We started out our day sharing some
time with fifteen or twenty other gray hairs who really seemed excited about
where they were. After some excavating,
we managed to find the actual birthplace of none other than (drumroll here) …
Elvis. I mean literally, the actual
birthplace. They have enshrined the
house he was born in. Oh, and the church
where he used to sing special songs from the time he was knee high to a
grasshopper … that’s right there as well.
All within easy walking distance for the folks on a pilgrimage to pay
homage. There is a circle of history
chronicling his life in a concrete path.
A fountain of youth (yep, they really called it that). You could even pay $12 (special rate for old
folks, children and vets) to go inside his house and see if he was at
home. And that ticket also gained
entrance to the museum where some of his belongings are on display. We didn’t pay the twelve bucks. Not very dedicated pilgrims. We did browse around the gift shop checking
out the Elvis-laced scarves and lip gloss and my personal favorite … an Elvis
wall clock. His legs were the pendulum,
and as it ticked, they rocked from side to side. Kind of makes you want to hum about a hound
dog just thinking about it, doesn’t it?
And all this for just the mini-shrine.
I understand the mega-shrine is at Graceland over in Tennessee,
right?
After our Elvis interlude we dove
back into Civil War history. I read
Chris a history lesson about the battles of Shiloh and Corinth on the way to
Corinth. A walking tour of the historic
downtown area was first on the agenda.
Had to get the lay of the land.
Then came a driving tour of the Civil War sites around town. We had lunch at Borroum’s Drug Store, the
oldest soda fountain in Mississippi that has been continuously operated by the
same family. Great burger made just like
your Granma used to make. They squished
the patty out by hand. Greased and
toasted the bun, too.
The Corinth museum had an
interesting pathway from the parking lot to the front door. If it hadn’t been raining we would have
enjoyed it more. Recreations of
artifacts that were found in the battlefield were molded into the concrete
sidewalk. We saw hats, bullets, shoes,
letters, guns, bayonet, glasses, canteen, shovel, pocket knife, a cannon
plunger … all now permanently embedded in the sidewalk. Interesting.
The museum innards included artifacts and wall hangings about the area
telling the story of the Civil War in general and Corinth/Shiloh in
particular.
Then came the drive on up the road a
piece into Tennessee to see the Shiloh National Military Park. In the spirit of cemetery-based National
Parks, it was, like Vicksburg, kind of a Gettysburg Jr., Jr. Except we did like the fact that they have
tried to recreate the layout of the land as much as possible to the way it was
during the battle. Again, lots of
trees. But the open fields had brush
about knee high just like the soldiers would have seen. It was really easy to imagine sneaking
through the tree cover and stumbling out into the open to a barrage of enemy
fire from the next bank of trees. Well
done, Shiloh folks. Oh, and another
plus. It was right on the Tennessee
River. Always good to see water. Miss it.
We left Shiloh and headed roughly
south and east. Before we knew it we had
slipped out of Tennessee, through Mississippi again and into Alabama. And almost immediately we were inexplicably
drawn off the main highway onto a rough back road leading twelve or more miles
in the opposite direction. Yep. We had seen one of those signs. An attraction that was just too good to pass
up. We made our way past the homes of
Billy Jim Joe and Sammy Jack and a Bubba or two, way back into the woods in the
middle of nowhere. No cell service. Not even much light making its way between
the trees. And to top it off, it started
thunderstorming. But we continued on,
determined to reach our destination no matter what. Finally, our perseverance paid off. We finally pulled into … the Corn Dog … wait,
no. The Coon Dog Cemetery. Yes. There is really such a place. And yes, the place was full of graves of
dogs. Each one had to be specially approved
to get in. I assume each one had to be
dead as well. Put this one on your bucket
list, folks. You will see my name in
guest register.
After that out of control side trip
we made our way into a place called Muscle Shoals looking for a hotel. Just as I realized from the position of the sun
that we were heading south instead of north, a huge flash blinded us. There reflecting the late-afternoon sun was a
massively huge, somewhat modern-artsy style, sterling-silver looking statue of …
who could it be? A quick glance back as
we drove past confirmed it … Giant Silver Elvis and his giant silver guitar and
his giant silver microphone stood right there on the front lawn of the city
center building. Took us a while to
figure out that we were actually in a place called Sheffield, not anywhere near
where we expected to be. Someone made a
wrong turn somewhere. I won’t mention
the name of the guy who was driving, but to his credit, he doesn’t do much of
that any more. Google Maps Siri finally took
over and led us to a Quality Inn in Florence where we claimed the last
available room. Seems they are having a
huge fishing tournament and all the rooms are taken … and all the parking
places are full of boats. We walked over
for a supper at the Logan’s Roadhouse on the premises. And who should be our server but Alabama’s
version of our good friend, Lindsey Dammeyer.
We both did major doubletakes. Looked
like her. Same mannerisms. Can’t say Lindsey has the Alabama drawl down
pat, but it was eerie.
Hotel rating alert: For finding us a
room where there was none, a starfish in and of itself. The bed was comfortable. Free breakfast. Didn’t ask about the pool. Let’s keep this one in the three starfish
range as well.
Psalms
28:7 says, “The Lord
is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks
to him in song.”
Father, thank you for random
discoveries and for people who really, really love their pets and for waitresses
who remind us of good friends. Amen.
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