Music City

Arriving in Nashville this afternoon we had to look at each other and ask why. Its not like we even like country music. But get this, we even bought tickets to go to the Grand Ole Opry tomorrow evening.

Here is a run down of who will be playing:
Bill Anderson
Jean Shepard
Riders In The Sky
Jim Ed Brown
Montgomery Gentry
Kellie Pickler
Zac Brown Band
Lady Antebellum
True, that we have never heard of any of them but it should be fun! Right?
I'll let you know how it turns out.

My thoughts at turning the big Four Oh Today!

Forty...what does this number signify. Four bundles of 10. Two, twenty dollar bills. Half your life!? The National Center for Health Statistics says that one can expect to live to about 80. So is 40 the new "midlife" number? Could I really have a midlife crisis on my hand? How much more radical could my life become? I already quit my job! I already sold our home! I already bought myself a large flat screen TV! The thought of it can really scare me if there really is such a thing as Midlife Crisis. I googled Midlife Crisis and this is what Dr. Carl Jung, a psychologist, said:

"It is a normal part of the maturing process. Most people will experience some form of emotional transition during that time of life. A transition that might cause you to take stock in where you are in life and make some needed adjustments to the way you live your life."

Maybe the Romans knew of a bigger, maybe even, Divine significance of the number forty. They wrote the number "XL". Today if one sees XL they don't think of a number but of something Extra Large. Maybe the Romans knew that once you hit forty it was an Extra Large moment or event in ones life.

I woke up this morning and didn't feel any different than most days. Same aches and pains. Same stiffness in the bones. At this point in my life, my heart has already beat a staggering 1.5 billion times and it still feels fine. So I'm beginning to see that this "midlife crisis" really only happens between your ears. Who cares that today I have less hair on my head but more scattered throughout my body. Who cares that there are white hairs sprouting up like weeds. So I put on a little extra weight. Who cares that I may have to check the survey box that says: 40 and above. I can live with that because today, I still feel like I'm only 21. Young and full of energy. The more I think of it the Romans are right. Life at Forty is Extra Large and I intend to live it up LARGE!!!

What better place than to start right here on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.

I'll end today's blog with a thought from Bernard Baruch, American Economist:

"To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am"

Down on Lonely Street

Memphis is known for it's Blues music and for being home to one of the most famous people to get on stage and entertain us. Today, Graceland is filled with lines of people waiting patiently to get their glimpse of how and where Elvis called home.

The home today is how you would have found it when Elvis was still living. With deep lush carpets and mirrors everywhere. Modern comforts, that in those days were for the rich. He built a room with 3 tv's side by side so that he could watch more than one program.

Then, there is the famous "Jungle Room". With its very own waterfall on the far wall. The animal prints are everywhere and carvings of animals in the wood furniture.

There are countless hallways and rooms with awards that he received. The costumes that he wore to his many concerts are displayed with videos of the performance.

Once outside you can see his backyard where many cookouts were held, the carport that housed his many cars. Off to one corner he had built an "Inspiration Corner". This, in later years, would become his final resting place. Even today people leave momentous and get emotional when they arrive in this corner.

The day he passed will forever be remembered by all of us. It is one of those events that you can still remember where you were when you heard the news.

Thank you, thank you very much!

Steel Arch

It was worth waiting because it was blue skies with no clouds for us to visit the city of St. Louis. Our first stop was to visit Jefferson National Expansion Memorial or most commonly known as The Arch.

The experience to go to the top was one of a kind. Remember that this was built in the early 60's so things were a little different back than. You'll have to see the pictures in the slideshow to see how small the car is to take you up. It felt like climbing into a cocoon with four other people. A gentle rocking motion would sway as this small circular tomb would take you up. After 4 minutes you reached the top and the tuna cans doors opened to reveal the view from 640 feet. In one direction is the city of St. Louis and the other is Illinois with the mighty Mississippi separating them.

As you walk about town the Arch is visible as the sun reflects off its stainless steel structure. The Old Courthouse is framed with a backdrop of the Arch.
Our next stop was to visit the King. That would be of beers.

Ok, so the horses wouldn't turn around but we got the dog to lift his head up from his nap. These Clydesdale horses are huge. There feet are like the size of tennis rackets!

We were shown every step of the brewing process and bottling.

The only thing left was to sample the product.

Thursday morning we are on the road again. We decided to head a little further south before heading into Maryland. Stay tuned!

Rain On Our Day

With the Arch of St. Louis in sight from our campground we decided to sit the day out and relax. Let it rain today because we enjoyed the day to catch up on reading, sleeping, and eating.

Wednesday, they are calling for nice weather so we have a full day of exploring on the books.

KC's - Cause There're Two of 'em

Our drive, yesterday, took us further south to Kansas City, Missouri. From here we will be able to explore both Kansas City's. Interesting that two cities would be named the same thing and be right across the river from each other.

This morning we hope to take care of a few chores that have been waiting to get done and this afternoon the plan is to cross the river into Kansas and explore Kansas City. Nothing like real BBQ and some football!

Omaha Steaks

The first state we crossed into this morning was Iowa. A totally different landscape than what we have been seeing for the past several days. Lush green hills with rivers crossing. We'll be back in Iowa another day but we had to cross into...

Nebraska! Our destination for the evening is Omaha.

Since we are only staying the night we decided to check out two things in Omaha. The first is the historic district. Many of the buildings are from the early 1900's. Bright red bricks, tall ceilings and that distinct smell of old. We would later have dinner in the district and enjoy an amazing piece of Omaha Steak. The best I've ever had. Reta had the Ribeye while I tackled the Fillet Mignon. Melts in your mouth it was so tender.

The other place we checked out was the old train station called Union Station. In its heyday, 100 trains would go through the station per day. With old trains on display it was amazing to walk through these rolling museums. As you walked through you got a good sense of what travel used to be like.

There are definitely more things to see and do in this city but we feel we got a good taste of it, literally. Tomorrow we are on the road again.