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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Leaving GA

Hello to you all,
 Well, we finally made it out of GA, Ken swears it takes 2 weeks to get out of. We were in the mountains of north Georgia. When we left we went through parts of NC, then back to GA, into TN and then back into GA. Now we are clearly in TN! Ken and I stayed near Chattanooga for a couple of days and went to see the famous "Rock City". It was so much more than what we expected. The trails were all in a natural setting between large boulders. At one point, you could stand at "Lovers Leap" and see 7 states-so they say. I just wonder how they could see to tell! They had several different caverns, all with their own unique story. In the "Gnome" cavern, there were all of Mother Goose's fairy tales. Each one was in its own little cavern with all the characters in them. I don't know how they accomplished what they did, (done in 1967)but breathtaking to look at.
 Of course you can't go to that area and pass up seeing Ruby Falls. I had seen signs for this place almost all my life. It was the worst cavern tour I had ever been on, so said Ken, but there was no doubt that it was truly magnificent to see the falls. It was amazing that there were waterfalls 145 ft. underground. In places around the main waterfall you would swear that red water was dripping down and at other places, a beautiful Hawaiian blue. To this day the source of water is unknown. I know it is almost a cliche`, but I really felt something when I looked up towards the source of the light. You could see the rays through the small crevices but it almost looked like sparkles of some sort. You all know that I am not artistic but this was as beautiful as any picture I have ever seen. I really don't have the words to explain how it felt but I do hope if you get the chance you will see for yourself.
  We went to Nashville for a few days and enjoyed ourselves tremendously. The weather was hot but not what we were having in south GA, it actually rained and cooled off-the humidity wasn't bad at all most of the time. Our first day there we had odds and ends to take care of during the day so we really didn't do any sightseeing. But, we were able to get tickets to see a tribute to Elvis. I know, it does sound kind of cheesey but it really was fantastic. We went on Monday night which happened to be the 25th anniversary of the guy doing the show so it was sold out. We waited patiently for the show to start and it just kept being delayed. We were close to the front, the 4th row and noticed that the 2nd row was still empty. Finally, people were ushered into the row. I looked over and told Ken that it was Wynonna Judd, he didn't believe me. I politely took a paper and pen and excused myself from the row (of course we were at the other end!) and went and sat beside her. Without any fanfare I asked for her signature, she was very pleasant and friendly and immediately asked who it was for. She signed her name, added a cute little heart and musical notes. Her only request was that I didn't tell anyone else she was there because this night was about Elvis and the performer, not her. Later, I found out she is a huge fan of Elvis. The show was out of this world. I love Elvis' music and knew every song he sang. It was easy to slip into days gone by and think that it really was him! Of course the guy looked like Elvis, moved like him, and sounded like him until he sang "Amazing Grace". It was still nice, just not Elvis. On Tuesday night we went to the Grand Ole Opry at the War Memorial, (because the Opry had been flooded in May and still is being renovated). We really were not going to go because we didn't think it would be worth the money-boy were we wrong! I wanted to stay and go back again on Friday AND Saturday! Though we didn't know all the performers it really was great. The Opry does a live radio broadcast during the entire show and the crowd was fantastic. The early bands that played were mostly the "old" country music: Riders in the Sky, Jean Sheppard, Jimmie Dikens. They may have had some years on them but they were marvelous and so full of energy. Then started some of the younger singers. We loved Troy Olsen's, "Summer Thing", Mark Wills "Don't laugh at me" and "Jacob's Ladder". Blake Shelton came on and played "Ol Red". Miranda Lamber came out and sang part of another song with him, it was pretty good. We were so glad that we decided to go to the Opry (the War Memorial had previously been 1 of the 4 homes of the Opry, back in the 1940's.) I would like to go back again sometime and perhaps see it at the venue with the red barn but if not, I have the memories of this trip.
 Today we drove to Jackson, TN and will drive to Memphis tomorrow. We will be there a few days, then, who knows where the road will take us.

Laura

1 comment:

  1. Very cool! Sounds like you had an amazing time! Send the blog link to the family so they can follow your travels! I'm sure Gram would love to read it. :-)
    Love you!

    ReplyDelete