Inside Graceland: Going downstairs

After viewing the Lv. Room, Dining Rm, and the Parent's bedroom - we waked downstairs to view the Jungle Room, TV Room and Playroom/Poolroom.
Note the mirrors on both sides of the walls - as well as the ceiling... he seemed obsessed with mirrors - look never ending Cheryl... that's me on the left with purse shooting this image... so weird....

Inside Graceland: The TV room

Elvis had 3 TV's on different channels constantly going - wanting to stay on top of news and current events. Note the mirrored ceiling - and how about that creepy monkey on the coffee table.....

Inside Graceland: The Jungle Room

The Jungle Room was the weirdest - and most gaudy... note the green shag carpeting - so 70's - what you can't see is that green shag carpeting was also on the ceiling... yuk!

Elivis' many toys

Elvis loved toys - and most of all he loved cars - One of the museums we saw was devoted to his cars - beautiful antique cars from his Pink Cadillac for his mom - a White Mercedes Coupe for Priscilla and lots of beautiful Autos that he drove on occasion.
And of course a customized private jet - that cost him $250k to buy and $800k to remodel - that tour was really interesting....

Oh Surprise! we found another Winery

Midway between Nashville and Memphis is Arrington, Tenn. Where we found a Winery that is partly owned by Kit Brooks (of Brooks & Dunn CW singers) So of course we had to drop in to sample his wines.
The location is beautiful and perfect for an afternoon picnic on the deck or in the vineyard on one of the many picnic tables.
Apparently on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons there are free concerts as well.

Inside the Wine Tasting Room

Once inside - we decided to split our tastings - I tasted 4 whites and Cheryl tasted 4 reds. We ended up buying a great Rasberry Desert wine that will go great with some semi-sweet chocolate and fresh rasberries. And 2 great white wines - a Viongnier and a second white with a blend of 6 grapes.

Pink Cadillac Limo ride to dinner

We arrived in Memphis just in time for dinner. So decided - since we're in Tenn. we should get BBQ and we found a restaurant that received tons of trophies for thier BBQ.... and they provide a free limo service to and from the restaurant - by Pink Cadillac - so off we went for the best Ribs in Memphis....

Marlowe's - best Ribs in Memphis

Here's the inside of Marlowe's. As with everything here in Memphis - it's saturated with Elvis stuff. Great fun and great food. This restaurant was reviewed by one of the Cooking Channel's famous reviewers - Diners - Dives - Drive-ins - Guy (with the bleach blond spiked hair)... the ribs just fell off the bone...and per CP - best Beans she's ever tasted.

Cheryl visits with Elvis

Elvis is in Nashville (ha-ha)...Even though Cheryl is not a great Country Western Music fan - she enjoyed visiting all the highlights that we could see in Nashville.

Visiting our first Nashvile Honky Tonk

Downtown Nashville is loaded with little Honky Tonk Bars with Country Western singers hoping to get discovered. This gal was singing her heart out as all do for only tips - the acts change every hour and singers and musicians go from bar to bar singing for tips and doing what they love..... kinda sad knowing there are so many talented people but only few make it in the industry.

The Grand Ol Opry

A visit to Nashville, Tenn. is not complete without a visit to the Grand Ol Opry. The original Grand Ol Opry used to be a church and the exterior and most of the interior still shows this architecture.

The history of the Opry is great and it's kept up wonderfully.

Inside the Grand Ol Opry

Once inside the Grand Ol Opry we were amazed at how beautiful it was. It used to be a church so the seating was still the old pews and the windows gave a beautiful glow to the room. They still have traveling CW performers that sing there and chery & I were able to go up on stage and play guitar and sing a song or two (ha ha)

Country Western Hall of Fame

We ended the day with a visit to the CW Hall of Fame where they were having 2 great traveling exhibits. This one on the life and music of Tammy Wynette and another on the life and music of Hank Williams and Hank Williams Jr.
Both exhibits were facinating . The CW H.F. is so big it would take a full day to go through the entire building and all the history of CW. Unfortunately we only had an hour because we didn't make it there till 4pm. So this will be on our to-do list for another time we swing through Nashvile on our way west.
Highly recommed this for anyone coming this way even if you are not a CW fan - the history of CW music and entertainment is facinating.

Blanche & Lucy on the Road Again

While driving through West Virginia we found many crosses that were 3 stories high or taller - some alone - some in groups of 3. And on the radio there was only country western music or Christian music..... not unusual to see and hear lots of Jesus in the southern states - you should see theBillboards - didn't stop to take photos - these are drive by shootings..... we didn't stop except for bathroom breaks and lunch today. Spending the next 3 days in Nahsville, Tenn....

Where in the world was Blanche & Lucy last night

Last night we spent the night at the Holiday Lake State Park in Appotomax, Virginia.

There was no internet services, no cell phone reception, no TV reception, and there were no lights - we were sooooo deep into the woods that we really felt remote. There were only 3 of us campers in the whole state park... truth be told - CP felt a bit creeped out.... so needless to say - we didn't leave the camper after dark and all doors and windows were locked!!
But we woke up to a beautiful sunrise in a beautiful environment. It was quiet, peaceful & colors were starting to pop all around us. But as we left, we were looking forward to at least getting cell reception by the next town.

Last History Lesson for Blanche & Lucy (for a while)

Today we went to Appotomax, VA. This is where the last battle was fought in the Civil War and where General Lee surrended to General Grant.

I admit - I didn't know anything about Appotomax - but now I know all about it. And living History is the best as instead of reading bout it we 'see' it.

Our tour guide Sargeant Tibbs -was a Confederate Soldier during the Civil War.
This is the room where Lee surrenders to Grant - ending the Civil War.

External Buildings at Appotomax

These are some of the external buildings at Appotomax. The McClean House is the brick house. The white house is the slave quarters - note the Out house.

Kluge Winery Estate - Charlottesville, Virginia

Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains yeild great wines - sooo there are lots of vinyars in the Charlottesville, VA area. So we spent the day Tuesday visiting a couple of wineries and bought a few bottles. Unfortunately none of these wines will make it home to Newburyport as I am sure we will drink them all this winter in Arizona.

This is how the sampling is given.

I did taste this Kluge Pink Sparkling Wine was the wine Chelsea Clinton had for her wedding - she also bought the White Sparkling Wine by Kluge for her guests.

More Photos from the Kluge Winery

The Tasting Room in the Kluge Winery.

The Award winners in the shelves.
And below are the wines we bought.
- Sparkling Wine, a Desert Wine, and a Cabernet Meritage Blend wine.

Visiting First Colony Estate Winery

We visited the First Colony Winery also in Charlottesville, VA. Since I was driving, Cheryl sampled their award winning wines - though I did take a tiny sip now and then.
Virginia wines do well with the almost consistent daily rain showers in late afternoons - hot days - and cool nights.
Cabernet Franc is the Virginia wine which they are most famous for. They also do a wonderful Port Wine - a Ruby which was delighful (I did take a little taste of that one)
So of course we bought a bottle of Cabernet Franc and a couple of Ruby Ports - one for us and one for a gift!

Blanche & Lucy visit President Madison's Estate

Today we visited President James & Dolly Madison's Montpelier Estate in Virginia. The home was beautiful and the grounds were great.

Visiting with James & Dolly Madison

Blanche and Lucy found these beautiful Bronze Statues of James Madison and his wife Dolly in the back yard behind the Montpelier Estate.

Where in the World is Blanch and Lucy Now?!

George Washington's Mount Vernon Estates in Alexandria Virginia.

On Sunday we spent all day visiting Mt Vernon.
This is the entryway to the estates. Dogs were permitted all over the grounds except inside the buildings. So we took turns touring the different buildings.
The girls had fun playing with all the dogs they met along the way - even another little Westie named Lexie who was only 3yr.
They enjoyed their history lesson for the day. It took several hours to tour the grounds and they were very tired little girls by the time we got back to camp around 6:30pm.

Mt Vernon Estates

This is the exterior of the main building and one of the exterior rooms. The Kitchen was not in the main house - it was in an 'exterior room' accessory building beside the main house. Main house held the living rooms, dining rooms, card room/chat room, and several bedrooms - 3 floors 2 side wings a beautiful back porch that looked out onto the Potomac River with huge lawn down to the water.

Colonial Character

This gent was making lace in one of the tents that was on the grounds on the day we visited. They were having a celebration of sorts - Market Day. Many Colonial people making crafts and playing music and just generally socializing in period dress and speech - sort of like Sturbridge Village does in Mass.

When walking about this dude saw someone taking a photo and wanted to do the same.... Photography is always drawing new players.... though he didn't seem to know how to use it at first sure got into it after a while....