Michael and I made it to Memphis on July 3, 2008. We spent that night at the Heartbreak Hotel and returned to Nashville the evening of July 4. The Hotel is next to Graceland. Being a Triple-A member got me a discount. We toured the mansion. It was my first time in Graceland since Karen and I were there nearly 26 years ago. I thought it was good for Michael since he was born and grew up in Tennessee and has a career going at SunTrust Bank in Nashville. We filed through with other people. One thing that was different was [View Full Entry]

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Karen and I ascended St. Louis' Gateway Arch, the morning of November 12, 1983. From the top of the Arch, we saw Busch Stadium on one side and the Mississippi River and McDonald's riverboat, where we ate lunch, on the other. The Arch is huge. It is part of the Thomas Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The museum below stresses the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition the following year. These events kicked off America's movement west. Karen took a picture of me in front of a stagecoach. I took one of her in front of a covered wagon. Leaving [View Full Entry]

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The Outer Banks are a string of islands off the North Carolina coast. On September 1, 1983, Karen and I ferried 27 miles across Pamlico Sound to Okracoke Island. This ferry ride was one of the highlights of our trip. We took the car on the boat. Water was on all sides. It was drizzling rain. Birds glided overhead, and Karen spotted jellyfish swimming by. We spent the night on Okracoke. The next morning, we headed up the islands. The deserted beaches were peaceful, and we collected shells. Crabs saw us and scurried to their holes in the sand. On Hatteras [View Full Entry]

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Karen and I returned to Chattanooga, January 7-9, 1983, and added another dimension to our understanding of the area. We visited Lookout Mountain and its attractions, Rock City and Ruby Falls. Rock City is just that, boulders with a path winding through them. The walk climaxes at Lover's Leap with a panoramic view. It was opened to the public in 1932. Ruby Falls was discovered by Leo Lambert and named after his wife. It is located within a cave inside the mountain a quarter of a mile beneath Point Park. An elevator lowers people to the cave. The falls originates underground [View Full Entry]

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Karen and I went to Memphis, November 12 & 13, 1982. The Elvis legend is the one thing which had assumed a new dimension since I was there in June, 1977. Little did I know then that he had only two more months to live. Graceland is open to tourists now, and for 5 bucks apiece we were escorted through several rooms. Karen liked the gold piano. We saw the TV room with the 3 sets, one for each channel, and the trophy room full of mementos. Dozens of gold and platinum records lined the walls. Outside were several cars Elvis [View Full Entry]

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Karen and I called our 1980 Greyhound trip the Grand Tour because it was so comprehensive. We made a figure 8 up east and through the southwest. We left Louisville on August 3rd. Our momentum increased as we approached Washington, D.C. In D.C., I showed Karen the best of what I had seen 3 years before: White House, Washington Monument, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In the Capitol, she touched the same white circle I had. At the Shakespeare Library, I got a picture of her standing by the statue of Puck. We ate lunch in the National Gallery, and [View Full Entry]

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May, 1981 - Gatlinburg Karen and I made our second trip to Gatlinburg, This time, we saw Clingmans Dome, the highest point in Tennessee. From the observation tower, the panorama of green trees was impressive. We hiked again to Cades Cove, a five mile walk round trip. We went to Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge was built during Word War II for the purpose of working on the atomic bomb, the so-called Manhattan Project. In this respect, the city is like Los Alamos. We saw the world's first nuclear reactor, operated between 1943 and 1963. May, 1979 - Gatlinburg My third trip [View Full Entry]

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November, 1974 - Chicago I drove to Chicago to see Burton Cummings & The Guess Who. It was funny because the concert was in an auditorium and somewhat formal. I lit a cigar, and an usher came and made me put it out. I saw The Guess Who 3 times, 1974-75. Their music inspired me to return to school and get my degrees. June, 1966 - Chicago Cousin Larry and I were talking after having watched "The Avengers" on TV. We got the idea of driving to Chicago. We took off in the night. In Chicago, we drove along Lake Shore [View Full Entry]

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May, 1980 - Marshall Space Flight Center The space program is conducted at various locations around the country. NASA oversees the Kennedy Space Flight Center at Cape Canaveral, the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston and the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In Huntsville, Karen and I saw America's space achievements as a single, unified movement. We visited Twickenham, Huntsville's historical district. Before leaving Alabama, we went to Muscle Shoals. There is a music industry there, but I could only locate a couple of studios. There was nothing to compete with Nashville's Music Row. [View Full Entry]

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December, 1977 - New Orleans, Houston I flew to New Orleans and took a Greyhound to Houston. New Orleans is different. It is like a piece of Europe. I saw the Duelling Oaks in City Park. Duels were fought there. It was also in this park that I beheld the Tutankhamen exhibit. These pieces were discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1922 in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. They are over 3,000 years old but many of them look amazingly contemporary. I met a masseuse from San Francisco. She massaged my neck and shoulders. We saw the exhibit together. [View Full Entry]

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