Continuing Winter Tour 2005 in EKY

[kybearfuzz]

Another day on the road. This time, the roads were up and down and very winding. I would have made better time today if not for a an old guy in his Blazer doing a cool 20 miles an hour in the 45 miles an hour area for a good ten miles. Oh, if ONLY I could have passed him.... I shouldn't complain, I did get a lot of work done today.

I did bring the camera and found a few more roadside gems along the way. Some scare and some tickle...


Nothing like an ominous warning to make a stranger feel welcome...
I saw this one on the side of the highway around Ravenna, KY and it honestly spooked me a bit. It's been my experience thus far that the deeper you get into rural Kentucky, the more Bible-thumping the natives. In the midst of work yesterday, the guy I was dealing with asked me if I went to church. I don't know what I said to get that question. He gave me pamphlets.


The Purple Cow in Beattyville, KY
I thought this sign was great. Apparently, the restaurant has been open for quite a long while. It's a pretty original name for a restaurant so old. Who knew that cows came in different colors....


Where will they put the choir?
I saw this on the long drive this morning and nearly wrecked the car rubbernecking to make sure I saw it correctly. The sign is actually for a church up the side road (I think), but with the little outhouse-type building right next to it, it makes for a funny and interesting sight.


Granny Boo's, she'll scare ya...
In Berea, along US 25, there are a series of "antique" shops, i.e. junk shops. This one really stood out with this name and sign. The owner is also named Beulah. Now that's a name you don't hear anymore...


Fast Eddie Lives in Berea
While I was going to fuel up the car, I passed by a hardware store and remembered that Fast Eddie worked there now. I just had to stop by and say hi to him. Fast Eddie was the owner of a small grocery and deli called the Cardinal Deli in Berea. It was on the main strip between the Boone Tavern Hotel and Papaleno's Pizza and was a very popular hangout for the student crowd in my college days. His sandwiches were not elaborate, but they were amazingly good. My favorite was the BLT. I used to treat myself to one about once a week, grabbing one before my morning chemistry class. When I lived in Kansas City and was visiting KY for whatever reason, I would time my trip back to KC to coincide with him opening the deli in the morning just to get that sandwich. In his fedora hat and red apron, he would do a cross in the air like he was blessing the food. Luckily, he's doing well in the post-Cardinal era.

Sadly, the deli closed because it was getting too expensive for him to run. The deli is now an art gallery or something. I hate to see it missing. The college square just doesn't feel the same.

I was going to stay at the Boone Tavern Hotel tonight in Berea. I used to work in the dining room. I've eaten there several times over the years, but I've never stayed in the hotel. I was going to treat myself to that only to find the hotel closed for renovations until January 20. That figures. Sigh, some other time I guess....

Tomorrow: Home!

Comments

[rixtur.livejournal.com]

Try driving through the California desert. They have alot of stores in the middle of nowhere with Alien themes. They try and bank on the whole Area 51 thing.