Kentucky Curiosities

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.

A syndicated columnist and author of thirteen books, including Unauthorized America: A Travel Guide to the Places the Chamber of Commerce Won't Tell You About (HarperCollins, 1990), Vince Staten has appeared on such media as "Late Night with David Letterman," "Dateline NBC," "Today on NBC," and NPR's "Morning Edition." His varied career encompasses writing, lecturing, teaching, and co-owning Vince Staten's Old Time Barbecue in downtown Prospect, Kentucky. When we approached author Vince Staten to write this book, he confessed to already keeping a growing file of "oddities and obscurities, like the woman who collects pictures of swirling toilet seats and the store that sells more Florida souveniers than any gift shop not in Florida." Reporter Liz Baldi has written for Kentucky Monthly and other publications.