the Lady came from Baltimore

One of our last stops on the trip was to visit cuzzin Mary and her hubby in Baltimore.
It was my first time there.
Though our visit was brief (overnight) it was nice to get together, see their new apartment in a retirement community - Mary's a bit older than me - she tells everybody that she changed my diapers - (anyway - a very nice place); watched Dr Oz (first time for me) ate at a local diner (another great place) saw my cousin Dale (Mary's son) and his daughter, and just chilled.
We definitely will not take so long to visit again - probably haven't seen Mary in ten years.

So Mary was wondering what song I would mention regarding Baltimore...
How could I miss with the great Tim Hardin song...

Lady came from Baltimore,
All she wore was lace.
She didn't know that I was poor,
She never saw my place.

I was there to steal her money,

Take her rings and run.

Then I fell in love with the lady,

Got away with none.

Then I fell in love with the lady,

Got away with love...

This first link is Tim Hardin and TWIGGY!!!!!!

(god I'm old)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ3230eCcI4

This one is Ricky Nelson

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZZ-xDr-L_A&feature=related

Of course cuzzin Mary didn't come from Baltimore
she actually moved to Baltimore.

Then again, if you've lived somewhere for 1/2 of your life are you from that area?
She now roots for the Ravens and Orioles.

Sort of running into the same situation with my daughter Karen since she's lived in Rochester since college:
 I can't really say that visits to Massachusetts are coming home....

I want to read this book.
An American Classic.
Do we ever feel at home???


Maybe the next road trip can be visiting literary sites.

Meet me in St Louis, Louie

Meet me at the fair.
try singing along with Mitch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ag_pSK5_3k&feature=related

or

could be we just listen to Louis Armstrong play some St Louis blues...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2TUlUwa3_o

Well, there's no fair in St Louis now, and we didn't have much time to look for blues, so we visited the Arch - quite an amazing structure - saw a movie about it's construction - 630 feet high - over 2 years to build - no fatalities during it's construction - amazing - I got dizzy just watching the movie - of course I don't like being more than a few feet off the ground unless I'm in a plane.

when you think about it many people have traveled great distances in much more difficult modes of transportation...

This sculpture (yes- this is an outdoor sculpture depicting river grass) reminded me of New Bedford's "Seaflower"

Hey it's good to be back home again...

Sometimes, this old house

feels like a long lost friend....

Hey it's good to be back home again...

So, we're home.

3,824 miles and 24 days later.

Thank the Lord and pass the biscuits.

John Denver got it right with that song. 

Regardless of how much fun you have on a vacation, it feels good to be back in familiar surroundings and back in your own bed.
One of the shows we saw in Branson was a morning - yes they have shows at 10am - John Denver tribute show. It was a good pick for a morning show - laid back - mellow - included some Gospel tunes (actually almost everything in Branson includes some Gospel tunes) - and a little country bluegrass.

The John Denver impersonator is the second from the right - he obviously doesn't look very much like John Denver - he joked that he gets mistaken for former governor Blagoyovich! Look again - strong resemblance there.

The Branson shows are all about 2 hours long - this one was 2 and 1/2 - include a 15 minute intermission during which you're encouraged to buy stuff and talk with the performers - and - one of the big big plusses - they all start on time! Marlene and I have been to so many concerts that start 15, 30, even 60 minutes late that this was a refreshing plus. I'm sure part of the reason is that there are so many concerts going on every day (usually at 10, 2, and 8) when you factor in time for meals and getting around (traffic can be brutal on "the strip" at the rush hours between shows) delays would not be tolerated by us impatient seniors!

Well, even though I'm back, there's lots of stuff that I never got around to posting, so keep watching!

Washington DC

It's hard finding a song about DC
This one's called "Welcome to DC"; by Mambo Sauce
It's a rap song played at every Wizards game.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001C3PB3K/?tag=amernois-20

We visited the White House and the Capital.

Had to get up at 5:30am while on vacation to be there for a 7:30 tour which didn't start till around 8:15.... stand outside in the cold.... fortunately no rain.

But it was worth it.

Had to be almost naked to get through security.

Not really....

but,

all you can bring is a wallet, keys, cell phone, umbrella (see the note above about being in line outside for over an hour).

No bags, purses, cameras etc.

Interesting since today all cell phones are cameras....

anyway, there are plenty of public domain pictures on the internet of what it looks like.

The blue room...

The red room....

The green room...

As I said though, it was worth the hassle....

The secret service guide was very personable and friendly.

If I ever go again it would be nice for it to be on a personal invite from the President!

(wouldn't have to stand in line so long)

Stormy weather

It could've been this way (apparently lots of storms back home)

Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky

Stormy weather, since my man and I ain't together

Keeps raining all the time

Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere

Stormy weather, just can't get my poor old self together

I'm weary all the time, the time, so weary all of the time

The Complete Billie Holiday

Instead, it was mostly this

I need to laugh, and when the sun is out 

I've got something I can laugh about
I feel good, in a special way
I'm in love and it's a sunny day

Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine 

It's been quite amazing when we think about it.

We've been traveling for 23 days and the only rain we had was when we left Cleveland for Chicago on September 28 and when we left Washington DC on October 14.

We traveled half way across the country and the weather has generally been sunny and in the mid 70s.

In Nashville and Memphis it was in the upper 80s and low 90s.

We head home tomorrow and the forecast is for sunny skies and temps in the 60s.

What a blessed trip!

Songs about Memphis

Last time I saw Marie

She was waving me goodbye....

Information please,

help me get in touch with her

in Memphis Tennessee....

"Memphis, Tennessee" by Chuck Berry

Memphis, Tennessee

So,what else did we do in Memphis?

After Graceland and Sun studio we went to the 
Memphis Rock n Soul Museum

It's a very interesting place that takes you through the evolution of the music from the farms and churches into the cities.

And...
there are some gorgeous guitars...
these belong to Tony Gentry of the Bar Kays and autographed by people he performed with.
The black guitar is signed by Bill Clinton.





We walked around some on Beale Street.
Had a beer at B B King's...

but didn't have enough time for everything we wanted to do....

Well, it's a reason to return!!!

I've re-designed the blog to make it easier to read.
Let me know what you think.

In keeping with the "educational" part of this blog...
the following is from "Teresa's Memphis Blog"

 http://memphis.about.com/b/2008/04/23/songs-about-memphis.htm

I recently learned an interesting bit of trivia that I thought I would share with you here. It turns out that Memphis has the distinction of being mentioned in the lyrics of more songs than any other city in the world. And these are recorded and distributed songs, not just the creations of wannabe songwriters. So just how many songs have "Memphis" somewhere in the lyrics? A whopping 899....
When I first read this statistic, I was dubious. Could there possibly be that many? And if there were, surely they were all really obscure songs sung by unknown artists. But then I saw the list and discovered that I knew far more of them that I would have guessed. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to see how many you could come up with before I post a link to the complete list. So if you can think of a song with "Memphis" anywhere in the lyrics, post it in a comment below. I'll give you the link to all 899 next week. In the meantime, I'll get us started:
1. City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie (one of my all time favorite songs)
2. Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn
3. Maybe It Was Memphis by Pam Tillis
Update: as of 9/20/2010, there were 971 songs on the list--you can read them all here.*

Things to add to a bucket list

Of course a vacation consists of a lot of eating.

During the first stop at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant I picked up their brochure (I love picking up brochures - one of the reasons that I need to retire to clean up the basement). Anyway, they have 532 locations... we've visited 4... 528 to go... maybe that could get me into the Guinness Book of world records!!!

Their food reminds me of my younger years....

canned stringbeans...

lots of mashed potatoes....

and gravy of course...

and each time you have to buy something from the store!

don't know the last time I ate a Sky Bar.

Nashville

On Saturday October 9 we visited the Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Old Opry.

picture by Daniel Schwen

These are a couple of views of the Ryman's interior.
The pictures do not do it justice.
It's beautiful.
Supposedly has acoustics second only to the Mormon Tabernacle in Utah.
Many concerts are held here.
I will definitely see one here if I get back someday.


We also took a trolley trip through the city, seeing other highlights such as the Parthenon, an exact scale replica of the Greece temple; the state capital building (the land for which was purchase for the price of "one milk cow"; and Music Row, where the major recording studios are located. In addition to the nickname "Music City", Nashville is also called "The Athens of the South".

This is the Parthenon.
Again, very impressive.

Nashville Cats

"Play cool as country water...

Been playin since they'se babies...

Well, there's thirteen hundred and fifty two Guitar pickers in Nashville...."

That's what the Lovin' Spoonful said back in the sixties.

But today there are an estimated 30,000 songwriters living here.

Probably even more guitar pickers....
They're on every street corner in the entertainment district.
Their quality varies widely.

We went "honky tonkin" on Nashville's Broadway...

joined in on a "holler and swaller"... at Legends Corner Bar

In case you don't know, the "holler and swaller" involves a long yell and a long drink.
and
by the way,
we're definitely not in Massachusetts anymore...
We were sitting having our drink and see three kids (maybe 10 - 12 years old)
selling candy bars for some kind of fundraiser.
This in a bar! Not a restaurant!
Of course if you want to sell things and can do so to people drinking...
Later on at another place I notice a sign that children are not allowed in after 6pm.
and....
everywhere in Memphis and Nashville are signs that you can't bring your gun(s) into the bar.
very interesting that they have to post this....

They don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee

Interesting that Merle Haggard has admitted 

that he wrote this song (Okie from Muskogee) as a satire.

His son seems to take the politics more seriously.
One of Merle's latest songs says that we should stop fighting wars
and spend more time and money on fixing this country.
listen to America First.

"Merle Haggard was in his early twenties, serving a possible 20 years in prison when San Quentin guards found him, drunk off his own beer, after he'd fallen into a latrine. "They handcuffed my ass and took me to where they gas people," he said. It's one of many heartbreaking stories in Merle Haggard: Learning to Live With Myself, a new PBS documentary about the country legend. The film features interviews with Keith Richards, Kris Kristofferson, John Fogerty, and Robert Duvall, and examines the hardships of Haggard's Bakersfield, California upbringing. He lost his father at age nine, spent his teenage years escaping from youth institutions and later penned 38 Number One country classics."
from "Rolling Stone" magazine.








"Already a major country star, Haggard became a household name, and, like Uncle Tom’s Cabin more than a century earlier, “Okie” clove that house in two. So politically charged were the times that even chitchat around the dinner table, ordinarily useful to keep family values on track, could erupt into screaming matches. Nightly. America was, then as now, in the midst of a bitter cultural war, and everything got serious when names like Richard Nixon, Martin Luther King and Abbie Hoffman came up in conversation. Haggard’s song inserted him into the middle of that discussion.
By the winter of 1969 there was no middle ground, and where you stood on “Okie” firmly established which side you were on, whether you wore sandals or boots, whether you thought hippies deserved to be beaten or honored for their opposition to the Vietnam War. Haggard’s next single, the patriotically charged “Fightin’ Side Of Me”, made clear where he stood.
No, it didn’t, actually.
The reaction to his latest single, “That’s The News”, smartly selected from his latest record, Like Never Before (on his own Hag Records imprint), suggests just how complex and mercurial a figure Merle Haggard has always been. And what a gifted artist he remains."
from American Masters.





All of the above is a lead-in to this.
Sunday night, October 3, in Branson we went to see Marty Haggard (Merle's oldest son).

He does a tribute show singing his father's songs and telling stories about his life and his dad's.
It was a fun show (Merle had a lot of hits),
and he did a good job on my favorite
Merle song "If We Make it Through December" which relates to the struggles of the working class.

But Marty obviously believes in America Red White and Blue; Love it or Leave It; God's on our side.

When he sings "The fightin' side of me" (which says that you better not say anything bad about the USA) you know that he believes it.
And the crowd in Branson really loves these "patriotic" statements.

I don't want this blog to become a political one, but politics permeates everything in our lives, and I find it amazing that people don't think more about the underlying messages in the comments that are made. For example, Marty comments that Merle went "from the jail-house to the White House in 10 years" (he was honored by then president Nixon -- a pardoned criminal by the way) then says that today the process should be reversed for some of the people in the White House.





Anyway, I don't expect that you'll see the Dixie Chicks playing Branson anytime soon.

Walking in Memphis

Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale...

Saw the ghost of Elvis...
followed him up to the gates of Graceland...

but security they did not see him...

But his spirit is certainly there.

What can you say about Elvis? If you're not a fan and you go to Graceland, you'll leave a fan.

Sure, he ended up with problems - don't we all?

Graceland was his home in Memphis, a city he loved. It was ostentatious and  a bit (no a lot) tacky - a jungle room with furniture that has animal motifs? Shag carpet on the ceilings?

But if you compare it to the homes of the rich and famous today....

Now all the people still sending flowers and posters... that's a little weird... well, maybe not.

So, we spent about 4 hours there.

And his favorite sandwich is the same sandwich that my mother used to make for me (and that I still love) - peanut butter and butter and bananas - umm umm good.

 

We took a free shuttle to Sun studio

 I sang a few lyrics on a microphone that Elvis (and Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, and Howlin Wolf, and Roy Orbison and a host of others) probably used.

The guide said that we could kiss the mike ----
 I passed.

There will be more about Memphis, but it's time to hit the road again.
Next stop - Nashville!

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin on the River

Actually, it was on a lake.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon we began our Branson Experience by taking a dinner cruise on the Showboat Branson Belle, which traverses Table Rock Lake. This is a man made lake created by the Army corps of engineers years ago to help stop flooding in the area. They built a dam.

(Thankfully, we didn't go near the dam with the ship.

This was not supposed to be a thrill ride.)

The cruise was pleasant, top speed around 7 knots.

Between the meal and the show we had some time

 to walk around the ship,

go on deck, 

and enjoy the mild breeze.

The show was fun 

typical variety show kind of stuff - emcee, comedian, magician, singers & dancers.

The dinner was ehh - maybe a C- certainly not comparable to cruise ship food.

(although I must admit I've never been on a "real" cruise but in general everyone raves about cruise food and gains 5 - 10 pounds.)

But, we had a good and relaxing time.

A little family time in the Ozarks

I'm falling a little behind on the posts - actually vacationing while on vacation. Saturday we arrived in Branson. Of course, all of my planning and research and I didn't realize that Branson is in the Ozarks - that's the OZARK MOUNTAINS!!!  Anyway, the interstates were fine but some of the state highways are more than a little "dicey", especially at night - no streetlights. Seems that they're also saving taxpayer money on guardrails!
Anyhow, we met Marlene's brother Steve and his wife Linda for a wonderful meal Saturday night and Sunday morning breakfast. They live in Oklahoma and drove here to meet us. We spent a few lovely hours together doing the usual family things, talking about the kids and grandkids, reminiscing about growing up and parents no longer with us, and looking at pictures. We were very happy that they could make the time to meet us.

Gydiyup Om Pa Pa Om Pa Pa Mow Mow

Gydiyup Om Pa Pa Om Pa Pa Mow Mow

My hearts on fire....

Tonight we saw the Oak Ridge Boys - they have their own theater here in Branson - put on a wonderful show - they've been performing together for 37 years - have over 35 country hits - many were #1 country hits.


And of course they performed their signature song....
Gydiyup...
Gydiyup Om Pa Pa Om Pa Pa Mow Mow
Gydiyup...

Gydiyup Om Pa Pa Om Pa Pa Mow Mow

My hearts on fire....

for Elvira!

All in all a great ending to our Branson Experience!

now...

on to Memphis.

Just a brief note - obviously I've missed a few days - took a vacation from posting you could say. I'll be adding stuff about Branson and St Louis - just not in chronological order.

Chicago Chicago That Toddlin' Town

They have the time, the time of their life

I saw a man who danced with his wife.

Actually, I didn't see anybody dancing.

But we did have a great time.

We took a river cruise that highlighted the architecture of the city.

Here's a few pictures of the buildings.

We went to the Museum of Science and Industry.

  I went down a coal mine, learned about corn,

          pigs, trains, tornadoes 

            and lots of other cool stuff.

              
    This train was the first to travel over 100 mph!

We also saw a Jim Henson exhibit (creator of one of my all time favorite shows - the Muppets)

We went to Buddy Guy's Legends Cafe

for a live blues set.

We went to the Hard Rock Cafe to look for James Young's (from Styx) jumpsuit.

They apparently moved it somewhere else.

The host said that they re-decorated a couple of years ago.

They did have the drum set behind the bar from Styx's Todd Sucherman.
This is me sitting in front of it.

Now, for anyone who wonders about the song title, here's an explanation from www.wordwizard.com about how the term "toddling" came to be used.

Hey my blog can be educational too!!!

This is an age-old question especially for Chicagoans. I believe that the answer is that there is no definite answer. Fred Fisher (1875-1942) wrote words and music (1922) for the very successful song, “Chicago (that toddlin’ town)” in praise of his adopted city (he had emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1900). It was originally a very popular 1920s song which was brought back by Sinatra in the 1957 movie ‘the Joker is Wild.’– the life story of vaudevillian Joe E. Lewis. Fisher had a long and successful career and wrote the music and sometimes also the lyrics for many well-known songs (including Peg O’ My Heart). As far as I could tell (and I could be wrong but don’t think so, or there wouldn’t be all the controversy), he never made clear where he got that term “toddlin’ town) and there is no record (again, as far as I could determine) of it being an expression before he put it into song. My best guess is that he wanted a word for alliterative effect and neither hustln’ nor ‘bustlin’ (which would have been more descriptive of Chicago) sounded as good to him, so he created an adjective – which didn’t quite fit the town (to walk leisurely, stroll, or saunter) – and thus the confusion for the last 80 [[now 87]] years.


On to St Louis!