Walking In Memphis

The first thing we did after we crossed the Tennessee Border was miss a ramp into Memphis, which had us driving around to find it again for 20 minutes. Then we stopped at the Lorraine Motel, now the Civil Rights Museum. They had the lunch counter from the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's where a sit-in was held in 1960, the bus where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, and the room where Martin Luther King was staying where he got shot. I really want to go back to Memphis, and spend an extended amount of time there. So much to cover.

We drove through Tennessee, and through the northern part of The Great Smoky Mountains, through Nashville and elsewhere. We ate at a place called Peerless in Knoxville for dinner. Since it's lent, I ate a shrimp po-boy. We drove another hour before checking into this Super 8 in Morristown. During the drive, I shot video, a book on making documentaries, and re-listened to a panel on self-distribution.

Hopefully I will be home late tomorrow night. Oh yeah, tomorrow night's screening of Saint Misbehavin will have none other than Neil Young. I will be jealous of that audience.

In Austin, at Last.

I got into Austin about an hour ago. The hotel room I'm in is a little cramped for two people, but I think in the time that I reserved it (hotel rooms in Austin fill up quickly) it's a steal. It's also clean, and that's all I ask for, really.

After we left our room in Cave City, we drove an hour and a half to Nashville, where I checked out Music Row (where all the Record Companies are), a statue of Owen Bradley, and took a picture of Noshville, a legendary deli in Nashville. Then we stopped for lunch at a Denny's in Jackson, where we were served by an obnoxious waitress. Despite some setbacks, we eventually made it to Memphis, and toured Beale Street. The doorman at a restaurant gave a tour of his place, which is chock full of Elvis' high school memorabilia. Hopefully, we'll stop there on our way back--I hope to see the Stax Museum, The Lorraine Hotel (where Martin Luther King got shot), and Sun Studios. We drove through Arkansas and spent the night at a Super 8 in Mount Pleasant, Texas, which is by and far the worst Super 8 I've stayed in.

Today was spent driving through Texas. We drove through Dallas and Waco, and on the way, we stopped at Willie's Place in Carl's Corner. Willie's Place, for those of you not in the know, is a convenience store and greasy spoon owned by Willie Nelson. It is also the only place in the country that I know of that sells only Bio Diesel fuel. Anyway, the place sold a ton of Willie Nelson memorabilia, and also had some of Willie's Gold Records on display. There's also a performing venue, but nothing was going on at the moment. When I called my mom and told her about my visit, she asked,

"Did it stink of reefer?"
"No," I said.

Willie's Greasy Spoon (I forget the actual name of the place) served their dishes in huge portions. My mother added, "Yes. Probably because after you smoke pot, you want to eat a lot."

Get your mind out of the gutter, Mother.

I'm going to kick back and browse through my e-mails, then take my father to Guero's Taco Place.

For Real, Y'all!

I am now at a Super 8 in Cave City, Kentucky, after a very long day of traveling We left just after 8am. One of the early stops we made was in Jamestown, where we saw Lucille Ball's grave. We drove through Pennsylvania, then Ohio, where we stopped for lunch. After five hours of Ohio, we crossed over into the Kentucky Border at 6 O'Clock.

The first thing we did after crossing the border was stopping at a Waffle House in Union. When the waitress took our order, she said, "What would you like to eat, y'all?"

She said "y'all" like other people say "uh" or "like". Also, they actually had people smoking inside the restaurant, something I haven't seen in quite awhile. We did more driving, where we passed through billboards that have The Ten Commandments listed (God forbid a trucker wanting to pick up a lot lizard!) and one that said, "When you die, where do you want to spend an eternity?" and listened to a Christian Music-themed version of John Tesh's Intelligence For Your Life, which was described as "inspiring" with "kid-safe music" by the announcer.

My father wanted to go past Nashville, but we eventually got off here. I have pictures and video, but I won't be able to put up anything until after I get back.

Blue Motel Room

I am spending my remaining two nights in Ithaca at the Super 8 Motel. The person I was staying with declined to tell me that she would have a guest arriving tomorrow. I told her last week that I would be working Monday and Tuesday, and staying tonight and tomorrow night.

She said I could stay tonight, but I would have to leave tomorrow. For the last week and a half (after she told me to look for another place to live), she hadn't even so much as tried to make conversation with me. I don't want to be in a place where I'm not wanted, so I decided to check into the Super 8 instead. Thankfully, the Super 8 isn't charging too much for the next two nights.

This Super 8 is nice. It has WiFi (which is allowing me to blog this), a fridge, a microwave, and even complimentary breakfast. I wanted to write more tonight, but I am very tired. Maybe I will talk more tomorrow.