Category Archives: Walls and Signs

Bells, Tenn. — Not sure what to think of this town!

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I made a brief stop for ice, baby carrots and gas.

From the grocery store parking lot, I shot this funky old building

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and picked up my free copy of the West Tennessee Examiner's "CrimeSeen," which I imagine has been the stripes-earner for a slew of unfortunate reporters.

Let's get to the highlights. Nancy Grace would be so proud.

'Two go to trail'

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If you don't want your picture posted…

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Wholesome advertisements

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'Blazing flames injuries'

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The website for the Examiner is www.wtegoodnews.com. Go figure.

‘Don’t fret’ and Memphis nightlife

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IMG_2740 Keon Cooper, 23, was my personal Memphis tour guide one Saturday night. He is a firefighter and cooks at at The Pier Restaurant downtown, where we met when he helped guide my RV into an alley so I could plug in and have AC.

(I overloaded my system and had to unplug for the night at 7:30, but that's another story).

I hadn't planned to spend the hottest weeks of the year in the South, but I'm trying to hit a tier of states I wanted to see and would have otherwise missed via my planned coastal itinerary. Unfortunately, the heat and humidity are merciless. More for Armani than me. Humans can escape for dinner into air conditioned restaurants. Humans can sweat. But she has to weather this out in her giant, metal dog house.

Thankfully, in the crazy scavenger hunt that is now my world, there are messengers sent to help me.

Anthony Gales (who I met when I mistakenly pulled into his gas station from yesteryear) was one of those. He told me about The Pier.

And when I got there, manager David McCain (right) was surprisinglyIMG_2744 OK with the idea of donating electricity to me.

He claims he's gotten stranger requests — like a group of 17 filing in at once to use the restroom.

McCain actually spent much of his childhood in the Ozarks where I'd just come from.

"Don't fret," he said to me, while I was thanking him excessively.

"Ha, I must me in the South," I responded. "I could use a little less fretting.'

Outside of the tourist draw on Beale Street, Memphis was surprisingly less lively than I thought it would be. It almost seems this city had it's musical moment in the sun and now that creative energy is hovering some place different.

It is still incredibly historic.

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Keon and I had a good time walking around and talking about life.

In fact, I think we made a kickass team – this 115-pound blond girl and the 260-pound black guy. If only because the world reacts to us so differently.

He got searched at the entrance to Beale Street and they waved me on through.

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"Wow," I said. "They hardly even looked in my purse. I guess they don't think I'm much of a threat."

"Yeah," he said with a laugh. "People usually get out of my way."

A colorful walk through downtown Lawrence

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Lawrence is a university city with about 100,000 year-round residents. It's the birthplace of basketball, too.

Here's the entrance to a used record store where I bought a Candelbox and three Tom Petty CDs. That store and several others lure in customers with resident kitties adopted from the local no-kill shelter.

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The downtown area has seen a few businesses close during the past year — among them a drug store (not pictured) that had been locally run more than 100 years.

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Gillette, Wyo. – a boom town created by mineral extraction

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In 2000 Gillette had 19,000 residents and today there's closer to 35,000, I'm told by Brian Pierce of the convention and visitor's bureau.

And that's one of many growth spurts in the history of the city, whose economy is based on mineral extraction.

There is a smallish downtown and huge newer shopping area. Lots of city financed amenities, including a free swimming pool (with lines out the door!)

Why am I doing this again?

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Don't worry, I'm not going to stop blogging. But I thought I should address a couple things that keep coming up.
People often ask me what my "thesis" is for this project, and that's a great question. You can check out my about page to see why I'm doing this.
As a journalist and amateur sociologist, though, I'm trying to keep my own opinions from heavily affecting what I present to you.
Of course, my "coverage" is bound to be skewed by my political views! Also, because I'm driving my house and dog everywhere with me, I'm sticking to smaller cities and towns, which has so far resulted in pretty poor ethnic diversity.
I'll try to work on that.
I am finding patriots are everywhere!
If I had to choose a thesis for this project, so far, I'd say it's that there is a powerful connection between American identity and wild lands. I'd probably argue that we need to actively preserve and promote our landscape in order to maintain a connection to our rugged, individualistic history.
That may sound 101 to lots of you, but growing up and spending much of my adult life in the suburbs and city, it's actually not something I really connected until recently.

The other thing that's been bugging me is the fact my focus on patriotism is not obvious when you peruse my blog.
Because I'm not getting paid, I've been using this forum as a travel diary in addition to my project. I'll try to stick closer to Americana stuff in the future.
Lastly, you would not believe the juggling act required to post sometimes. Many of my entries have been shorter than I'd like, but just know that I am on deadline – the deadline imposed by a flickering bar of wi-fi and the waning batteries in my electronics.

As always, I love getting feedback so please comment or email me.

And enjoy this mural on the wall in Cody, Wyoming!

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