Sign In
Frank S. Oliver
When I retired a few years back my little bride insisted that I find something to do so that I would not get underfoot in such a way that it might bring about marital discord. I am all for that. Leukemia is a piece of butterscotch pie compared to marital discord. Anyway I have bought a camera and a laptop and have set off to locate sites that are of interest to me. I take pictures at those sites and write short little stories about what took place there. My cousin, Bill, has encouraged me to start a blog, whatever that is, so that I can share my adventures. Next summer, 2013 will be the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Since I have never set foot on any of the battlegrounds where the War of Northern Aggression was so bitterly contested I am now determined to do so. The adventure will start in June 0f 2013 from my home in Tucson. I am calling it the Hysterical Journey to Historic Places. Come join me. In the meantime I will begin to post sites where I have already been. Once I figure out how this electronic crap all works.DoubleBarreledBob
Travel Blog Posts
Hysterical Journey to Historic Places
Published: May 15th 2013North America » United States » North Carolina » Manteo
May 15th 2013
DAY 23: MAY 14, 2013 I have arrived mostly intact at the Outer Banks Inn this evening after a drive of 319.3 that took most of all damn day. I left Oak Island after a totally mediocre breakfast at a little place the locals rave about called Russell’s. I reckon they have never had a good breakfast anywhere if they are fond of that place, or else the Russell Family owes money to everyone on the island. I missed a turn in Wilmington, NC and several miles later noticed that I was on the wrong highway. It took about an hour out of my life to find Jacksonville from Hwy 53. I got screwed up again in Jacksonville and drove completely around that whole place before getting back to Hwy 17 North again. Hwy ... read more
Hysterical Journey to Historic Places
Published: May 14th 2013North America » United States » North Carolina » Southport
May 14th 2013
DAY 22: MAY 13, 2013 After a drive of 293.5 miles I have come slap up against the Atlantic Ocean at a high priced little motel called the Ocean Crest on Oak Island, NC. I had a nice dinner at the seafood joint next door and am sitting around watching the sun go down out of the open motel room door. It is kind of bass-ackwards from what I am accustomed to seeing on the Pacific coast at sunset. This is more like a sunrise. Oak Island is just south of the estuary of the Cape Fear River. Locals hereabouts claim that the pirate Blackbeard went down in a blaze of glory a short distance above the little town of Southport. He was shot 19 times and had 7 saber cuts and his beard ... read more
Hyterical Journey to Historic Places
Published: May 12th 2013North America » United States » South Carolina » Gaffney
May 12th 2013
DAY 20: MAY 11, 2013 I had breakfast this morning at a little place called the Collinsville Bistro. The food was good, but something smelled funny in there. I couldn’t tell if it was me or if it was the waitress; or if it was a backed up drain, a gas leak or a dead body in the kitchen. I finished the meal, had only one cup of coffee, and scampered off quickly in case it was me. From Martinsville it is a fairly long drive down to the Cowpens National Battlefield in South Carolina. I am glad I made the drive. It is a place well worth the visit. A few years back Mel Gibson made a movie called The Patriot. It was an entertaining movie, but it was mostly bullshit ... read more
Hysterical Journey to Historic Places
Published: May 11th 2013North America » United States » Virginia » Appomattox
May 11th 2013
DAY 19: MAY 10, 2013 Me and my pal, Mark Thobe, joined the army on the buddy system. It meant we could be assigned to the same basic training company. We were joined at the hip though and ended up in the same squad. We went off together for advanced training at Fort Leonard Wood as heavy equipment operators. We weren’t supposed to be together anymore but we ended up in the same squad again. We were having breakfast one morning at a table with Lomax Wesley. He was a good old boy from Alabama. We sat down and started in putting milk and brown sugar in our mush. We thought it was Cream o’ Wheat. Lomax was astonished. He said, “what are you fellas doin’ to them grits. That ain’t the way you ... read more
Hyterical Journey to Historic Places
Published: May 10th 2013North America » United States » Virginia » Hot Springs
May 10th 2013
Day 18: May 9, 2013 Last night I was the only person in the whole Greenbrier Lodge. They only have 5 rooms there and the other 4 were vacant. When the restaurant closed all of the employees went home. It was kind of a strange way to spend a night. I had pancakes and ham downstairs in the restaurant before meeting the local historian, Bill McNeal, at the museum. He was a kind old gentleman and did his best to answer my inquiries about the location of the militia fort. The information we needed turned out to be in a book other than the one he found. Bill turned out to be one of our distant cousins through the Poage line. Clover Lick John and Robert Poage waded onto the beach in ... read more
Hysterical Journey to Historic Places
Published: May 10th 2013North America » United States » West Virginia » Logan
May 10th 2013
DAY 17: MAY 8, 2013 West Virginia is designed to be traveled north to south; east to west it is bitch kitty. The eastern part of the state is far more scenic. I have stopped tonight after a drive of 220.4 miles at the Greenbrier Lodge in Marlinville, WV. It is slap on the bank of the Greenbrier River and the river is at an alarmingly high stage. Bill would like it here if we don’t all topple over in our sleep and drown in muddy water. They have good eats downstairs and there is a four piece hillbilly string band keeping things lively. I had a dish of their “West Virginia Original” for supper. It was grilled kielbasa, potatoes, onions, green peppers and mushrooms. I hope to survive long enough to cook it ... read more
Hysterical Journey to Historic Places
Published: May 8th 2013North America » United States » West Virginia » Logan
May 8th 2013
DAY 16: MAY 7, 2013 This morning I hiked up the steep trail to the Cumberland Gap Saddle. It is only a distance of 0.6 miles, but it almost killed me. The round trip was 1.2 miles. Almost exactly the same distance as the Kentucky Derby. It took me far longer than 2 minutes though. I don’t understand it. I have been eating plenty of oats. This evening I have come to roost at the Candlewood place in Logan, West Virginia after a drive of 248.4 miles. It is the only motel here, but it is the nicest one I have stayed in. Kevin will be pleased that it has child-protected electric outlets. I can’t figure out how they work of course. Cumberland Gap Daniel Boone found his way into Kentucky through ... read more
Hysterical Journey to Historic Places
Published: May 7th 2013North America » United States » Tennessee
May 7th 2013
DAY 15: MAY 6, 2014 Those eleven million illegals who the government can’t find? They are in Middle Tennessee at the little town of Crossville. Last night was Stinko de Mayo and I found them all trying to get supper at a pretty good Mexican joint called Romo’s. For the holiday Romo’s brought in a mariachi band. Food was good, the music was good, and that little place was jumping. This morning I suspect that little dive in Dumas, Texas was pretty lively too. Big old Texas fellas would be in there pounding down their early morning shooters before work. After a drive of 213.5 miles I am at the Days Inn at Middlesboro, KY. It appears that I will be having Mexican again tonight. Tomorrow I will visit Cumberland Gap. Daniel Boone found ... read more
Hysterical Jporney to Historic Places
Published: May 6th 2013North America » United States » Tennessee » Dayton
May 5th 2013
DAY 14: APRIL 5, 2013 Day 13 was spent resting at the wrong end of town in Chattanooga and watching the Kentucky Derby. I wanted to do some laundry yesterday but it turned out to be more than the motels on the Alabama side of town could accommodate. Early check-in was the problem. The Ramada had guest laundry facilities and they offered to allow me a room there for an early check in fee of $15. I told them to kiss my big pink Texas ass and tried the Best Western next door. That place did not have guest laundry facilities, so I tried the Clarion across the street. They did not have facilities there either, but while I was talking to the room clerk some haughty woman barged in to the lobby and ... read more
Hysterical Journey to Historic Places
Published: May 4th 2013North America » United States » Tennessee » Columbia
May 4th 2013
DAY TWELVE: MAY 3, 2013 I bellied up with my cold pizza breakfast this morning and then went to Columbia, TN. Columbia is a town that has a dozen highways and none of them are marked. I had to just drive around until I found the James K. Polk Home and finally came up on it from the opposite direction than I planned. James Knox Polk Polk was our 11th President holding office between 1845 and 1849, and he did a damn fine job of running the country. He had an expansionist agenda and worked hard every day until he got the job done. He served only one term, but got everything done that he set out to do. What more can we ask of a President beyond hard work and diligent ... read more
Tot: 0.148s; Tpl: 0.008s; cc: 15; qc: 57; dbt: 0.0541s; 1; s:apollo w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 1; ; mem: 6.4mb
© 2013 TravelBlog.org & Bloggers