store.  Just last week I was shopping at Kroger's and got behind a lady who was having a casual conversation on her cell phone in the checkout lane.  There were 8-check out lanes open and all had customers line up waiting to checkout.

She would put a few items on the belt, then stop and continue her conversation, and then put a few more items on the belt. While the checker was scanning the items this lady continued her conversation.  Then to make matters worse, when the clerk had finish scanning, she tried to tell the Cell Phone Lady the total only to be met by a finger in the face, while continuing her conversation. 

Finally after more than two minutes of waiting I (in a rather abrupt voice) said, "For Goodness sake Lady come on either get off the phone and pay or get out of the way so the rest of us can get on with our day."  

My statement was met with an evil look, but she did tell the party on the other end of the phone that she had to go, that there was some rude man behind her was giving her grief.  She finally paid and on the way out turned and said, "I hope you have a great day." I replied, "I'm sure I will now that you are out of my way." I got a finger, only a different one than she gave to the clerk.

The moral of these stories seem to be that most people a caught up in their own self importance and are oblivious to anyone and anything around them. The walk around all of the time in their own little bubble caring only about themselves. But I have come to realize that these self-important people really serve no useful purpose and are not important at all. 

A FOUNDATION OF FAITH AND COMMUNITY

Faith and Religion have always been the corner stones of this country. From the very beginning faith in God and the freedom to worship our God were the foundation on which our great country was built.  From the tiny country Churches to the great halls of worship, they have one thing in common, these houses of worship have survived to helps us rejoice in the good time and and comfort us during the bad times. 

The small country churches that dot the landscape of rural America are still the center of the community. They are not only places of worship they are the foundation of  a community where neighbors gather to witness new families united in marriage.  They are the place where we gather to remember the lives of  those whose earthly journey has ended, and we can rejoice in knowing that they have enter the kingdom of heaven.

These small country churches may not be filled to capacity but they are filled with friends and neighbors who forge the strong bonds of a community. President Lyndon Johnson gave us One of the best definition of a community that I have ever heard when he said, "I come from the Texas Hill Country, where people know when you are sick, love you while you are alive, and miss you when you die." 

These small country churches are filled with the voice of friends and neighbors; none of them can sing very good. But you put them all together and you get the most beautiful sound your will ever hear. Voices of friend and neighbors, sharing stories of life, and songs of faith at the all day singing  and dinner on the ground. 

Yes, these small country churches are the foundation of America, for they bring together people of all walks of life. And these people become neighbors, and neighbors become friends, and these friends and neighbors become communities. 

As I travel the back roads of America, I have found that sadly the community school has closed in favor of larger ones. The small country stores are closed and sit abandoned. But the one thing that has survived are the churches. Yes they are the foundation of a community, and they are the foundation of America.