We ate at “the” place for breakfast around here:
Next stop was Churchill Downs, where we visited the
The famous twin spires at Churchill Downs
We then watched a few horse races from our box seats and proceeded to lose some money. I tried a mint julep while Steve enjoyed a few cold beers. Our hats aren’t quite up to Kentucky Derby standards but we gave it our best shot:
Next it was on to
We walked to the newly-revived
We then wandered down Broadway, another great street with lots of bars and country music clubs. We had some beers at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, a famous
All in all it was a great day and we were excited to explore more of
The H of F contained many cool artifacts, costumes, platinum albums, and even Elvis’s solid gold piano and Cadillac (we learned that the car’s pearly sheen was achieved by mixing ground-up diamonds with fish scales . . . ). We left with a new appreciation for the history of this type of music, and I promptly created a country playlist on my iPod so we could soak up more of the genre in the car.
After the Hall of Fame, we wandered down Broadway again in search of some cowboy boots for me. I was hoping to find a “less nice” pair that would serve me well on Halloween and for the occasional theme party, but they were really expensive so I abandoned the quest. Maybe in
We then drove over to the Grand Ole Opry which is a few miles outside of the city. Concerts are only held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays so we just wandered around but could tell it would be a really fun place to see a show. They also had a great free museum there.
After leaving
We then ventured to another bar to hear more blues, and we weren’t disappointed. The band playing there was incredible and even featured some dueling harmonicas. I bought another CD as a souvenir. It was yet another great day. Tomorrow, as Paul Simon would say, “I’m going to
Just like that other song says, I'm walking in
Dueling harmonicas! The guy on the left was amazing.
Just wanted to mention that we may not have internet access tomorrow night (in Oklahoma City) or the next night (in Flagstaff, AZ) but please stay tuned over the weekend. Hope you are all well! We miss you!
The house itself was frozen in the mid-70’s and the decorations and furniture were outrageous. Steve is excited to bring some of Elvis’s touches (seen below in the TV room) to our house in
We drove about 3 hours into
We crossed into
The rest of the drive to
In
We then visited a local brewery in the Bricktown district which has lots of bars and nightclubs. It was quite a fun spot with a canal running through the four block area (and the happy hour beers were only $1.50!). Once again, our hotel was right downtown so it was an easy walk home after another great day.
On a side note, Steve was particular impressed with
This tree – situated right next to the building – endured the blast and has ever since been called the Survivor Tree. It is surrounded by an orchard of other trees meant to symbolize the help that rushed in from people around the nation and world.
A museum now sits adjacent to the Memorial and provided incredible details about what happened that day, the people who were affected, and the search for and capture of the perpetrators. One of the unforgettable stories described there told of a woman whose leg was trapped under a beam for hours while rescuers tried to pull her out. Their efforts were hampered by rumors of a second bomb in the building, and eventually they decided the beam couldn’t be moved because it might cause the rest of the building to collapse. To get the woman out, a doctor amputated her leg without anesthesia since there was no time or supplies; in fact, he had to use a dull pocket knife and his left hand because of the cramped quarters. The woman survived but two of her family members died in the attack.
(above) A message from one of the rescue workers still remains.
We left the Memorial feeling somber but grateful for the safety of friends and family like you all! If you are ever in this part of the country, I highly recommend stopping by the Memorial to pay tribute.
On a lighter note, on our way out of Oklahoma we saw countless signs for a restaurant offering a free 72-oz steak if you could eat it within an hour (but to actually get it for free, you have to eat the accompanying shrimp cocktail, salad, baked potato, and bread too). It’s probably a good thing that we decided to forego that challenge . . . We were also intrigued to see a sign for rattlesnakes for sale, and another one boasting that we would soon pass the “largest cross in the Western hemisphere.” It was erected by the father of NFL star Zach Thomas and really was huge - here’s a picture:
It was interesting to see so many religious billboards and religious-themed paraphernalia at rest stops. This part of the country certainly feels different from
Next we planned to make a quick stop at a restaurant in
We chatted, drank great beer in the
The bar next door (where we heard the evening’s entertainment doing their sound check) displays these seats which used to be in the movie theatre where “The Last Picture Show” was filmed.
Our t-shirts from the Golden Light. I’m wearing mine right now!
These nice folks were interested to learn about our trip and wanted us to alter our itinerary so we could spend at least the night in
We can’t thank Marc and all the kind folks at Golden Light enough for a wonderful afternoon and evening (thanks especially to Roger for generously picking up the tab for our beers and dinner!). It was a truly unforgettable experience, and we’ve both vowed to try to bring some of your wonderful perspective on life home with us. We hope you all enjoy reading the blog during the rest of our trip!
Next we made our way into a beautiful sunset as we drove to
After such a great experience at the Golden Light, we figured the day couldn’t get any better. Well, we were in for a treat as soon as we met Bill, owner of the Blue Swallow Motel. The motel is an icon to a fascinating bygone era (we learned that James Dean stayed there quite a few times!) and it was a really fun experience. Situated right on Route 66, the sign’s neon lights and wonderful setting made for a great night.
Bill showed us around and explained that he and his wife Terri go to great lengths to make their guests feel truly at home – which we did! One of the nicest touches is that Bill takes a photo of all of his guests in front of the famous neon sign, and presents a hard copy as a souvenir the next day when they check out. An old fashioned refrigerator sits in the front office, and guests can buy sodas (on the honor system) for $.50. Our room was adjacent to a garage spot for the car; inside the garage flashed a “Free TV” sign from the days when that was unusual and the motel advertised that as one of its amenities. Knowing we had much to post on our blog, we asked about internet access and Bill set us up on the patio outside of his room so we could hook up to their wireless. We wrote postcards, worked on the blog, and enjoyed the beautiful evening air. The bed was incredibly comfortable and we slept like babies.
The garage where we parked the car.
Relaxing on the patio, checking e-mail!
Miles driven to-date: 2,875
States visited to-date: 13
We awoke in our comfortable bed at the Blue Swallow and wished we had more time to chat with Bill and Terri. We had such a great experience at the motel and hope to be able to visit again. Bill, if you’re reading this, good luck with the fountain renovations!
We drove a few hours to
We walked around and enjoyed the beautiful streets and shops. There was a crafts fair taking place in an open plaza so we browsed lots of nice turquoise jewelry and artwork.
We then visited the Loretto Chapel which is famous for its “miraculous” staircase; a mysterious carpenter built it and disappeared before seeking payment, so legend holds that he was
We also saw the oldest house in the
Once again it was back on the road again. We stopped for lemonade in
Thanks for checking in and reading our posts. We love getting your comments and are glad to hear you’ve enjoyed following along. I somehow doubt we’ll have internet access at the
This morning we awoke at the Days Inn in
The photos all of you have seen really don’t do it justice. That didn’t stop us, of course, from taking 140 of our own pictures with which we plan to bore you when we return, but it’s nothing like actually being there. Steve thought it looked almost fake, like the backdrop of a movie set. I was also somewhat surprised by how close you can actually get to the huge drop-offs. They say that hundreds of people die each year from falling over the edge, and I certainly believe it now.
We did eventually tear ourselves away from the view to set up our campsite which was a fun process in its own right. We had picked up sandwich fixings and Steve got some Fat Tire, one of his favorite beers (featured below in a quintessential lunch-while-camping shot).
After lunch we headed back to the Canyon to do a five-mile walk / hike along the South Rim which was a great way to see many of the beautiful views. You can see in the below photo that in some places I was a little too scared to actually walk to the edge to look down, so I crawled!
It was a gorgeous day ~ warm but not too hot, and it was a nice cool evening for sleeping in our tent (plus there were no bugs at all). We kept thinking of you, Rusty, as we “roughed it” and we knew you and many others checking in at home would have loved it here too.
We decided to enjoy the sunset from Hopi Point on the western side of the South Rim. That is supposed to be one of the best places to watch the sun go down and it was certainly beautiful, though the other thousand tourists also watching and taking photos made it a slightly less than intimate setting. Still, it was gorgeous and we got some great photos. I thought of you several times during the beautiful evening hours, Bill, because it seemed like there could be nothing better in life than to enjoy one’s book while soaking in the great sunset!
