Historic Thomas Drug Store, Cross Plains, Tennessee

My visit to Thomas Drug Store in Cross Plains

 This is my second visit to Thomas Drug in Cross Plains, Tennessee. What a charming store! It is both modern drug store plus turn of the century (LAST century) store.

You can see wonderful old things here, including vintage wallpaper and wooden booths. We had lunch at Thomas Drug Store, and it was really really fantastically good. I ordered a Club Sandwich, and Rickey had a Grilled Cheese with Bacon sandwich. I think mine tasted like a BLT, only better. It had lunchmeat, lettuce, bacon, tomatoes, and toasted bread. Rickey liked his, but mine was a lot bigger.

We also had homemade ice cream shakes. We are talking REALLY homemade. It took awhile to make these and you had to drink them FAST. It was like getting 2-3 shakes instead of just one. I used a lot of the napkins they had at the table. Next to us was a family with a new baby. Everyone in the store knew them, and ooohed and aaahed at the really cute baby, who didn't cry (much).

The atmosphere at Thomas Drug is marvelous. It's a small town place, and everyone smiles and speaks to one another, a la Mayberry. And I kid you not. They have real parts of the old brick cobble type streets there too. And some really pretty antique stores and boutiques.

I will definitely be back to check out the fun stuff for sale, which includes stationery, dolls, handmade wooden building decor, postcards (I got two), and ceramic drink coasters.

I am putting all the photos on Flickr and Facebook too.

-Betsyanne 

Here are some more photos are from Cross Plains' Citywide Yard Sale in June 2010 and are on Flickr also. There are some more photos of the inside of Thomas Drug here too.

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Friends of the Linebaugh Library booksale - photos and thoughts about some book dealers

Photos from the Linebaugh Library Sale in Murfreesboro - and their new rules about pricing scanners and glomming books.

Here are some photos I took of the great library sale in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Saturday.

The entrance to the Friends of the Linebaugh Library Sale in Murfreesboro, TN

 There was a long line waiting for the sale to open. It was hard to navigate for awhile inside... but then people started to leave, and space opened up to look more. People were polite and eventually lookers got to see all the sections if they were patient.

One thing helped a LOT. The Friends of the Linebaugh Library have a new rule: no handheld computers or scanners, or booksellers hogging areas. I say "yay!"

DVD's, CD's, and Hardbacks were $1.00. Paperbacks were 50¢

.

 I have been going to as many booksales as possible lately, and have found some good deals. But I have noticed a lot more professionals taking advantage. They swoop down on an area, and won't let others look.

I do not think that is fair. Some booksellers are so focused that they don't seem to even see anybody else... and they are given special treatment. Some glom on to the best books by taking over whole sections of some booksales, so nobody else can look.  They never move from their chosen section until they are done.

This table was outside. It had some good audiobooks on it.

And it seems to be OK with the book sale people sometimes. Some dealers are even allowed to see ALL the new books first that people bring in too.

I can see how book sale organizations may need to develop special relationships with professional sellers. After all, they need to sell their books; as many as possible. But I think they should show special treatment at other times, like before the sale (if they need to at all). Personally, I think professionals should get the exact same chances as everyone else.

I think people had a lot of fun at this sale.

Then there are the professional scoopers. OMG. These booksellers just scoop everything up that they can on a table, (the good books, of course...) then set up somewhere else to scan at their leisure. They don't let anyone else have a chance to find something they like. All the valuable or good books or those in good condition are kept by the professional person, and they put their dregs back on the table later on. Is this fair? I think not.

Some more happy book buyers.

It's too bad that some of the professional booksellers are starting to give all booksellers a bad name by these practices. And I'm really glad the Freinds of the Linebaugh Library put a stop to it this year.  I hope other library sales do that also.

More polite and happy book buyers. And nary a handheld.

I don't have anything against professional booksellers (I occasionally sell a book or two also...) but I think things should be fair for everyone. I bet I'm not the only person that does not like it when people "hog" an area and don't play fair.

It's fun to look for a good book and it's fun to find a deal, but it's NOT fun to be blocked from looking.

OK - off my soapbox.  I had SO much fun at this booksale.  I found a lot of great books, and some audio books, too. Thanks, Friends of the Linebaugh Library! You rock!


-Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Nashville travels... and The great Frist Birth of Impressionism exhibit!

The Birth of Impressionism exhibit in Nashville at the Frist...

The Frist Center for the Visual Arts Exhibit called The Birth of Impressionism is almost over in Nashville but you still have around 5 more days to go and see it.

The paintings at the exhibit will astound you. Some are HUGE... and you can see neat details like glitter in the paint, and how masterful the paintings really are up close. These are on loan from the Orsay Museum in France. There are so many new things to see here. Whistler's Mother is here, plus lots of beautiful paintings by people you may not have heard of before, along with other famous artists like Manet, Monet and Renoir.

I learned a lot there too, about the history of France, salons, and some of what it took to be a successful artist back then.

The exhibit runs through the 23rd of January. Today is a free day there, but parking can be difficult to find, unless you get there right when it opens.

It is definitely worth going to. You will NOT be disappointed. I was amazed at some of the huge paintings, and some of the smaller ones were meticulously done. They had a taped explanation of the paintings too, all included.

I hope to go again before it closes.

You can see some of the beautiful paintings here:
http://www.atthefrist.com/impressionism/

And some parking lot pix and more here:
My Flickr photos

-Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

The Last Days of Davis-Kidd Bookstore in Nashville, Tennessee

Goodbye, Davis-Kidd!

I was sad to see Davis-Kidd bookstore in Nashville with all kinds of empty shelves today.

It is the last 4 days of Davis-Kidd's "Everything Must Go" final sale. They are going out of business. I could not believe it when I heard. It seems like only yesterday that I visited and they were a bustling concern, filled not only with books, but with announcement of author visits, new books they recommended, and lots of neat merchandise.

I took some photos today, posted them on Flickr and Facebook, and have some to post here today too.

 

 

 See all the Davis-Kidd photos from today at Flickr.

Goodbye, Davis-Kidd! We will miss you.

Betsyanne and all the other book lovers in the Nashville area.

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Flooding in Bowling Green and Nashville

Image URL:

http://mrg.bz/UnAKKc

 Photo by gracey, Orillia, Ontario 

This generic photo shows some flooding. 

To see pictures of the latest flooding in this area, see below. I have collected several news stories of the latest flooding (today and yesterday) in my area here:

NPR: Heavy flooding turns deadly

Weekend storms have killed 8 in Tennessee, 3 in Mississippi (from the Birmingham News)

Tennessee Flooding Slideshow (from Yahoo)

The Nashville news station told people to "stay home" today. They also showed traffic on the freeway totally stopped. Some people are trying to come North and can't today.

We have very high water here in Bowling Green, Kentucky too. I will be watching the new for sure tonight!

-Betsyanne

http://photographyofgrace.com

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee

parthenon_1
Originally uploaded by betsyanne

Here is the Parthenon again. We recently went to Centennial Park in Tennessee for the Earth Day Celebration there (before Earth Day.) The park was named for the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition in 1897. There is a giant statue of Athena inside plus lots of art.

The Parthenon is really pretty, and worth a look.

Earth Day at Centennial Park, Nashville today

What a great event. I took some photos there today too. I posted a few here, and you can see the rest here at Flickr:
Centennial Park's Earth Day Celebration, Nashville, Tennessee

Here is more information about Centennial Park's Earth Day:
http://www.nashvilleearthday.org/


I liked the free music, food vendors, free pencils, pens, magnets, the people, the information, and the weather. It was fun!


-Betsyanne


Flickr Photos


My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

More photos from Ridgetop, Tennessee

Ridgetop, Tennessee is photogenic!

 This time we caught some pictures of the ridges and trees at Ridgetop, Tennessee, plus some more houses. I especially like the Ridgetop Sign on the side of a building there, telling the main tourist places to visit. We saw inside the ridges because the leaves aren't totally grown on the trees yet. This is where the cool breezes came from that made the area famous.

There was a nice caboose in a park there too. People could take the train there to Ridgetop and spend the weekend with their families, who may have been on vacation there. I will take and post that picture later.

There is a pretty Bed and Breakfast in Ridgetop called Valley View that looks beautifully historic and is in a great, restful area. There is a web page about it you might like. You can spend the night in this historic Bed and Breakfast and also attend a Titans game if you like.

Here are a couple of the photos and a link to the rest. I hope you like them!

See more pictures of Ridgetop, Tennessee

The Valley View Bed and Breakfast site

My first blog about Ridgetop, Tennessee:
Discovering Ridgetop, Tennessee: Echoes of the Past. What IS it about Ridgetop that makes it so magical?
Ridgetop Online Community site

Smiley Hollow.com
Ridgetop Community Links
Find places in Ridgetop on this map
Ridgetop Historical Society is located at P.O. Box 502, Ridgetop,  TN 37152

We will definitely be back and take more pictures!

All for now,
-Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Native - a 5-person Native American art show in Nashville, Tennessee

I saw an interesting art exhibition lately in Nashville at the Front Porch Gallery  in the Scarritt-Bennett area. It is called Native. Five different native American artists "present their different perspectives..."

I was impressed by the originality and difference of the exhibits. I liked the Burial Ground with skulls in front. I also liked the chairs which I remembered from last visit. The chairs are not part of the exhibit.

I didn't take pictures inside, but one work there stays with me - it is a bed with photographs that revolve on top in a mobile. They tell some of the story of the person whose bed it used to be.

My daughter sat in one of the chairs, and it was wet from the rain. It took awhile for the water to dry out. I'm glad they had exhibits outside so I could snap them with the camera.

Find out more:
Scarritt-Bennett's The Front Porch Native Exhibition

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

A beautiful Mary and Jesus grotto in Nashville

I found this beautiful and peaceful photo today when I was organizing my desktop files.

It is from outside an art exhibition in Nashville I went to this Fall at St. Bernard's Church and School in the Belwood area of Nashville. I love the feeling I get just looking at Mary and Jesus in this lovely grotto setting.

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

The Tennessee State Fair -the last one ever?

THE END OF THE FAIR?

The Tennessean printed an article yesterday about the probably demise of the Tennessee State Fair in Nashville. The mayor said that the city was going to stop putting it on. There is also talk of selling the whole kit and caboodle. Whaaaa????


The Tennessean Article - no more Fair? That's what the Mayor says.


I saw many families at the Fair yesterday having a LOT of fun. The exhibits were terrific. I know lots of people put many, many hours in getting it ready too.


I think instead of selling the property and giving up, Tennessee should put money into making the Fair even bigger and better. THAT's how you create excitement. I will be definitely following the news about this. I hope Tennesseans fight the end of the Fair!


See my other Fair photos
______________________________


My Personal Page and blog

The Nontrads site and blog

My Squidoo pages

Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Photos from the TACA Tennessee Craft Fair

I went to see my sister's pottery at the TACA Tennessee Craft Fair near the Parthenon.

It had rained so long, there were huge puddles everywhere! And Helen was actually standing on two stones to get up out of the water.

Here are some photos from Friday: