Surprise!

Our BIG plans for Saturday involved a surprise. Watch this video.

Originally we had planned to try to get to the Carolina coast for a week or two but Hurricane Matthew changed those plans.  Had we gone to the coast, we would not have gotten back to Austin till mid November.  There were lots of other places we could have gone as substitutes for the coast but ultimately we both decided we wanted to head back to Austin to see the kids.  I wouldn't say we are tired of traveling.  I'd say we missed our family.  So here we are! Back in Austin!


For those of you wondering, we will be here until the first of the year. We have rented a condo up near the Domain to be near the kids. Then we will head out again for more adventures.

FYI...I have at least one more post about our travels that I will be making until I take a break for awhile.

Little Rock

On Friday we drove from Memphis to Little Rock. First we met my cousin for lunch. We had a great time catching up with Kris and meeting Tristan.

Then we visited the Bill Clinton Presidential Center. This was a very nice presidential museum.

Cabinet room, stats about education, Billy's wallet, a drawing Bill made, China Hilary chose for the White House

Hillary's 3rd grade report card 

Part of a report Hillary wrote as a child

There was a special exhibit on the Beatles. Bonus!

Then we drove on to our hotel in Hope.  We have BIG plans for Saturday.   Wait till you see what our plans are.

Home of the Blues

Memphis, TN...home of the Blues, Soul , and Rock n Roll. We started at the visitor center right on the riverfront. Standing almost hand in hand were 2 of the biggest names to come out of Memphis...Elvis Presley and B.B. King. It was if they were our official welcome wagon to this place of history.

We started by riding the monorail over to Mud Island. If you've see the movie The Firm with Tom Cruise, then you've seen this monorail. Once on Mud Island we checked out the Mississippi River Museum. This little museum was interesting but was in need of some sprucing up.

There was also a very cool concrete sculpture on Mud Island. It was a miniature reproduction of the lower Mississippi River. It spread out for about 1/2 mile. It was on a scale of about 30 inches for every mile of the river. It wound  around the riverfront walkway until it emptied into "the Gulf of Mexico." It was an amazing display but needed some TLC. Maybe that will be my "retirement job," taking care of the Mississippi River Walk.

We also took a bus tour with Backbeat Mojo Tours. Our tour guide sang to us while also telling us about the sights of the city. One stop was at the Levitt Shell. This used to be the Overton Park Shell.   According to our guide this was Elvis Presley's first live performance,  playing before headliner Slim Whitman in 1954. Even though he started out scared and very stiff, eventually the music overtook him and he began shaking his leg. The girls in the audience went wild.

We saw Sun Studios and had a tour. Here is where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Howling Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King and many others got their start.
We walked around Beale Street.
We went to see the Lorraine Motel where MLK Jr was shot. The wreath in the picture marks the spot where he was standing when assassinated. They have mostly left his room right behind the wreath as it was that day. The shots come from the boarding house across the street. This is now The National Civil Rights Museum.

We also went to The Peabody Hotel to watch the March of the Ducks. We got there to listen to  the Duckmaster tell the history of the March and to watch as the ducks left the fountain, walked the red carpet to the elevator that would take them back to their penthouse for the night.

Then we had dinner and listened to some live music.

Side Trip

Part of our thoughts going into this year of travel included the willingness to be flexible and go with the flow. Today was a perfect example of that. We woke up in Chattanooga, TN and had hotel reservations for this evening in Nashville.  Our original plan was to explore Nashville.  But as we investigated what to do, we decided that since country music is not a favorite of ours, we weren't too excited about our options. Then we thought about spending the day in Chattanooga since the weather is beautiful. But that wasn't really what we wanted to do either...
Then we talked about Atlanta, GA. It is only 2 hours away. We could knock out another presidential museum (Jimmy Carter) and we could also see the MLK Jr. Historical Site. So that's what we decided to do...Atlanta. Here are some photos from our side trip. Now we are headed back north and west to Nashville for the night.

The Fun Continues...

The fun continues while the Big Guy is gone. 

Sunday was such a beautiful day in Tennessee that I decided to drive to Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The park falls across the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. I stopped at the visitor center just inside the park near Pigeon Forge. I got a map and some advice of where to go.

I decided to drive straight through the park to Cherokee, North Carolina. There was a tremendous amount of traffic because of it being Sunday, beautiful weather and a report of snow at Clingman's Dome.  Clingman's Dome is the highest point in the Smokies at 6,643 ft.  I decided to bypass the Dome until my return back through the park.  

Cherokee is an Indian Reservation so of course there was a casino, at which I lost money.

Driving back through the park, I made a couple stops for photos. I drove up to the Dome area but it was so crowded, I didn't get out. There was a little bit of snow still in the crevices of rocks and on the edges of the grass. At Newfound Gap, you can stand on the Tennesse/North Carolina border.

Coming in to the park, I drove through Pigeon Forge. Leaving the park, I drove through Gatlinburg.  I didn't realize that these 2 towns were such big destinations. There were tons of shops, amusement activities and restaurants. It reminded me of Branson.

The Smoky Mountains were so gorgeous. It was a perfect fall mountain day and drive.

Top right picture- elk in the tree line 

Monday I checked out the Worlds Fair Park and Sunsphere in Knoxville before heading towards Chattanooga.

Arriving in Chattanooga, I visited the triple sites around Lookout Mountain. The first place, Rock City, is actually in Georgia.

Then I rode the Lookout Mountain Incline, the world's steepest incline railway. It's a mile long.

Then I went to Ruby Falls. It is an underground cave tour that ends at the tallest underground waterfall. It was gorgeous!

 

Monday night I picked up LW from the airport. Next stop...Nashville for some country music.

Some Alone Time Fun

What's the saying? When the cat's away, the mice will play...LW flew from Lexington, KY to Omaha for the weekend to attend the services of a childhood friend. So while he is gone, the mouse is gonna have some fun alone. 

I started out with the Kentucky Horse Farm in Lexington. This huge complex has tons to see. First I took the quick trolley tour. The wagon was pulled by 2 beautiful draft horses.

Here are some of the many horses around the park.

I started at the Hall of Champions Show. Here is the list of who I saw at the show.

Western Dreamer-Triple Crown Pacer 1997

Go For Gin-Derby winner 1994 and the second oldest living Derby winner at 23 years old

Won The West- Champion Aged Pacer 2009 and 2010

Funny Cide "the Gutsy Gelding"-Derby winner 2003, Preakness winner (by 10 lengths) 2003, Belmont 3rd place 2003

Then I went to the draft horse meet and greet in the Big Barn. This is Royal, a Percheron. He weighs 1800 lbs and is about 19 hands tall (a little over 6 ft). The groom showed us how they dress a Percheron  by putting a bun and bow in the tail and braiding the mane.

More horses at the park

One of the 2 museums at the park. The other is the International Museum of the Horse.

A few things about Secretariat 

Man o' War memorial

Man o' War was the greatest race horse and leading money winner of his day.

Then I headed for Knoxville,TN. On the way I made 2 stops. First, even though I don't like KFC, I stopped to check out the original restaurant in Corbin, KY. It had a mini museum honoring the Colonel Harland Sanders.

Next I drove to Cumberland Gap National Park, the visitor center and Pinnacle Overlook. With the fall foliage, the view was so beautiful.

Today I'm headed out for more fun. Update ya later.