Our middle child Mike grew up watching his favorite two TV shows … The Dukes of Hazzard and Studio Wrestling with his favorite wrestler, Rick Flair The Nature Boy. With that venue of shows, I didn’t think Mike was to have a great future, but he proved me wrong. Anyway, on my trip to the Luray Caverns, just a couple miles away was Cooter’s in the Valley Museum, owned and operated by Ben Jones, who portrayed Cooter the mechanic on “The Dukes of Hazzard,” and his wife Alma Viator.
The Dukes of Hazzard TV Show was about the Duke family that was always getting in trouble with the corrupt commissioner Boss Hogg and his police henchmen. The two Duke boys were famous for driving an orange Dodge Charger nicknamed General Lee and for their cousin Daisy Duke who was famous for her very short shorts that became an iconic name for short shorts.
The museum features Daisy’s Diner, Dukes of Hazzard Museum and a Replica Cooter’s Garage with General Lee, Cooter’s Tow Truck, Boss Hogg Caddy, “Cooter’s Garage Band” and appearances from the man himself, Ol’ Cooter. “Cooter” does a free Concert every Saturday at Cooter’s Place in Luray from 1pm-3pm and signing autographs from 3pm-4pm.
I was told by a local Luray resident that the week before my arrival, a reported crowd of 10,000 people showed up for a visit from the original cast and crew of the TV Show.
Cooter’s Museum also has locations in Gatlinburg and Nashville Tennessee. Admission was free. In 1980, the TV Show was the number 2 most popular show on TV. It was number 9 the year before.
And a tip of the hat to Gay Jones, the only reader to correctly identify the garage in the One-Clue Mystery this week!
Ahh….. Daisy Duke. Burnt into the memory of every young boy !
And some older one’s too !
I think a lot of people enjoyed the Dukes of Hazzard, a show that would never be made into day’s hyper politically correct world.