How y'all doin' tonight?
We had quite a day visiting a wide variety of points of interest. We began the day at the Danny Thomas Pavilion on the campus of St. Jude Children's' Hospital. We had just enough time to see things before they closed it for some special occasion. (They had tables and chairs set up for a luncheon.) I think it took us as long to park the car. Big Tom had worked (and I mean worked -back and forth and back and forth) into a parking spot right across the street. When we got out of the car and walked over to the gate, the guard said "You can park in here." So.... he worked out of it again and we parked on the premises. You may ask why we didn't leave the car where it was? Well, I'll tell you. The guard needed to see both of our driver's licenses if we were walking in. Mine was in the car - so we had to go to the car anyway. When we drove through the gate , he only asked for Big Tom's - I was a non-person. go figure.....
Next we spent some time at the "Pink Palace", a mansion built in the early twenties by the man who "invented" the grocery store as we know it today - the Piggly-Wiggly chain. He lost the home in a fight over the stock of the company and never lived in the place. It is now a museum (with an IMAX added) with rooms of many different themes. There was everything from a one room log cabin to skeletons of dinosaurs. We spent more time in the rooms of historical costumes (worn at the "Cotton Carnivals" through the years) and old office or kitchen set ups (Grandma Baird had a stove like that"), and of course a life size replica of the first Piggly-Wiggly store from 1916. Also a miniature circus. We ate lunch in their cafe before leaving.
We left there (temperature now about 97) and went to Slave Haven - supposedly the "estate" of a man who helped with the Underground railroad. (It's one floor and not all that big.) The tour started out very slowly ( I worried we wouldn't leave the hallway - and it was very HOT!) but began to move along when we went into another room. Our guide broke into "Wade in the Water" and she had a very nice voice. Then a little of "Swing Low" and "Steal Away" explaining how all of the lyrics were code. To end the tour, she took us down in the cellar and had us close our eyes and hold hands while imagining we were hiding there. She prayed a little (as if she were a slave hiding too) and put it tidbits about quieting the babies, etc. It was rather moving.
We went from there to Sun Recording Studio, where some of the earliest "rock 'n roll" was
recorded. Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash etc. Though the building had been used for a variety of things through the years, the recording studio was virtually unchanged from the fifties. We had a lively tour guide with wild eyes and wilder hair who played snippets of songs recorded there and imparted some little known facts (or lies).
We were really "done in" by that time because of the heat, but we did stop at A Schwab's Dry Goods Store on Beale Street. It is said that if Schwab's doesn't have it, you probably don't need it. Two floors of an odd assortment of everything from soup to nuts, some of which has been there since the doors opened.
We got back to the hotel and went for a swim. The pool is on the 8th floor (our floor) and is outside surrounded by the hotel. That allows the wind to swoop in there at a pretty good clip.
The temperature was still high but the water was quite cool - I had to do my aquacise routine to stay warm!
We went to "Rendezvous" for supper. It's a popular little dive close by in an alley. You go downstairs (" to some tables and chairs...") and the specialty is ribs of course. Or barbecued something. Sweet tea is the drink to have if you're not boozing and coffee is not on the menu.
There is a scale in the vestibule where you can weigh yourself before and after. Not me. I'll wait till I get home. That's soon enough.
We're going to pack up tonight so we can get an early start. This morning we had a continental breakfast in the Blues Club that belongs to the hotel, but it was very skimpy, so we'll stop somewhere tomorrow on the drive to Lexington Kentucky. Maybe it will be cooler there!
We had quite a day visiting a wide variety of points of interest. We began the day at the Danny Thomas Pavilion on the campus of St. Jude Children's' Hospital. We had just enough time to see things before they closed it for some special occasion. (They had tables and chairs set up for a luncheon.) I think it took us as long to park the car. Big Tom had worked (and I mean worked -back and forth and back and forth) into a parking spot right across the street. When we got out of the car and walked over to the gate, the guard said "You can park in here." So.... he worked out of it again and we parked on the premises. You may ask why we didn't leave the car where it was? Well, I'll tell you. The guard needed to see both of our driver's licenses if we were walking in. Mine was in the car - so we had to go to the car anyway. When we drove through the gate , he only asked for Big Tom's - I was a non-person. go figure.....
Next we spent some time at the "Pink Palace", a mansion built in the early twenties by the man who "invented" the grocery store as we know it today - the Piggly-Wiggly chain. He lost the home in a fight over the stock of the company and never lived in the place. It is now a museum (with an IMAX added) with rooms of many different themes. There was everything from a one room log cabin to skeletons of dinosaurs. We spent more time in the rooms of historical costumes (worn at the "Cotton Carnivals" through the years) and old office or kitchen set ups (Grandma Baird had a stove like that"), and of course a life size replica of the first Piggly-Wiggly store from 1916. Also a miniature circus. We ate lunch in their cafe before leaving.
We left there (temperature now about 97) and went to Slave Haven - supposedly the "estate" of a man who helped with the Underground railroad. (It's one floor and not all that big.) The tour started out very slowly ( I worried we wouldn't leave the hallway - and it was very HOT!) but began to move along when we went into another room. Our guide broke into "Wade in the Water" and she had a very nice voice. Then a little of "Swing Low" and "Steal Away" explaining how all of the lyrics were code. To end the tour, she took us down in the cellar and had us close our eyes and hold hands while imagining we were hiding there. She prayed a little (as if she were a slave hiding too) and put it tidbits about quieting the babies, etc. It was rather moving.
We went from there to Sun Recording Studio, where some of the earliest "rock 'n roll" was
recorded. Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash etc. Though the building had been used for a variety of things through the years, the recording studio was virtually unchanged from the fifties. We had a lively tour guide with wild eyes and wilder hair who played snippets of songs recorded there and imparted some little known facts (or lies).
We were really "done in" by that time because of the heat, but we did stop at A Schwab's Dry Goods Store on Beale Street. It is said that if Schwab's doesn't have it, you probably don't need it. Two floors of an odd assortment of everything from soup to nuts, some of which has been there since the doors opened.
We got back to the hotel and went for a swim. The pool is on the 8th floor (our floor) and is outside surrounded by the hotel. That allows the wind to swoop in there at a pretty good clip.
The temperature was still high but the water was quite cool - I had to do my aquacise routine to stay warm!
We went to "Rendezvous" for supper. It's a popular little dive close by in an alley. You go downstairs (" to some tables and chairs...") and the specialty is ribs of course. Or barbecued something. Sweet tea is the drink to have if you're not boozing and coffee is not on the menu.
There is a scale in the vestibule where you can weigh yourself before and after. Not me. I'll wait till I get home. That's soon enough.
We're going to pack up tonight so we can get an early start. This morning we had a continental breakfast in the Blues Club that belongs to the hotel, but it was very skimpy, so we'll stop somewhere tomorrow on the drive to Lexington Kentucky. Maybe it will be cooler there!
No comments:
Post a Comment