Country Roads

Music is truly the engine that's moving this van. We blast the radio all day long, sometimes NPR (we've found it nearly everywhere!) sometimes Christian radio but MOSTLY Country. Heading toward Birmingham we scored tickets to Ashley Cooke, Mitchell Tenpenny, and Country heart throb Luke Bryan, all performing together at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater. The fun began as we headed in and took in the crowd.

But who were the cheesiest fans?

Ashley Cooke was super cute and really quite genuine. Click HERE to sample her music...

She's definitely a new kid on the block, but as Mark has pointed out many times, established Country artists (like Luke Bryan) are always game to promote new talent by sharing the stage with them. Paying it forward comes naturally.

The show then featured Mitchell Tenpenny. Click HERE for one of Judy's favorites.

And now watch the crowd, along with Mark's reaction to hearing one of his favorite Tenpenny tunes. You can click HERE to hear the whole song. Or just roll your eyes like I'm doing right now (smh).

Treating ourselves to an icey shot of Fireball to cool us down before Luke Bryan took the stage. It was unbelievably hot that night.

Luke came out to "Kick the Dust Up" and he was so fun. Click HERE for that song and then HERE for our favorite Luke Bryan tune.

The crowd was INDESCRIBABLY friendly, with everyone on their feet and dancing the whole night, even though it was sweltering hot. At one point, I was holding up my hair and dancing, and this chick behind me LITERALLY grabbed my hair and twisted and poked it until it held in a bun. Can you imagine being at a concert at Giant Stadium and having a random stranger grab your hair and fix it for you??? Nuh.

Play On

A day or so later we arrived in Memphis for more music. Beale Street is quite a scene!!! Sort of a cross between Bourbon Street today and 42nd Street when I was a teen.

And HEY! Let's do a shot again - this time the pre-packaged Jello shots they were selling on Beale Street...

And Don't Forget the King

Drove to Graceland, balked at the admission price of $48 (the Ultimate VIP Tour is $196) so we paid our respects outside to the king of Rock 'n Roll and his final moments on the throne RIP.

While half the men on Beale Street dressed like Elvis, you can never have too many https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW1kpbOz5Eo

Well, maybe that's not true. (FLASHBACK: Steve, Jeff, and Mark, at Beth & Ken's 40th)

Southern Hospitality

So this has not been an easy trip, hence the slow start to this blog. Part of the challenge has been struggling through these 90-degree evenings, which is the only time we have to create (I'm writing this from the air-conditioned KOA laundry room); the other has been wrestling with our own biases about the South.

Southerners are indeed hospitable and warm, so today's entry will focus on the Southern home. Our trip into Georgia began with a visit to Camp Weequahic friends Janna & Steve ("Nuge"), with their incredible kiddos Connor, Brady, and Trevor ("therapy dog" Gus is busy licking someone until they smile).

Their home in Athens had to be sleeping at least 20 counselors that night, and many would be staying for weeks, enjoying room, board, the pool down the street, movie screen in the basement, a giant yard, and laughter from every corner of the house. Club Nuge was in full swing, even while the Nuge's were back to school and work by day. This is southern hospitality at its most genuine, including this charcuterie, created by a friend who swung by.

The next night we slept in Warm Springs, Georgia. We drove by the Warm Springs Hotel and saw a sign on the front that said the hotel was closed, but we could call anyway...Whaaa??

JUDY: [rrrrring] Hi, is this the Warm Springs Hotel?

GERRIE: Yes it is, but we're closed today. Did you want somethin', darlin'?

JUDY: Well, yes, we were hoping for a room.

GERRIE: Well hold on honey, see I'm on a 12-foot ladder paintin' a 15-foot ceilin' right now, and I wasn't plannin' on havin' any guests tonight, are you serious about stayin'?

JUDY: Well we were hoping we might, if that would be okay....?

GERRIE: Are you sayin' you want me to get off this here ladder and let you in?

JUDY: Wellll...

GERRIE: Well then see you got to gimme 5 minutes to put down this paintbrush and get off this ladder...

Across the street someone yells to us that the hotel is closed Sunday through Wednesday (we later learned the whole sleepy town closes for the first few days of the week), and just as Mark and I look at each other the front door swings open and Gerrie lets us into the dark lobby. After the tour of hotel room options (including a deluxe room "with all amenities, including a red heart-shaped bath tub") we select a room and are given the keys.

It's a 30-room hotel and we are the only registered guests.

Sure, we felt the haunted vibe, but it made us feel less...ummm...alone? Here's more detail if you need more convincing https://www.wackyexplorer.com/the-haunted-hotel-warm-springs/

A White House in Warm Springs...

So what brought us to Warm Springs? History nerds will know this was the summer home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who settled here BEFORE becoming POTUS. Roosevelt fell victim to polio in 1921, as a 39-year-old budding politician. It could have ended his career, but with the support of wife Eleanor AND the therapeutic waters of Warm Springs, he was able to gain the physical strength and emotional confidence to win the next 4 presidential elections ('32, '36, '40, '44).

This was his house, known affectionately as "The Little White House."

FDR's connection to the local community was real, and is evidenced throughout the house, which is now a museum. Here is a collection of canes (many whittled by local residents) sent to him while he lived there.

While FDR was hyper-sensitive about controlling his public image, he had no issue being seen bathing. Click photo below to learn more about how FDR came to make peace with his polio.“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along' ...You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

What struck me most about the museum were his genuine ties to the community and how this impacted his political priorities. I could never understand why an aristocratic New Yorker like Roosevelt made it a priority to create programs in the New Deal that so deliberately addressed southern poverty, illiteracy, and most importantly brought ELECTRICITY (TVA, REA, etc.) to a region that didn't stand a chance of progressing without it. Warm Springs taught him that.

Hotel proprietor Gerrie Thompson told us there are still people in town whose families enjoy talking about their genuine connections with all the Roosevelts and especially his dog, Fala.

A White House...in Alabama??

Double Take. Across the street from the Alabama State House in Montgomery is the FIRST White House occupied by Confederate President Jefferson Davis and First Lady Varina Davis.

The house was a rental, used by the Davis's for just 3 months until their Richmond, VA home was ready for them to move in.

No doubt, in Richmond they were welcomed with that same Southern hospitality, for a time.

A Simple Cup of Coffee?

Most people know the basics of the four college freshmen in Greensboro, NC who put their social lives and studies on hold so they could challenge the local Woolworth's decision to maintain a segregated lunch counter. They asked to be served a simple cup of coffee.

It was February 1, 1960, six years after Brown v BOE had ruled it illegal to separate students by race in a classroom, and a full twelve years after President Truman had desegregated the US military. Listen to NJ-raised Lonnie Bunch (head of the Smithsonian Institution) reflect on how those college students lit a fire under his percolator. CLICK THIS PHOTO BELOW to hear the 4-min video.

In the picture below, you can sort of make out the sign on the left for the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. The Woolworth building has been transformed into a sanctuary of study, learning, and reflection. They don't let you take photos in the museum, so CLICK THIS PHOTO to see what's inside.

On this ordinary street in an ordinary town, people took extraordinary action. And a special shoutout to the HIGH SCHOOL students (!!!) who carried on the movement when the college term ended and the college students went home.

"Sometimes taking a stand for what is undeniably right means taking a seat."

Is there ever such a thing as a simple cup of coffee?