Kentucky Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series)

Kentucky Curiosities is your round-trip ticket to the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things the Bluegrass State has to offer. Discover a medieval castle in the middle of horse-farm country, a soda fountain where the burgers and shakes are almost as famous as the clientele, and the true meaning of "biting the bullet." Meet the man who invented the traffic light, Kentucky's two Cassius Clays, and the real J. Peterman. Visit a museum devoted to the history of whiskey, a rest area named for a shoeshine man, and a house with 13 windows, 13-foot ceilings, 13 railings - you get the picture! Whether you're a born-and-raised Kentuckian or a recent transplant, authors Vince Staten and Liz Baldi will have you laughing out loud as they introduce you to the neighbors you never knew you had and take you to places you never knew existed - right in your own backyard. Kentucky Curiosities is your round-trip ticket to the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things the Bluegrass State has to offer. Best-selling author Vince Staten and journalist Liz Baldi have combed Kentucky for one-of-a-kind gems that make their home state truly unique. You'll pucker up to a pig, witness the creation of the world's largest ham biscuit (all 4,000 pounds of it), and cheer on the underpig at the Trigg County Country Ham Festival. You'll explore the world's largest cave system, purchase your very own 5-foot-tall cement rooster, and take in a saloon show at Cave City, a.k.a. Tacky Town, USA. You'll hear the story behind the real inventor of the radio, put on your clogs and dance at the Hillbilly Festival, and show off your vocal stylings on Big Singing Day in Benton. Whether you were born and raised in Kentucky or are a recent transplant, Staten and Baldi's home-grown humor will have you laughing out loud as they introduce you to the neighbors you never knew you had and take you to places you never knew existed -- right in your own backyard. This definitive collection of the Bluegrass State's odd, wacky, and most offbeat people, places, and things is filled with quirky photographs throughout and maps for each region. Kentucky Curiosities includes humorous state facts and amusing stories and serves as a combination almanac, off-the-wall travel guide, and wacky news gazette.