The Halls Of Montezuma (Indiana)

We discovered Montezuma during our Indiana Covered Bridge excursion.  An interesting little town on the banks of the Wabash River.  There was a pretty cool (but short) main street, with several fascinating old buildings.  I would love to have been able to see inside...

Rex Theater:

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King Hotel / Cafe:

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Machledt Furniture:

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Dunlap Hotel (also posted at Happenstance):

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Phillips Coverd Bridge

Just another covered bridge...

The smallest bridge we saw during our tour of Indiana's covered bridge country.  Phillips Bridge (#22) is a cute little thing, spanning 43 feet (plus 9 feet of cover over each).  Unlike Mecca, this one is still in service, and you can drive across.

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click for larger versions of any image...

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Mecca Covered Bridge

During our recent covered bridge tour, our starting point was Mecca.  Along with the funky little town, and the one room school-house, was the Mecca Bridge (#21):

The road no longer goes through this bridge, you have to walk... This is from the east side of the bridge, looking back towards Mecca.

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From the west end....

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Front view...

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I thought  these propped windows were pretty cool...  And the obvious aging on the boards.

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The view from that window above.... rendered in B&W

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And the obligatory through the bridge shot...

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Heartaches By The Number, Troubles By The Score

And Twenty Two is a pretty big number.....

Title is from the old Dwight Yoakam song, doing a little country today...

This Month In Music - July 1966

Running late this month, so sorry (been traveling!)
Julye1966...  50 years ago!  What was happening in the music world:

There were five Saturdays in July. '66, so there the charts came out 5 times.  And four different songs made it to #1.  July started with Frank Sinatra's "Strangers In The Night" topping the charts, up from #2 the last week of June.  The Beatles knocked Frank from #1, with Paperback Writer, but it only lasted 1 week at the Top.   Tommy James and the Shondells were next, with "Hanky Panky".  Which hung on two weeks before being knocked out by The Troggs' "Wild Thing".   Wild thing made it's chart debut at #6, and would go on to 

Here's the Top 10 songs of the month, based on average chart position over the 4 weeks:

• Name  -  Artist  -  Jul-Ave
• Hanky Panky  -  Tommy James And The Shondells  -  2.8
• Paperback Writer  -  The Beatles  -  5.2
• Please Don'tSell My Daddy No More Wine  -  The Greenwoods  -  5.8
• You Don't Have To Say You Love Me  -  Dusty Springfield  -  6.8
• Strangers InThe Night  -  Frank Sinatra  -  8.8
• Wild Thing  -  The Troggs  -  11.6
• Lil' Red Riding Hood  -  Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs  -  11.6
• Little Girl  -  Syndicate Of Sound  -  12.2
• Along Comes Mary  -  The Association  -  15.2
• Ain't Too Proud To Beg  -  The Temptations  -  16.2

Thirty-Two (32) songs made their chart debuts.  Listed below with their peak position during the month:

• Name  -  Artist  -  Peak
• Wild Thing  -  The Troggs  -  1
• Lil' RedRiding Hood  -  Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs  -  3
• The Pied Piper  -  Crispian St. Peters  -  4
• I Saw Her Again  -  The Mamas & The Papas  -  5
• Hungry  -  Paul Revere & The Raiders Featuring Mark Lindsay  -  6
• Summer InThe City  -  The Lovin' Spoonful  -  7
• Sweet Pea  -  Tommy Roe  -  8
• Mothers Little Helper  -  The Rolling Stones  -  9
• Somewhere, My Love  -  Ray Conniff And The Singers  -  10
• They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!  -  Napoleon XIV  -  11
• Sunny  -  Bobby Hebb  -  14
• This Door Swings Both Ways  -  Herman's Hermits  -  16
• Over Under Sideways Down  -  The Yardbirds  -  17
• The Work Song  -  Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass  -  18
• Love Letters  -  Elvis Presley  -  19
• You Better Run  -  The Young Rascals  -  20
• I Want You  -  Bob Dylan  -  20
• Sweet Dreams  -  Tommy McLain  -  23
• Trains And Boats And Planes  -  Dionne Warwick  -  25
• I Couldn't Live Without Your Love  -  Petula Clark  -  26
• Happy Summer Days  -  Ronnie Dove  -  27
• Please Tell Me Why  -  The Dave Clark Five  -  28
• Where WereYou When I Needed You  -  The Grass Roots  -  28
• See You In September  -  The Happenings  -  30
• Pretty Flamingo  -  Manfred Mann  -  32
• Searching For My Love  -  Bobby Moore And The Rhythm Aces  -  33
• Billy And Sue  -  B.J. Thomas And The Triumphs  -  34
• The Impossible Dream (The Quest)  -  Jack Jones  -  35
• Friday's Child  -  Nancy Sinatra  -  36
• Oh Yeah  -  The Shadows Of Knight  -  39
• You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd  -  Roger Miller  -  40
• Blowin In The Wind  -  Stevie Wonder  -  40

What a GREAT month.......  IMHO

Hardware / Heating

Seen (or scene?) from my recent trip through Paris.  Paris, ILLINOIS, of course.  The rusted sign really caught my fancy.  Here's the full building:

S.W.Yontz & Son Hardware.  I couldn't find much on the internet.  Apparently SW Yontz started in 1910 in Chrisman IL, a few miles north of Paris.  In 1920 they opened a store in Paris, and another in 1925.  This seems to be the 1925 store ("This store is now located on the east side of the square in Paris and managed by Karl Yontz, Jr")...

Mecca ... Indiana Style

No, not THAT Mecca...  Rather, Mecca, Indiana.  population 335 (2010 census), and our fisrt stop on our recent covered bridge excursion.  Click on images for larger versions...


Mecca General Store

Mecca General Store.  Note the red arrow on the telephone pole on the right.  This is where we picked up the Red Loop on the covered bridge tour.  As you can see, it wasn't a very pretty day, but we still had fun.  It spit rain off and on, including while we were here.

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Hot Food - Cold Drink - Groceries - Candy - Ice Cream:

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Possible Past Post Office

OK, I don't really know if this was a post office.  Google Maps streetview show this building boarded up in 2009, but with a couple of postal drop boxes outside.  And the General Store (next door) had a post office sign in the window at that point.  I found a web site that says the Mecca Post Office was established in 1894, and another that says it was closed in 3/2013.  Seems like a reasonable guess...

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Overgrown Door:

This is a detail of the "Prior Post Office" above.  The door on the back right of that picture.  History shows again and a again how nature points out the folly of men...

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Just a random house as we drove around a block:

Again, click on images for larger versions...

High Water

Sometimes you can find interesting photos in the most mundane places.  During our recent travels, we spent a night in Nashville, TN.  And it rained and rained and rained.  The next morning, while grabbing something from the car, I noticed that the area just off the hotel parking lot had quite a bit of water...  This appears to be overflow from a pond behind the hotel...  Thus the duckweed...

Anyway, I thought it was a rather dramatic scene...
Just a little happenstance.

On The Road To Rockville

Seen along Rt-41, on the way to Putnam County, Indiana's Covered Bridge Country.  About 10 miles south of Rockville, IN.  Or, to be more precise, here.  Still have dozens of images from the trip, keep watching!

Indiana Covered Bridge Country

The wife and I took some time this week to do some exploring.  We checked out Covered Bridge country in Indiana, and then quilt shops across Indiana and Illinois.  Something for each of us, and lots of windshield time to just talk.

This is looking across some Indiana farmland from the Neet covered bridge.  Just a humble iPhone shot, taken to get the gps tag.  ..  I was able to tweak this in the hotel room on my iPad.  I thought it turned out pretty well, so posted to 365project.  And now, here.  And I haven't even looked at the "real" DSLR image yet..

On Watch

We (wife and I)  spent a few days this week on "Quilt Shops And Photo Ops (QSPO).  Mostly covered bridges in Indiana (watch for photos!) and various quilt shops between Terre Haute IN and home (Illinois suburbs of STL)...  This is in Shelbyville, IL; the peak of the Soldiers And Sailors monument.  And just 350 feet or so from Main Street Quilt Company.

New River, Narrows, VA

Sometimes you get lucky when driving cross country...  We were driving from Blacksburg VA (a stop at Va Tech) to Hurricane WV (stopping point), and decided to take Rt. 460 over the mountains.  Following the map program on my phone, it told us to turn off the main road, then go up a small road in Narrows VA.  We're talking a road that doesn't show up on Street-View!  Lurich Road, which parallels 460 of the other side of the New River.  A fascinating little road, including this fun little spot. Just a small parking lot and a boat ramp.  And some pretty views.

Blue Shutters, Cross

Another from our recent trip south.  This is from a little gas station / convenience store complex outside Stuart, VA.  Actually along Fairystone Park Highway (here).  Little place called "Roberts Market Lighthouse Grille".  We were driving from Raleigh NC to Blacksburg VA, and decided to stop for a quick snack.  It was quite crowded as the (little) grill seemed to be pretty popular.  This window is in one of the out-buildings we walked past on the way to the convenience store.

I didn't notice this until the way back to the car, so this is another iPhone image.  I guess I should've taken the time to dig the "real" camera out of the car, but this turned out OK.  Well, I think. so...

What Would You Do? (142)

Over at 365project, folks do periodic challenges.  I've posted frequently here about the album cover challenges, for example.  Another is What Would You Do/ or WWYD.  The previous winner posts a photo, and others show how they would edit it.  I think it's a fun challenge and I usually participate.  Above is my image for the current WWYD (#142).  Below is the starting point:

And a link to all the entries.  There are some that are quite clever.

Moved 2 Bobbit

So...We were on a road trip last week. I'm finally getting around to processing photos.  You can also check some out here and here.

This one was taken in downtown Raleigh, NC.  We had gone to dinner with my daughter (The Pit - highly recommended!), and decided to walk over to the state Capital building to settle our food.  This spot is just a block or so from the restaurant.  I thought it was really interesting, and (on the return walk) couldn't resisit a photo.  This is a case of "the best camera is the one with you", meaning my iPhone.

Here's the Google Street View:

Of course I had to look up the new location, 1340 Bobbitt Dr...  Which is in Garner, NC, about 6 miles south of this location.  Not being from the area, I didn't realize Garner was a place.   And now I know (and you, too!) that this is the former home of Turn Key Tire Service.