Mug of the Week #5

This mug is from my recent trip to Memphis, Tennessee where I visited the amazing National Civil Rights Museum which is housed in the former Lorraine Motel. The number -- 306 -- is the hotel room in which Martin Luther King Jr. was staying when he was assassinated.

100 Things to Eat Before You Die #7

You gotta try dry rub barbecued ribs. These were from a highly recommended place in Memphis, TN called the Rendez-Vous.


Foodies Jane and Michael Stern loved these ribs to bits. And they weren't wrong. Fab!

Tennessee Travels #7

We loved southern cooking. Oh that barbecue! We had pulled pork sandwiches in Nashville and...


...ribs in Memphis. (We tried both dry rub and wet versions and loved both.)


The biscuits at the Loveless Cafe are the best in the world. Martha Stewart got a lesson there and Bobby Flay had a throw down with Carol Fay Ellison, the biscuit lady.


And if you're ever down south, finish off your meal with a piece of chess pie. Ya'll come back now, ya hear!

Tennessee Travels #6

While in Memphis, we stayed at The Peabody Hotel, a legendary, luxury hotel.


The big draw is the twice daily march of the ducks who spend their days in the lobby fountain. The duck master oversees their peregrinations.


At 11 a.m. the ducks arrive and at 5 p.m. they march back, on a red carpet, to their duck house on the roof of the hotel. Quacked us up!

Tennessee Travels #5

More stuff from Tennessee. Am I boring ya'll yet? This time off to Lynchburg, about an hour and a half drive south from Nashville. We went to Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House. The meals are served at two sittings and served family style at a table full of other folks -- pass to the left please.


The table was covered with fried chicken, meatloaf, turnip greens, macaroni and cheese, apples baked in Jack Daniels (yum!), black-eyed peas, cole slaw, corn bread and of course, a glass of sweet tea. My cousin Jane, Richard and I just loved it.


After our lunch, we headed to the Jack Daniel's Distillery and took a tour of the premises and found out how the whisky was made.


The cave spring flows year-round at 800 gallons per minute at a constant temperature of 56° and is virtually iron free. It’s the reason why the distillery was located in this spot originally – and why it’s remained there ever since.


I gave the 5'2" statue of Jack, who's standing guard at this spot, a wee peck on the cheek and thanked him for the fine visit down south.

Tennessee Travels #4

If you love neon signs like I do, you have to check out Beale Street in Memphis. Wowza!













And here I am, just like Marc Cohn's fabulous song, I'm "Walking in Memphis," actually on Beale Street.


And here's that great tune...

Tennessee Travels #3

We learned a lot about the Civil War while we were in Tennessee. We went to Franklin, TN, the site of a bloody battle.


Carter House was right in the middle of the fight...


...and while the battle was going on, the family hid in the basement.


The bullet holes are still apparent. Pretty scary stuff.


Down the road a piece was the Carnton Plantation...


...a huge home that served as a field hospital to over 1,000 soldiers. The floors of the surgery rooms upstairs are still blood stained.


Many of the men who didn't make it are buried here.

Tennessee Travels #2

While in Memphis, we had to go to Graceland!


Much of the interior was fancy shmancy but not as grand as one would expect.


There were rooms and rooms of accolades and gold records...


...and other rooms full of silver and mirrors and old TVs (which were brand new in the 1970s) all over the place.


And of course, the famous Jungle Room didn't disappoint. Lovely and tacky!


Elvis, his parents and grandmother are buried in the Meditation Gardens, which face a reflecting pool at the back of Graceland.


Everywhere you looked, there were testaments of love from fans. I think this one said it best.

Tennessee Travels #1

We saw tons of stuff on our trip to Tennessee including a replica of the Parthenon in Nashville...


...great music at the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman, the historically cool mother church of country music.


Then onto Memphis to see the National Civil Rights Museum.


This amazing museum is housed at the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assasinated on April 4, 1968.


From the outside, the motel looks exactly as it did on that day. Inside, it's a very moving and fascinating place.

Big Microphone

I guess you just never know when you'll see the next "big thing" for my collection. Here's a giant Microphone near Music Row in Nashville. Yee-haw or should that be Howdy!

Sketches in Tennessee

We actually had a bit of down time on our trip to Tennessee last week, so I painted a few of the new birds I saw.


Jane's dog Nila is a sweet thing so I tried painting her. She sort of, almost posed for me at one point. Sweet!


Most of our lounging and resting was done by the pool, so I figured I'd sketch that too. 80-85F most days, warm sun in late Sept/early Oct. What can be bad?