Happy Friday!  Summer officially arrived this week!  Summer often means travel and if you are still looking for some interesting spots to visit this summer I am here to give you a few ideas.  If your travels will take you through Tennessee or Alabama this summer here are a few places you just might want to check out that are a bit off the beaten path.

Enjoy!

Columbia, Tennessee – Mule Capital of the World – Besides the Mule Day Parade, there is a Mule Day Queen, a Mule Pull, a Liar’s Contest, and a collection of large, painted fiberglass mules.

Dandridge, Tennessee – Bush’s Beans museum – A tribute to canned baked beans, by the company making them for over 100 years, starting at this old general store. Photo ops, displays, a theater playing the “History of Grilling,” and an opportunity to see your weight in beans.  They have a restaurant that does indeed serve beans and other items.  I marked this one off my bucket list last year.

Knoxville, Tennessee – World’s Largest Rubik’s Cube – A restored relic from the 1982 Knoxville World’s Fair.  I never could solve the regular size version.

Memphis, Tennessee – Billy Bass Adoption Center – Wall of novelty gift sensation singing fish trophies, donated to the restaurant by customers in exchange for a free basket of catfish. And you thought that singing fish was not worth anything.

Birmingham, Alabama – Vulcan the Iron Man – fifty-six foot-tall statue of Vulcan, the Roman smithy god, watches Birmingham from his tower on the summit of Red Mountain. Been there, done that, it is pretty neat,

Gadsden, Alabama – Noccalula Falls Doomed Maiden – An over-sized bronze statue of an Indian maiden teeters on the brink of Noccalula Falls. Legend says she flung herself to her doom because her father wanted her to marry a boy she didn’t like.  Ain’t love grand?  I’ve been there, done that, but did not purchase the t-shirt.

Oak Grove, Alabama – Housewife-Whacking Meteor Fell Here – A historical marker stands near the spot where 34-year-old Ann Hodges became the only known person to have been hit by a meteorite.  Apparently Ms. Hodges was taking a nap in the early afternoon of November 30, 1954, when an 8.5-pound meteorite crashed through the roof of her house and landed on her hip. She survived without much apparent damage.  However, it appears that the stress of subsequent fame led to a nervous breakdown and divorce. She died an invalid in 1972.   The moral of the story would appear to be that fame ain’t all that it is cracked up to be.

Decatur, Alabama – Pest Control Museum – Cook’s Pest Control, a long-established business headquartered in Decatur, originally set up some employee training displays on insects and the damage they inflict. There are many giant insect specimens — big roaches and beetles pinned to displays or slowly rotating on Lazy Susans. Wonder if they have a cafeteria…..

Enterprise, Alabama – Boll Weevil Monument – Swarms of the weevils ate up the cotton crop, forcing Enterprise to agriculturally diversify. The grateful town erected a classical statue of a woman holding a large version of the insect over her head, is smack dab in the middle of town, right in the center of Main Street.  If you have to choose between the boll weevil monument or the pest control museum, I would have to go with the lesser of two weevils.

For more out-of-the-way places no matter what state your travels take you to visit http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

Thought for the Week

When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money.  Then take half the clothes and twice the money.  ~Susan Heller

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