Oversized Strawberry Crate - Portland, TN

The claim to fame of the small town of Portland, TN is their annual Strawberry Festival. In 2022, it is this weekend.

With that in mind, Citizens' Park along Main St. was redesigned in early 2019 with this oversized crate to hold strawberries. Likewise, oversized strawberries were placed around the crate as well as all around the block. Inside the crate are a couple of park benches.

See a video of the area here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCoi6HD-Rxo

Bobby's Idle Hour Tavern

Bobby's describes itself as the only live music venue along Nashville's Music Row. Fans of Roadside America will recognize this for it's 10 ft tall moldy weather-worn 2D guitar playing musician statue

Tom Lee Memorial - Memphis Riverfront

Late during the afternoon of May 8, 1925, Tom Lee steered his 28 ft skiff Zev upriver after delivering an official to Helena, Arkansas. Also on the river was a steamboat, the M.E. Norman, carrying members of the Engineers Club of Memphis, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and their families. Lee witnessed the M.E. Norman capsize in the swift current 15 mi (24 km) downriver from Memphis at Cow Island Bend. Although he could not swim, he rescued 32 people with five trips to shore. Lee acted quickly, calmly and with no regard for his own safety, continuing to search after night fell. Because of his efforts, only 23 people died.

Today. Tom Lee Park is a city park located to the immediate west of downtown Memphis overlooking the Mississippi River. Encompassing about 30 acres parallel to the river for about one mile, it offers panoramic views of the river and the shores of Arkansas on the opposite side.

Tom Lee died of cancer in 1952. Two years later, the park was named in his honor and a granite obelisk was erected. In October 2006, a bronze sculpture by artist David Alan Clark was erected in the park to commemorate the event and to honor the civil hero. The sculpture depicts the rescue of a survivor saved from drowning in the Mississippi River.

The Big Chicken seen from the road

Johnny Reb's was a restaurant in Marietta, GA on highway US41 that decided to stand out from the other places in town, by erecting a 56 foot tall sheet metal chicken in 1956. The top of the chicken is mechanical as the beak opens and closes while the eye spins in circles. A few years after it was built, the restaurant was sold and became a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. Over time, the structure started to fall into disrepair and a tornado damaged it in 1993. There was talk that it might be torn down, or moved to a business in Smyrna, GA. However, the townsfolk rallied to save the local landmark. Today, the chicken and the KFC franchise still thrive, and you can even purchase a couple of souvenirs inside.

Peach Park - Clanlton, AL - Pose with a giant peach

Peach Park is an old-fashioned tourist attraction in Clanton, AL where US31 and I-65 meet. Peaches are usually associated with Georgia, but there are several Peach and produce markets in the area between Birmingham and Montgomery. Peach Park tries to set itself apart with things like this peach statue in a garden, a lighthouse, a caboose, a Playground set around a replica barn. My wife bought some home-made cantaloupe ice cream which she calls the best she's ever had.

Large Bowling Pin - Lebanon, TN

This oversized bowling pin is located at Pro Bowl West along Baddour Pkwy (US70) in Lebanon, TN.

Rowing Man - Knoxville, TN

Located in downtown Knoxville, this statue was sculpted by David L. Phelps in 1988. The over-sized bronze oarsman appears to be submerged halfway into the sidewalk.

The VegaCal Iron Man - Hartselle, AL

VegaCal
Gets the Bile
(other side): VegaCal
For the Liver

It used to be that advertisements along the roadside used to be more imaginative. Vega-Cal was a liver tonic sold in the Birmingham area back in the 1930s. The company had a few of these iron man advertisements placed at important roads around the area. However, only the one near Hartselle survives.

To find this, from Hartselle, take AL Highway 36 west from town. Since it is a local landmark, the cross street is Iron Man Rd. To walk up and see it, park in front of Iron Man Market. It is repainted every three years by the Hopewell Homemakers Club.

For more info:
www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/56363
www.birminghamrewound.com/features/vegecal.htm

The Big Chicken - Shady Lawn Truck Stop

The Big Chicken, adorned with a chef hat, knife and fork, is located at the Shady Lawn Truck Stop at exit 6 off Interstate 65 in Giles County, TN. Inside, the truck stop sells T-shirts advising one to Respect the Chicken." It has been here for many years, but until recently it had been colored white and dark gray.

In the news: iconic Grand Guitar building is demolished

Grand Guitar view from US Highway 11W



View from the rest area along Interstate 81

This had been several things over the years, but was vacant for many years. Most recently, it was Joe Merrell's Grand Guitar Museum and Gift Shop.

This spot is strategically placed where you can see it from the Interstate, I-81, near the TN/VA border in Bristol. The street in front is US11W.

The Guitar was 70 feet long and three stories high.

Despite the well-known building being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was demolished in August, 2019.

Read more from this story in Bristol's newspaper.

Billy Tripp's Mindfield

One of the most surreal but expansive work of art I have ever come across is in the small Tennessee town of Brownsville. This metal behemoth is the work of one man, Billy Tripp and he has named it his Mindfield.

The Mindfield is located in a narrow but deep strip of land between the Sunrise Inn and a strip mall along Main St. (old US70/79), just a couple of blocks east of the town square. Started in 1989, he plans on adding to it until the day he dies. He is always on the lookout for scrap metal, such as the abandoned water tower he found once when he was on a trip. If you visit, you might get lucky and find a free copy of his book The Mindfield Years, Vol. 1 which is a stream-of-consciousness for 725 pages which he describes as a difficult read.

There's a whole lot more I'd like to say but these sites say it better:
The Official site
Roadside America's writeup
I have a coworker who came from Brownsville, and she thought it was cool how it brings attention to the city.

Field of the Woods Bible Park: Golgotha

Field of the Woods Bible Park reminds me that they don't build tourist attractions like they used to. The park is best known for the World's Largest Ten Commandments, but the Christian imagery runs throughout the park. The park started in 1945 and was considered an outreach ministry by the Church of God of Prophecy denomination (which had its origins less than five miles away).

Most people come to see the 300-foot wide Ten Commandments which is laid out on the side of a hill. The best vantage point is to climb the hill on the other side of the parking lot so you can get the whole perspective. Or, if you're in good shape you could climb the 350 steps to the top where there is a giant Bible which doubles as an observation deck.

There are plenty of other things to see while you're there, most of which were added during the first decade of the park's operation. When you climb the other hill to get the best view of the Ten Commandments, you're climbing Prayer Mountain and along the way there are several headstone shaped markers which explain some of the Bible's basic principles. Next, there's a replica tomb of Jesus that includes at the entrance a replica of the stone to be rolled away. In the middle of the parking lot is what looks like a radio tower topped by a giant star which is an information booth that probably hasn't been used for decades. There's also a baptismal pool, a decent gift shop, an old missionary's airplane, the All Nations Cross, the curator's residence and a bunch of other random monuments and messages.

One other highlight of the park is a replica Golgotha which is where Jesus was crucified between two criminals. If you think the Golgotha vaguely resembles a face - it does. Golgotha translates to "Place of the Skull." When you view their Golgotha from atop the observation deck you'll notice the shrubs in front of Golgotha are arranged to spell out "JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS."

I first learned of this place about 20 years ago when my parents stopped by on a trip through western North Carolina. I finally had my chance to visit recently when I went tent camping at a place nearby. Not as many people stop by as they used to. (In one of my pictures, you can see my car is the only one in the parking lot.) If I understood the guy in the gift shop properly, the Church of God doesn't fund it the way they used to, so there's no telling how long they'll remain open. So, if this is the type of place you'd really like to visit, I'd recommend sooner rather than later.

Adventure Golf: Shark - Pigeon Forge, TN (Now gone)

Sadly, this place is now gone and it is a vacant lot. Here is my write-up from 8 years ago.

"Big Jim" Sidwell worked at his family's furniture business in Murfreesboro, TN. He was looking for an outlet for his creativity when he and his family visited Goofy Golf on a vacation to Florida. In his backyard, he built a large dinosaur out of wood and wire mesh, and then another and another.

In 1961, he opened Jolly Golf in Gatlinburg with many of his creations. He went on to build more mini golf parks in Daytona, Marietta and Lake of the Ozarks. When other attractions which also wanted his dinosaurs came calling, he started a fiberglass dinosaur factory in Murfreesboro. In the late 70's his tourist attraction vision expanded to a theme park in Pigeon Forge called Magic World.

At the gateway of the Smokies, tourist attractions come and go, but one of the Sidwell family's parks is still open. Pigeon Forge exploded in popularity once Gatlinburg couldn't expand anymore. Adventure Golf along US441 looks like it remains popular after all these years. It has a charm I like that many of the newer large corporate parks don't have.

There's a large Dinosaur by the entrance and a shark in the pond right by the 18th hole. Perhaps the most noticeable thing is the over-sized octopus in another pond and one of its many tentacles is raised up in the air!

Billy Tripp's Mindfield Water Tower

One of the most surreal but expansive work of art I have ever come across is in the small Tennessee town of Brownsville. This metal behemoth is the work of one man, Billy Tripp and he has named it his Mindfield.

The Mindfield is located in a narrow but deep strip of land between the Sunrise Inn and a strip mall along Main St. (old US70/79), just a couple of blocks east of the town square. Started in 1989, he plans on adding to it until the day he dies. He is always on the lookout for scrap metal, such as the abandoned water tower he found once when he was on a trip. If you visit, you might get lucky and find a free copy of his book The Mindfield Years, Vol. 1 which is a stream-of-consciousness for 725 pages which he describes as a difficult read.

There's a whole lot more I'd like to say but these sites say it better:
The Official site
Roadside America's writeup
I have a coworker who came from Brownsville, and she thought it was cool how it brings attention to the city.

World's Largest Bourbon Bottle

Located on the west side of Louisville, which would be considered a bad neighborhood, is the Old Forester Bourbon factory. The company that makes it is Brown-Forman Corp. and atop their building is their vintage water tower which has been made to look like their signature brand. This tower was in the news lately as this new design was unveiled in Sept. 2012 to reflect the change in the packaging. See the old version here:
www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/10624

Rock City's Fairyland Caverns: Little Miss Muffet

After spending some time trying to see seven states and various unusual rock formations, visitors to Rock City finish their visit along the Enchanted Trail by enjoying the sights of Fairyland Cavern.

When Fairyland Caverns first opened, most of the scenes consisted of their gnome collection and related decor fitting a fairy tale theme, all moved into a new section of the park that needed a purpose. Then in the late 40s, Rock City hired Atlanta artist Jessie Sanders to create the glow-in-the-dark scenes from popular fairy tales and these are the scenes that still exist today.

The first thing Mrs. Sanders crafted was a deer that stands next to Snow White. From there, she created individual displays for different tales. Other than the first two scenes (which depict a mother reading bedtime stories to the children and then the children asleep with "Dream Faries" flittering about) she was given free reign to create the scenes as inspiration struck. As the figures were cast from her Atlanta studio, they would be shipped to Rock City and installed after another artist, Marcus Lilly, would paint the backdrops. Jessie's husband Charles also helped create many of the props that are seen today.

After Jessie Sanders spent about a decade creating all of the vistas along the main hallway, she envisioned her most elaborate display in 1958. Mother Goose's Village was to be a large room with a miniature mountain, adorned by a castle, and many fairy tale characters seamlessly placed together to save the attraction's best for last. After six years of construction, the fantastic finale was opened to the public in May, 1964 delighting young and old since.

On my website, I have created a gallery entitled "A Tour of Rock City" where I not only have tried to photograph each individual display in Fairyland Caverns and much of Mother Goose's Village, but all the other wondrous scenes at the beloved tourist attraction.
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=chattanooga%2Frock-city

Music City's Microphone Bike Rack

Located along Nashville's Music Row, this public street art microphone doubles as a bicycle rack. “Microphone Rack” by Franne Lee, Keith Harmon and Mac Hill of Nashville, is located at the northeast corner of Demonbreun Street and Music Row. The rack, made of stainless steel in 2010, represents Nashville’s history as a communications, broadcasting and music center. My favorite detail is the audio jack that plugs into the ground.

Aeroplane Filling Station - Powell, TN

Dating back to the glory days of roadside architecture is this vintage gas station eye-catchingly shaped like a plane built by proprietors Elmer and Henry Nickle in 1930. (Here's a photo from 1931.) Powell is located north of Knoxville along US25W on the road to Clinton, TN. The gas station went out of business half a century ago and was abandoned for a while. Other businesses moved in to keep it open, such as a liquor store, a produce stand, a bait & tackle shop and finally a used car lot.

About a decade ago, locals who wanted to preserve their roadside heritage from demolition began to rally to save the plane. They created a website (now gone, I think) and sold t-shirts to raise money for the novelty architecture preservation. One thing that caught me by surprise during my visit is the exterior has shiny new sheet metal compared to other recent photos I had seen online. Also new are the windows and the light along the wing. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also helped by the Tennessee Historic Commission

The Liberty Mule

The Liberty Mule, also known as the Allen Bluff Mule, has been a landmark, a mystery and a source of Civic Pride for the residents of Liberty, TN for over a century.

For the residents of the Tiny DeKalb County town, the mule had been there for as long as anyone could remember. For a long time, what nobody could remember is who put it there in the first place. On a large bluff near town many years ago someone scaled it several feet off the ground and painted the black mule, which included the word MULE above it. Even still, every so often, someone goes up there to repaint it, sometimes even changing the color, and nobody really knows who does that either. It's original color is black, the way it is today, but the previous color was red.

For a while, there was a story that someone had a pet mule die from falling off the cliff and this was a tribute. Another speculation was it was an advertisement for a mule trading company in town. Neither story really made sense. However, one story that worked is based on a name that's also up there: "L. Woodard." That would have been a local resident named Lavendar Woodard, and the people that knew him thought he was the kind of guy that would do such a thing. As it turns out, he may have repainted it, and he certainly added his name nearby but he wasn't the first. It was still a mystery.

As it turns out, the answer may have been hiding in plain sight. The first painter of the mule may have been Dr. Wayne T. Robinson who was 21 at the time it was painted in 1906 but moved to Dallas without telling anybody he painted it. Fast forward several decades to 1957, Dr. Robinson wrote a series of articles of area history in the local paper. In one of those articles he focused on a nearby cave but casually added that he climbed the bluff to paint out of coal tar the mule to resemble the then-popular comic strip character Maude the Mule. Apparently, nobody remembered this admission and it stayed a mystery for nearly another half century until 2006 when the local county historian made the discovery and then wrote this article in the same newspaper.

Today, highway US70 (as well as TN96, TN53 and TN26) passes right past this bluff and through the town of Liberty. About 10 years ago, the Tennessee Department of Transportation decided to widen the two lane highway to four lanes and the Liberty Mule was in danger of being dynamited for the project. The townspeople started a letter writing campaign which worked and the new lanes were shifted enough to save the landmark. Now, the Mule even has a website where you can buy a t-shirt.

Cooter's Place Dukes of Hazzard Museum

Cooter's is located in Music Valley, the touristy area of Nashville near Opryland Hotel. With another location in Gatlinburg, the Dukes of Hazzard Museum is owned by Ben Jones who played Cooter Davenport on the show. Of course, what everyone wants to see is outside the museum as the General Lee is on display along with Cooter's tow truck. One more fun fact: Ben Jones was a U.S. Congressman from Georgia after being on the show.