21-JUN-2009
001: Mt Pleasant
And so we begin. 497 miles from here we'll stop for the night.
It's Father's Day today. What a great way to be spending it: traveling with my son to see some things that will be new to both of us! I'll not only get to spend all day with him today, but we'll be together for ten days on the road.
21-JUN-2009
002: Orangeburg, SC
Breakfast. Or brunch, I guess. Addison ponders his choices.
21-JUN-2009
003: Orangeburg, SC
An interesting "wall of junk."
Auspicious start to our musical journey. I never knew Roy Acuff made a movie! Wonder if we could find s copy of "Smokey Mountainn Melody" somewhere?
21-JUN-2009
004: Bean Station, Tennessee
We drove "the old road" from Asheville--25 to 25E.
When I was growing up, Bean Station was a traditional rest stop on the treks with our family to visit family in Minnesota. It came after a picnic supper on the shore of Cherokee Lake, and it was typically followed by an overnight drive by Dad and Mom on to our stopover in Chicago. The best part was staying awake while we drove over the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky.
Ad and I retraced those trips as best we could, given that now it's mostly four lane, limited access highway. (I won't start on that just now.)
21-JUN-2009
005: Addison's Happy Father
Bean Station. Cherokee Lake and Morristown in the distance.
21-JUN-2009
006: Cumberland Gap
No more winding road over the gap. This new tunnel straightens the road out, puts you through the mountain instead of over it, and spits you out the other side in Kentucky.
Makes me wonder... what happened to Cudjo's Cave?
"Come on boys, take a little nap
We'll all wake up in the Cumberland Gap.
Come on boys, take a little nap
We'll all wake up in the Cumberland Gap." (traditional)
21-JUN-2009
007: Berea, Kentucky
The end of our first day's drive, Berea, Kentucky. I'll comment more on Berea tomorrow.
We are off to a great start.
21-JUN-2009
008: Berea, Kentucky
Late evening sun on the streets of Berea.
21-JUN-2009
010: Berea, Kentucky
Berea Hotel.
We miss you, Shirley! (oh and Hampton, too)
22-JUN-2009
011: Shirley's Gift is Our Guide
22-JUN-2009
012: Day Two
This guidebook Shirley so lovingly assembled for us for this trip is absolutely amazing! It's a work of art all by itself. There's just no way to adequately describe it. You need to hold it in your hands and slowly take it all in. It is a treasure, just as much as the trip itself is. And we can have Shirley with us in spirit!
22-JUN-2009
013: Versailles, Kentucky
We were told that much of the movie had been filmed in Versailles and not in Elizabethtown itself, so I routed us through Versailles on the way so we could at least pass through, although quickly, and see what it looks like.
This is a really pretty little town. Reminded me a lot not only of some other neat little Southern towns I know, but also in some ways like some of the small New England towns we pass through on other trips.
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Didn't see anything that was familiar to me--or to Ad, who is the real authority on the movie. But we really only allowed enough time passing through to grab some gas and a couple quick pictures.
22-JUN-2009
014: Rural Kentucky
This is such beautiful country! It was cooler this morning, at least by Charleston standards. The road we chose to take from Versailles to Elizabethtown by way of Harrodsburg took us through the most beautiful, verdant, rolling hills on a country road that made me think of English lanes passing between stacked stone walls.
Beautiful horse raising country. Acres and acres of pasture land enclosed in miles of fences and these stacked stone walls with the vertical stone slabs on the top. And, as Addison observed, all the amber waves of grain growing in the fields.
It was misty and drizzling off and on. Didn't dampen the trip for us today one bit.
22-JUN-2009
015: The Shaker Village
Snorkey and Jennifer told me on Saturday night before Ad and I left on Sunday that we would be traveling close to the restored Shaker village near Harrodsburg, so I located it, and I added it to the route we would take. I'm glad I did. It's a beautiful place, and although we arrived there in the rain and chose not to walk through the entire village, we saw parts of it and talked with some of the local folks there about the place and its history.
It was interesting, and it was such great subject matter for photos. I was sorry it was raining; some nicer weather would have yielded more good images. Still, I managed one or two that I'll be proud of having taken.
22-JUN-2009
016: Elizabethtown
And here we are in Elizabethtown. Home of the Panthers, apparently. We were already fans.
We arrived here with Tom Petty playing in the car from my Ipod (from the soundtrack, of course.) We know movies are all about fantasy, but this little piece of reality--though nothing at all looks terribly familiar--still connects rather nicely to the fantasy. This is a neat place.
22-JUN-2009
017: Elizabethtown
This church with the steeple was one of the first things Ad wanted to photograph. It's right across from The Mulberry on--here's the surprise--Mulberry Street.
22-JUN-2009
018: Elizabethtown
One of the residences on Mulberry Street in downtown Elizabethtown.
No, nothing really looked familiar here either, but the town really does sort of have the "feel" one would expect, having seen the movie. We were not at all disappointed.
22-JUN-2009
019: Elizabethtown
"The Mulberry" really appealed to Ad. It is apparently a deconsecrated church that appears to be a restaurant or club of some type. Great old building with impressive wooden doors.
22-JUN-2009
020: Elizabethtown
We discovered that Elizabethtown, while not known for numerous attractions for visitors, is the home of the world's largest collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia under one roof. So we visited the Schmidt Collection of Coca-Cola Memorabilia this afternoon. Actually, we had a blast. It was cool inside; nobody else there except the woman running the place, and she let us take pictures to our (my) heart's content.
Talking with the woman running the museum (she never gave her name) was fantastic. She was not only a veritable fount (pardon the expression) of information about Coke and the history and the stuff in the collection, she knew a lot about the filming. She not only had been here during the whole filming, but she had even rented a vacant store on Main Street to the movie company who turned it into the shoe store used in a scene in the movie. She was a great talker.
22-JUN-2009
021: Elizabethtown
When the museum woman warmed up to us, she invited Addison and me into the a private back room in the museum--a sort of "sanctum sanctorum," I guess, of the Coke memorabilia set. She flipped on the lights and there was a forty-foot soda fountain built for the World's Fair in nineteen-ought-something or other, made from solid alabaster! It was incredible.
She sold us REAL fountain cokes (okay, Diet Cokes) for a nickle apiece.
22-JUN-2009
022: Elizabethtown
Ad in the bottle room. Easily every kind of Coke bottle ever made, all in one place. He thought it was particularly cool.
22-JUN-2009
023: Elizabethtown
When the museum woman warmed up to us, she invited Addison and me into the a private back room in the museum--a sort of "sanctum sanctorum," I guess, of the Coke memorabilia set. She flipped on the lights and there was a forty-foot soda fountain built for the World's Fair in nineteen-ought-something or other, made from solid alabaster! It was incredible.
She sold us REAL fountain cokes (okay, Diet Cokes) for a nickle apiece.
22-JUN-2009
024: Elizabethtown
Busting out of the side of the museum was a fairly large fistful of Coke bottle. Certainly impressive. At that point in the afternoon I could have swallowed that whole bottle full. (The margarita, later, at dinner, compensated nicely for that.)
More tomorrow. We leave Elizabethtown in the morning for Nashville.
025: Hendersonville, TN
Addison and Mark Cash in Argill's Music Store in Hendersonville. Mark is the son of Tommy Cash (Johnny Cash's brother.)
This is Addison Runge commenting on the photo that my dad took of me and Mark Cash: It was very AWESOME! We went there to ask about Taylor Swift's family studio, because that was where the address that I got out of one of my celebrity magazines. However we came out of there meeting Johnny Cash and June Cash's nephew! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!! Plus, he told us a story of when Taylor Swift came into his shop to look at guitar's! He told us she came in and pulled out a guitar and just started strumming away on it! OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The fact that I was in a place that Taylor Swift visited is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! Plus, not just that but inside the shop were all these cool looking guitars and other instruments- they had acoustic and electric guitars, as well as banjo's too!! When my dad and I walked out of there we not only had a souvenir of a great MUSIC stop- Mark Cash gave us a guitar pick with his shop's name on it (which I figure my dad was excited about more than me, since I'm a piano man, and he's the guitar player)- but also we got the address to TWO COOL Stops- Johnny and June Cash's memorial AND TAYLOR SWIFTS HOUSE!!!!!!! YES! We had an amazing day yesterday!
026: Nashville
Our hotel is in a great location: a half block from Printer's Alley, and two blocks from B.B. King's Blues Club and a host of other interesting places near the river.
027: Nashville
The concierge in the hotel sent us at lunchtime to a pizza place in the Arcade Alley, about a block from our hotel. Great slice of pizza and salad, and lots to look at around the vicinity.
Now here was the bonus: a couple tables away from where we were sitting in this tiny restaurant we saw Leslie David Baker--"Stanley" from The Office. Although we puzzled for a while over why we would see him HERE, there was no doubt whatsoever who it was. There was that unmistakable profile; but when he caught us watching him, he had an expression of displeasure on his face that we immediately recognized from the television character he plays. So when we got back to our "Google"" access, Addison discovered reading about him that he had been in the movie, Elizabethtown as the airport security guard! So he's no stranger to this part of the country at all.
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One more amazing moment for this trip...and much more to come!
028: Nashville
The peanut shop in the alley turned out to be a great place to beat the heat for a moment or two. Friendly folks in there, but they sold some strange stuff...like wasabi coated peanuts. Not my idea of a good snack on a 95 degree day.
030: Nashville
We weren't in town long at all before Addison encountered his first Elvis impersonator. This guy was one of the throngs who we met at the Parthenon when we...
031: Nashville
...happened to discover an open call for extras for the new commercial being filmed for Monday Night Football! Hank Williams Jr. and all!
Of course, we joined in, and we had a great spot right in the front row of the crowd. We stood on the site watching the crew set up the set and the lighting and all--and mostly waiting for it to get dark, since they wouldn't start filming until total darkness. Total darkness, however, came--finally--after we'd stood about two hours.
Since they were already an hour late and not starting yet, and the director had told us there would be many takes, Addison and I decided we'd rather not spend our entire evening in Nashville waiting to be extras in a crowd scene in a music video (even if it WAS an NFL spot.) We were hot, thirsty, and hungry and had tired feet from touring all day, so we bagged it and went to Joe's Crab House instead. Besides, we were out of costume. Had we known about this in advance, we'd have dressed in the proper Carolina Panthers wardrobe--and been the only two representatives we could see in the whole crowd from the NFC South. Oh well. It was great fun participating in as much of it as we did.
032: Nashville
Still waiting for darkness at the Parthenon.
033: Nashville
Almost there, but the crew is still toting, testing, and tweaking, and we are getting ready to blow the final whistle.
More tomorrow from "Music City USA."
034: NASHVILLE
Today we took a Gray Line tour in Nashville so we could cover a lot more ground in less time. We sure covered some ground, too. And the air conditioned bus with only ten people on it turned out to be a great decision. Addison's always had a thing about riding a bus ever since he was a little kid. Here my little kid is enjoying himself once again.
035: NASHVILLE
When the driver kept saying we'd have a half hour at the "Union Gospel Tabernacle," I had no idea he was talking about what later was named the Ryman Auditorium. Instead of it being what I thought would be a long half hour, it left me wishing we'd had more time there--and especially wishing there would have been a show scheduled while we are here.
036: NASHVILLE
Ad looked pretty good singing on the Ryman stage.
037: NASHVILLE
RCA Studio B. A lot of Elvis's early tunes were recorded here. Also the Everly Brothers and quite a few others that I'm too tired to remember at the moment.
038 NASHVILLE
The Country Music Hall of Fame was a highlight of the tour. Again, we could have used lots more time to really take it all in. This place is just packed with really neat stuff to see.
039: NASHVILLE
...such as Elvis's "solid gold" Cadillac. Pretty impressive, even to a Elvis detractor such as myself. For example, the finish on the car was done with forty coats of a custom made paint--made of ground diamonds and fish scales to give it an unbelievably deep, pearescent finish.
(Nice shot, Ad!)
040: NASHVILLE
Walls upon walls upon walls of gold records at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
041: NASHVILLE
Addison and one of the many Elvises on the street. (Oh heavens, what's it going to be like when we get to *Memphis?*)
042: NASHVILLE
Street musicians are everywhere, too. There are some who have some really unbelievable talent, too. I particularly liked this mandolin player on Broadway.
043: NASHVILLE
Yet another Elvis encounter.
044: NASHVILLE
Addison and I jumped ship and left the tour when we got to the Legends Tavern. We decided to walk back to hotel instead of being dropped off--just too much interesting stuff we wanted to see on the street.
We stopped in at fabled Gruhn Guitar Company to look at their instruments. What a fantastic place! Their instruments were all vintage, and they ranged in price roughly from two thousand dollars to two hundred-fifty thousand dollars. Totally amazing. And surely one of the highlights of the trip so far for me.
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(And no, Shirley, not to worry. I didn't buy myself a new 'axe' while I was there.)
045: NASHVILLE
Dinner tonight was at the Bluebird Cafe. They had a song writers "in the round" performance tonight as a benefit for the Miller Harris Foundation Children's Fund. We heard five song writers perform their material that had been for the most part recorded by a variety of well-known performers ranging from Allen Jackson (whose producer is also one of the writers) to Willie Nelson to Loggins and Messina. What a fabulous show. The food was even good.
The names I'll Google when I get home are Keith Stegall, Jim McBride, David Lee and Wynn Varble.
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I'll say more about all this when it's not quite so late and I'm not quite so tired!
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More tomorrow. Then we head West.
046: NASHVILLE
The guy on the right in the hat is David Lee. Has a really rich baritone voice that sounds almost like B.W. Stevenson only BETTER.
047: Memphis
Travel day today. We left Nashville this morning and drove to Memphis. (No trace of the yellow bridge, blast it.) It was just a hot, not very exciting drive with much more interstate highway than we've had any other day so far. Makes us appreciate those back roads and knowing we'll have more of them from here on out.
We got settled, cooled off, rested, and then walked to Gus's Famous Chicken for the self-acclaimed 'World's Best Fried Chicken.' I think I really have to agree with the assessment. Either it's the best, or it's been SO long since I've had fried chicken that my taste buds are way out of practice. It was awesome.
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(Cool...I just learned something new. Click on 'see map' up above!)
048: Memphis
Gus's had a respectable crowd tonight, it looks like.
049: Memphis
Whether or not this is Gus himself is probably doubtful. Whatever. He cooks a really strong bird.
050: Memphis
We walked back to our hotel from dinner at Gus's by a different route that took us right by the Gibson instrument factory! Oh yes...Memphis has Graceland and all, I know, but *I* think THIS is really exciting! Got to see if we can get in.
051: Memphis
Memphis seems to have a thing for chickens. Seems everywhere we go they are sort of over-represented. Here's Ad making friendly with one of the local birds near Beale Street.
052: Memphis
Beale Street was starting to jump when we neared the hotel after walking back from dinner. It sort of reminds me at first glance of a Mem_his analog to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco or something. I'll know more after I research it a bit more.
I a_ologize for my obvious miss_elling of words that contain the letter '_'. (I can't ty_e it, obviously, but it rhymes with a _o_ular body function.) It seems that that _articular key has now com_letely died. I'm not sure how it's _remature demise will affect continuing with this narrative. Fortunately we have Ad's MAC with us, too. Good thing. Not too sure what to do about this.
053: Memphis
We've got a _retty great view from our room. Looks right down on all the action in _eabody Square!
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Looking forward to tomorrow in Mem_his.
25-JUN-2009
054: Memphis
Started the day with a ride to Graceland. It's FLOODED with people! The local news said people were going to Graceland in droves because of Michael Jackson dying. Not sure I quite follow that connection, but it was one busy place first thing this morning. Addison suggested rather than touring the house we see it from the outside and go take the Sun Recording Studio tour. I thought that was a great idea, so we stopped at Graceland and picked up a couple of gifts and took a few pictures.
25-JUN-2009
055: Memphis
OKAY, I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S HAPPENED HERE, BUT I'VE LOST SEVERAL DAYS WORTH OF PHOTO COMMENTS. TODAY THEY'RE JUST PLAIN GONE.
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Unfortunately, I've had to wait until we got back home (last night, Tuesday) before I could finish the last of the uploads and start to put the captions back on the photos that were already here. This will probaby stay a work in progress for another day or two while I get it all sequenced and commented.
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Anyway...this is the wall in front of Graceland. Every square inch is covered with graffiti of somekind. Some of it was pretty artistic (most of it, not.) I thought it was interesting and worthy of documentation.
25-JUN-2009
056: Memphis
Addison in his "Elvis shades." My opinion still is that if he wants to acquire a "King of Rock" look, he's got some work to do. Still...he's cute, isn't he?
25-JUN-2009
057: Memphis
Graceland gift shop has it all: a scale model of Graceland, Elvis salt and pepper shakers, Elvis "action figures" (for lack of a better term). You name it. They've got it.
25-JUN-2009
058: Memphis
Oh yes, and giant Elvis Pez dispensers, bottle openers that play and Elvis song... Amazing.
25-JUN-2009
059: Memphis
After we left Graceland, we stopped by the Lorraine Motel, site of Dr. King's assassination. Quite a sobering site, I must say.
25-JUN-2009
060: Memphis
Had lunch at the Blues City Cafe on the corner of Beale Street and...I can't remember...2nd Avenue, I think? Just a block or so from our hotel. Great place! Delicious tamales, and about the best cup of chili I can remember tasting...just fabulous.
25-JUN-2009
061: Memphis
These guys in the kitchen knew exactly what they were doing, and they did it really FAST for a whole gang of people who were in the Blues City Cafe for lunch.
25-JUN-2009
062: Memphis
Addison: Grooving on lunch.
26-JUN-2009
063: Memphis
Staying true to the Elizabethtown route and our wonderful Shirley-prepared guide, we went in search of Ernestine & Hazel's bar on South Main. Found it; it's right at the bottom of the Main Street trolley line.
I doubt this place looks any different than it did when the movie was filmed. Probably not much is different here in years! It was an experience...and one of those few, almost surreal, experiences that became one of the highlights of this trip.
26-JUN-2009
063: Memphis
While I was taking Addison's picture next to this photo of Orlando Bloom on the wall, Russell, the owner of E&H's, who was deep inside the jukebox making some sort of unknown repairs, informed us that he's had 14 minutes of speaking parts in Elizabethtown, but that they'd all been edited out except for in the bonus features. Addison had, of course, recognized him immediately from the DVD bonus features. Russell told us numerous tales of the movie making; he said Orlando Bloom and especially Cameron Crowe were just really nice guys.
Twelve movies have been filmed at Ernestine & Hazel's, including 21 Grams and My Blueberry Nights.
26-JUN-2009
064: Memphis
Russell then invited us up to his office upstairs. He toured us through the ancient brothel, the tiny piano bar, and the "other" rooms, now all sitting rooms for the music upstairs, then we went into his office.
26-JUN-2009
065: Memphis
The piano bar. Three stools and a little table overlooking South Main Street.
26-JUN-2009
066: Memphis
More of the upstairs.
When we went with Russell into his office, he autographed a copy of the Elizabethtown sound track that he pulled from a big box, saying that Cameron Crowe had sent him this whole box of them. He also gave us an 8"x10" photograph of "The Two Kings," Elvis Pressley and B.B. King, that was taken at Ernesting & Hazel's. He gave Addison a snapshot photo of Nora Jones, who was in My Blueberry Nights, one of the movies recently filmed in E&H's.
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So this turned out to be a major "Elizabethtown Moment" on the trip. Nobody could have been more friendly than Russell. And he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as we were!
26-JUN-2009
067: Memphis
The Rules. Painted on a breaker box at Ernestine & Hazel's.
26-JUN-2009
068: Memphis
We spent the afternoon at Sun Studios. Took a great tour there and visited the place where so many of the old rockers have been recorded: Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, the Everly Brothers, and even some more contemporary bands like U2, to name a few.
26-JUN-2009
069: Memphis
The Original--the huge, one track recorder Sam used in the studio in the early days. These days, you can make a quality digital recording with something the size of an Ipod. This was more the size of a small refrigerator.
26-JUN-2009
070: Memphis
Upstairs in the studio is a veritable museum. Guitars and memorabilia from many of the early recording artists who recorded at Sun.
26-JUN-2009
071: Memphis
Addison stood on the "X" on the floor where Elvis and Johnny Cash and others (where the best acoustics were for recording) and tried out the original microphone used in the studio to record both of them and many others.
26-JUN-2009
072: Memphis
We finished the afternoon at the Peabody Hotel for the traditional, daily, 5pm March of the Ducks. The ducks drew a heck of a crowd. They march each evening to the elevator that they ride to where they live in the penthouse on the roof of the Peabody. Huge crowd; you'd have thought the Rolling Stones were playing for free in the lobby or something.
26-JUN-2009
073: Memphis
Ducks swimming in endless circles in the Peabody fountain.
26-JUN-2009
075: Memphis
Not intimidated at all by encroaching crowds and throngs of children, the march to the elevator is on. It was all over in a few minutes, and Addison and I marched outselves back to our own "penthouse" quarters.
26-JUN-2009
076: Memphis
We "did" Beale Street in the evening. It was sort of underwhelming. Reminded us a lot of a land-locked Fisherman's Wharf type of scene, intensely crowded, and over-populated by junky souvenir shops and eating places. The food was way over-rated, and the performers in most of the clubs were Elvis impersonators (some were VERY talented!) Nevertheless, it was a great time. Way too many pan-handlers, though! Wow, that part was over-whelming. All in all, glad we didn't miss it. Also glad we didn't spend too much of our time there.
26-JUN-2009
077: Memphis
The place NOT to order ribs (microwaved). (But the Elvis impersonator did a great show!)
26-JUN-2009
078: Memphis
This guy was so good that Addison first thought he was done by 'animatronics' like at Disney.
26-JUN-2009
080: Memphis
Great signage on Beale Street.
26-JUN-2009
079: Memphis
My favorite attraction! The Gibson guitar factory.
26-JUN-2009
081: Memphis
And still more Beale Street. We decided it reminded us of a land-locked version of Fisherman's Wharf. All the same people and all the trinket hawkers. Still...good music to be heard here and there.
Leaving Memphis at mid day tomorrow.
27-JUN-2009
082: Memphis
Didn't leave town before we took the grande tour of Gibson. This place was something else! Saw how they put together all those gorgeous Les Pauls and hollowbodies. Even got to play a few a little bit in the gift shop.
26-JUN-2009
083: Clarksdale, MS
The intersection of US Highways 61 and 49 is the legendary spot where Tommy Johnson was allegedly met by the Devil who tuned his guitar for him in exchange for his soul, allowing Tommy to play any song he wanted. Tommy went on to become a well-known blues musician in the delta region.
Here is Addison standing at the crossroad, which is now inside the town of Clarksdale. No transactions were made at this time.
26-JUN-2009
084: Clarksdale, MS
Yes, this is downtown Clarksdale, MS.
26-JUN-2009
085: Clarksdale, MS
When we finally located our lodging in Clarksdale--the "Shack Up Inn"--it took us a bit longer to find the office. It was through this somewhat daunting doorway.
My traveling partner was less than delighted at the prospect of spending a night here.
26-JUN-2009
086: Clarksdale, MS
I, however, found it to be a fantastic place to photograph. Ever notice how all the Hiltons, Marriotts, Hampton Inns, etc. seem to be so much alike? (Yes, Addison, I know. That's why you like them.) That wasn't an issue here. This place was absolutely one of a kind!
26-JUN-2009
087: Clarksdale, MS
The accommodations at the Shack Up Inn are just that--shacks. Most have been moved in entirety from locations around Clarksdale or elsewhere in the Delta. They are indeed quite an experience, to put it mildly.
26-JUN-2009
088: Clarksdale, MS
Our little shack was known as "Electric Blue." Aptly named, of course, for the color of the walls (inside, in places, too.) This is the front view. Nice sofa on the front porch. Not all the shacks are quite as fancy.
26-JUN-2009
089: Clarksdale, MS
The backside. Just as blue as the front.
28-JUN-2009
090: Clarksdale, MS
My bedroom was red. And it had this "mystery door" screwed to the wall sideways. Addison decided it must be some sort of passageway that you had to go into sideways. Not sure where it led, though.
28-JUN-2009
091: Clarksdale, MS
Addison's room. He quickly claimed the room closest to the door so he could "be out of it fast" if need be.
28-JUN-2009
093: Clarksdale, MS
The kitchen. The door to the right goes into the bath. We'll spare the details on that.
28-JUN-2009
094: Clarksdale, MS
One of the "objets d'art" adorning the walls in our shack.
26-JUN-2009
095: Clarksdale, MS
Another look at the front porch.
26-JUN-2009
096: Clarksdale, MS
Addison found a bit of comfort at the Shack Up Inn: a porch swing out in the yard. (I guess that would make it a 'yard swing.' No room on the porch what with the sofa and all.)
26-JUN-2009
097: Clarksdale, MS
The juke joint next door had a serious fan on the porch. That was a necessity in this place where air conditioning was not yet universal.
27-JUN-2009
098: Clarksdale, MS
Inside the juke joint was amazingly comfortable (and the beer was *really* cold!)
26-JUN-2009
099: Clarksdale, MS
Later in the evening, we went to the Ground Zero Blues Club to catch some blues music.
Morgan Freeman owns the Ground Zero. He apparently lives in Charleston, MS, about 40 miles south. He wasn't at the club while we were there; he was at his restaurant, Midici, just down the street.
26-JUN-2009
100: Clarksdale, MS
Ground Zero was cool, uncrowded, and generally really pleasant. The music was great. And the place started really jumping around 11.30 when we left.
26-JUN-2009
101: Clarksdale, MS
I'm considering changing my name now (probably to something along the lines of "Blind Melon Chitlin'") and sticking around. Although the heat gives me second thoughts. It makes Charleston in summertime seem cool and dry.
More tomorrow.
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Nightchall.
28-JUN-2009
102: Itta Bena, MS
Itta Bena was a name familiar from _O, Brother, Where Art Thou?_, a movie Addison and I have watched until it's almost memorized. So, with Itta Bena only an hour south of us, we had to go see it.
28-JUN-2009
103: Itta Benna, MS
It didn't take long to see Itta Bena. This was the most interesting thing in town. You don't find Catfish on Wheels all that often.
27-JUN-2009
104: Rural Mississippi
Lots to see along these back roads. Lots to photograph, and I'm already aware of not having enough time to shoot.
27-JUN-2009
105: Tupelo, MS
Tupelo. The birthplace of Elvis.
27-JUN-2009
106: Tupelo, MS
Elvis's ancestral home. Pretty nice, considering the places we left behind in the Delta.
28-JUN-2009
108: Tishamingo, MS
Enough of Elvis already. This was a bait shop in the country near Tishamingo.
28-JUN-2009
109: Tishamingo, MS
Great place to pick up some shad guts, if you're looking for them.
28-JUN-2009
110: Tishamingo, MS
"The Store" in Tishamingo. Looks like they need to buy a vowel.
28-JUN-2009
111: Rural Alabama
Country church in rural Alabama. It reminded so much of some of the images Walker Evans made in this same part of the country in the 1930's. Some things are probably pretty much the same.
27-JUN-2009
113: Muscle Shoals, AL
An interesting shop we saw on the highway coming in to Muscle Shoals.
29-JUN-2009
114: Muscle Shoals, AL
Monday morning we visited the Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals. Very nice people--we'd come without an appointment. They were, of course, busy recording in the studio, but they pretty much let us look around wherever else we wanted to.
29-JUN-2009
115: Muscle Shoals, AL
Lots of well-known names in rock and roll and country music have recorded at FAME. Artists who recorded there included Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Joe Tex, Duane Allman (who was a session musician there before starting the Allman Brothers Band,) The Allman Brothers Band, Clarence Carter, Candi Staton, Mac Davis, Paul Anka, Tom Jones, Etta James, Andy Williams, The Osmonds, Shenandoah, among others.
29-JUN-2009
116: Muscle Shoals, AL
More of the studio. The break room at FAME.
29-JUN-2009
117: Muscle Shoals, AL
Addison is surrounded by gold and platinum records in the FAME waiting room. There were several platinum Tim McGraw albums on the wall. I'm told Tim and Faith live close by. Muscle Shoals has, over the years, become a place where singer songwriters would come and stay for periods of time to write and then record. Paul Simon is one. McCartney spent time here as well.
29-JUN-2009
118: Murphy, NC
It's hard to describe how good it felt to see the mountains of Western North Carolina. Not only that, but the temperature dropped FORTY degrees from where we were in Mississippi to where we ended up at the cabin in Cashiers.
24-JUN-2007
119: CASHIERS, NC
The amazing view from the cabin porch in Cashiers. There is nothing quite like it.
30-JUN-2009
120: Brevard, NC
We headed home Tuesday morning, but we couldn't pass through Brevard without a detour through campus at Brevard College.
30-JUN-2009
122: Brevard, NC
Beam Hall. This is going to be Addison's home away from home starting in August.
30-JUN-2009
124: Mt Pleasant
On this trip, Addison and I have crossed the Mississippi River twice, the Tennessee six times, and countless other smaller, less significant rivers.
None of those were any more exciting than crossing the Cooper River for the second time and landing again in Mt. Pleasant.
.
Feels great to be home.