Naked guy forces Albuquerque landing

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Keith Wright, a New Yorker (damn!) felt restricted by more than just cramped airline seating today. On a flight from Charlotte to Los Angeles, he ditched his clothing and did not respond (vocally, at least) to flight attendant requests to put them back on. The mile-high nudist also wouldn’t accept the cover of a blanket.

As a result of Wright’s defiance, the US Airways flight was diverted to Albuquerque, where the passenger was met by federal authorities. According to the FBI, he’s now in federal custody, with a charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants. Once Wright got off (the plane), the flight continued to its planned destination.

Every story has a moral: you’ll have no problem getting a blanket from a flight attendant if you strip.

Itching to learn more about high-altitude nekkidness? Click here to get the bare truth.

March “lion” slams east coast

by Tom Johansmeyer on

From New Hampshire to the Carolinas, March came in, as the saying goes, like a lion. Snow, sleet and wind gusts reaching 30 mph have lead to for motor vehicle deaths, school closings and chaos at airports.

More than 900 flights have been canceled at New York area airports (JFK, Newark and LaGuardia). Hundreds more at Logan International Airport in Boston never left the ground, where the airport closed for more than half an hour to clear a runway. In Philadelphia, more than 40 people were stranded overnight.

Even the bus operators got into the delay and cancellation game. Greyhound and Peter Pan scrapped trips into and out of New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

So, get comfortable. It’s going to take a while to sort this mess out.

Booger Mountain and Booger Hollow: What’s with the boogers?

by Jamie Rhein on

While looking for funny names of towns, I came across Booger Mountain and Booger Hollow. Intrigued I dug further to find out where these names came from and more about these places in the United States.

Booger Mountain is a place in North Carolina known for its Christmas trees. As a marketing campaign, the area uses the motto, “Always Pick a Booger.”

Don Burleson, who pens the blog, “Don Burleson Blog: Because you have the right to my opinion,” presented that detail, plus information about Booger Holler and Booger Swamp wine. He also included a picture of Queen Elizabeth going fishing, if you know what I mean.

Further sleuthing turned up Booger Woods in the Charlie Daniel’s song “The Legend of Wooley Swamp.” In the lyrics, Booger Woods is said to be in this swamp.

There is more booger lore, such as Booger Hollow, Arkansas and the origin of the name “booger.”

There are a few places called Booger Hollow. A hollow (holler) is a narrow valley between hills and mountains. One Booger Hollow is in Arkansas. Here you can find the Booger Hollow Trading Post and the Booger Burger.

From reading the details on a Web page on the Booger Hollow Trading Post, I’ve learned that the word booger is not connected to nose boogers, but to spirits or ghosts. It’s a short form for “boogie man” as in “If you don’t behave, the boogie man will get you.” Like the boogie man that’s under your bed.

Various regions of North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky use the term. These were settled by Scotch-Irish who came from a part of the world where shadows, mountains and fog added to a sense of the mysterious belief that places could be haunted. Still, this did not keep The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from doing this hilarious segment on Booger Mountain. The date is April 1, 1999. I expect the story was jazzed up a bit. Still, what a hoot.

The Booger Mountain Tree Farm is listed as winning awards in the 1980s but isn’t on the page of current wholesale growers. However, in this recent thread on City-Data.com has info about where the farms are. Plus, Steve Rhode’s photo was posted this past December.

Civil War driving tour in North Carolina: A trip on the Blue-Gray Scenic Byway

by Jamie Rhein on

A month ago, I wrote about a Civil War driving tour in Tennessee. Here’s another one I found out about in an engaging article by Jodi Helmer in the November/December issue of AAA’s Home and Away magazine.

Helmer followed North Carolina’s Blue-Gray Scenic Byway on a quest to find historic sites connected to the Civil War. The journey was a hunt and ask venture that wound through small towns and tobacco fields. As she found out, even a nondescript field where a battle took place has significance. Such was the case when she went into the Harper House, the now museum, but once farmhouse that was turned into a hospital during the war in order to treat soldiers who were wounded.

Other points of interest along the way were the Cliffs of Neuse State Park, the remnants of CSS Neuse–a ship used by the Confederate Navy, and small towns like Dudley, Seven Springs and Deep Run.

People in these towns pointed Helmer in the direction of terrific barbecue. She suggests Wilber’s Barbecue in Goldsboro.

Reading Helmer’s article reminded me of the importance of pulling off the road once in awhile to read those brown historic markers and asking the locals, “Where would you eat and what’s worth seeing here?”

For more information about the Blue-Gray Scenic Byway, click here. One thing to keep in mind, many places are closed on Sundays. Here is a down-loadable brochure of the Civil War Trail another tour option.

Photo of the Day (10-15-08)

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a novel by American author James Still titled River of Earth. This photo by miggiddymatt reminds me of Still’s writing.

Still, who died a few years ago when he was well into his 90s, was an adventurer and traveler who settled in the mountains near Hindman, Kentucky, a tiny town in the southeastern part of the state. He wrote about the Appalachians with an ear that perfectly captured the cadence of place.

Even though this photo is of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, the colors and ripples evoke a memory of a day I drove to the end of a road near Natural Bridge State Park to overlook such wonder. When I saw the view, I thought that the earth did indeed look like a river that went on and on forever.

If you have a shot of wonder, send it our way at Gadling’s Flickr Photo Pool.