PLANNING AHEAD

While I really like being spontaneous and just traveling to see what is around the bend. But sometimes you really have to have a plan and today the planning for my 2018 NCAA Tournament Vacation started coming together.

Every year since 2001 I have attend the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament as various locations throughout the country. Some years I have stayed close to home, traveling to places like Greensboro, Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina. Other years I venture a little farther to places like Dayton, Ohio, Nashville, Tennessee and Greenville, South Carolina. 

Every year has been a new adventure. He is a list of the tournament sites that I have visited over the years:

2001 - Greensboro, North Carolina                                    2010 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2002 - Greenville, South Carolina                                      2011 - Charlotte, North Carolina
2003 - Birmingham, Alabama                                            2012 - Greensboro, North Carolina
2004 - Orlando, Florida                                                      2013 - Kansas City, Missouri
2005 - Nashville, Tennessee                                               2014 - Raleigh, North Carolina
2006 - Dallas, Texas                                                           2015 - Charlotte, North Carolina
2007 - Winston-Salem, North Carolina                             2016 - Raleigh, North Carolina
2008 - Birmingham, Alabama                                           2017 - Greenville, South Carolina
2009- Greensboro, North Carolina

As you can see for the past 4-years I have been staying close to home. So in 2018 it will be time to hit the road and head west. When I first looked at the 2018 Tournament sites, one location immediately jumped out at me. So in March 2018 I will be hitting the road and heading to Dallas Texas.

Up until today, it had kind of been up in the air as to where I would be going for March Madness, as in the past, I had pick a tournament site only to have that site come up with very limited or no tickets available for public sale. Most years I have received and early buy access code for the NCAA which allows me to buy tickets before they go on sale to the General Public.

I received my early buy access code this morning an was able to log into the American Airlines Arena - Ticketmaster website and about about 20-minute I was able to select and purchase my 2018 Tournament Tickets.

After purchasing my tournament tickets, I went ahead and reserved my hotel room. As I said before, I am a fan of hotel reward programs and my preferred hotel is the Choice Hotel Brand (Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn and Quality Inn). In the past it has really paid off to make my hotel reservations early before they raise their rate based on a special event. 

When making hotel reservations I always go through the CHOICE HOTELS WEBSITE where I can check the rates and reviews. Before making a final choice and confirming my reservation I also check the reviews on Trip Advisor. If the hotel get excellent or exceptional reviews on both sites then I go ahead and finalize my reservations. 

One thing about travel reviews. If a review is too good then I tend to throw it out as it is more than likely written by the hotel or a friend of the hotel management. I also tend to throw out extremely bad reviews because they are written by someone who has an ax to grind or is basically just a totally unreasonable guest and wants to make matters worse than they actually were.  I do contribute reviews to both sites and I never write a review while I am angry or upset. I always wait until I calm down so that I can be reasonably objective.

The hotel that I selected for my Dallas Tournament Stay is located about 5-miles away from the American Airlines Arena, for less than $100 a night.  The one thing that I don't like about this years tournament in Dallas is the Games are Thursday - Saturday which means my off day is Friday and I will have to deal with Dallas Traffic when exploring. But it does give me an extra day on Sunday to explore the downtown area around Dealey Plaza where I want to return to The Sixth Floor Museum and visit the sites associated with the Assassination of President Kennedy.

Another reason that I wanted to go to Dallas is that the Final Four is also in San Antonio and while I don't have Final Four Tickets I can attend some of the fan events around the area that are associated with the Final Four.

My plan is to spend about 3-4 weeks touring around Texas. This will be my first major trip since I retired and I don't plan on having much of a schedule. The only place that I have to be is in Dallas for the Tournament in Mid-March. The rest of the time we will just see what is around the bend.

A HAUNTING EVENING

Over the last several years a bunch of haunted houses have popped up in the area around Halloween. Each year there seems to be more and more. Each claiming to be bigger and better than their competition. 

One of the first in the area was the Major Graham Haunted Mansion near Fort Chiswell in Wythe County. The mansion was the home of Major David Graham who fought for the 51st Virginia Infantry during the Civil War.  The mansion was the center piece of the 6000 acres plantation owned by the Graham Family. 

Legend has it that Confederate officers held secret meetings in one of the rooms in the attic, which is known as "The Confederate Room."  The mansion has a dark history that that includes murdered slaves, imprisoned servants and ghost stories. 

One of the ghost stories centers around a man who were murdered by slaves on the Graham property. Before the the Graham Mansion stood on this site, a cabin belonging to Joseph Baker stood here. In 1786 Baker was murdered by two of his slaves. A few days later the slaves known as Bob and Sam were hung from a hickory tree that still over looks the mansion property. Legend has it that Bob and Sam still roam the property today and may have been seen inside the mansion. The completer story of  The Murder of Joseph Baker can be found here.

The haunted legend of the Graham Mansion is known far and wide and in 2012 "Ghost Hunters"

visited the site and officially declared the Mansion and surrounding area as "Haunted."

For the past several years the Haunted Graham Mansion has been one of the areas most popular Halloween attractions.  The 45-minute tour features props and live actors who set about to scare visitors as they make their way through the mansion and adjacent buildings.

Every Friday and Saturday Night in October more than 2,000 people a night pay $20 a person to take the scary tour through the Major David Graham Mansion. This year a couple of friends an myself were among the visitors. 

THE ROAD TO RETIREMENT - PART 2

Well, things are moving along toward my impending retirement and the day is getting closer that retirement will become a reality.  I have worked for the Commonwealth of Virginia for 43-years, beginning my employment with the state directly our of high school in 1974. This has been the only full time job that I have ever had, so it is only natural that second thoughts about this decisions have surfaced.

When something has been apart of ones life for such a long period of time, it is hard to just walk away from the stability of a regular pay check. But there were a few other thing that I considered other than the regular hours with a pay check. The first thing that I know that I am going to really miss is the people that I work with. Since 2008 I have been the supervisor of communications and I have been really lucky to work with a great group of people. I am truly going to miss the daily interaction with these people who I genuinely respect, like and enjoy being around.  These folks have become friends and I am going to miss seeing them on on a regular basis. I am not going to sugar coat things, this is my number one concern and the thing I anticipate missing the most.

The second thing that is giving me second thought is boredom. What am I going to do with all the extra time. Not having the structure of having to drive to the office ever day is going to be a tremendous adjustment. I have never been one to sit around and do nothing. I have to be active and have to be doing something.  I am fortunate to have a variety of interest; photography, hiking, rail-fanning and travel are just a few things that I enjoy. 

I am also very fortunate to enjoy my on company and have no problem being able to amuse myself. Photography is something that I have enjoyed for a number of years and have been lucky enough to sell and have some of my photos published.

I am very lucky to live in the State of Virginia, which is one of the most history areas of the United States.  I love history and I love to travel.  I am not going to sit hat home day in and day out. Day trips along the back roads of Virginia with just a picnic lunch and a camera will most likely take the place of the daily trips to the office.

Several years ago my doctor suggested that I lose some weight. It seemed that years of a less than healthy diet and sitting behind a desk had taken its toll and my weight had swelled to an unhealthy state. Lifting weights and the added cost of a gym membership did not appeal to me. But I knew that I had to get active and drop some weight. 

It was at that time that I discovered the joys of walking. It's a free form of exercise and something that I could do most anywhere. So I began walking for exercise, starting out with only a mile or two a day for about 30-minutes. But I soon found that I actually enjoy walking and increased my pace, and stamina.

I found that I looked forward to my daily walks. I am lucky to live in an area that features a number of places like the Huckleberry Trail, Bisset Park, and Pandapas Pond where I can get get in my daily walks without it becoming bored.  I have come to enjoy walking so much that I usually take my camera long, which allows me to combine two loves.

Also I am very lucky that residents of the Town of Christiansburg enjoy free access to the Recreation Center. So on days that the weather prevents me from walking outside, I can get my daily steps in there. The rec centers features and 8th of a mile track and a few pieces of fitness equipment. So spending an hours or two at the rec centers breaks up the boredom of a rainy day. Finally, I live close enough to the Blue Ridge Parkway that on days I am feeling particularly adventurous I can tackle one of the many hiking trails.

Finally, a few years ago the Roanoke Transportation Museum brought a historic steam locomotive back to life.  After sitting in a museum for more than 20-years the J-611, Spirit of Roanoke roared back to life. On the day that she returned to Roanoke under her own steam, I drove to Danville and photographed the ole girl at several locations as she made here way back to the Star City after undergoing extensive repairs at the Spencer Shops.

I manage to "chase" her from Danville to Bedford grabbing some great photos along the way.  During this "Chase" I met some great folks who introduced me to something known as "railfanning."  Over the past few years I have developed an interest in photographing trains, especially the Norfolk-Southern Heritage Units.  Living in an area rich with rail heritage, I have found that I enjoy visiting such popular railfanning locations as the Historic Montgomery Tunnel, The Christiansburg Grade in Shawsville and the coaling tower at Vicker Switch. For whatever reason, I find it quite relaxing to sit at one of these location with a good book waiting for a passing train to come by. Like I say it doesn't take much to amuse me.

I will be able to occupy my time once retirement set in. So those second thought have been push to the side.

So where do I stand as I continue marching down the Road to Retirement.

On September 12, 2017, I drove to Richmond and met with my Personnel Office and officially completed and submitted my retirement papers to be effective January 1, 2018.  Due to the unique way the State of Virginia does it pay periods, my last official day of employment will be December 24, 2017. Quiet a Christmas present that I am giving myself.

On October 10, 2017, I submitted my application for Social Security Benefits. I have decided to draw my Social Security Benefits in order to supplement State Retirement Income, which will allow me to NOT draw on my personal investments, allowing them to hopefully continue to grow.

Finally, The State will only pay me for a small amount of my leave. I will be loosing a large amount of sick leave as the state will only pay me $5000, but I am not one to use sick leave when I am not sick. Even though I am losing a large amount of sick leave, I am not going to lose my vacation. So in order to get my leave down to where I can get paid for the maximum, I found that I had about two and a half month of leave that I will need to take before December 24, 2017.

So on October 12, 2017, I worked my last scheduled shift.  Over the next two and a half months, I will only have 6-days that I can work without losing any leave.During those 6-days, I plan on wrapping up some pending projects and turning my duties over to the other two supervisors.

Over the next several weeks, I will be adjusting to the leisurely pace of retirement while still drawing a full pay check.

The march toward retirement continues....

DID THE FBI JUST BLOW UP COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Yesterdays arrests of four college basketball coaches by the FBI have sent shockwaves through the NCAA and its member schools. And from all indications this is just the beginning.  In their announcement the federal prosecutor and F.B.I. stated very clearly that “we have you playbook,” and we are coming for you. 

 

The four coaches, Chuck Person from Auburn, LaMont Evans from Oklahoma State, “Book” Richardson from Arizona and USC’s Tony Bland have all been implicated by the FBI of using money supplied by shoe company Adidas to steer prominent high school recruits toward specific universities, and sports agents.

In addition the Louisville Men’s Basketball program has been implicated in receiving payments of approximately $100,000 which was funneled to the family of recruit Brian Bowen who committed to Louisville early this summer.  In the FBI Statement they indicated that they have phone records to support the alleged criminal behavior by the Louisville staff.

Rick Pitino couldn't talk or deny his way out of the latest allegations

This is but the latest and probably most serious allegations against Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino who has left a trail of NCAA violations at every school he has been at. This is more than NCAA Violations, this is a criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI and all of those involved could be looking a significant jail time.

Pitino ranks up there with disgraced coach Dave Bliss as being one of the most disreputable people in sports. In 2010 he was involved in a federal extortion investigation involving Karen Syphers who served time in prison after attempting to get money from the coach in exchange for keeping quiet.

Then in 2015 members of his staff was basically running a whore house for prospective recruits. And now this federal fraud investigation is probably the final nail in Pitino’s coffin.  Over the years including the 2015 whore house investigation and again yesterday when the latest allegations came to the surface, Pitino claimed he didn’t know and is shocked by the information.  It's your program and if you didn't know, you should have. Your statements and plausible denial just don't hold water.

When you look at everything that is going on under the banner of the NCAA, it appears that the organization has lost total control of its so called member institutions. Recent NCAA investigation at marquee programs like North Carolina, Syracuse and again at Louisville which takes years to complete makes the entire NCAA irrelevant. In short the FBI is doing something the NCAA either refused to do or couldn’t do.  When you get right down to the brass tacks, the NCAA is not capable of managing the vast expanse that is college athletics.

What came out yesterday is just the tip of the iceberg. There will be more schools named and there will be more high profile coaches not only lose their job but become the subjects of criminal investigations.

Louisville announced that Pitino has been placed on unpaid administrative leave which is probably a politically correct way of saying he will be fired in the very near future. Which leave me to ask what about Sean Miller at Arizona, or Bruce Pearl at Auburn, Andy Enfield at USC and Mike Boynton at Oklahoma State, how well are they sleeping at night and how safe are their jobs.

Is this FBI Criminal Investigation a good thing? I think so. This is more about losing scholarships, tournament bans or probations.  This is about significant jail time for the corrupt individuals. Did the  FBI just blow up College Basketball? I think so and I am not at all convinced that it is a bad thing.  The corruption that goes on at major programs needs to be exposed and dealt with, which is again something the NCAA couldn’t or more likely wouldn’t do.

THE TOMBSTONE TOURIST VISITS: BELLEFONTAINE CEMETERY

I first visited St. Louis in March of 2010 hen I was on the way to the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Oklahoma City. In 2013 my NCAA Tournament Vacation took me to Kansas City and I once again stopped in St. Louis.  When I first started researching things to see and do in St. Louis, the first thing that I wanted to do was visit the famous Gateway Arch, and many of the downtown attractions. But also high on my list was a visit to some of the area's historic cemeteries, including St. Peter's, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Calvary and Bellefontaine.

During my 2010 visit I spent the better part of an entire day visiting Bellefontaine and Calvary Cemeteries. These two cemeteries are located on Florissant Avenue, north of downtown St. Louis.shortly after  The surrounding area is not the best and I was a little apprehensive as I got closer to the the cemetery.

Bellefontaine Cemetery is a very large cemetery consisting of more than 300-acres and is the final resting place of close to 100,000 people. The cemetery was founded in 1849 and some of the first burials were a result of the area's worst cholera epidemic. In the years that followed some of our nations most notable citizens were buried here.

I arrived at Bellefontaine Cemetery shortly after 9 a.m. and stopped at the office where I picked up a driving tour map and a small booklet that details the history of many of the historic figures that are buried here.

BUSCH MAUSOLEUM: As a young man Adolphus Busch  delivered supplies to local breweries and met and married the daughter of Eberhardt Anheuser. After the Civil War Adolphus joined his father-in-law in the brewery business.  Together the two grew their locally brewery into Anheuser-Busch, which is today the world's largest brewery company, featuring 12-brewery's in the United States and is also one of the worlds largest theme park operators.

SAMUEL HAWKEN: In the early 1800's, brothers Jacob and Samuel Hawken opened a gun shop in St. Louis. Their Hawken Rifle quickly became a favorite of the the mountain men, replacing the Kentucky Long Rifle. Jacob died in 1849 and Samuel continued the business until the late 1850's when he sold his business to J. P. Gemmer who continued the tradition until 1915 when the shop finally closed.  Samuel Hawken died on May 9, 2884 at the age of 92.

GENERAL STERLING PRICE: General Price was a veteran of the Mexican War and governor of Missouri from 1853 to 1857. He originally tried to keep Missouri in the Union but later joined the Confederacy and rose to the rank of Major General. When it became apparent that the South would lose the war, Price and a few of his loyal followers fled to Mexico to serve in the army of Emperor Maximilian.  He returned to St. Louis late in life and died here on September 29, 1867.  Evidently the actor John Wayne was fond of General Price as Rock Hudson's Character in the Movie "The Undefeated" was loosely based on the Civil War life of General Price.  Finally Rooster Cogburn's Cat in the the John Wayne Movie "True Grit" was named - General Sterling Price.

GENERAL WILLIAM CLARK: General Clark along with Meriwether Lewis led the expedition that explored the upper Louisiana Territory all the way to the Pacific ocean.  Lewis and Clark, lead the Corp of Discovery on the expedition that departed St. Louis in 1804 and returned in 1806. Following their return, Lewis was either murdered or committed suicide while traveling on the Natchez Trace south of Columbia, Tennessee. General Clark Married Julia Hancock in 1808. In addition to caring for his own family General Clark cared for the children of Sacagawea after she died in 1812. He also later served as Governor of the Missouri  Territory for 7-years, and when Missouri became a state, he ran for Governor of the State but lost the election. After loosing the election Clark continued his work in Indian Affairs and was respected for his ethical and fair treatment of Native Americans. William Clark remained in St. Louis and died here on September 1, 1838.  General Clark

THOMAS HART BENTON: When Missouri became a state in 1821, Benton became it's first United States Senator. He was a defender of the Union and lobbied for Missouri to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War. Benton was also a staunch supporter of expansion and was responsible for the eastern portions of the Missouri Pacific Railroad starting in St. Louis, resulting in the City becoming the  industrial and business center of the Midwest. Benton also was featured in a notorious part of local history when he and lawyer Charles Lucas fought a duel on Bloody Island in the Mississippi River. Lucas was wounded but survived the first duel, but was mortally wounded during the second one.  Senator Thomas Hart Benton died on April 10, 1858, in Washington, D. C.






I spent more than 4-hours touring Bellefontaine during my 2010 Visit and returned in 2013 and spend another 3-hours here. Once again, Bellefontaine is a very large and historic cemetery and the management embraces their history. Throughout the cemetery, visitors will see different colored line painted down the center of the road. These colors of the lines represent the different tours available, one tour highlights a Civil War Tours that takes you to notable graves of Civil War figures. Another tour is basically the historical tour which is the longest tour and highlights many of the historical figures that are buried here.

Whether you are pushed for time or have all day to spend in the Cemetery, I encourage you to stop at the office and pickup a driving tour map. It will help and enlighten as you make you way around Historic Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Here is a short Video highlighting my two visits to Bellefontaine Cemetery.