leaving for Europe Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tupelo Ms, Alabama & Georgia

We left Memphis Friday to go to Locust Fork, Alabama (outside of Birmingham) to visit a cousin and on the way stopped in Tupelo, Mississippi.   Then Sunday on to Carrollton, Georgia.  Tonight we are in Florence, South Carolina and will be home tomorrow, so this is our last blog for the Exploring the USA in 2009.  We're looking forward to seeing our family and friends..Thanksgiving will be very special this year!

This is the home where Elvis was born

The bedroom where the family slept...Elvis's twin was still born so he was an only child

it was only a two room home

It has been restored to the way it looked when he was a baby

we spent two days with cousin Helen (Carol's Dad and Helen's were brothers) and Bruce in Alabama

and then on to Carrollton, Georgia to spend the night at Rick (Steve's nephew) and Lauren's

Rick is a highway patrolman

and Bella..really enjoyed our visit with them

Memphis, Tn

Got here last night, and went to Neely's Interstate for ribs and their famous Bar-b-que Spagetti.  Today we went to Graceland, Beale Street, rode the trolley car on the loop, and went to Sun Studios.  This evening we had dinner with one of Steve's long time friend (since 7th grade) Tim and his with Kris.  Very nice time.

The home was built in 1939 by Dr. Moore who named it after his Aunt Grace, and Elvis bought it for 102k (with 13 acres) and kept the name

the living room was the most normal of all the rooms

There are many trophies, gold records, movie items, costumes, pictures, etc. to view along the way

The piano he played the morning he died..this was in a building he built with a racket ball court

                     The meditation garden is his final resting place with his Mother, Dad, and Grandmother

The ducks at the Peabody Hotel

we stopped in at the famous Randezvous to sample the ribs

Elvis recorded 5 records on the Sun label, and then Sam sold the recording rights to RCA for 30K

Elvis stopped in to Sun Records one day in 1956, and these guys were there..Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Pickens, Johnny Cash, and Elvis enjoyed singing and playing together that day

We are leaving in the morning for the Birmingham, Alabama area..closer and closer to home

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

We got in yesterday, and went for steak dinner at Charleston's...very good.  Today we toured the area, and went to the Memorial Museum of the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building.  The museum was so sad..so senseless...168 died including 19 children.

On the road, we saw a sign that said this was the biggest cross in North America

Neither of us had ever been to Oklahoma...exciting to get here

We had lunch at Cattleman's Restaurant..a landmark in the Stockyard section of the city

yes, we did another steak for lunch..

and the Capitol that had oil drilling on the front lawn

We toured the museum..3rd floor depicts the normal day that started before 9:02am, and then took you  hour by hour of the rest of the day in very graphic displays..so sad, and then thru time on the 2nd floor

        The Survivor elm tree in the parking lot next to the Federal building that is a symbol of resilience

                                     The park guard said it was the most cared for tree in the USA!

                     The reflecting pool..this is the location of the street that was in front of the building

There is a chair for each of the victims in 9 rows representing each floor of the building where they died. The smaller chairs are for the 19 children that were in the day care center on the 2nd floor..the building was located on this ground

They left some of the chain link fence that was first put up around the building and people still leave messages

and Jesus wept

Amarillo, Texas

We stopped here at a campground to rest up for the weekend.  We're leaving in the morning

Lots of cows!

and horses

Roswell, NM

We drove to Roswell, NM yesterday, and got there in time to tour the UFO Museum..interesting stuff

The town gets in to it!

This was used in a movie and is in the museum

Las Cruces, New Mexico area

We explored some of this area, and met Aunt Mary's youngest daughter, Jodie and her husband Kevin for dinner last night.  Yesterday we went to Hatch, a small town known for it's Chili Peppers.  We're leaving today, and plan to see a couple more sites in NM before leaving the state.

we took a back road from Las Cruces to Hatch, and went thru a border patrol check...new experience

the ladies stringing the peppers in to ristras, strings of chiles

the Rio Grande River

Kevin, Jodie, Steve and I..we had dinner at La Posta in Mesilla..a very historic area