A Recap of My Trip

And we're back! In my first post back from my wonderful vacation I'd like to share with you some of the highlights of the best road trip ever. Most of the pictures we took were film, so the ones I'm sharing today are our digital few, taken, with the exception of the Loretta Lynn pictures, by Dan.

This is where we stayed the first night, in Cave City, Kentucky. Wigwam Village #2 was built in the 40s, but has been updated significantly with cable and really strong AC. Cave City is a bit of a tourist town, there a national park nearby and lots of caves. Sadly, we had to keep moving, but we did get to stop at the flea market where I got ring that has a wolf head on it. Very cool. 

Then suddenly (after about 12 hours of driving in total), we were in Nashville. The Grand Ole Opry was pretty incredible, and I'm now a lifelong fan.

We were by far the youngest people there, as you can see, and we made friends with the old couple sitting beside us, just to my left in the pic. The man in front of me wasn't very impressed though, when I said I didn't know where Missouri was. Being Canadian just wasn't an excuse for him.

This guy started off the event, Little Jimmy Dickens, who I totally fell in love with. At 90 years old (and 4'11) he is the oldest and longest running member of the Opry family, and his musical and comedic performance does not disappoint. ("Keep taking pictures of me, ladies, I just swell up like a big ol' bullfrog. You can take my picture and put it on your dresser at home, or you can take me to put on your dresser." I think I swooned.)

Then came the reason we were there. Loretta Lynn is everything I thought she would be—sweet, gentle, and bashful. She still has that mournful kind of voice, and the crowd went wild for her.

After a few minutes I got to sneak up to the front with all the rest of the hardcore fans and snap away while she sang "Blue Kentucky Girl."

I learned something else that night: old people shrink. Look at how tiny she is! The dress absolutely dwarfed her.

Here are some pics from the Country Music Hall of Fame, where I learned lots about the different veins of country music, and found out that my favourite is the rockabilly movement stemming from the '50s.

Though they seemed to leave out a lot of the newer stuff that Dan and I love, we learned a lot about country's roots, and saw lots of instruments and artifacts from the beginnings of the musical genre.

Here's a clip of me talking about the various smells of the city.



Nashville was great but we were excited to leave and get to know the hopefully less touristy, more soulful city of Memphis. Sun Studio was our first stop, and it was fantastic.

Detroit is home to the Motown Museum, where the tour takes you around the actual house where the recording happened, and the tour guide's enthusiasm and spirit helps to make to tour great. Sun Studios' tour was really similar and really impressive. Our guide played recordings for us that were not only recorded in the studio that we stood in, but we got to stand in the same place, with the same mic that the singer used. You could almost see it happening around you! I was happily surprised that it wasn't too Elvis heavy, and focused a lot on other, even better musicians.

I had the best ribs of my life that night, at a place called Marlowe's where Elvis used to eat when he was fat and close to death. They have a pink cadillac service that picks you up from your hotel (basically so you can get plastered and eat way too much, both of which we did) and takes you to the restaurant. Here's me, holding up the line.

This was a pretty special place. There was an Elvis tribute singer there that night, and without going into too much inflamatory detail, shit got weird.






The south is a very patriotic place, and I got to experience that in a way I've never seen before. This guy had dedicated his version of "Dixie Land/Glory" to all the veterans in the restaurant and abroad, while Dan and I sat shocked for a while before whipping out the camera.

Anyway, here are the ribs and the sides that went with 'em.

We had some really great food. It was so hot most of the time (we hit 110F one day) that we often just got whatever food we could to nourish ourselves. We had Taco Bell more than a few times (no regrets!) White Castle once (never again!), and McDonalds for breakfast (the McGriddle sandwich is the best thing that's ever happened to me). When we did it right for food it was mostly southern BBQ, pancakes, and baked mac 'n cheese.

We had a great time, and life seems a little more sad now that we are back to real life, not living on the road and visiting new places everyday. One day I'll be able to make a life out of driving around, but until then, short bursts will have to do.