Here are just some of the strange talents, skills or quirks I have. Love to hear what you’ve got on your resume.

Which is stranger? Past? Present?

During Prohibition the famous Primrose Club in Newport, once frequented by celebrities, featured the best of entertainment during the wild days when gambling and prostitution ruled in Newport.

Today it’s a nightclub where patrons enjoy live music, dancing and riding the famous mechanical bull.

The building is said to be haunted and is frequently the subject of paranormal investigation and speculation stemming from the building’s wicked past.

Once the scene of a slaughterhouse for animals and possibly humans, it has a terrifying history.

Pregnant Pearl Bryan and her beau Alonzo Walling attempted abortion unsuccessfully in 1896. When she died he surgically removed her head to hide her identity then ditched her body on the property. Alonzo was convicted and hanged but promised to haunt the place.

In the 1950’s it was the famous Latin Quarter. The owner was criminally connected. When his daughter Johanna discovered he’d put out a hit on her lover, singer Robert Randall, she poisoned her father then killed herself in the building’s basement. Some say they still smell her perfume. (Note: Bobby Mackey’s full name is Robert Randall Mackey.)

  U.S. Camel Corps. – In the mid 1800’s, based on explorer Major George Crossman’s recommendation, congress established the U. S. Camel Corps as an experiment for troops to explore the U.S. desert and haul supplies. It appears the U.S. deserts are similar to deserts in Egypt. 66 Camels were brought from the Middle East. The rude animals were known to spit, regurgitate and defy orders, however the experiment was going along swimmingly until the Civil War broke out and frontier exploration was curtailed. What happened to all those rude, crude animals? Well, some were sold and some escaped into the wilds. That’s right! Wild camels ran free in the U. S. Desert for awhile. However, they seem to have died out. The last known siting of a feral camel was in 1941 in Texas. So if you were hoping to catch a glimpse while vacationing in the U.S., you’re out of luck!

Enjoying this bright sunshiny 70 degree afternoon, writing in the cool spring breeze!  Can’t wait until these start blooming again. Where is my fishing pole?

The handbook to the greatest power in the universe — The Power to have everything you want.

This is one of the best books I ever read, by Rhonda Byrne. I learned about this book on the Oprah show and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is my free blog giveaway. Stay tuned to how you may become the winner. I hope the winner enjoys it as much as I did.

Same, only close up

When gold was discovered in Alaska, there was literally a parade of miners carrying heavy burdens of supplies up steep, treacherous terrain in brutal conditions. They were in a race to get to the gold fields, to find the ‘mother lode’ before someone else laid claim to it. Mining was brutal work in unbearable conditions. Stampeders dug in frozen rock and dirt, sifted silt in icy water and lived in unfit conditions. Not only did they battle the elements. The human factor was even more dangerous.

This was the mine where my dad, uncles and grandpas worked when I was a child. The store visual is of a company store. My dad lied about his age and started working in the mines when he was 12. Fortunately by the time he worked there, the script system was no longer used. Previously miners had been paid in ‘script,’ either coins or papers like these. This meant their earnings could only be used at the mine’s company store. Their homes were rented from the mines. They bought everything they had from the company store. They barely made enough to exist, never getting ahead. Workers were tied, indebted to the mines. A miner literally could say, ‘I owed my soul to the company store,’ as the song said. Their only hope of getting out was being drafted by the service. They couldn’t leave. They had no cash!