Phillips Family IGA In Hiseville, Ky., Offers Fresh Hot "Charlie Biggs' Fried Chicken That Hits The Spot In Rural Southcentral Kentucky

     I remember growing up down in the Deep South in North Mississippi in the late 70's that there was nothing better than a thick cut piece of bologna slapped on two slices of Wonder white bread, a slice of thick cheddar cheese with mayonnaise on a hot summer day. Also, I always had a bag of Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings and a Nehi peach soda to go along with it.
    Nowadays, when I travel and work the back highways of rural Southcentral Kentucky, I always seem to find these nice little country stores that has a deli in the back that serves some sort of hot food.  One of my favorites is Phillips Family IGA http://www.phillipsiga.com/ in Hiseville, Ky., several miles north of Glasgow, Ky., just of U.S. 31-E and several miles east of Cave City.

     Of course, they can make you a fresh bologna sandwich if you wish. But I prefer their "Charley Biggs' Chicken and Sauce."http://charleybiggs.com/  It's a deli brand of fried chicken that I am sure that you can get at other similar types of rural grocery stores across the country.  To me, there's nothing better than a Charley Biggs' chicken breast and a couple of fried potato logs. I love their "I'm on Fire!" which is Charley Biggs' "Kickin' It Up Hot Sauce." It's hot but it's damn good and it goes great with the fried chicken breast and potato logs.  Usually, I''ll grab me a ice cold, 12 ounce can of Coca Cola to go along with it too.
   

The next time you are up that way, you've got to try Charlie Biggs' chicken and sauce at Phillips Family IGA in Hiseville.  The Phillips family are super, friendly people and apparently they have been serving the grocery needs of their little community for years.  But for an outsider like me from Bowling Green, who pops in every now and then, you can't go wrong with their Charley Biggs Fried Chicken at their deli in the back of the store.  You know, I think they may even be giving the Colonel a run for the money these days.  At least I know they are in their little town with a population of 240 citizens and the surrounding area!

Whatever Happened To The Wizard Staff And Tree Spirit Walking Sticks Little Yellow Shack In Summer Shade, Ky?

SUMMER SHADE, KY _ I still drive by here several times a month. But it's a mystery to me.
     And nobody seems to know what happened to the Wizard Staff and Tree Spirit Walking Sticks little yellow shack in Summer Shade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Shade,_Kentucky on Ky. 90 between Glasgow and Burkesville. I know a few people who lives in the area since the shack has been razed for a couple of years now. But again nobody can tell me anything about it. There's another little shack still standing several yards away where the other one used to be.  There's also a small Church of Christ building across the highway not far from the shack used to be. Sometimes I think maybe the religious people of the community may have something to do with its disappearance. But that's just me thinking out loud.  I assume a lot like a lot of people do in society.
       The stick carving shop was the brainchild of Robin Bryan, a laid off drywaller, who made the Wizard Staffs and Tree Spirit Walking Sticks and sold them to the public out of the little yellow shack. Supposedly, Bryan said that some people claimed that the sticks had "magical powers and changed their lives" when I interviewed for my Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEEG7b-WZZvvFN23LFMWJEA?view_as=public After I purchased my own Tree Spirit Walking Stick from him for $10,

I used my old Kodak digital camera seven years ago in October of 2010 to interview him.  It's my highest viewed Youtube video still to date with over 13,000 views.  My video only has a few thousand views compared the millions of videos on Youtube with millions of views. But's that's okay, I'm still glad I had a chance to capture Bryan in a brief interview on video while cars and trucks were passing by us just a few feet away on the highway on a busy fall afternoon.

      I even had one complaint on my Youtube channel that the cars and trucks were way too loud and that they barely could Bryan hardly talk. Lol.  I had to explain to that person with a comment posted below his that we were only a few feet from the highway from where the little yellow shack stood and that camera was not of the highest quality.

     I also remember I asked Bryan what types of people purchase his Wizard Staff and Tree Spirit Walking Sticks and he said that all types of people purchased them.  I also asked him if any local celebrities such as the band members of the Kentucky Headhunters or Black Stone Cherry had purchased any of his sticks and he said, "Yes," but he was not a liberty to say which members had.

     So if you know why the little yellow shack was torn down or if you know what happened to Bryan, please let me know.  That's just the nosey reporter in me coming out who still likes to hang around apparently.

A Murder At Bowling Green, Ky's Ramada Inn-Strangely Bazaar

    The newspaper article posted below was published in the Bowling Green (Ky) Daily News today about a murder that happened four years-ago at the Ramada Inn, one of Bowling Green's oldest hotels on Scottsville Road.  Of course, the hotel has changed hands several times through the years as well has been remodeled a couple times too.  But to me, this was a strangely bazaar murder case that happened right here in Bowling Green.  It's just weird that a now convicted killer stalked another man who was a guest at the hotel.  Originally, the killer found the guest at the hotel's bar knowing that the guest had a wallet full of cash and then went to the front desk to get the guest's room number.  And then the desk clerk gave him the room number!  After the killer got the guest's room number, he knocked on the his door and as the guest opened the door, the killer barged his way  in and strangled the guest to death and then took his cash.  And to top it off, the hotel's video camera's recorded the killer in the lobby and the halls of the hotel as he walked to the guest's room.  Complete wacko nuts for real!  What was that crazy, stupid idiot thinking?!!!

    The Ramada Inn has had it's ups and downs through the years in Bowling Green.  Back in the 90's, a little girl who was a grandchild of one of the housekeepers climbed into a laundry chute, got stuck and died.  Also, in 1979 or 1980, when then governor of California, Ronald Reagan was running for President, he supposedly stayed in the hotel's suit with his wife Nancy while making a campaign stop in Bowling Green.  Now, the hotel has all of the former Greenwood Inn's nightlife business at its lounge called the "Crossroads Bar & Grill."  The Greenwood Inn was dubbed the 'Meat Market" because that's where everybody in Bowling Green and Southcentral Kentucky went to find a "date" for the night or to be "picked up" for the evening.  I suppose the Crossroads Bar and Grill offers that same type of clientele.  They've even have the same house band that played at the Greenwood Executive Inn for years.  And one of the band members who used to be a guy is now a woman through the transgender process as rumor has it.  I would advise if you go to the Crossroads Bar and Grill or stay at the Ramada Inn, don't flash any cash around and watch your wallet very carefully.

GLASGOW MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN MURDER AT HOTEL
By JUSTIN STORY, The Daily News, jstory@bgdailynews.com/783-3256

Murder suspect Troy Lee Rupe admitted Tuesday to killing and robbing a man in a Bowling Green hotel room four years ago.
Rupe, 50, of Glasgow, entered a guilty plea in Warren Circuit Court to murder and first-degree robbery, acknowledging his role in the death of Thomas L. Ward.
Ward, 38, of Glasgow, was found dead April 13, 2008, in a room at the Ramada Inn at 4767 Scottsville Road. An investigation determined that Ward had been beaten and strangled.
Appearing with his attorneys, Renae Tuck and Eric Clark of the Department of Public Advocacy, Rupe spoke with a slight rasp while answering questions from Warren Circuit Judge Steve Wilson.
Rupe has been sick from cancer, and his graying hair, glasses and thin frame gave him a much different appearance Tuesday than how he looked in his Warren County Regional Jail booking photo taken in 2008 when he was charged with the crimes.
“I just want to apologize to the family. I’m sorry for the loss of their loved one,” Rupe said Tuesday.
About 10 of Ward’s relatives were in the courtroom to hear Rupe admit guilt.
Ward’s mother, Mary Brooks, read a short statement describing the effect her son’s death has had on the family, calling the date of her son’s death “the worst day of our lives.”
“The emptiness you have left in our family will never be gotten over,” Brooks said while addressing Rupe, her voice rising as she struggled to avoid crying. “You took the most precious thing that God gives – life.”
The Bowling Green Police Department led the investigation into Ward’s death, viewing hotel surveillance video footage from the Ramada Inn taken on the night of the homicide that showed Rupe following Ward.
The footage was aired on television the following day, and several people called the BGPD identifying Rupe as the man following Ward.
Rupe himself called the police after the footage aired, came to Bowling Green to be interviewed by detectives and was charged with the crimes.
During the investigation, police found money in Rupe’s Glasgow home that was alleged to have been taken from Ward.
Wilson sentenced Rupe on Tuesday to 21 years and six months in prison. The plea agreement that Rupe, who had been scheduled to go to trial next month, reached with Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron recommended that amount of time to be served on the murder charge and a 20-year sentence for robbery, with both of those sentences to be served concurrently.
Additional charges of tampering with physical evidence and first-degree persistent felony offender were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Because the murder was committed during the course of another violent crime, Rupe could have been eligible for the death penalty, but Cohron filed notice after Rupe’s indictment that he sought a maximum sentence of life without parole.
Rupe will get credit for the time he has served in custody and must serve 18 years and three months of his sentence before he can be considered for parole.

C & C Bar-B-Q Grilling Sauce Is Some of Kentucky's Finest

    Being a Southern boy, I am always on the lookout for great little barbecue places to eat as well as bottled barbecue sauces that are being sold on the market whether it be major grocery store chains or little mom and pop shops along the way.
   However, I ran across "C & C Bar-B-Q Grilling Sauce" from a friend of mine who is a manager at restaurant in Glasgow, Ky.  He showed it to me and told me how good it was.  He even let me taste of spoonful of it.  I was immediately hooked and I had to have a bottle of it.  He said of a couple of friends of his created it and have it bottled and they only sale it at several locations in Glasgow and Southcentral Kentucky.  This sauce has a nice kick to it and wonderful flavor!  I've used the sauce two times already on my gas grill barbecuing butterfly pork chops and the flavor was outstanding!  I plan on using in some chicken breasts as well as other types of pork and white meats while cooking on the gas grill.
    If you would like to purchase a bottle of  this very unique Kentucky barbecue sauce, you can get it at Nannie's & Poppy's Consignment Shop in Cave City, Ky., just off I-65 between Nashville, Tenn. and Louisville, Ky, for $4 a bottle.  It's well worth the money.  Their address is 101 Baker Hale Road, Cave City, Ky. 42127 and phone numbers, 270 590-2019 or 270 646-8618.