Thank You, Thank you very much

Today we got an early enough start to our day that we left Nashville and arrived in Memphis early enough that were able to tour Elvis Presley's Graceland. We also got to see the two jet planes that he had, his Automobile Museum, and 12 different Elvis gift shops.  I really should have taken a picture of all the gifts in the shops, but it was too overwhelming.  From where we are parked we can almost see the home from our RV spot.

So without further ado here are a few shots of Graceland.

Front of home

The famous Jungle Room (Elvis' favorite color was green, just like me, but his shade of green was a little too avocado.  Then again, that was all the rage in the mid 60's)

A few of the snazzy jumpsuits

The Trophy Room with all of his awards and platinum and gold records, plus some guy shaking his hips.

The living room

Kitchen (check out the cast iron skillet ready to go)

Something I learned that I never knew before, was that Elvis donated quite a bit of money to help build the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii. Here is a plaque given to him to commemorate that generosity.

Tomorrow it's the Peabody and Beale Street, stay tuned for updates.

Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry

This morning we both toured the backstage area of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. 

Some interesting facts about the Opry. There are 196 members of the Opry and they each have a mailbox at the front desk and do receive mail at their boxes.  One does not have to be a member to perform there as a guest artist.  The youngest member is Carrie Underwood at 31, the oldest is Little Jimmy Dickens at 93.  There are 18 dressing rooms, but none of them have closets and only two have a bathroom. They do have lockers and toilets across the hall.  Dressing rooms are assigned when the artists check in for their performance; some used to be permanent, but are now just named after their former 'resident'.

The artist entry walk

The check in desk

One of the dressing rooms

The lockers for clothes and personal articles

The green room waiting area

Stage entry

Onstage!

The famous circle center stage

After a quick lunch Tom went downtown to do some more touring while Cheryl stayed home with the dog. (He gets a little nervous when we're gone, so we try not to leave him alone for too long.) Herc slept all afternoon, Cheryl read and defrosted the fridge. Tom will have to report on his adventures later, no doubt he is adding to his hat collection.

The not-so-nervous sleeping dog

Tour De Villes – Ashe, Knox, Cooke and Nash

Yesterday found us touring the beautiful Biltmore Estate, in Asheville North Carolina. Suffice to say, it is the equivalent of an American Downton Abbey. Over 4 acres of actual building, 35 bedrooms, 250 rooms, 80 full-time servants....you get the drift.  Photos are not allowed of the interior, but here a couple of the exterior and grounds.  

Today finds us heading from Asheville over to Nashville via the towns of Knoxville and Cookeville, hence the title of our post.  Shortly after we crossed into Tennessee, the skies cleared and and this lower elevation, the trees had bloomed.

On the way we thought we'd stop for this photo op, particularly for Bill and Shirley. 

We are now at our spot in Nashville, just two miles up the road from the Grand Ol Opry.  We'll take the tour tomorrow and decide which of the many entertainment venues we want to enjoy.  

Liquid Sunshine

Today finds us in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. The weather, unfortunately, is not as cooperative as it has been all trip long up to now.  But we are not complaining because Savannah, Georgia where we were two days ago is now under a tornado watch. We will gladly take a little bit of moisture over that.

We are visiting our friends Jackie and Glenn, whom we met on a cruise to the Mediterranean a year and a half ago.  Jackie and Cheryl keep discovering personal similarities and are convinced we must be twins at heart.  And check out this great breakfast spread Jackie created this morning (Not visible are the hash browns and the egg casserole, too! )

We then spent the drizzly morning visiting the Arts and Craft guild on the Blue Ridge Parkway and then made an impromptu visit to the Grove Park hotel where we had a personal tour of the historic hotel from the in-chimney elevator operator.  Yes, you read that correctly the elevator shaft is within the chimney.

Here is one of the fireplaces at the base of that chimney.  It is hard to get the proper scale without the right perspective, so let me note that the andirons on the side of the fire are each at least six feet tall, and a person can easily walk into the firebox if there was no fire there.

And a couple of exterior shots.  Reportedly, the builders went to Yellowstone National Park to study the best way to use the rock and keystones.  The rock is all from the local mountains, and the start to finish process took less than 12 months to build.

Shortly thereafter we bid adieu to Jackie and Glenn and moved the Beach House over to the RV park near the Biltmore Estate for our visit tomorrow.  Imagine our surprise to arrive and discover another Unity in the same paint scheme as ours.  We knocked on the door and met Roger and Suzanne, a lovely couple who are currently full-timing in their RV aiming to end up eventually in Fort Worth.  We compared experiences and agreed to join them for dinner tomorrow evening.

Savannah, GA

Hello from the Hostess City of the South. Yep that's really the moniker of lovely Savannah, GA.  Founded in 1733, Savannah is the original planned community with square grids, called wards, composed of a central park surrounded by 4 mini blocks of commercial buildings and 8 larger blocks of homes.  Today 22 of the original 24 parks survive and make Savannah a most enjoyable and walkable city with the beautiful central squares separated by just two city blocks in each direction.

Today the squares are filled with live oaks, Spanish Moss, fountains, statues, azaleas, camellias and tourists.  Also many benches for just sitting a spell, or enjoying your box of chocolates with Forrest Gump.

We took a trolley tour with one of the many companies, but the one we picked is the only one that allows pets, so we were able to bring Hercules with us.  He wants you to know that from his perspective, after you have seen one square, they all look the same, so he spent most of the tour sound asleep on Tom's lap.

Our trolley driver and several costumed collaborators told us much of Savannah's history, but probably the most infamous house is the Mercer Williams house from 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'

Or maybe it is the most haunted house in Savannah

Or, could it be the tiniest house in Savannah, at just under 500 square feet, and which recently sold for over $350,000!

Whatever your preference, there are a lot of historic homes, interesting architecture and suspicious stories to keep you occupied for many days.

Oh. My. Word.

Start strumming a banjo. Da Da Ding-Ding DING Ding Ding Dinng Diiinnngggg.

This is the most unusual RV park I have ever been in. It is only 2 miles from the interstate, but somewhere in that last 2 miles we crossed through a time warp and are firmly ensconced in, perhaps, 1965 with matching decor. Early Campground Rustic with all of the "modern" conveniences.  

I am currently doing a load of laundry and reading all of the Savannah tour guides and brochures left in the laundry room.   On my way back I will be sure to show you the lovely modern electrical wiring systems for the power and the cable system.

Here's a picture of the cable manifold and the highway warning flag. The manifold is the orange cabling on the ground; the highway warning flag is the yellow thing attached to the pipe on the left.

Here is how you get the electricity across the lot to the next site.

Here is the view of the Beach House parked in our drive through spot, under the electrical wire.

Which means that this is the view outside both windows.

So now, let me tell you the upside. It is close to Savannah, or as close as we could find a park with a decent rating. That means it is "only" 12 miles down two freeways. But we can take the Beach House into the city and park in the visitor center. The benefits of having a small motorhome.

Second, well, not sure there is a second upside. The staff did come around to check that we had everything we needed. The wifi works, the electricity (amazingly) works. Water has good pressure.  The office is inside a small mini mart. So there's some kind of provisioning available if you get stuck out here for too long.  Especially if you want white bread, potato chips or canned goods.

Rumor has it that there is a dock and a river somewhere around here. I have also heard there are copperheads.  Really??  Despite my misgivings, I have to say the place is packed. In addition to the two other nice units coming in when we did, there have been a couple more that have shown up. They're possibly booked for the night as the three overflow spots in the front already have one tenant.

I'll let you know.

Get a cup of coffee...

...and sit down for a spell. I am already two and half days behind and probably won't finish this post until two days from now, but we gotta catch up.

Starting up where I last left us with Saturday night, there was quite the windstorm and finally some rain which howled and swirled and shook the Beach House all night long.  Thought for sure we would wake up to at least some puddles, but somehow the rain all went somewhere else and not a bit of difference was noted the next morning, except the day was dryer and the temperature was lower.   We did get to sit outside and watch the lightening as the storm approached, but wisely took cover before it hit.  Thank you Pat and Nancy, the wine was perfect and I know you have received pictures of the curly straws in use.

Sunday we looked at the calendar and suddenly realized we were expected up the coast in Jupiter the next day, Monday, and not the day after.  Oops, we had lost track of time.  So we dashed around and took care of some last minute purchases, did laundry, and mapped out our drive.  Awoke early the next morning and dumped and refreshed the tanks, gave the Beach House a bath and bid adieu to Key West.  If you ever want to visit the Caribbean, but don't really feel like leaving the USA, then that's the place to go.  Seriously, that is the vibe down there and is is cheaper and closer than St. Thomas, St. John, etc.

Heading up I-95 we retraced our way up the Keys and encountered little traffic but crazy drivers. Having driven in most states, all of whom claim to have the worst (or best) drivers, we have to say Miami up to about Boynton Beach is filled with the worst of the worst drivers.  Especially ones who drive little black sedans and would be roadkill by morning if not for the evasive skills of the many people they purposefully cut off.  

We spent Monday night with our friends (and NM neighbors) the Scalas and their brood in Jupiter.  We were able to park in a neighbor's driveway by prior arrangement, but wouldn't you know the fella did not tell his wife to expect a strange vehicle in the driveway.  So when she came home and asked what was the Mercedes doing in the driveway, her husband told her he bought it!  That stinker; she was really disappointed when he said he was joking, too, so he might have to buy her one anyway.

-Sue and Pete's grandson Ryder-

-Sue and Pete's granddaughter Cheyenne-

Jake and Ryder in motion as always

Tuesday found us up the road a piece in Melbourne with Cheryl's former boss from 35 years ago and his wife, Bill and Shirley Barnhart.  I must also add that the Barnharts and their beagle Daisy are the only ones who truly and completely understand why the Beach House belongs to Hercules as much as to us.  We had such a wonderful time swapping stories and catching up on mutual friends, we could have stayed up all night talking if we had not agreed we were now all old farts that actually had to go to bed.  

View from the indoor-outdoor room  (yes Danny, you see a tee).  Poorly lit pond in foreground is where Hercules walked in during a moment of confusion about where the path was.

I have to interject here that we are so very lucky and blessed to have such wonderful friends all over the country who have shown us such tremendous hospitality, been generous with their time and opened their homes unconditionally to us and our dog.  You are all among the truly precious jewels in our life and we thank you.  

Tonight finds us just north of Jacksonville.  We will head to Savannah, GA tomorrow for three nights and some charming southern history in the Squares of Savannah.  (Jackie, we are getting closer, you've got mail)

Cheryl