WANTED: New hometown

@OscarMadison I believe they were referencing the Bowling Green (and Athens) in Ohio.

I need to explore Bowling Green, Ky., sometime. Never been more than a fast food stop for me.

 

Lived in Vermont on several occasions over the course of the last 25 years. It was time to go. Love Vermont, maybe I'll go back for a 5th time. But I needed to be somewhere else. Here's another visual from early in this morning's walk ... breakfast in bed. America.

 

This billboard used to be about midway between Tuscaloosa and Starkville, as if Pickens County was not foreboding enough.

 

BG, Ohio. Flat and boring. No school, just spent time there

 

@dixiehack, To find the really good stuff, (burgoo, BBQ, local honey, etc.) head south and east to Allen County. There's a good sized Amish community and they sell produce and small-batch canned goods. Rufus Weaver is the best beekeeper, The Brubaker family offers the best heirloom produce and the Hoover family makes the best relish. One of the Hoover matriarchs can bake a rhubarb pie that will make you foreswear the dark gods of your ancestors. (Don't tell her that!) BBQ is best from families with big smokers and hand-lettered signs. FWIW, the best BBQ was made by a family who lived down the street from Belmont U in Nashville. They didn't advertise because MN-DC would get after them. They'd just set up their smoker and people came and bought their 'Q.

I haven't been there since before the pandemic, but Glasgow, Kentucky used to have a Scots Pride festival. Vendors from Scotland would bring yarn, textiles, and toffee, shortbread, and there was always someone who would batter and deep-fry anything. The last guy turned it into a spectator sport. Use to, I'd meet someone who was at those festivals and it wasn't the feats of strength or artisan wares or the music...It was the guy who fried stuff they remembered. Aaaaand I think I figured out why I've lost even more weight during lockdown.

@Mngwa, natives used to call BG, KY "Boring, Grim." The uni brings in some good concerts. Almost every little town I stayed overnight in to tape or dig had decent-to-extraordinary varsity basketball and football. It's a nice town and the privately owned places are better than average. It was a nice place to call home base while wandering all over KY and TN.

 

You know how people (OK men) pick up weird hobbies in retirement? I’d like to spend a winter following small-town Kentucky high school basketball, all the way through the regionals and onto the all-class Sweet 16 at Rupp.

 

@Songbird your pictures are stirring. I hope you can find a larger audience for them.
Your situation reminds me a bit of Amelia Rayno, the former sports journalist who has found a new life and meaning through her wanderlust. She literally lives out of a van, chronicling the often dire and sometimes magnificent world around her. Her instagram posts -- the pictures and the words -- are exceptional.

This is her: https://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/amelia-rayno-nomadland-van-life/

Anyway, thanks for resurrecting this thread. It brings back so many memories and makes me miss quite a few folks. For instance, does anyone know what happened to Tom Petty, the poster? Didn't know him personally, but always got a kick out of his cranky views.

 

Went on a long walk this afternoon. Too long. But by the time I realized I was too far away I kept pushing further.

My street to Gregory Way across La Cienega onto a neighborhood street that twisted and turned and dumped back onto Olympic ... to Fairfax where I kept going and going and going ... thru Little Ethiopia ... to 18th to La Cienega, where I should've turned back toward my place but instead looked to my left and saw the 10 underpass and decided to go that way ... to Venice down to National ... to Robertson ... stopping at the corn cart for hot buttered corn on a stick ... all the way down to Pico ... to Glatt's Jewish market (meatballs/so-so and sushi/excellent) ... and finally home. Way too long, at least two and half hours and probably 5 miles, and I'm zonked, but the hot buttered corn on a stick was crunchy and good.

To see the rest, click me.​

The Beverly Hills baseball field got me wondering if any Beverly Hills High Normans ever made it to the bigs.

Ken Harvey played a few years for the Royals in the early aughts and hit 13 homers in back to back seasons then disappeared.

Ryan Karp (drafted in the 73rd round) had a 5.29 ERA (13 runs, 10 earned) in 17 innings over 2 years with the Phillies in the mid-aughts.

@gingerbread, Tom Petty died almost 3 years ago: RIP Lance Ogden

 

Ahmad Rashad's nephew went to Beverly Hills High. He was a standout football and baseball player. Dad is Denis Moore, Ahmad's brother. Can't remember the kid's first name. He went to UCLA and played both sports. I think he was a first-round draft pick in baseball so he signed, but I don't think he ever made it to the majors.
Willie Crawford (Dodgers) had a son who went to Beverly. Willie Crawford Jr. Prep football star, went to UCLA. Had a legal issue and had to go to court. He and a couple of friends assaulted a guy. His mom Delores (divorced from Willie Sr.) was a real estate agent in BH and kinda thought she was privileged. I sat with her in court a few times. She was trying to get my sympathy. I didn't care for her.

 

Tom Petty was cool if you got to know him through PMs.
Miss that guy. His cranky posts were entertaining, too.

 

none of the new photos load for me