« October 2004 | Main | December 2004 »
Finally! Warm weather and shorts! We're on the Gulf of Mexico in Biloxi catching a few hours of warmth and sunshine.
That's not dirt on the edge of the water. That's blobs of oil, probably mixed with sand. Af first I thought it was charcoal or black rocks but after some probing realized that its mushy...like thick mud. The by-product of off-shore oil rigs.
Driving down Beach Blvd. along the Gulf in Biloxi takes you from the sublime...
...to the ridiculous! Ahhhh...the life of a tourist!
It probably started with animals trekking from one area to another, followed by Indians and then French and Spanish explorers. Soon traders were carrying their goods from Ohio to the Mississippi. We're on the Natchez Trace Scenic Trail, following in the footsteps of thousands.
The Trace Parkway goes from Nashville TN to Natchez MS but we only drove about 30 miles of it south of Jackson MS. It is a lovely scenic two-lane highway that tracks closely the original trace. In places you can walk the actual path, overgrown and trod down. Several "stands" or inns are restored along the way and markers commemorate Civil War battles and Indian settlements.
The Trace was abandoned as steamships became affordable on the Ohio and Mississippi so goods could travel back and forth quickly and economically. The National Park Service has taken over restoring and maintaining this magical piece of history.
Imagine. You are a Union soldier, looking over the rolling fields to the high point beyond where the Confederate soldiers are trying to protect Vicksburg, the last stronghold on the Mississippi. Direct assaults aren't working so General Grant lays seige to the city for 46 days. The citizens dig caves to survive your onslaught. Finally on July 4, 1863 the city surrenders. The Mississippi flows free and the Confederacy is split-the key to winning the war says Lincoln.
37,000 men from Illinois, over half the Union contingent, fought here. On the walls of this memorial, erected in their honor, every man's name is cast in bronze panels.
The Illinois State Seal created from tiny tiles decorates the floor of the monument.
African-Americans who fought for the Union were not honored until 2000 with this statue.
The US Cairo patroled the Mississippi for the Union and was the first gunboat to be sunk by a mine. It was raised and restored so that people can now walk on the boat. The greater treasure may be all the personal and naval items also recovered with the boat that are housed in the adjoining museum. It is quite a complex.
17,000 Union soldiers are buried here at the Vicksburg National Military Park but the Confederate soldiers were moved to local Vicksburg cemetaries. Thousands of these men were buried unknown.
We toured the 16 mile battleground route with a CD auto-guide filled with details and sound effects. The Union and Confederate lines were so close that on occasion a truce would be called and soldiers who might be family or friends would cross lines to meet and visit. As I walked around I could almost hear the bugles and the shouts of soldiers.
Elvis, along with dozens of other musical stars, walked through this very door into the snack shop beside Sun Studio. Now, this is the spot to start the studio and museum tour.
Here in the studio, which is the size of a living room, I'm standing on the very spot and holding the very mic head that Elvis used when recording That's All Right, Mama. It is an ordinary music room filled with extraordinary sound waves from the past. I could just imagine each little acoustical tile hole filled with the sounds of Elvis, Jerry Lee, (Great Balls of Fire) and Johnny Cash (Ring of Fire and I Walk the Line)!
I'm sitting in the booth where Elvis signed his first contract with Sun Studio. We picked up the CD of the Million Dollar Session and another with lots of early Sun hit records including the old Raunchy by Bill Justis. What and evening we had listening to these!
I finished the book on Elvis which ended when he was drafted. Such fun to be here in Memphis and be reading about Elvis' time here. I think I'm just about over this immersion...and ready to move on to the next adventure.
We're down at the end of Lonely Street, near Heartbreak Hotel in the Graceland Campground. Today was Elvis immersion day. We spent a couple of hours touring Graceland, the main living areas and various "play" rooms. We each had solid state headsets that guided us through the house and grounds. Every 10 minutes about 20 people started the tour at $25 per person. We were amazed at the constant stream of fans. If we had come just one week later all the Christmas decor would be up. Note the blue lights ...Blue Christmas.
The rooms are ornately decorated, 70's style with shag carpet, (green shag on the floor and ceiling of the jungle room) animal fur, and vinyl chairs. Lots of sound control. One really unique room, the pool room is all covered, walls and ceiling, in patterned, pleated material. The table has a large rip in the felt from someone's trick shot and one of the sticks is broken in half. Really lived in!
The Living Room
I was amazed to find myself wanting to touch things that Elvis had touched...didn't realize I was that much of a fan. And then we came to the handball court, transformed into a trophy room. There was a bar on the upper level and a lounge area with a piano where Elvis played and sang on the morning he died. In the court there is a huge display of records and costumes with continual videos of concerts.
People stand in awe looking at the life and momentos of this kid from Tupelo who changed music. He sold more records than anyone. As we approached the Meditation Garden where Elvis, his parents and grandma are buried, I got a bit choked up. Good grief, I thought, get a grip. But all through the tour I kept hearing the music that was so important to me and my friends growing up...what an impact that music had. Fans still bring flowers, stand and say prayers and remember the special times they had with Elvis in music.
We also toured his planes, car museum and momento museum. One story in the museum was about the Million Dollar Quartet when Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins were jammin' at Sun Records. In comes Johnny Cash...well probably more than a million.
Of course there is a gift shop at every turn but the only thing I wanted was the 1968 Elvis Return Concert DVD....the black leather sit-down sessions...to me it's the best of Elvis on video.
I'm reading a book about the early years of Elvis (thanks Mom) that is a perfect prelude and postlude to the tour. Last Train to Memphis is a very detailed account of his rise to stardom and a wonderful insight into the music world of the time. The key to his success? ...his absolute passion for music, an innate sense of performing and connecting with the audience...and luck!
The beauty of this RVing life is that there is rarely a schedule. Today we were going to head out from Illinois Beach State Park to southern Illinois but as we checked things out Jim noticed a slow leak in a tire...the inside one of the rear pair....not something that the average guy deals with. So we called our roadside emergency people (Good Sam) who said they'd have someone out in an hour or so.
The repair guy arrived on time and discovered that it was the tire fill extension that was leaking so Jim went on a search for a replacement part. An hour later, parts arrived and leak was fixed. But we'd missed our second cup of coffee and didn't feel like a five hour drive. Besides rain was in the forecast....so we got set up again and settled in for another perfect rainy day.
I took the opportunity to visit with my Aunt Bert and Jim stayed home in his "cave" to read the news.
Once it started raining I felt the need to have Chili and Cornbread so started the cooking with a glass of vodka in hand, light rain falling, music playing, dog sleeping, deer and squirrels outside...what more could we ask.
So now the smell of cornbread (fresh ground at Spring Mill Indiana) is filling the coach, we're warm, dry and ready for a couple of movies. Tomorrow is another day.
The Girls gathered to see the movie Ray, the life of Ray Charles. Even those who were not fans enjoyed the movie. Jamie Foxx, playing Ray, was so convincing. And the music kept our toes tapping. Of course, the after theater party at Baker's Square kept us going for a couple of hours. We thank our movie maven, Pat P, for guiding our movie choices. Wish I was going to be here for Bridget Jones.
We were going to move on Monday, the first, but the weather forecast was all rain, to the tune of 1", so we decided to stay put and move on election day. In our lovely wooded campsite we just opened all the blinds and watched it pour. I took advantage of the day, carpe diem, and scanned 35mm slides all day. This is a slow process that takes me down memory lane. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I'm scanning that I get a bit emotional. Oh to be young again!
While scanning, because it takes 2 minutes per slide, I decided to watch movies. It was a 5 movie day!!!...including Moulin Rouge which I hadn't seen in a long time. I got a lot done, scanning slides through 3 babies and watching us all change!
Then on Election Day we moved to Illinois Beach State Park. Ooops....our old site was closed so we scoped out a good site in the wooded area. Sites are set up with hookups to be on the driver's side so usually you back in. But we decided on a paradigm (old consultant BS word) shift and pulled in forwards so that we have a view of the woods and slough area. We've seen a family of mule deer "playing", crows and squirrels fighting over food, and a flock of red cardinals hopping around picking up seeds.
Our poor old man neighbor, Lenny, tells us there are 50 pound raccoons who will tear apart your dog and camper! Lenny lives in his pop-up....don't know why...but he was here the last time we stayed here. His camper is falling apart. The roof is propped up, the screens have plywood across them. It's 40 degrees here and I can't imagine how cold it must be. He says he has to move south because he can't afford the prices here anymore. The couple across the street have been fulltiming for 15 years. They have a nice setup and are friends with Lenny. I think the wife is handicapped. A little motorhome is not a bad place to be when you can't get around too well. Everything is close at hand.
So we watched the election returns here in the park, staying up too late and getting up too early to see how it all turned out. I thank the gods who watch over us that GW was elected and that we got through the election without incident. And happily, our votes helped defeat Tom Daschle. Yesterday we watched history being made as Kerry conceded (it was a gracious and right thing to do) and Bush accepted the vote and thanked those who helped him. I felt that, as he stood listening to the applause, he was overwhelmed by the support given to him.
Today...well who knows. Carpe Diem!