In response to my brother's post of the Kellogg guy being the namesake of my junior high...it is so fitting that the man was a 'flake' because I HATED that school more then anything I've ever disliked in my life. It was the worst three years! It was so appropriate they named the school after him.
Lally-I collect Hard Rock shot glasses.
And, I will scan Graceland photos to post.
Friday, February 28, 2003
Monday, February 24, 2003
Back to Minnesota last night as off 9:15 pm. It was a long 13 hour day of driving from Memphis, Tennessee. But, we made it and had a fantastic trip. The only downside is that we've come home to 5 degree temps after basking in 80 degree sunshine for 5 days!
As I could tell a zillion stories, I'll give you a low down of the trip, and then put in "tales from the road" as my brother does...
We left at 7:30am on Friday, the 14th. We were in Paducah, Kentucky by 6pm that evening. Not too bad. Left at 7am the following morning and arrived in Jacksonville at 6:30pm. It was warm and beautiful! I liked Jacksonville as a city a lot.
The next day we went back to Georgia to visit with Mike's cousin Chad, whom he hadn't seen in 6 years. He is married with 7 year old twin girls, and a 14 month old daughter. We met at a great outlet mall about an hour from Savannah where I was able to shop at the Gap and get some deals. Nice to meet more of his family. On Monday we drove to St. Augustine, Florida, which is the oldest town in the US. This is where Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the Fountain of Youth. Naturally, there is a whole tourist attaction around this! The town is cool-a fort is on the water front and the town is all in cobblestone with little shops. Spanish influence, sort of reminded me of a cross between California and the French Quarters in New Orleans. Ate supper there and shopped. Beautiful weather. Went to the beach there as well and walked in the ICE COLD ocean!
Left Tuesday morning for what intended to be a stop at Daytona and then to Disney. Well, we rolled into Daytona at 8:45am and fell in love with the place. Toured the track (which is so banked on the corners it's amazing) and got to walk on pit row, AND go to victory lane for pictures. Wicked cool stuff. Got to see the Earnhardt statue out front. Inside there are attractions such as the history of the track, the hall of fame of Daytona, etc. There is the 16 second pit challenge where you are invited to try change ONE tire, not four, in 16 seconds. It was fun to watch. You can also do play by play for a taped race, watch a movie, drive the Silcon Speedway, go on a simulated ride (the kind that puts you in a seat in front of a screen and jostles you all over). The highlight was to Michael Waltrip's Napa car on display from just two days prior. I posed with thumbs up! :)
We didn't leave Daytona until noon, and decided to go to Sea World instead of DIsney. We finally realized we wanted a lot more time to go to Disney then we would have, so decided to wait until another trip. Disappointing, but I think we made the right decision. Sea World was really neat. Shamu show is fantastic as are the other shows such as dolphin and sea lions. It was a super fun day.
On to Ocala, FLorida to stay with Aunt #2 who had a new puppy named Minnie. We didn't do anything for 2 days but lay around and actually 'vacation' and check out the town. Left Friday morning for Memphis and had one hell of a day trying to get there. Got caught in Birmingham, Alabama for over an hour due to a closed down interstate. Then it rained all the way to Memphis. Another 13 hour day.
Spent all day at Graceland on Saturday, which of course to me was the highlight. I'm a dork, I know, but i've wanted to go there since I was 8 years old. I nearly peed my pants when we drove up I was so excited. It was a cool experience, with the house being as gaudy as you would expect from Elvis. Shag green carpet on the floor AND the ceiling in the Jungle Room! But, only 2 rooms were lavishly decorated-the rest are putting much typical 70's living areas. Just with more money! The do a nice audio tour, so you can wander at your leisure and it has Elvis, Priscilla and Lisa giving anecdotes on your headset. I learned even more then I thought I knew about the King. Last, we headed to the Meditation Gardens where he and his family are buried. Everyone gets pretty quiet out there-rather neat experience. Then, the rest of the time is spent exploring 3 other museums and like 20 gift shops. I didn't buy a lot, but did buy a fair amount! Car museum is really nifty-he had some great ones. Ate at the Elvis Chrome Grill, which is a southern style restaurant with harleys and cars parked in it. Then, we also were able to go on the two airplanes he owned. The Lisa Marie is truly a 'Flying Graceland' as he called it. Gold plated seat belt covers for godsakes! I was in my glory all day long.
Later, we drove down to Beale Street and then went to Sun Records where Elvis was first recorded. The pamphlet says, "They say the tour will give you goosebumps..." Which I thought was crap. It is not. One truly does get goosebumps! It's a simple half hour tour, with a tour guide who is a little too theatric, but puts a nice twist on everything. (He totally fits the place-side burns, rolled up jeans like the 50's, and REALLY knows his rock n roll history)_I was actually standing on the mark that Elvis stood while recording "That's All RIght Mamma". They play bits of the different songs recorded there in the studio as you stand there...and that's where the goosebumps begin. Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins, BB King, you name it. They even let you touch the original microphone that Elvis used. They let you use flash photography in the studio so I hope the pictures turn out. They also have a great souvenir shop where I bought Dad his tshirt that he asked for. I also bought a small poster of the "Million Dollar Quartet" if you've ever seen the photo of Elvis at the piano with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee and Johnny Cash surrounding him. That was Sam Phillips money makers at their best.
We ate on Beale Street at BB King's club. Great food, and even cooler music. It was Beale Street at it's finest with loud blues music, lots of people and food that is southern to the core. Did a little shopping at the Hard Rock down the street and a few other shops. It was hard to leave Beale!
And then we left yesterday morning. we drove by Graceland on the way out of town as I waved and said,"Later Elvis!"
Tales from the Road:
Played the license plate game and came up three states short: Hawaii, Rhode Island and Wyoming.
Some interesting signs included the following:
Cruisin' Chubby's Gentleman's Club-Truck Parking
Ho Chunk Casino
ABS-The Bovine Love Connection
Eat More Chikin (from a bunch of cows posing)
Funny License Plates:
Uff Da 4
Nrwgn 2
SItes:
A water tower size cross in Effingham, Illinois. Still no idea what it represents.
From Paducah to Florida we saw more then 50 Waffle Houses. What's the big deal?
In Nashville, you could buy Fireworks EVERYWHERE. And really cool ones at that!
Saw TBS, Olympic Torch Site and Turner Field in Atlanta.
Kentucky boasts cheapest cigarette sale prices in the US.
We got into some freaky backwoods places in Alabama. "You shore gotta purdy mouth"
Earnhardt statue at Daytona!
Cheapest gas was $1.33 just over the Georgia border.
Most expensive was $1.79 in Illinois. Most we paid was $1.74 in Edgewood, Illinois.. The cheapest we paid was $1.51 in Macon, Georgia.
Went through 11 states in all: MN, WI, Illinois, Kentucky, Tenneessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansaw.
And those are the tales from the road. Great trip, but I think we'll fly to Florida when we go back the next time!! It was a looonnnnggg drive but well worth the money and vacation time. Back to work tomorrow! All I heard from the newspapers on the job situation is that the Governor proposed taking all the money that funds us-but obviously the legislature still has to vote on it. I'll find out more tomorrow I'm sure! Post cards will probably reach many of you this week...hope you like them.
As I could tell a zillion stories, I'll give you a low down of the trip, and then put in "tales from the road" as my brother does...
We left at 7:30am on Friday, the 14th. We were in Paducah, Kentucky by 6pm that evening. Not too bad. Left at 7am the following morning and arrived in Jacksonville at 6:30pm. It was warm and beautiful! I liked Jacksonville as a city a lot.
The next day we went back to Georgia to visit with Mike's cousin Chad, whom he hadn't seen in 6 years. He is married with 7 year old twin girls, and a 14 month old daughter. We met at a great outlet mall about an hour from Savannah where I was able to shop at the Gap and get some deals. Nice to meet more of his family. On Monday we drove to St. Augustine, Florida, which is the oldest town in the US. This is where Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the Fountain of Youth. Naturally, there is a whole tourist attaction around this! The town is cool-a fort is on the water front and the town is all in cobblestone with little shops. Spanish influence, sort of reminded me of a cross between California and the French Quarters in New Orleans. Ate supper there and shopped. Beautiful weather. Went to the beach there as well and walked in the ICE COLD ocean!
Left Tuesday morning for what intended to be a stop at Daytona and then to Disney. Well, we rolled into Daytona at 8:45am and fell in love with the place. Toured the track (which is so banked on the corners it's amazing) and got to walk on pit row, AND go to victory lane for pictures. Wicked cool stuff. Got to see the Earnhardt statue out front. Inside there are attractions such as the history of the track, the hall of fame of Daytona, etc. There is the 16 second pit challenge where you are invited to try change ONE tire, not four, in 16 seconds. It was fun to watch. You can also do play by play for a taped race, watch a movie, drive the Silcon Speedway, go on a simulated ride (the kind that puts you in a seat in front of a screen and jostles you all over). The highlight was to Michael Waltrip's Napa car on display from just two days prior. I posed with thumbs up! :)
We didn't leave Daytona until noon, and decided to go to Sea World instead of DIsney. We finally realized we wanted a lot more time to go to Disney then we would have, so decided to wait until another trip. Disappointing, but I think we made the right decision. Sea World was really neat. Shamu show is fantastic as are the other shows such as dolphin and sea lions. It was a super fun day.
On to Ocala, FLorida to stay with Aunt #2 who had a new puppy named Minnie. We didn't do anything for 2 days but lay around and actually 'vacation' and check out the town. Left Friday morning for Memphis and had one hell of a day trying to get there. Got caught in Birmingham, Alabama for over an hour due to a closed down interstate. Then it rained all the way to Memphis. Another 13 hour day.
Spent all day at Graceland on Saturday, which of course to me was the highlight. I'm a dork, I know, but i've wanted to go there since I was 8 years old. I nearly peed my pants when we drove up I was so excited. It was a cool experience, with the house being as gaudy as you would expect from Elvis. Shag green carpet on the floor AND the ceiling in the Jungle Room! But, only 2 rooms were lavishly decorated-the rest are putting much typical 70's living areas. Just with more money! The do a nice audio tour, so you can wander at your leisure and it has Elvis, Priscilla and Lisa giving anecdotes on your headset. I learned even more then I thought I knew about the King. Last, we headed to the Meditation Gardens where he and his family are buried. Everyone gets pretty quiet out there-rather neat experience. Then, the rest of the time is spent exploring 3 other museums and like 20 gift shops. I didn't buy a lot, but did buy a fair amount! Car museum is really nifty-he had some great ones. Ate at the Elvis Chrome Grill, which is a southern style restaurant with harleys and cars parked in it. Then, we also were able to go on the two airplanes he owned. The Lisa Marie is truly a 'Flying Graceland' as he called it. Gold plated seat belt covers for godsakes! I was in my glory all day long.
Later, we drove down to Beale Street and then went to Sun Records where Elvis was first recorded. The pamphlet says, "They say the tour will give you goosebumps..." Which I thought was crap. It is not. One truly does get goosebumps! It's a simple half hour tour, with a tour guide who is a little too theatric, but puts a nice twist on everything. (He totally fits the place-side burns, rolled up jeans like the 50's, and REALLY knows his rock n roll history)_I was actually standing on the mark that Elvis stood while recording "That's All RIght Mamma". They play bits of the different songs recorded there in the studio as you stand there...and that's where the goosebumps begin. Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins, BB King, you name it. They even let you touch the original microphone that Elvis used. They let you use flash photography in the studio so I hope the pictures turn out. They also have a great souvenir shop where I bought Dad his tshirt that he asked for. I also bought a small poster of the "Million Dollar Quartet" if you've ever seen the photo of Elvis at the piano with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee and Johnny Cash surrounding him. That was Sam Phillips money makers at their best.
We ate on Beale Street at BB King's club. Great food, and even cooler music. It was Beale Street at it's finest with loud blues music, lots of people and food that is southern to the core. Did a little shopping at the Hard Rock down the street and a few other shops. It was hard to leave Beale!
And then we left yesterday morning. we drove by Graceland on the way out of town as I waved and said,"Later Elvis!"
Tales from the Road:
Played the license plate game and came up three states short: Hawaii, Rhode Island and Wyoming.
Some interesting signs included the following:
Cruisin' Chubby's Gentleman's Club-Truck Parking
Ho Chunk Casino
ABS-The Bovine Love Connection
Eat More Chikin (from a bunch of cows posing)
Funny License Plates:
Uff Da 4
Nrwgn 2
SItes:
A water tower size cross in Effingham, Illinois. Still no idea what it represents.
From Paducah to Florida we saw more then 50 Waffle Houses. What's the big deal?
In Nashville, you could buy Fireworks EVERYWHERE. And really cool ones at that!
Saw TBS, Olympic Torch Site and Turner Field in Atlanta.
Kentucky boasts cheapest cigarette sale prices in the US.
We got into some freaky backwoods places in Alabama. "You shore gotta purdy mouth"
Earnhardt statue at Daytona!
Cheapest gas was $1.33 just over the Georgia border.
Most expensive was $1.79 in Illinois. Most we paid was $1.74 in Edgewood, Illinois.. The cheapest we paid was $1.51 in Macon, Georgia.
Went through 11 states in all: MN, WI, Illinois, Kentucky, Tenneessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansaw.
And those are the tales from the road. Great trip, but I think we'll fly to Florida when we go back the next time!! It was a looonnnnggg drive but well worth the money and vacation time. Back to work tomorrow! All I heard from the newspapers on the job situation is that the Governor proposed taking all the money that funds us-but obviously the legislature still has to vote on it. I'll find out more tomorrow I'm sure! Post cards will probably reach many of you this week...hope you like them.
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