Blogs from United States, North America - page 4778

Thrifty Travel Tip #10: Call your friends ahead of time for a place to stay. Don't hesitate. Just do it. My dearest friends and family - We have finally reached our destination and do I have a hell of a story to share about our first night here. We packed up our camp early in order to avoid paying the unnecessary fee for the KOA. We skipped breakfast in Needles knowing that it was too early to eat and we could get to the next town before hotel breakfast was over. We cruised through the desert, easily moving through traffic, and thankfully without any flat tires, crashes, or tickets. We did our usual routine in Barstow - making a quick stop for breakfast and then hoping back on the freeway. In less than an hour, we ... read more

Suggested Listening for this Entry: "'Cause I Love You" by Carla and Rufus Thomas, "Last Night" by the Mar-Keys, "Green Onions" by Booker T and the MG's, Suggested Food and Drink for this Entry: None. The music should be all you need. The story of Stax Records began in the same manner the stories of many of the other groundbreaking record labels of the 1950s and 1960s began. A person who was a visionary, a savvy businessperson, or both, realized the breadth of musical talent around them and set off from humble beginnings to record those talented performers and present them to the public. Generally, these legendary record labels reached a creative and financial zenith for some period of time and then either fell on hard times and collapsed or were sold to larger record labels. ... read more

Suggested Listening for this Entry: "Respect Yourself" by the Staples Singers. "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Suggested Food and Drink for this Entry: None It's impossible for one person to tell the Stax story over the course of a few blog entries. I hope you, the reader, will visit the Stax Museum if you are ever anywhere near Memphis. As a music fan, it is one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had that did not involve seeing a live performance. At one point while touring the museum, the visitor goes thru a room where a copy of every 45 RPM single and LP Stax, and its subsidiaries, ever released is on display. It's here, after hearing the Stax story, the visitor realizes the magnitude of what was accomplished ... read more

Suggested Listening for this Entry: Anything by the Staples Singers after starting with "I'll Take You There", a video of which is attached below. Suggested Food and Drink for this Entry: Catfish, Cornbread and Turnip Greens. You can pick your own beverage, but if it's some fancy coffee, you're banned from further reading. And, save room for dessert. I didn't and I regret it. Upon returning to downtown Memphis Saturday night, we decided we wanted to be at the Stax museum when it opened at one Sunday afternoon. One of the restaurants I really wanted to dine at in Memphis was the Fourway Restaurant , which was in the general vicinity of the Stax museum, so we decided to eat there prior to visiting the Stax museum. After having a dinner of a soda and a ... read more

Dawn broke at Tysons Corner near DC and we were up early keen to get to our destination for the day and night with Mary and Ron at Warrenton about 40 miles away. Had a light breakfast as Mary had suggested that she would have a brunch ready for us. We headed out thru the suburbs and on the way came across a garden centre that was full on Halloween with pumpkins of all sizes you could ever want plus all types of decorations appropriate to the upcomng festiaval day.So we had to take photos and video to preserve for the future.The street we had stopped in had some amazing homes and although there were heaps of green trees but nothing much in the way of gardens one would see at home. We then got onto ... read more