Discover Smith Mountain Lake
WINTER 2015/16
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house, and the sheer volume of awards,
accomplishments, and memorabilia that are
represented therein from his relatively short
life is absolutely staggering.
After completing the tour, and visiting his
private jets and extensive car collection,
we decided to visit Marlowe’s Ribs and
Restaurant, which enjoys a good reputation
for barbecue. It is just down the street from
Graceland, and legend has it that the King
himself numbered this place among his
favorite eateries. The airstream trailer parked
out in front that is painted to
look like a giant pig adds to
the mystique.
The food was superb. Dave
and I shared some kind of
a family combination plate
of ribs, barbecue, and other
similar delights. The ribs
were especially good, and
Dave interrupted the feast
more than once to announce
as much.
“Yes… I could tell by the
grunting…” was all that
Rebel could reply.
Finally we were able to check
into the hotel, but there was
no time to rest. We had a
date with Beale Street.
Our first challenge was
finding it. Beale Street is
off to one side of Memphis,
and ends at the Mississippi
River. No vehicle traffic is
permitted, and the streets
are literally teeming with
visitors.
Beale Street became a National Historic
Landmark in 1966, and was recognized
by Congress in 1977 as the “Home of the
Blues”. Jazz and blues legends such as Louis
Armstrong, B.B. King, and Muddy Waters
played there from the 20s to the 40s. W.C.
Handy, who created “Blues on Beale Street”
was first recruited to teach music there
by the honorary Mayor of Beale Street,
MatthewThornton, at the recommendation
of his good friend, Booker T. Washington.
Beale Street has its own “walk of fame”,
similar to the one in Hollywood. In lieu
of stars, each musical legend is represented
on the sidewalk with a shiny brass musical
note bearing his or her name. Dave loves to
hike, so we spend much of the afternoon
and evening strolling about Beale Street,
pausing briefly here and there to listen to
live musicians and browse the shops. Not
much of a hiker, or even a walker, I soon
developed painful blisters on the soles of my
feet, but I kept this to myself.
We stopped to eat at Jerry Lee Lewis’s
establishment, and had a fantastic platter of
“Barbecue Nachos”, which were absolutely
bursting with flavor. After a great deal more
hiking and quenching of thirst in various
locales, we headed back to the hotel and
finally engaged in much needed personal
cleansing. We still had a very long drive
ahead of us, so it was early to bed, and then
a 3 AM wakeup call.
Soon after, we were back on the interstate,
completely avoiding the distractions of
scenery and interesting landmarks as we
cruised down the dark stretches of highway.
I’d never seen Arkansas before, and as it turns
out, I still haven’t. A scant few hours later,
Rebel realized that she had left her purse in
the hotel room. After a few frantic calls, we
learned that management had been trying
to contact us, and promised to FedEx her
handbag to the Austin College post office.
By sunup, we were in Texas, which, as it
turns out, consists of miles and miles of
-- miles and miles. Several hours later,
we were in San Antonio. Again, I learned
some things. For one, The Alamo is smack
in the middle of the city, surrounded by
modern structures. Once again, we did lots
of walking. By mid day, the blisters had me
literally hobbling around, but I stubbornly
remained silent. Here again, there was much
to learn, and many interesting artifacts.
By supper time, I praised God that Dave and
Rebel had decided against
the “River Walk”, and instead
we took in our evening meal
at a restaurant that had been
recommended by one of
Rebel’s friends. This place is
open 24 hours a day, and is
located on another street that
is closed to traffic. It is a Tex-
Mex restaurant, and it also
houses a full service bakery.
We had a good meal, which
we ate in spurts in between
chasing away the Mariachi
players.
Back at the hotel, we settled
in for the night. Before dawn,
we indulged in personal
hygiene and hit the road once
again.
By midday, we were in
Sherman, Texas, the home
of Austin College. Happily,
we learned that her dorm
has an elevator. Sadly, we
realized that it took much
longer to wait your turn for
the elevator than it did to climb the stairs, so
with the exception of her dorm room fridge,
we hoofed her stuff up the stairwell. Lucky
for me, by this time my blisters had healed
into calluses, and I was walking a lot better.
The rest of the day consisted of all sorts of
registration, orientation, book purchases,
and a trip to Wal-Mart, to buy all the things
that we had decided not to drag halfway
across the country with us. We set up her
dorm room, and she spent her first night
there.
The next day there were a lot of parent
and student informational gatherings,
during which time I did some long distance
administrative work for WSLK. After one
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Needs Barns, Greenhouses, Marinas, and Wineries To Employ Feral and/or Friendly Cats As
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References Required/Donation Greatly Appreciated
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