Relive the golden years of American motels at Savannah's colorful Thunderbird Inn

            Visiting Savannah, Georgia, is a trip back in time — but most people think at least 100 years or so. Here’s an historic attraction that will make Baby Boomers swoon.
            The Thunderbird Inn in Savannah, Georgia, is a renovation of the popular motels of the 1960s. It was built in 1964 at what owners call “the intersection of ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘Dude!’”

            To add a little more fun to the retro motel experience, for breakfast the Thunderbird serves Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the lobby and places Moon Pies on your pillow. The Super King Room even has Magic Fingers, where a quarter in the slot makes your bed come alive. You can see why it was named to the Top 10 Retro Hotels in the US by USA Today.
            To celebrate the motel’s 50th birthday, the Thunderbird will be offering 50 percent off rooms every day in August and December throughout 2014 and Sundays through Thursdays from September through November, 2014. Prices are reasonable to begin with so this makes the time travel even more attractive. Use the promo code “50TH” when making reservations.

            There’s even a 50 percent off the dog deposit.

A howling good time in a Southern cemetery

            On Labor Day, 1937, Key Underwood lost his beloved hunting dog, Troop. He and some friends wrapped the dog in an old cotton pick sack and buried him in a special place where they had all shared good times. Underwood added a sandstone chimney rock on the grave, with Troop’s name chiseled into the stone.

             Over the years folks have buried their coon dogs on this ridge in the Freedom Hills of Northwest Alabama, at 4945 Coon Dog Cemetery Road in Cherokee. There are now more than 300 coon hound graves in what has become the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Cemetery and the site includes two memorial monuments depicting treeing coonhounds.

            The site is truly one of a kind.

            And so is its annual event.

            To celebrate the lives of the canine companions buried here, the cemetery hosts an annual Coon Dog Cemetery Labor Day Celebration. This year’s event will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 1, and close at 4 p.m. The public is invited to the free event that will include live music, barbecue dishes and arts and crafts vendors.

            “We will welcome back the Southern Strangers to play their old-time bluegrass music and, as an added attraction this year, we will have Kerry Gilbert and the KGB Band,” said Janice Williams, president of the Friends of the Coon Dog Cemetery, Inc. “Our special friend and coon hunter, Sean Thompson, is bringing eight Redbone pups, born on the Fourth of July. These full-blooded eight-week-old hound pups will be for sale and Sean is donating all the profits to our organization to help with the upkeep of the cemetery.”

            Attendance is free, but sales that day will benefit the Friends of the Coon Dog Cemetery’s fund for the preservation of the site, part of the Freedom Hills Wildlife Management area, stated David Isom, treasurer of Friends of the Coon Dog Cemetery, Inc.

            Mitchell Marks, wildlife biologist and superintendent of the Freedom Hill, stated that the group hosts the annual Coon Dog Labor Day Celebration and serves as caretaker of the cemetery, providing grounds-keeping and decorations, as is customary, once a year for the celebration. Burials, which require meeting certain guidelines, are also coordinated by the group.

Steamy August is time for a "Beer-Cation"

            There are staycations (where you vacation close to home), fun-filled playcations and the old-fashioned vacation, defined by Webster as “a period of time that a person spends away from home, school, or business usually in order to relax or travel.”

            Well credit the South for coming up with “Beer-cation.”

            It’s the brainchild of the Virginia Blue Ridge region, famous for its delicious wine industry. Not to be outdone by the almighty grape, six participating breweries in the Roanoke area have created the Virginia Blue Ridge Beer Loop and are offering a “Hop on the Loop” sweepstakes this month in honor of Virginia Craft Beer Month.

            During August, craft beer enthusiasts who visit six participating breweries and have their card validated will be entered to win gift certificates and merchandise. Visitors that receive validation from all six breweries will be eligible for $150 in gift certificates to the participating breweries. For those who visit three or more locations from Aug. 1-31, there are more prizes to be won.

            Of course, you must be 21 or older to partake and/or win.
            Participating breweries in “Virginia’s Blue Ridge Beer Loop” are Big Lick Brewing Company, Callaway Brewing Company, Chaos Mountain Brewing, Flying Mouse Brewery, Parkway Brewing Company and Soaring Ridge Craft Brewers.

             A downloadable brochure with details about the sweepstakes and brewery information can be found here.

Twiggy the water-skiing squirrel

     The Louisiana Outdoor Expo was recently held at the Cajundome in Lafayette and wouldn’t you know a squirrel stole the show! And no, he didn't fry inside a transformer as usual, setting off an electrical outage. This guy was all performance.

    Here’s Twiggy waterskiing in a makeshift lake.

     According to Wikipedia, Chuck and Lou Ann Best of Florida found an orphaned squirrel after Hurricane David and taught "Twiggy" how to ski behind a remote-controlled boat. The duo appeared on “Real People” in 1979 and other TV shows.

     Since then, “Twiggy” has morphed into several gray squirrels trained to ski.

     One or more of the Twiggys has appeared in films such as “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” “Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Down to Earth and “Megamind. 

     Thanks to Lisa Hanchey for sharing her video!

Neshoba County Fair highlight the daily chair races

            Jan Risher is an author, freelance journalist and popular columnist for the Lafayette Advertiser in Lafayette, Louisiana. She’s also a transplant from southern Mississippi and loves to share her crazy state with readers. Crazy with deep affection, mind you, since no one in south Louisiana can throw crazy stones.

Photos by Neshoba County Fair

            This past week she shared stories and images from the Neshoba County Fair, which happens every summer about 25 miles from where Risher grew up. The annual event is more like a party, Risher explained, where people from the area come home and stay at "cabins" owned by residents. Camping, a few hotels and the Dancing Rabbit Casino are some accommodations available for tourists.

            “And basically, it's a giant reunion,” she said. “If you're from Neshoba County, you go home for that week and stay at the fair. If your parents are from Neshoba County that week, you go and stay at the fair.”

            Like most county fairs, there is plenty to do, including over at the racetrack.

Of course there's a pageant!

            “For the record, it is ridiculously hot there and people stay for the week, relaxing, watching horse cart races, riding rides, looking at the pickles and jam that won various contests and enjoying nightly performances (usually concerts),” Risher posted on Facebook. “This happens every afternoon when they open the racetrack for seating for that evening's concert.”

            When she posted, that night's show was the Miss Neshoba County contest.”

            The real fun, however, happens pre-show. When they open the area for lawn chairs at the afternoon and evening events, things get a little crazy — and we mean Deep South crazy. Participants wanting a good seat — and hauling their own lawn chairs — race to the best spot. It’s so funny, there are numerous videos on YouTube documenting this craziness.

            “The chair races are simply an afternoon ritual of Mississippians entertaining (and hurting) themselves to get the best seats for the nightly show,” Risher explained.

Chair races at the Neshoba fair.

            Want to see what the chair races looks like? Here’s a clip.

            According to Risher, cabins get all lit up and decorated for the event.

            “Years and years ago, National Geographic did a story on the Neshoba County Fair,” she said. “It's changed since then — for one thing, people have a lot more access to twinkly lights!”

            Just don’t forget it’s still Mississippi in July.
            “Those lights don't fool me,” Risher said. “I know how hot the fair is.”

The biggest dag gum yard sale of all!

            The South’s not alone is loving to recycle, reuse and re-buy stuff, but we sure have the best massive yard sales.

Photo courtesy of DeKalb Tourism

            In fact, the World’s Longest Yard Sale takes place in the South, this year from Aug. 7 to 10 along a 690-mile route that begins in Gadsden, Alabama, and travels along the Lookout Mountain Parkway into Chattanooga, Tenn., and all the way to Addison, Michigan, along Highway 127.

Fentress Cty Chamber of Commerce

            OK, you got us, it’s not all South, but you know the best part is down here. For instance, the 93-mile Lookout Mountain Parkway has been touted a “Must See” by Reader’s Digest, the National Geographic and Southern Living magazines, and the headquarters for the sale is the Fentress County Chamber of Commerce in Jamestown, Tenn.
            This year (2014) marks the 27th anniversary of the sale, which gets bigger every year. Vendors come from all over, including foreign countries; Alabama tourism folks estimate there will be 1,000 vendors in Alabama alone!
             Vendors are typically up and at ’em by 8 a.m. and sales go late into the summer twilight. Some are locals spilling out their used goods on front lawns, while others are sophisticated antique dealers. In addition, local restaurants and shops offer more great finds.

Photo courtesy of DeKalb Tourism

            The sale began as a way to get tourists off the interstates and along the back roads of Kentucky and Tennessee, which offers beautiful scenery, Civil War history, railroads, music, and so much more. After a few years, the Lookout Mountain Parkway Association asked to be included, and before long, the route was 690 miles long!

            For more information regarding the annual Hwy. 127 Corridor Sale, visit www.127sale.com. Lookout Mountain tourism has a wonderful FYI page as well. For lodging information, directions, road closures and more information in Alabama and Tennessee, visit www.ShopLookoutMountain.com or call DeKalb Tourism at (888) 805-4740 or Greater Gadsden Area Tourism at (888) 565-0411.

Fentress County Chamber of Commerce

Hemingway's Key West cats — and we’re not talking poetry readings

            American author Ernest Hemingway spent part of his life living and writing in Key West, first at Casa Antigua at 314 Simonton St., then at the Spanish Colonial home at 907 Whitehead St., that is now open for tours. While Hemingway was penning some of his best-known works in the southernmost point of the continental U.S.A., he was presented with a white six-toed cat by a ship captain.

            Hemingway named the unusual cat Snowball.

Six-toed Harry Truman at Hemingway House in Key West.
Photo by Rob O'Neal photography.

            Today, about 40 to 50 of Snowball’s descendants reside at the home, named after famous people in the tradition of Hemingway (not sure who Snowball was named after, however). About half of the cats have six toes but they all carry the polydactyl gene in their DNA, according to the home’s web site; the gene allows those with only four and five toes to mother or father cats with six. The web site claims, “The polydactyl cats are not a particular breed. The trait can appear in any breed, calicos, tabbies, tortoise shell. white, black, etc. They vary in shapes, sizes, colors and personalities.”

            The historic property known as the Hemingway House also hosts its own veterinarian, Dr. Edie Clark, who performs routine health care for the Hemingway cats.
             While you’re visiting Hemingway’s Key West house and his menagerie of felines, check out the city’s first in-ground pool, which was built for $20,000 in 1937-38. Hemingway felt the pool’s cost was so exorbitant that he took out a penny from his pocket and placed it in the wet cement on the pool’s side. “Here, take the last penny I’ve got,” he is rumored to have said. The penny is still there, located between flagstones at the north end of the pool.