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Tag: day trip

Mineola, Texas Makes a Fun Weekend Getaway

The following is an adapted excerpt from Unexpected Texas,my fun travel guide to quirky, offbeat and overlooked places near Dallas and Fort Worth. Check it out if you are looking for fun road trips in north Texas. Also, for a *FREE* 50-page guide to ghost hunting groups and haunted history tours in north Texas, sign up for my infrequent-but-interesting newsletter by clicking here: Located at the junction of US highways 80 and 69, Mineola is situated in Wood County which, true to its name, is a highly-forested section of the East Texas Piney Woods. Early industries included lumber, farming and…

Quirky Texas: Jesus in Cowboy Boots

Quirky Statue in Paris, Texas The following is an adapted excerpt from my Amazon Best Seller: Unexpected Texas. Enjoy! The north Texas town of Paris is home to a quirky statue known locally as the “Jesus in cowboy boots.” This statue is actually the 20-foot grave marker honoring a man named Willet Babcock, who died in 1888. While impressive, it would hardly be the quirky tourist attraction that it has become were it not for the unusual footwear worn by the cross-bearing figure it depicts; instead of the bare feet or sandals one often associates with Biblical folk, this one…

Wichita Falls, Texas: The World’s Smallest Skyscraper

The World’s Smallest Skyscraper Built in 1919, the Newby-McMahon Building in downtown Wichita Falls (701 La Salle, Wichita Falls, TX) is more commonly referred to as “the world’s smallest skyscraper.” Here’s the story behind this quirky structure and how it got its nickname: J.D. McMahon was an engineer and oilman from Philadelphia who breezed into Wichita Falls with blueprints to build a high-rise building in the downtown area. McMahon must have been a good talker, because it didn’t take him long to raise $200,000 (a fortune for that time) from local investors. The Difference Between Feet & Inches At a glance, it appeared…

Deep Creek Cemetery in Boyd, Texas: From Pioneers & Comanches to Mickey Mouse & Folk Ballet

Researching Paranormal Texas The following is an adapted excerpt from my travel guide to haunted places, a book called Paranormal Texas. To see a 5-minute info-video I made to accompany this story (with even more photos) watch the video below: And here’s a more recent video I made about Deep Creek Cemetery, in which I explain the meaning of several tombstone symbols: I don’t know why so many cemeteries are reportedly haunted, but here’s what we found on our first journey to Deep Creek Cemetery near Boyd, Texas: Pretty Country Drive to a Historic Texas Cemetery Deep Creek Cemetery is a short…

Florida Flashbacks & How Writing Research is like Gambling

I’ve got Florida on my mind Why am I posting a photo essay about Florida all of a sudden? My pal Morgan Dragonwillow recently vacationed there, so now I’m  daydreaming about a road trip down the Intercoastal Highway… I snapped these shots while dining near Key West. I can’t recall the name of the place, but it was a beachfront restaurant on a pier jutting into the clear, blue water. The joint was jumping, and the servers did a great job keeping up with the frenzy. They didn’t just have humans to wait on, either. Shortly before sunset a school of…

C is for Coral Castle, a Quirky Florida Must-See

Quirky Architecture OK, so it’s not quite coral, nor is it truly a castle, but the Coral Castle Museum (28655 S Dixie Hwy, Miami, FL 33033) is a delightfully quirky structure, and a great example of someone marching to their own drummer. The grounds include a variety of unusual rock buildings and furniture carved from over 1000 tons of oolite limestone, including a water fountain, a sundial, a crescent moon, tables, and living areas. Inspired a Billy Idol Song As the legend goes (and, really, how could a place like this not have a legend behind it) a Latvian immigrant…