Neighborhood Update

Hello again. Welcome back to the Yankee Near Nashville blog. This past weekend autumn weather arrived here in south central Kentucky. 

The temps actually got down into the upper 30s at night while rising no higher than the mid 70s during the day. Overall it was very nice weather but hard to dress for a full day out.   

It's been a couple of months since I've written about the goings on in our little town. I've got some updates on the construction projects as well as a restaurant expansion and a change in the scenery on Main Street. 

I'm going to share the story of one of the best days of the year around here and how my wife and I participated for the first time. So there's the "tease". Let's get started. 

The convenience store that's under construction right off the I-65 exit is making progress. I've seen signs around town advertising that Speedway is hiring. Not sure when it's supposed to open but there is still some work to be done. 

The office/garage and condos being built at the end of Stanley Rice Road look close to being finished. The houses that are being built in my neighborhood are still in the midst of being build. I will share pics of them when they are closer to being finished. In the meantime the ambient sound of construction continues to be part of each day for us. 

Here are two new things in "The Grove" that were added so quickly, I didn't get the chance to get shots of them as they were being constructed. 

Cinco De Mayo, the Mexican restaurant on Main Street, is the place I go to sing Karaoke. It's where I won the parody contest back in May. 

In the summer time, Karaoke is held on the patio outside the restaurant, on the open air patio. When the weather is pleasant or not too hot in the summer it's a nice place to spend the evening. But once the weather gets cold or it rains, the Friday night singing is cancelled. 

Last month, this all changed. When Luis, the owner of Cinco De Mayo, had an addition added onto the building. Now there's an open air screened in dining area where the patio used to be. 

I look forward to enjoying some good food and singing on Friday nights yet to come. 

The other addition is a display of creative talent by an artist named, Waz Blankenship. 

He and his wife own a quilt shop on Main Street named "Psycho Granny's." On the wall inside this shop you'll find Waz's collection of what he calls "Rock & Roll" art. They are painting of music and pop culture icons as Waz sees them. 

There is a building on the south side of the railroad crossing that divides Main Street that's been empty for as long as I can remember. On that building are half a dozen boarded up windows. 

The condition and look of that building has been that way for quite a few years. 
Over the course of several weeks I noticed that paintings were replacing those boards. 

One day when I was passing through town, I noticed a guy putting up a new one on the 5th window. I stopped to talk to him. It turned out to be Waz. 

I asked him about his neighborhood beautification project and he explained why he was doing it.  

He explained, seeing the dullness of those weathered unsightly boards Waz decided to do something to make the area look better. He would paint pictures of images similar to what he has on display in the quilt shop. Pop culture images that everyone in town would recognize.

The collection is now complete and here's what it looks like. 

Here are close ups of each of the them. 

I salute Waz and his efforts as a citizen to improve his community with his talents. 

On Saturday September 28, our town held it's annual street festival. It's the day that many residence have yard sales. Part of that celebration is a craft show and sale that allows vendors to set up booths on Main Street in the center of town. 

It's one of three big days that happen here during the last 4 months of the year. "Trick or treat" night in October and the annual Christmas parade in December are the others.   

For the first time, Paula had a Color Street booth at the festival. We set up right on the grass just behind The Flavor Isle. 

There were a couple of the memorable things about that day. We were in the midst of an early autumn heat wave with the temperature reaching highs in the 90s .It was a day we had to focus on staying hydrated and do our best to keep cool. 

The other thing was that where we set up under a black walnut tree. The green walnut pods were falling off the tree all day. Thankfully, our canopy saved us from both the direct heat of the sun and getting knocked in the head. 

This being only our 3rd vendor event it was pretty surreal being set up so close to home. Ironically, Paula had her best day as a vendor so far. That's probably the thing I'll remember most about that day. 

Last but not least I want to mention something interesting about living in a town just off an Interstate that runs right past Bowling Green, home the National Corvette Museum and Beech Bend, a drag strip race park. You get to see a lot of different classic cars and hot rods. They pull off and stop off gas, fast food, or a rest stop on their way to or from events at either place. 

Here's the latest classic vehicle I saw just the other day. I found it rather interesting. 

Not being a car guy I can't tell you the make, model or year of this classic coupe but I did really like it. I saw the owner get in and out of the car so I know it had suicide doors. I'd appreciate it if someone who can identify it would message me on Facebook. 

The thing that caught my attention was the trailer. I've never seen a classic car towing a trailer, much less one that's the same style and color of the vehicle. 

It's just the latest example of the interesting things that you might see coming off I-65 in my home town. 

So there you have an update on what's been going on in my little corner of the world. Hope you enjoyed reading about them. 

In my next post I'll start sharing with you where I've been and what I've been up to this October. It will include a Fall break vacation, another vendor event and more. I'll start off telling you about the night I got to see one of my all time favorite stand up comics. 

See y'all next time.