LOOKING BACK AT 2023 AND AHEAD TO 2024.

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.