Tonight the ball will drop and the curtain will fall on 2023 and we
will welcome 2024. As I look back on this past year it was filled with some
personal challenges that I won’t bore you with, but I also some wonderful
adventures. Anytime that I am on the road exploring America is a great
time.
I hit the road for the first time back in March with a
short three-day Tombstone Adventure to North Carolina. Most of you know that I
like visiting cemeteries and finding historic and famous graves. Some people
call this morbid and weird, but I have always found cemeteries and the people who
are resting there interesting. Everyone has a story and just because they died
doesn’t mean their story dies with them.
On this trip, I visited the graves of NASCAR personalities
T. Wayne Robinson, Ralph Seagraves and Buck Baker. In addition to NASCAR, North
Carolina was home to one of the Most Successful Professional Wresting
Promotions in the Country. Jim Crockett Promotions, and Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling. They brough us such stars as Blackjack Mulligan, The
Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Gen and Ole Anderson and The Nature Boy Rick Flair. During this trip I visited the graves of two
stars of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Sylvester Ritter who is better
known as “The Junkyard Dog,” and “The Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff, whose real name was Oreal Perras.
I managed to record a lot of content that will eventually
end up on my Tombstone and Travels YouTube Channel. There are over 150 short
videos on the Channel and I invite you to take a look. If you like what you see
I hope you will leave a comment and subscribe while giving the videos that you
watch a Thumbs up. Here is the link to
the channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Il-isbz2iBFtmNE_VnP9Q
In April I took a short trip to Richmond and Visited
Hollywood Cemetery where famous Civil War Generals George Pickett and J. E. B.
Stuart are resting along with the Only President of the Confederacy Jefferson
Davis. Two United States Presidents are
also buried here, James Monroe and John Tyler.
While in Richmond I managed to take a Little Side Trip up
to Maryland where I toured the home of Doctor Samuel Mudd. For those that don’t remember their history,
Dr. Mudd was the Doctor that Treated John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg in the
early morning hours following Booths Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
I had attempted to tour the house on a couple of Previous
occasions, but it only opens seasonably during the spring, summer, and fall. The
tour was excellent and lasted just a little over an hour. Most of the furniture
in the house belonged to the Doctor and his family, including the Sofa and Bed
where Booth rested while he was treated by Dr. Mudd.
The easiest way to check for tour information is to visit
the Doctor Mudd Home website. Here is a link:
https://drmudd.org/
After leaving the Mudd Home, I managed to visit several
of the site that were on John Wilkes Booth Escape route including the site of
the Garrett Farm where Booth was killed in a tobacco barn. There is nothing
left of the Garrett Farm, as it was destroyed years ago. Today the actual site
of the Garrett house and barn is in overgrown median of Highway 301 south of
Port Royal, Virginia.
In May, I took off on another Tombstone Adventure through
Dixie. My first stop on this adventure
was in Lynchburg, Tennessee where I toured the Jack Daniels Distillery and
visited the grave of Gentleman Jack in the Lynchburg Cemetery.
In Alabama I made a quick stop at the U. S. Space and Rocket
Center in Huntsville. I have been here before and always found it very
interesting, but this time I caught them changing out exhibits and only the
Rocket Garden was available. Even though
most of the indoor exhibits were closed, they didn’t lower their price which
kind of ticked me off.
From Huntsville I was off to Birmingham where I visited
the Graves of several Notable People, including two of the all-time winningest
college football coaches, Paul “Bear” Bryant and Bobby Bowden.
While in the Birmingham area I also visited the graves of
NASCAR Personalities, Davey Allison, and Neil Bonnet along with Pro Football
Hall of Famer Bart Starr.
In this day and age, I don’t like spending the night in
large cities so, I headed about 40-miles north of Birmingham and spent the
night in Jasper, Alabama. It was here that what little plan I had changed.
After talking to the breakfast attendant at the Hotel. I discovered the Jasper
was the final resting place of George “Goober” Lindsey.
I couldn’t pass up the chance to “Say Hey to Goober.” After leaving the cemetery I stopped for some
coffee and was talking to a local to was kind enough to tell me that the Man
who Played Mr. Haney on the TV Series ‘Green Acres” was buried in a small
church cemetery just a few miles away. Off I went and spent a few minutes with
Pat Butram.
With my original plan out the window, I decided to make
my way over toward Tupelo, Mississippi. Along the way, I visited the Graves of
Country Music Star Sonny James and an early star of the Grand Ole Opry, Rod
Brassfield.
In Tupelo, I visited the birthplace of Elvis
Presley. I never was an Elvis Fan and
the birthplace while Interesting just wasn’t my cup of tea. Like Graceland, the
Birthplace is basically an overpriced tourist trap.
From Tupelo, I made my way to Corinth, Mississippi where
I spent the Night. The next morning, I started the day by visiting the site
where Sheriff Buford Pusser died in a car crash (photo left) on August 21, 1974. Then it was a stop at the Adamsville Cemetery
to pay my respects to Sheriff Pusser and His family.
My final Stop was at the Pusser Home and Museum in
Adamsville. The Home and Museum are
closed on Monday’s and guess what, I was there on a Monday. So, From
Adamsville, I made my way over to the Shiloh National Military Park.
The permanent visitor’s center at Shiloh was closed for renovations,
and I had to find one of the Rangers to get a driving tour Map. I spent the rest of the morning driving
around the Battlefield, ending my tour on the Banks of the Tennessee River at
Pittsburgh Landing.
After leaving Shiloh, I decided to head toward home, and
scooted around Nashville a few hours later. In the pouring rain I decided to
spend the Night in Cookeville, Tennessee. From there it was an easy drive home
the next day.
I stayed home in June, in preparation for my Canyonlands
Adventure with Sunshine Bus Tours. It
was an amazing trip that I enjoyed the tip very much. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to go
back and read the daily Canyonland blogs.
After returning from the Canyonlands Adventure, I stayed
close to home and only took a few short-day trips and a couple of overnight
trips just to get more footage for some future YouTube videos.
So, with the curtain falling on 2023, what are my plans
for 2024. While Nothing is etched in stone, I am looking at several different
options, including taking another long-distance Amtrak Trip. I absolutely loved
my 2018 Amtrak Trip and have started exploring my Amtrak options.
I am also Look at several long driving trips. One would take me up through New England in
the early summer. Another driving Option
would be a tour of the Presidential sites in Ohio and then up to the Henry Ford
Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. I would also like to head over to Grand Rapids
and visit the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum.
Another option would be returning to Texas and visiting
some of the sites I missed during the 2018 Texas Adventures and then returning
to and spending more time in Colorado.
One thing for sure is, I am not getting any younger and I
want to continue traveling as long as I can. So, in the weeks to come the 2024
Travel Season will begin to fall into place. I will keep you posted here. Until
then I hope each of you have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR.
