City of Elvis

We left Nashville with an Anniversary breakfast at a cute hipster joint ( we are always seem to be attracted to these places....)

We took a scenic route out of town and passed by a 1950s relic inn and diner:

Our first Memphis landmark was the Lorraine motel which now houses a very intense civil rights museum. Very thorough and host to the controversy if the 9 million dollars that went into the museum would have been what Martin Luther King would have wanted. Would it have served a better purpose to be used on education and town revival?

Then the birthplace of rock and roll! 

First rock and roll song recorded, anyone??

Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston. Yea never heard of it, but here it is the original record:

And of course this is where Elvis was discovered, along with the other members of the Millionaire Quartet, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Here is the original recording room...

I was super pumped for the Mississippi, but couldn't get a glorious photo, yet.

And what would the perfect two year anniversary dinner be for the Smiths? You guessed it, juicy, spicy fried chicken! 

And what was with the security guard at the door??

 The romantic Dudley Freckles found a rooftop over the Mississippi. : ) and there is a breeze that doesn't make me cold! Love!

Pancakes, history and brews

Sweet potato pancakes and corn bread-bacon pancakes were a delicious start to our Nashville exploration.

A Tennessee State History museum then kept us quite intrigued. I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, but we love reading those museum signs and examining artifacts.

Next, was the Country Music Hall of Fame. It just didn't cut the mustard. I could only appreciate the names of Merle Haggard and Kenny Rogers thanks to Grandpa. And really how many terrible country music star outfits can they make you look at?! But at least there was my fav, Patsy.

We then upgraded to an actual hotel! Hurray!

We traveled to the "gulch" part of town which is the up and coming with contemporary architecture, for a sampling of twelve brews. Most memorable, root beer! But real beer!

Dowtown Nahville:

Tootsies 0rchid lounge was three floors of rockin' country. Every bar has live bands that even Mark had to admit were solid bands, though I think the country is torturing him. I however love me some Dixie chicks, Shania, Tim McGraw and luckily I have been catching up my popular country too! Mark isn't pleased that the Florida- Georgia Line song, cruise has actually made its way into his dreams because he has heard it so many times here.

Sunday- 

Nash Trash Music Row Tour

BYOB.

Touring another part of town, history of and present day recording companies, From Taylor to Garth, just in little bungalow houses. Also no one brought beer besides us...why else would you take a tour on bright pink bus??

This is a soon to be demolished jingle recording studio, birth of the bud-weis-er commercial and many more...

Here is Mark doing his celery face at a local farmers market....This cracked me up   Until hours later!

And then at pucketts grocery, enjoyed heart attack dinner, fried pickles and chicken with waffles! Yum!!!

After over stuffing ourselves a bitnof a walk was in order....I am completely fascinated with the enormous cloud formations and constantly changing weather here, and I tried to capture it over the Cumberland river. If only I were a photographer...

Road trip knowledge tid- bits:

Find a cheap parking garage and commute by foot.

Quotes of the day:

"I don't know why you listen to me. I don't even listen to myself."

"There are really no pickles!?"

Mark: Are you getting vertigo?

Lauren: Only in my feet.

Moments later.... Lauren: "My feet get frightened."

Living Like Dolly

Let's begin leaving the Days Inn which is a great thing.

Then move to the " Great Smoky Mountains" which has been cashed in on big time. Lots of cutesy log looking motels... The park is free which is a clue to what to expect.

A magical density to the green growth is dampened by the long queue of cars searching for a a good hike or picnic? There is no breathtaking view like the Shenandoah, but we did have a lovely hike to the Grotto falls, where there was another line to get a photo under the fall. Okay sir, take your seventh photo with yet another camera even though there are only three people? Where are these cameras coming from?!

We then progressed towards Nashville. I don't recommend getting stuck behind a double lane wide load. Then to our surprise we gained an hour! Oh central time! Joy!

Andrew Jackson's home, the Hermitage was lovely and a stop in a neighbor pub was quite delightful. Oh no I left my chicken pot pie in the car!

AnywAy, our next mission was to find a place to sleep. And a hostel turned out to be the only available and yet not quite as cheap experience as we had hoped. But clean and cozy!

Now we are hopping about listening to danceable country ( only to me) and finding some unique brews in downtown Nashville.

 I am definitely the only girl here in Bermuda shorts, sneakers and a pony tail.... 

Cheers!

Just keep driving

A successeful ten hour drive has brought us to the edge of Tennessee, Bristol, birthplace of the country music alliance...

What we have been listening to:

Road trip playlist

First half of Harry Potter and the Sorcerors Stone

Baseball podcast

BBC World news (ever interesting and uplifting, Ebola virus break out!!??)

You can determine who drove based on our rule, whoever drives chooses the listening material.

And those of you anticipating Mark's hair shave will either be disappointed or pleased to know his barber actually backed out of doing the job....so we have a short cut only...

Quotes of the day:

"Ooo sheep skin slippers, that sounds soft...but sad."

While listening to Paul Simon's Graceland, " I never realized this song was about going to Graceland." Mind you Lauren made this playlist based on our destinations of the trip.

June 24, 2014- Getting Ready

June 24, 2014- Getting Ready

We are about to embark on the trip of our lives!

Can we fit everything we need for the next two months in just these bags....?

Bea is ready for her summer vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's!