Family History

Imagine, I'm sitting in a summer teacher workshop at Seattle Pacific University listening to the first hand story of an American veteran who piloted a P-47 "Thunderbolt" he called the Tallahassee Lassie, named for his wife. He proudly mentioned that he has been married to her now for 63 years. He commanded a squadron of these planes and before his career ended he was the commander of a squadron of B-52's. Colonel Ralph C. Jenkins related his story, in the quiet, halting voice that belied his many years.

He mentioned his service in the Strategic Air Command and flying B-52's and I began to sit up and pay closer attention. His service seemed to parallel that of my father-in-law's in many ways. That got me to thinking and as I listened to this man's incredible story with one ear, I began to do a little research on-line.

Google Chester J. Guelker and you get one hit. But that single site uncovered information about dad I had not seen before. The first faded black and white photo was familiar to me. We have a copy of it. But who are the other fellows in the photo. What's the name of the plane (air crews always gave their plane a name)? There it all was. The names of all the other fellows, the record of all their missions and a great story related by the pilot about one unforgettable mission they took.

Dad is the guy on the right.

Lt. Gerald F. Kane was the pilot on dad's plane and as captain he was entitled to name the plane which he did--Hurri-Kane. A scantily clad woman was painted across the nose of the plane along with the name. Standing in front of one photo was dad and the other two officers aboard the plane. Lt. Kane relates the story of one harrowing flight that especially stood out in his mind, a flight that dad was most surely aboard to experience as well.

A bit more digging and I stumbled across a photo of the great big band leader Glenn Miller who played his last concert at Thorpe Abbotts on December 14, 1944, two days after dad flew his very first mission out of Thorpe Abbotts. Miller flew out of Thorpe Abbotts and disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel.

Glenn Miller on the left at Thorpe Abbotts the day before he flew to his death over the English Channel and two days after dad's first combat mission over Germany.

Reading these two pages of history helped me zero in on certain facts that led me to more finds about dad. I discovered that the base he was stationed at is now a museum--Thorpe Abbotts about 90 miles north of London.

Knowing this fact allowed for a much broader search since there were a number of websites about Thorpe Abbotts. Suddenly dozens of old black and white photos taken of the base and life on base opened up. Life on a day to day basis was there to see and imagine what it was like for dad to walk from his barracks to the officers club to the tower, to the runway, to his plane for his next mission.

The Hurri-Kane was plane number 44-8680. I'm searching now for any info I can dig up about that specific plane and its fate following the war.

See a photo gallery of Thorpe Abbotts.

I have was even able to locate the address of dad's pilot, who at last check, was still alive and living in the small town in which he had spent his entire life, except those few years during the war. I have written a letter to his address, carefully asking for any help he might offer regarding his memories of dad. Carefully, I say, because I am not sure who will actually open this letter. It could be his widow or a son or daughter and I don't mean to offend or dredge up painful memories for whoever does receive the letter. I only seek information, memories of long ago that may already be lost to time or age or disease or worse.

Who knows where this investigation may lead me but I am intrigued. I want to know. I want to fill in more of the blanks that dad would never talk about for his own reasons until it was too late.

Our Big Boat Adventure!

I'm taking a break from the blogs about our southern road trip to talk about our recent cruise through the San Juan Islands in our boat.

For three days we lived on our boat, The Key of Sea, cruising the San Juan Islands, crabbing, living the boating life and surviving a few challenges along the way. The Key of Sea, our 32 foot Bayliner Motor Yacht has been ours for almost a year now, but for most of that time either we or it were unable to take advantage of the abundant cruising opportunities here in the northwest. The boat needed certain things done to it--a new dinghy, new electronics, we needed to take classes in order to better handle the boat and, of course, our jobs got in the way of being able to get out there or the weather made it impossible or uncomfortable. This week we finally took her out for an extended cruise--our first!

We left Bellingham's Squalicum Harbor early on a Wednesday morning headed for Orcas Island and a couple of special crab spots suggested by our boating guru, Rick. The water was flat calm and the currents drove us much of the way to our first destination. Our normal top speed at about 1700 RPM's is about 7 knots, but with the added help from the currents we were topping 9 knots. At one point I was able to lower the engine speed to 1500 RPM's and still get 9 knots, saving fuel.

We arrived at our first spot in East Sound, dropped in our two crab pots and found a nearby empty private buoy that we tied up to figuring no one would probably want it on a week day. We sat eating our lunch and taking in the gorgeous scenery around us while waiting for the crab pots to fill up. I had placed a pheasant breast, given to us by our friend Rick, in each pot. An hour and a half later we pulled up each of the pots. This turned out to be the hard part. We tried grabbing the pot as we drove past it but missed it several times until we got the hang of it. Then we stopped the boat and I pulled the pots up hand over hand until the cage began to appear from out of the depths. There in the cage were the tell-tale red shells of crabs crawling around inside. We were thrilled that we had actually caught some. Now what do we do?

There are very specific rules for what kind of crabs you can catch, the gender, the size and these rules must be followed pretty closely or the fines can be pricey. So I had to reach my hand into the pots and carefully grab each crab from the back of their shell, avoiding their snapping claws and those of their neighbors. Tricky! Then you have to attempt to get them out of the pot while they try to grab anything and hold on for dear life. This is tricky, too. Then you flip it over to check whether it is male or female, soft shell stage or hard shell (can't keep the soft shelled ones). Watch out for the claws! Then get out your measuring gauge and see if the crab is big enough to keep. Watch out for the claws! Of the pot of crabs I was able to keep only two. These are placed in an ice chest with fresh sea water which needs to be changed frequently in order to keep the crabs alive until you have enough to clean and cook.

After dropping our pots in two different locations I pulled up my last pot of the day and hit the jack pot. The pot seemed heavy on the way up and sure enough it was swarming with crabs--15 when I finally counted them. Of these I was able to keep nearly half. The female Dungeness had to go back. Any Dungeness males less than 6 1/4 inches across had to go back, but you can keep any Rock Crab that is greater than 5 inches across, male or female. Confused? It was difficult to keep it straight and I did wind up tossing back a couple that I later realized I could have kept. Still it was a nice haul for our first crab outing.

We headed for the Rosario Resort marina for the night. I called the resort on our VHF radio requesting information on moorage. My first use of the VHF radio went very smoothly. We picked out a mooring buoy and tied up to it easily. I dropped the dinghy and attached our 4 hp outboard to it for the short trip to the dock to pay our moorage fee. I had a dickens of a time getting the motor to start but it finally turned over and we motored in. The hard part is docking and getting out of these little dinghies without falling overboard. We managed but not before getting a bruise or cut trying to do so. After motoring back we tied up and settled aboard for the night.

We had planned to cook our crab and have some for dinner. I had brought along a portable propane burner to do the job since we had been told it was not a good idea to cook crab inside the boat in our galley. The smell is apparently terrible. But this is only a problem should your pot boil over. We couldn't get the base of the portable burner to fit on to the propane bottle. The bottle design had changed since the last time I bought one and so we had no way of cooking the crab. So we made the decision to cook them inside anyway. We watched the pot carefully to make sure it didn't boil over. After the water came to a boil we tossed in the crab (legs and claws only) and waited for the water to return to a boil. Interestingly, we had been told to cook the crab in seawater. So we had pulled a bucket of water right out of the sound and poured it into our boiling pot. 10 minutes after the water returned to a boil we turned off the heat and poured the water and crab through a strainer in one sink. After the all the water had drained through we dumped the crab in to the other sink which I had filled with ice water to stop any further cooking. In minutes we had crab ready to eat.

We sat down to a dinner of salmon chowder and fresh crab while watching eagles soar outside our windows, sea lions frolic and the clouds roll by. We watched the sun go down and by 9:30 we were exhausted and ready for bed. But the open water mooring allowed water to noisily lap at the sides of the boat all night giving us a bit of a fitful sleep.

Next morning we decided to head for Friday Harbor, to the quieter moorage of the inner harbor. We called the harbor master on the VHF as we arrived and were given a slip assignment. The harbor was crazy with boat traffic. We had to get in line to move toward our slip assignment. I was a nervous wreck until our boat was finally, safely tied up.
The harbor was beautiful. We headed up the dock to check in, pay our fees, head off to lunch and check out the town. We ate at a spot that overlooked the harbor. The ferries and colorful boats of all sizes came and went right in front of us. We walked on into town and stopped in at interesting shops along the way, bought a new pitcher that attracted Leslie's attention and I found a new base for our portable propane stove for cooking crabs. Only two bucks!

Back at the boat we spent the evening quietly reading, watching the sun set and playing games at the salon table before finally heading off to bed and a much quieter night's sleep. Friday morning dawned bright and beautiful across the marina. Boats quietly slipped out and headed for the four winds. We joined them about 9 am and headed towards home. The currents were favorable and we were able to dodge the couple of ferries that were coming and going around us.

About three hours later we arrived in Chuckanut Bay where we intended to drop our crab pots one more time before heading home. We dropped the first pot over the side in Pleasant Cove, a small little bay at the south end of Chuckanut bay in about 45 feet of water. However, when the second pot went over we immediately had trouble. The leaded line that is supposed to drop to the bottom along with the crab pot, got sucked into the starboard prop and wound itself up.

We quickly shut down the engines and began looking at solutions to our problem. The port engine seemed to still be operational so we decided to limp back to port on that one. As we began to go Leslie hollered from the stern that she could see the rope. I stopped forward movement. Obviously we were dragging the crab pot behind us. We grabbed the boat hook and extended it out as far as possible. A couple of tries and I had the line. Carefully pulling it up we grabbed the line and pulled up the crab pot we thought we had lost. We tied of the remaining line to a cleat on the stern.

Again we headed towards home. But kept our heads together thinking and it came to us that we could give our diesel mechanic to ask if there was anything we should or shouldn't be doing. A quick call into Travis and he suggested we try putting the starboard engine in reverse. Sometimes it reverses the tangled line and it drops away. We tried it to no avail. On we went limping home on the one engine.

Another thought came to us. Call our diver who had recently changed out our zincs. He answered the phone and also happened to be out on the bay working on a buoy. He'd meet us in about an hour. We limped on in to Fairhaven Harbor and tied up to a public dock after a struggle to do so on a single engine. Top to Bottom divers came riding up like the cavalry, a very welcome site. In five minutes I was holding the remnants of the line and the red and white buoy that had fouled our engine. The engine fired up beautifully. The diver, also a diesel mechanic, thought that everything looked fine and that no damage was done. Whew!

We went on our merry way home stopping only to empty our holding tank and then with a bit of a struggle managed to dock in our home slip. It was an exhausting final day. We were tired, nervous wrecks and wanted nothing more than to call it a day.

While the trip was generally a success and we had lots of fun, we also learned a lot from the mistakes we made. Make sure the boat is stopped before lowering crab pots. Lower them only a bit into the water to make sure all forward or reverse momentum has ceased, then lower the pot straight down without letting any of the line linger at the surface. Carefully move away from the buoy being sure it stays away from the prop area!

Day 7--Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry

We arrived for a two day visit to Nashville in time to wander down Broadway where the street is mostly made up of honky tonks. Music blared out of every other door in a part of town where for some talented and lucky country music artists dream's can come true. Here is where, at least historically, many country music and blue grass groups were discovered and or paid their dues. Walk into any of these honky tonks and for the price of a beer you can sit and listen to music from 10 in the morning until the wee hours. Toss in a few bucks in the tip jar and you might help a starving artist pay his or her rent and get a free CD of their music to boot.

We had purchased tickets for An Evening with Vince Gill and Friends at the Ryman Auditorium. This was to be the highlight of our entire trip for me. As a kid I remember my Gramma Willie, a true Okie right out of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, tuning into the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcasts. I thought at the time the music was kind of weird, but as I grew up and discovered and better understood the legacy of these my grandmother's people and what they had gone through in their lives, I gained a genuine respect them. Today my Okie heritage is a deep part of who I am and I treasure the gift of that heritage from my grandparents. And so it was for me a very emotional journey to walk through the doors of the old, original home of the Grand Ole Opry--The Ryman Auditorium.

The interior looked appropriately like a church with hard wooden pews and stained glass windows all looking toward the pulpit. Only the pulpit at the Ryman is a stage and for generations of country music fans, this was mecca. My grandparents never had the means or opportunity to travel to the Ryman and so this was in effect a way to further honor my grandparents for the hard lives they suffered through to give me opportunities they never had.

We took our seats, chatted with those around us, some of whom were also there for the first time. We looked around in awe of our surroundings. Then the lights dimmed and out walked Vince Gill and seven other musicians. I didn't recognize any of them except Vince Gill who is a very famous country and blue grass musician and composer (he is also know for being married to Christian pop singer Amy Grant). Then I noticed one of the guitar players and knew immediately who he was. It was Dan Tyminski, the husband of country singer Allison Krauss and part of her band Allison Krauss and Union Station. Dan would be most familiar to most of us for his rendition of Man of Constant Sorrow which George Clooney lip-synced in the film Oh Brother, Where Art Though?

I was in heaven! These world class musicians played blue grass for two solid hours and the audience loved it. Towards the end, the group played a few of Vince Gills newer compositions which were very touching, from the heart songs. The gentleman next to me was wiping away tears. Leslie and I looked at each other and we were both in tears as well. It was just so sincere and so genuine. I felt like Gill was just the kind of guy that would be a terrific friend. One of the last pieces was an old time hymn neither of us recognized. Vince sang it and at the end stopping playing and whispered into the microphone, "Ya'll sing along now." We didn't know the words but apparently most folks did. We listened quietly as the entire auditorium solemnly sang along. As the final notes faded, the auditorium sighed. We just sat there with tears running down our faces. What an incredible moment. I made it to the Opry for my Gramma Willie and I will never forget precious time spent there to honor her legacy.

Sadly, the new site of the Grand Ole Opry is out on the edge of town and has become a resort complete with hotel and shopping mall. Another victim of its own success. The recent floods in the south left the new facility under water and we couldn't even visit since it was being repaired for the next 3 months. Ironically, the old Ryman Auditorium was called back to duty while the new Opry house is being repaired The Grand Ole Opry will again be broadcast from the dear old Ryman.

While in Nashville we also visited The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson. It was set on some lovely acreage just on the edge of town and the walking tour around the grounds included his manse and several out buildings, originally slave quarters. The original fields and gardens are mostly surviving in tact. His grave and that of his wife are also on the grounds.

One of our best meals on the trip was at Arnold's Country Kitchen. This James Beard award winning spot is a perfect example of not judging anything by its cover, because through the rustic building front waits an incredible meal.

Arnold's is cafeteria style so there is a line as you walk in, but it moves right along as the dining room turns over quickly. Along the wall are not one but two framed James Beard award medals suggesting what is to come. Order a meat and three sides! I got smothered country fried steak cooked so that it just fell apart and topped with a beefy onion gravy. My sides included fried green tomatoes, corn bread and collard greens. Arnold's is also known for its pie so we had to try some of that. I selected the richest, chocolatiest chocolate cream pie I have ever eaten.

Leslie decided to just get some sides and no meat. She selected the corn bread, mac and cheese, fried green tomatoes (on the right), creamed corn and green beans. She also grabbed a slice of chess pie (pictured left). All yummy!


Next Stop--Pigeon Forge, Gaitlenburg and The Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee

Day 6--The National Civil Rights Museum and Nashville, TN

We needed to get on to Nashville but before leaving Memphis we wanted to make sure we had seen the historic National Civil Rights Museum. We arrived just as it was opening for the day. Pulling up in front of the museum is like seeing a bit of history flashed before your eyes only instead of the tragic black and white images televised back in 1968 we were seeing a peaceful scene in living color.

The Lorraine Motel was the site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination on April 4, 1968, but today it has been incorporated in the National Civil Rights Museum. You walk through exhibits detailing the civil rights movement, winding your way through the historic events I'd seen on TV or read about in news magazines as a kid. The climax of the tour is standing at the window looking out on to the balcony where Dr. King was assassinated. I remember the black and white photo of Dr. King lying on his back mortally wounded while his friends and colleagues pointed in the direction from which the shots were fired. The rooms he and his associates used are also on view. It is a sad and emotional place to stand even after all these years.
The museum in general was a disappointment for me. It relied too heavily on wordy displays and included too little realia, memorabilia and interactive displays that would have made it much more interesting. I thought the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute was much more appealing. Still, to stand in that place and realize the history that occurred there was a moving moment.

One last thing to do in Memphis before heading for Nashville. We stopped by The Cozy Corner BBQ, a local BBQ hole in the wall highly recommended by the Road Food team. The smell of the BBQ overwhelmed our senses as we got out of the car and when we walked into the shop we were nearly bowled over by the aromas. We had heard we needed to especially try three items on the menu so we ordered the thickly sliced bologna sandwich smothered in the spicy house BBQ sauce, the pulled pork sandwich and the ribs. The bologna sandwich was topped with a spicy cole slaw all on a hamburger style bun. I've had bologna sandwiches. In fact I grew up eating bologna sandwiches. But I've never had any bologna sandwich as good as that one. The bologna was BBQ'ed in the same way as their ribs and pork--smokey and delicious and then slathered with their sauce.

The ribs were a wet style, different than the ones at Rendezvous, but every bit as moist, tender and smokey.

The pulled pork was equally delicious. Topped with the Cozy Corner's own BBQ sauce and the cole slaw the pork was tender and melted in your mouth.

We took the food to go and balanced it on our lap as we drove out of town and headed east toward Nashville.

Arriving in Nashville we headed straight for the Ryman Auditorium to pick up our tickets for the concert we had purchased months ago. We discovered the tickets were for a concert the next evening instead so we parked and walked down Broadway into honky tonk row. Along this street you'll find one honky tonk after another, music pouring from every door. Walk into any bar, find a stool, order a beer and listen to musicians looking to be or that may have already been discovered. It was cool inside and they are almost all smoke-free now so it was a pleasant atmosphere to hear music--country, hillbilly, blue grass , rock and the blues. Over the next couple of days we heard two groups we particularly enjoyed. We tossed a few bucks in their tip jar and were handed an autographed CD of their music.

We headed over to another Road Food suggested spot for lunch--Arnold's Country Kitchen, a James Beard award winning cafeteria style restaurant. We found it easily, and got in the long line of folks waiting to get in. The line moved along quickly and we soon found ourselves standing in front of a wonderland of choices. Meat and three is what you do here--pick a meat and three side dishes. I chose the smothered country fried steak, the collard greens, fried green tomatoes and corn bread. The steak was so tender and the rich beefy gravy with chunks of onion must have been simmering on the stove for hours. Leslie decided to just go with some sides--corn bread, mac and cheese, creamed corn and greens. We had also heard about the fabulous pies at Arnold's so, what are going to do? I tried the chocolate cream pie and she went with the chess pie. They lived up to their reputation. Silky, rich, great flaky crust-yum!

After checking into our hotel and taking a quick dip in the pool and an afternoon nap, we decided that if we didn't hit another of the recommended Road Food spots we wouldn't get to all of them we had chosen in Nashville. So we headed over to Bolton's Hot Chicken and Fish. Bolton's was a real hole in the wall and in a shady part of town. We walked in to a concrete block building with little in the way of air conditioning and an order window covered with wrought iron bars. The floor was sticky with the dried remnants of sweet tea. The window slid open and a smiling face stuck her head out to take our order. We got an order of the chicken and the fish, both mildly spicy and two glasses of sweet tea. Two black ladies sat in the dining room arguing about their phone bill. Between their loud over the top dramatics and the black dialect it was difficult to understand the whole conversation but it was entertaining while we waited for our food. When it arrived my first taste told me I was in over my head. Unless you LOVE and I mean LOVE spicy food, order it as mild as possible. Whatever method they use to deliver the heat, Bolton's manages to get it deep into the juicy meat, not just in the batter they fry the food in. I gave up after a while and took it back to the room thinking maybe I'd try it later, but wound up tossing it. It was just too spicy hot for my taste. Wimp!

Next Up--The Ryman and The Hermitage

Day 5--The Memphis Blues

Memphis, Tennessee is known for its blues houses along Beale Street. But did you know it is also famous for the Ducks at the Peabody Hotel, the Smithsonian Rock and Soul Museum, the Gibson guitar factory and museum and the National Civil Rights Museum. It is also infamous for the place where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was gunned down in April of 1968. So we had a lot to see while visiting Memphis AND a lot of BBQ to try before we left.

June 22nd was another bright sunny and humid day. We started out heading over to the National Civil Rights Museum but found it closed so our plans changed and we drove over to the Rock and Soul Museum which is a Smithsonian museum. It was fabulous. It covered, as its name implies, the history of soul and rock music from their beginning through to the Beatles in the late 60's. It is a fabulous collection of costumes, instruments, recordings, and endless memorabilia. Anyone interested in the popular music of that era will love this place.

A couple of times a day the stately old Peabody Hotel downtown is the gathering place for dozens of people who come to watch an event that has been going on everyday since 1933. Originally meant as a practical joke the event caught on and has been a daily event ever since. We stopped by just in time to watch the elevator doors slide open and four ducks waddle up a red carpet and hop into the beautiful fountain in the center of the hotel lobby.

Our lunch that day was at the famous Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous. This rib joint has been operating in Memphis out of a back alley since 1948 and the rich and famous along with the rest of us have been flocking to the place ever since. Their dry rub ribs absolutely melt in your mouth. We got there before the whole menu was even available, but all that mattered was that the ribs were, and that's what we ordered. A vinegar-based sauce was available as was a hotter sauce if you wanted it but these ribs are all about the dry rub method used to BBQ them. People argue about which method and which part of the country makes the best ribs, whether they need sauce or no sauce, dry rub or wet, but in the end, its all good. Charlie knows his ribs and this is a great place to go to get some of the best. The restaurant is in a cozy downstairs location. The busy decor will keep you busy while waiting for your food. Autographed photos of just about anyone you can name adorn the walls as does a variety of other memorabilia. Definitely, GO to Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous when in Memphis.

We walked over to Beale Street because we wanted to have a chance to hear some music and we weren't disappointed when we walked into B.B. King's Blues Club. We were seated at a bar that was front row for a set with Blind Mississippi Morris, one of the greatest harp (harmonica) players in the world. No cover charge and a front row seat. An awesome way to end the day.

Next Up--The National Civil Rights Museum and Nashville, TN

Day 4--Memphis, Tennessee

The long drive across Mississippi left us parched and hungry for some more "road food." We stopped in the small town of Holly Springs where we went on a search for the Phillip's Grocery, which we had heard was a good stop for hamburgers and an object of real interest--fried pie! Finding Holly Springs didn't turn out to take too much effort but finding the restaurant was a bit of a mystery. Holly Springs is a small community with the town center surrounding an old fashioned town square like something out of To Kill A Mockingbird.

We had a rough map which directed us to the outskirts of town. We took a few wrong turns before noticing that the place was located across from the railroad station. The station wound up being down a side road that got progressively more pot holed until it dead ended between two ramshackle buildings--one the old railroad station circa 1850's and the other none other than the Philip's Grocery. We parked in the gravel lot next to the tracks and got out of the car. Immediately hit by the heat and humidity, we were also struck by the cacophony of sound coming from the trees. The screeching Cicadas added to the heat and the place and the southern accents of the locals let us know we were definitely in the deep south. Now we know why the folks in the south tend to talk and move a little slower. If you lived in this kind of heat and humidity, you would too.

We walked up the wooden steps of the Phillip's Grocery and went on in. Immediately we felt we had found a real southern road stop. Ceiling fans twirled slowly and folks sat at tables scattered around a large room stuffed with memorabilia collected from over a hundred years of selling pop and groceries and cold beer. The building began as a saloon, then became a grocery store but has built its reputation on hamburgers since the 1940's. We ordered hamburgers and a fried pie along with our sweet tea. The burgers were fine though I can't say they were worth the drive. We didn't get what we had ordered on the burgers but decided not to object to the counter lady as she hadn't been that friendly in the first place. The fried pie was okay, but again, not worthy of the effort to find the place. It basically tasted like a Hostess fruit pie that had been squashed flat, then deep fried in oil that wasn't hot resulting in a pie that tasted of oil and peach jam.

We walked across the street to the railroad station to take a look and it turned out to be a lovely building in spite of its rundown condition. Parts of the station are homes and other parts are warehouses. Its glory days are still evident in its architecture and the plaque out front comments on the part it played during the Civil War.

We headed back out of town and drove quite a way along a back road towards the interstate that would take us on up to Memphis and a new state. Arriving in Memphis in the early afternoon, we decided we had time to head straight to Elvis Presley's Graceland for a tour. It turned out to be a good day to do it since the parking lot had plenty of room and we walked right on to a tour. There are several tour packages available depending on your level of infatuation with "the King." For a little more you can see the stables and for a little more you can tour his two jet planes and so on. We just wanted to see the house which included the grave site. The waiting area across the street from his home is where his planes sit and the rest of it is all cheesy souvenir shops. A shuttle bus takes small groups at a time across the four lane road and up the drive to Graceland. We were dropped off right at the front door to the home and welcomed in. We were able to tour the entire first floor but couldn't go upstairs. The home is furnished in a cheesy over the top style that had us saying to each other, "Money is wasted on the wrong people!" Just awful decor. The two rooms filled with his awards and costumes from movies and concerts were interesting. Sadly, the whole experience was just, sorry to use the word again, cheesy and tacky and just had no class at all. Still, we were glad we did it.

Our hotel for the night was only a couple of miles from Graceland but we decided to head for the next spot on our Road Food map--Gus's Fried Chicken downtown Memphis. We found a parking spot right at the front door and a got a table almost right away. We'd heard that Gus's had the best fried chicken in the world and while I am not ready to absolutely bestow that title, I am here to tell you that it was pretty terrific fried chicken. Fresh out of the fryer, crisp and juicy. We really got excited when the fried green tomatoes and fried pickles came out. The tomatoes were delicious, sweet, juicy but firm and the pickles were just to die for. Dipped in a ranch dressing or by themselves, the crunchy outer crust and the sour pickle flavor inside were a fabulous treat. The price is right as well. We left Gus's feeling much better about our southern food experience.


Next up--Memphis Blues and Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous

Day 3--Birmingham, Alabama

Today we headed for one of the hot-beds of southern misery for African-Americans during the days of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's. Birmingham, Alabama has changed a lot since those days. It houses a very fine Civil Rights Institute which is directly across the street from the site of one of the most infamous acts of racist violence during that era--The 16th Street Baptist Church where on Sunday, September 16th, 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the church killing 4 young teenage black girls preparing to sing in the choir.

The museum chronicles the events of the civil rights movement as it unfolded in the city of Birmingham and follows it through to the election of the first black mayor of the city. It contains a compelling and honest look at the shameful horrors of an age in America we should all be ashamed of.

While in Birmingham we also stopped by Pete's Famous Hot Dogs downtown Birmingham. Pete's is a narrow hole in the wall hot dog stand that has been serving Birmingham patrons since 1920 and the current owner has been making hot dogs since 1946. Pete's dressed "all the way," dogs are only $2 each and come topped with mustard, sauerkraut, onions, and homemade sauce, all on a steamed bun.

Dinner that night was at the Bright Star in Bessemer, Alabama, a small suburb outside Birmingham. Opened in 1907, this restaurant has been serving delicious meals ever since, finally gaining well-deserved recognition in 2010 with a James Beard Award. It was like walking into a time machine. The walls are covered with frescoes painted by a an itinerant artist decades ago and the paneled booths with sconces make for a very romantic atmosphere. It seems frozen in time around the 1930' or 40's. A warm, friendly staff and patrons made for a wonderful evening. We had a delightful conversation with a family of regulars who were thrilled that we'd come so far just to eat at "their" restaurant. They introduced us to one of the owners and in no time we were treated like regulars. The buzz around the restaurant that evening was that Saundra Bullock, the movie star, was eating their in a private back room (she is apparently a Birmingham native). We didn't see her. I tried the seafood gumbo and the Greek-style combo plate that included Greek-style snapper, tenderloin of beef and breast of chicken. The food was good though not as wonderful as we had hoped, but the memories of our experience at this place will not soon be forgotten.

Next up--Memphis, Tennessee and the Blues
____________________________________________