The Best Festival Ever The fine people of Bell Buckle, TN know how to throw a festival. The Moon Pie Festival was a blast! A bare-chested band who can’t sing performed for folks who sat on bales of hay. Members of the general public who could sing rocked it at a karaoke stand. It was […]

Leave Your Comment »

Just 20,000 or so sets. Is that unusual? The Salt & Pepper Shaker Museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee is must-see. Why, exactly? Because everything else in Gatlinburg in woefully touristy, neon-y, and kitschy. Because you had no idea that salt and pepper shakers were made in so many styles. Because there are walls dedicated to themes: […]

Leave Your Comment »

While driving through the Mississippi Delta I discovered that cotton fields are worth pulling over to the side of the road. And getting your feet so stuck in the mud that you truly can’t move your feet. I mean, they weren’t going ANYWHERE. Finally after a great slurping sound there was freedom. And then stuck […]

Leave Your Comment »

The NATIONAL Cornbread Festival celebrated its 15th year when I visited in May 2011. Way to go  South Pittsburg, Tennessee to have a national presence! And a presence it did have: thousands upon thousands of people and even a newspaper printed just for the occasion. Personally I don’t think that was necessary, nor did they […]

Leave Your Comment »

I’ve also never been to a brothel or whorehouse (my mother must be beaming). But since I’m neither a man nor a cowboy/miner my, um, lack of experience isn’t surprising. Turns out the ladies knew more than just how to show a good time, they also knew how to secure payment in advance. Guests had […]

Leave Your Comment »