The Glebe in the USA 2013 - Back to Nashville and flight home

Monday the 9th of December
Ryan got back late last night but I didn't see much of him.
He's already away out when I get up and breakfast. I'm going out via the back yard so that the deck door locks behind me. (making sure I haven't forgotten anything).

The icicles are still lengthening.

Nashville, Tennessee has a warm humid temperate climate with hot summers and no dry season. 

The chances of there being snow on the ground are highest around November 1, occurring 1% of the time.

So, it looks like they do get some winter weather, but it's rarely like this. I've just read that average temperatures for Tennessee in late November, early December were half as cold as they normally are.

It's the remnants of their weather which is giving us grief here in the U.K just now.

After stocking up on a few car snacks and drinks from Cashsaver, I'm on my way back to spend the night somewhere near Nashville Airport. It's an easy route out of Memphis and I'm soon on the Isaac Hayes Memorial Highway leading to I-40 

It's quite a dull day on the road, but it's quiet enough, cruise control on and I'm enjoying some great music on the radio. My first stop comes at the above rest area at around ninety miles.

I get a few truck pictures as I stretch my legs.

Continuing on I'm passing by Jackson. I  thought that this was the town mentioned in the well known song 'I'm going to Jackson'. It was a hit in the U.K for Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood, but more globally for Johnny Cash and June Carter. However it's Jackson, Mississippi which is a bigger city which claims it.

It does have a claim to fame though in the Casey Jones Home and Railroad Museum

From Jackson it's another 90 miles till I stop to eat 

Pictures courtesy of Google and O'Charley's 

Approaching the Dickson turn off  Exit 172, I see the food sign and I'm hungry.

Dropping down to Highway 46 I can see O'Charley's just to my left, how handy is that.

The Chicken Pot Pie looks delicious on the illustrated menu and I order that and coffee.

As usual comes the question, "What will you start with sir?". It's no wonder there are so many obese people in America, they can't say no like us. Still once the waitress had recovered from the shock, she was as nice as the pie. I left a 20 percent tip instead of the usual 15 so she got 2 dollars, that should tell you the cost of my tab.    

It's taken me longer to get to Nashville than I anticipated. I need to get to the east of the city to be handy for the airport. Still on the I-40 I decide to do a rehearsal into the airport so I'll know where I'm going. How did I end up in the long stay car park ? It's a good job the first half hour is free.!
So now that's sorted it's time to look for accommodation for the night. I'm back on I-40 and continue on to Old Hickory Blvd. It's about the busiest road I've come across this trip. Up and down here I can see nothing like accommodation so I pull off and get my map out again. I'm looking for Stewarts Ferry Pike which I'd already decided was where I was heading for. I'd come too far east. So, back on the Interstate and back the way I'd come. Hurrah, a road-sign for accommodation  on Stewarts Ferry Pike, at last. I turn North West only to find a mile up the road I should have turned South. First the airport car park and now more wrong turns. This is punishment for me thinking I had more 'Nous' than I really have.
After turning round and recrossing the I-40 (I think it hates to lose me) I finally find Percy Priest Drive and a whole street of 'Inns'. I take the nearest one which is Family Inns of America, it looks OK.  

My room is OK, hot shower, large heater, big bed and a microwave for my porridge in the morning.
I need to charge my camera battery so I take a few snaps on my Kindle. They haven't come out very well.
Across the road to Subway for a  ham and bacon sub with lettuce, tomato and melted cheese and a coffee.
Back to my room with my supper, turned the TV on and Johnny Cash has just met Sam Phillips at Sun Studios in the movie Walk the Line. A brilliant way to say goodbye to Tennessee !


Tuesday the 10th of December
After a good nights sleep I'm up and having my porridge and using my last English Breakfast teabag. 

I'm amazed on taking a peek outside that there's been a fall of snow overnight.

The Florida plate on my car looks quite out of place.

Packed and away I'm soon back at Dollar in the airport to hand my car back. I'm surprised looking at my receipt to see I've travelled 2180 miles. That works out that I've spent 36 hours travelling or a day and a half............ sounds about right I think. 

I've got the camera charged so I'll pass my time at the airport taking a few pictures.

It's all so peaceful at Nashville airport, they've a laid back way of doing things here. Much like the way they talk with that southern drawl.

I've about an hour and forty five minutes till my flight. I remember a few years ago when quite a number of airport banned the use of cameras. No such problem here.

A full zoom gets me Nashville's skyscrapers.

There's still some snow around, but it seems to be thawing fast.

I try a few 'in flight' pictures, but an additional zoom lens would have been good for those. The board says my flight is on time.

Finally in the air and leaving Nashville for Washington.

Early into the flight, this can only be Dale Hollow Lake beneath us. It's also a State Resort Park.

Clouds obscure the views for a while.

Crossing Kentucky and West Virginia. Plenty of snow further north and east.

Approaching Washington.

I don't know if we're anywhere near the Pentagon, but I can't make it out.

Now we're banking to land.

Dulles Airport is massive and you do a lot of walking up and down stairs and taking automated trains to customs, terminals and check in desks. One good thing about this occasion is that my luggage is forwarded to my connecting flight.

I've roughly a three hour wait so I get to eat. I'm not too impressed with the food outlets as they all seem to be akin to the McDonalds style. I end up in Wendy's with a small chicken wrap and french fries. Maybe if I scoured around I'd have found something better. No worries though, dinner will be served on the flight to Manchester. 

The flight is delayed by an hour.

 (in the end it didn't matter because the jet stream was that strong, that they made up the time so quickly they had to slow down so as not to get to Manchester too early-can you believe that !)

Darkness is descending as we leave Washington.

It's not long before we're over New England.

There's no light pollution like that in the Galloway 'Dark Sky' Forest Park.

I do believe that's the Hudson below us.

I managed a few seconds of video.

Ha ha !

I put my camera away after this.

Food was good on the flight.

Back at Manchester I was soon on the airport bus to collect my car.

By 7.30 am I'm back into the madness that's our motorway network.

Oh how I miss the Interstates!

Here endeth my 2013 U.S.A trip.

Footnote:-In this day and and age of pop up blockers, it seems to make sense not to use them.

Instead comments will be embedded at the foot of the page of this blog from now on. 

The Glebe in the USA 2013 - Memphis - Welcome Center and the Pink Palace

Sunday the 8th of December

Breakfast this morning is a new taste, it's an Aunt Jemima's microwaveable bacon, egg and hash brown. 

It was OK, but a little bland. Some pickle might have helped.

There's still a lot of frost around, but now fog has made travelling worse. After breakfast I made my way down to the Mississippi. 

I was hoping to get to Mud Island today, but again it's closed. When I got down to the B.B.King - Elvis Presley Welcome Center I found out that Mud Island is only open April to October.

(I think there is a concession of some sort to cross on the footbridge out of season, I'd seen people walking from the river bank)

My last full day in Memphis, I have to drive over to Nashville on Monday. Nothing appears to be moving on the river. 

.

To start my day I'm visiting the B.B.King - Elvis Presley Welcome Center.

It's a fairly big open building and the first thing you come to inside the door is a bronze B.B.King

To the right is a hexagonal annexe with an even bigger bronze Elvis Presley.

Both statues were originally located on Beale Street.

There's a lot of information boards around the place, much of it about the civil war, slavery and the civil rights movement.

I guess the Battle of Shiloh would be one of the most well known of the war. I know I've watched plenty of films where the battle was a key part of the story. In 2012 a history project to celebrate the 150th anniversary saw a re-enactment of the battle. I believe it's now on a two dvd set.

The Battle of Memphis was a naval battle fought out on the river just below this welcome center.

There's a large display of photographs on a long frame showing famous people, places and events.

Back outside the mist seems to be getting thicker. That's the walkway to Mud Island to the left of the above sign. So, what's the time ? It's a two hour drive over to Little Rock, Arkansas, I could be there by half twelve. I'm soon on I-40 crossing the Hernando Desoto Bridge. 

I'm across the state line two thirds of the way across the bridge, I'm now in Arkansas.

If anything the fog is getting worse and once I reach where I-55 and I-40 merge, the traffic increases. I'm still OK with that, but when I hear on the radio that there are traffic problems near Little Rock because of fog, the next ramp can't come quick enough. I should have a look around West Memphis, but because the fog is pretty bad I decide it's safer to get back over the bridge. That was a waste of almost an hour by the time I get parked up.

I'm once again parking close to Beale Street and I'm again heading for the Blues City Cafe.

Knowing the sizes of the portions, I don't want to over eat so I'm having a plate of  Memphis Soul Stew followed by a slice of Blueberry Pie. I think the lady who served me was a bit surprised that I wasn't having a main course. I really should have tried the 'breaded catfish', but I'd been snacking in the car and wasn't over hungry. I'll be back to try it on my long stay in Memphis hopefully.
Music today was piped and mostly well know female divas e.g Aretha, Etta, Gladys or Dinah. That didn't stop the Ella Fitzgerald lookalike at the next table giving out some nice melodic sounds. Her partner attempted to hush her up, but when asked if she was bothering me I told them I was enjoying it. We ended up singing together where we knew the song. I will get to the Rockabilly and Rock and Roll nights here when I return.

It's now afternoon and I'm heading east to the Pink Palace, I've seen brochures and been told it's an excellent place to visit. There's a museum, a planetarium and an Imax theater (cinema).

I had a fabulous time looking around the museum which was all I bought a ticket for. I had a feeling I wouldn't have the time to see any of the other attractions. It was almost 5 o'clock, getting dark and near closing time when I left. It was the biggest museum I've ever been in. 

I took tons and tons of pictures, but I'm only publishing a selection.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves  

A python.

Bat, Squirrel and a squirrel monkey.

Bison

Rocks

Mastodon (only part real) shorter legs and longer body than a mammoth.

Oreodont 

Three Toed Horse

Triceratops Skull

Zygorhiza

A primitive whale 

Paleontologists have discovered numerous Mammoth and Mastodon remains in Tennessee.

History

Settlers

Civil War

Doctors,dentists and pharmacy.

Transport  

Shopping

Though not credited as opening the first supermarket, Saunders was the first to introduce self-service.

Music

Women

Aviation

Fashion

War

A Selfie

I'm not sure what the word 'collected' signifies, was it already dead ?

Immigration

Charles Kemmons Wilson (January 5, 1913 – February 12, 2003) was the founder of the Holiday Inn chain of hotels.

Because it was getting dark and almost closing time I wasn't able to go round the grounds or visit any of the other attractions. It's an all day trip that's required.

Although I loved visiting this museum, I regret not taking a second visit to Sun Studios. Perhaps it was fate since it's made me more determined to get myself back to Memphis.

One more short post will bring my USA trip to a conclusion.