Opryland Hotel Complex

Carol, Melissa and Carol's friend (Jerry) took us to the Opryland Hotel Complex a couple of nights ago. We drove past Opryland (where the country stars perform) and took a short walk to the Opryland Hotel. The Hotel is huge...and that is not an exaggeration. Besides the hotel rooms, there is a convention center with meeting rooms, several restaurants, bars, and huge plant, flower and water displays that are all fully enclosed within the domed complex. It has a river walk area and for "only" $9 per person you can take a little boat ride to view the plants and the complex from water level. We took a stroll instead !

We followed the map and eventually came to a sports bar where we had some really good hamburgers. Getting back to where we started from was more of a challenge. As I said, the complex is huge with several levels and there are maps everywhere.....unfortunately, none of us were very good at interpreting the maps and, instead of asking directions....trudged along. We saw some really wonderful gardens by doing this, but when there are 7 adults all getting different ideas about what the map is trying to say, it was a little challenging.... Dad and I finally decided to forget the map and start following some of the posted signs. We thought the others were following us, but I guess they were still looking at and discussing the map, because we left them in the dust. They eventually arrived back at our origination point, but definitely later than Dad & I :)

The grand staircase at the front of the hotel brought back some fond memories for Mom. She and Dad W stayed one night at the Opryland Hotel several years ago. She remembered coming down that beautiful staircase several times in imitation of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. She also remembers pulling up to the front of the hotel where a hotel valet opened her car door for her. She said that she quickly pulled the door shut, thinking, I guess, that she was about to be carjacked or was having her purse stolen.....She did not know that the stay at the hotel was a surprise for her. Dad W had to explain to Mom and then apologize to the valet.

Mom and Carol had some fun recreating Mom's Scarlett O'Hara entrance on the staircase...although it just isn't quite the same with her wearing her slipon tennies and pants. I guess we could have found a curtain rod with some fancy drapes (Like Carol Burnett did in one of her skits)....but we'll save that for next time.

While waiting for Carol's friend, Jerry, to arrive Mom was posing on one of the benches near the Convention Center and we were taking a picture. She looked like she was having so much fun that a nicely dressed businessman decided to sit next to her and gave all of us a "thumbs up". Mom said "Who's he and where did he come from?"....She didn't realize that she looked like she was having such a good time that even a stranger wanted to join her......

As you can see, we are enjoying ourselves. We loved seeing Melissa and heard that she and her boyfriend, Thomas, are going to be married....Lots of details to work out, naturally. We hope to meet him this weekend. We saw the store where Carol works yesterday and tonight we will be meeting Cherie, Corey, and Emily for dinner after Carol returns from work. Should be fun...

From Mississippi to Tennessee

We left Tupelo on Monday April 25th and arrived in Murfreesboro, TN that evening. We could have gotten here much earlier, but took our time sightseeing along the Natchez Trace.

There were many things to see along the Trace, including Indian mounds where nomadic Indians buried their dead from 1-200 AD, wildflowers, rivers, parks, a waterfall, a beaver dam and lots of beautiful scenery. This is such an historic roadway. We took time to look at parts of the Old Trace and took a 2-mile sidetrip where the speed limit was 15 mi per hour to see the Trace as it used to be for the settlers who traveled along it. We saw a fox running along the side of the road and many wild turkeys. (Jack finally got a few close-up pictures when a wild turkey flock? family? took a slow walk across the road in front of us. We missed getting a picture of the fox as he hurried away before we could react.) Merriweather Lewis (of Lewis and Clark fame) is buried along the Trace and we stopped to see the monument that stands upon his gravesite.

Mike Reinert Family in Tupelo, MS

Hello all y'all (which my sister says is plural for y'all and that I should know that! She might be making that up, I'm not sure...) Anyway,

We had a wonderful time in Tupelo with Mike, Linda and their 3 children, inlaws, outlaws and grandchildren... We got a chance to see Linda's Dad, Ralph, and his sister Jean from Indiana. We also had a chance to meet Linda's brother Dave & his wife Judy. Dave brought his big motorcycle to the house one day and the elders (Dad R, Mom W and Aunt Jean) all hopped up on it. (Well, Mom sat "side saddle")

Linda's cookies, cakes, pies, homemade bread, etc etc were hard to resist and Mom especially loved the iced cinnamon bread. Dad really liked the snickerdoodles and Jack loved everything....we even had a special treat one day when Linda and the girls made homemade ice cream. It's been years since any of us have had homemade ice cream and it was really good.

Mike and Linda have a new daughter-in-law....Stephanie Kay, who is Josh's new bride. It was fun to meet Stephanie Kay and her 2 children, Marshall and Megan. We welcomed all of them to the family with a champagne toast.

We also met Steve, who has been a big part of Steph's life for several years. Tyler, Michael and Eva now have 2 new cousins and they all get along great with each other. The cousins played lots of card games during our visit.

Cubby was in dog heaven playing with all of the children and adults. He enjoyed being the "only dog". Eva really enjoyed meeting little Cubby, a doggy just her size.

We enjoyed seeing the bears that Mike collects and all of the angels that Linda collects. She was especially proud of the angel that Angela (my cousin in Illinois) made for her at Josh's request.

When Jack joined us in Dallas it was questionable whether his suitcase would fit in the car...but he showed great packing skills and managed to get everything in the trunk. Our new rule, however, is that if something new goes into the car, something else needs to come out and stay out....that rule really crimps our antique shopping.

With sad hearts, full stomachs, a full trunk and happy memories we left Tupelo and headed up the Natchez Trace to Murfreesboro.....Thank you Mississippi & Alabama families for the gracious hospitality and the wonderful visit.

Graceland & Us

We never thought about going to Graceland, which is in Memphis and 100 miles from Tupelo...but, Mom thought Graceland would be fun, so off we went. It was actually a lot of fun.

Elvis' taste in home furnishings were "different"....he had a rather dark jungle decor in a family room and a pool table/game room with a fabric covered ceiling and walls. We got to see Elvis' home (called Graceland), 2 of his airplanes (the Lisa Marie, which is the larger plane that he used when he went on tour, and a smaller jet called "Hound Dog II".) Mom got quite nervous when we were walking to the airplanes and asked if we were trying to trick her into an airplane ride....but, we never left the ground and she scampered up the steps to enjoy being on her first airplane. We told Mom that this was a special plane because most planes don't have a queen-size bed, a conference table, plush seats, restrooms big enough that you can actually walk in, gold-plated seat belt buckles and gold plated sinks, etc.

We went into the car museum and saw several special cars (including his pink cadillac), motorcycles, golf cart toys, etc etc. The most impressive part of the tour were the halls covered in gold and platinum records, awards and many of his stage costumes. He really did so very much in his 42 years. Mom thought about purchasing an Elvis souvenir purse, but just couldn't decide between the gold guitar or the oversized-sunglass style....maybe next time.

All of us are having a wonderful visit with Mike and Linda, the children and grandchildren. We got to meet Steve (Stephanie's boyfriend), and Stephanie Kay (Josh's bride) and her 2 children (Marshall and Megan)....the 3 newest members of the Mike Reinert family. We will post pictures of the families a little later. We are being very well-fed by Linda.....so many homemade goodies that it puts all of us to shame. She even made us Italian bread to go with the pasta dish we had last night.....yummy....

We are all well and seem to have the allergies under control now. Let's hope it all stays that way, but everyone is saying that there is so much pollen wherever we are going...we'll see how it all works out...but, so far, so good. We have been having lots of resting times in between our drives. So, Mom, Dad, Jack,Cubby & I have been well-rested and are having lots of fun.

Elvis' Birthplace in Tupelo, MS

Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, MS on January 8, 1935. Every year Tupelo gets lots of tourists who come to remember Elvis and see where his story began. Elvis was born in a little 2-room house that had no running water or electricity. We took a little tour of the house and the grounds. We also saw the little Assembly of God Church where he first sang in the choir and the Tupelo Hardware store where his mother first purchased a guitar for him. According to the story, Elvis wanted a shotgun and his mom talked him into a guitar instead. He carried the guitar along with him all the time and sang as often as he could. He was influenced by the gospel music he heard in the little churches that are all over the South, and of course are in Tupelo. Elvis and his family lived in Tupelo for 13 years before moving to Memphis.

Mom loved the little Elvis house and she and Linda sat on the front porch swing, and, as you will see in the pictures, took a look at the "outdoor plumbing" that Elvis and his family used. No one was allowed to actually sit on the throne, but we could look from the door.

We went to the Dairy Kream in Tupelo that's been serving generous portions of ice cream for years and years. (Jo & Bob....this little place would definitely give your Creamy's a run for its money.) Dad really liked the Dairy Kream. He got a medium cup of vanilla ice cream with strawberries on the top. (The medium size cup was like a medium soft drink size....so quite large.) When Dad finished the strawberry topping he went back to the counter and asked for root beer to be placed on top of his remaining ice cream. And, he went back for a root beer refill when it was mostly gone. The Dairy Kream people were very nice....either they thought they'd be especially generous to a senior citizen...or, perhaps they are generous to anyone who might think to ask....but, they didn't charge him anything to convert his ice cream to 2 root beer floats. This really made Dad's day!