Dr. King

Last week, Josh and I went to the Lorranie Motel. It is the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King was shot. The motel has been turned into a museum about the history of African Americans. Before you enter the museum they have you watch a documentary on Dr. King. It was really good and has won a few academy awards.

One of my favorite things in the museum was a bus that was similar to the bus Rosa Parks was on when she refused to give up her seat. If you sat at the front of the bus the bus driver would ask you to move to the back. The warnings got more and more harsh. After all the warnings it was explained that if you hadn't moved to the back of the bus you would have been arrested.

The museum has renovated the rooms that Dr. King was in before he was shot in exact replicas. They have coffee sitting on the nights stands, shaving supplies in the bathroom, shoes on the floor, etc. While the motel has had to make some updates they have kept a small part of the original concrete with Martin Luther King's blood on it.

The motel/museum also owns the building across the street from the motel. It is in that, building they believe, James Earl Ray shot Dr. King. This part of the museum talks about the actual murder of Dr. King. It has the gun and other evidence on display.

The museum made us appreciate Martin Luther King's life and what he stood for. I hope his dream will continue to push forward.

Shitty Shitty Bang Bang!

Ok, so I apologize for the mild vulgarity, but those were the words and that was the sound as all 200+ pounds of me came crashing through an unsuspecting customers ceiling. Yes, that's right, laugh it up, I was the doofus everyone makes fun of because he mis-stepped. Well in my case I slipped, but either way it kind of sucks. I did catch myself so really it was just my legs that came through, but oh the gasps I heard in the living room below. You know, the worst part is really the half second after it happens when you realize what just happened and the fact that you have to deal with the aftermath. Yes, it's true, vulgarities did escape my lips, but can you blame me really? Long story short, it wasn't beyond my skill set to repair the ceiling rather swiftly.

Now, i'm pretty sure we've all had one of those "Oh Sh*t!" moments whether it be wrecking a car, starting something on fire, spilling grape juice on moms white carpet, etc., etc..... So, I'd like to here about them. Comment away!

Kix on Beale

Last Thursday I went to Kix on Beale with Kelly.  Every Thursday night Kix 106, a local radio station, puts on a free concert on Beale Street's Handy Park.  Last Thursday Heidi Newfield preformed.  It was a great concert but not a great crowd.  A large portion of the people there were smoking and almost all of them were drinking.  By the time Heidi had finished her set Kelly and I were ready to go.  We didn't stay around for the other performer and went and got ice cream instead.  It had been a long day.   

     Earlier that day Josh dropped us off downtown on his way to work.  We had to find stuff to do before the concert so we went to the oldest store on Beale Street called A. Schwab's.   It was built in 1897 and was suppose to be really cool with old nickel candy and a museum upstairs.  The store was in bad shape.  It could have been really cool but was really ghetto.  There was stuff everywhere.  It felt kind of like a dollar store and stunk really bad.  We went up stairs to see the museum and it was a small little room with stuff just piled in it.  There was a hand written sign that said

"Look and touch but items not for sale."  The items had definitely been touched.  There were old cash registers, type writers, old billing records that were falling apart, antique glass bottles, clothes, etc.  The stuff was really cool but was  getting destroyed because everyone was allowed to touch everything.  After being a little depressed about the whole thing we thought at least we can buy some old fashion candy.  Well they didn't even have that.  We left feeling really sorry for the store and went to find something else to do.  

     We went to the Peabody Hotel to see the famous Peabody Ducks.  These ducks are trained to march on a red carpet from their "Pent House" on top of the building down the elevator to the lobby and to the fountain in the center of the lobby every day at 11:00 am.  At 5:00 pm. the whole process is reversed.  It was really cute.    

After we went to the Peabody we got something to eat ad then wen to the concert.  It was a long day but we had a good time.  

All Fireworks are Legal in Mississippi

This 4th of July Josh and I experienced lighting off illegal fireworks.  The only thing is they were all legal here in Mississippi.  Our whole group combined efforts and between all of us we had about fifty mortars, 20 roman candles, 300 bottle rockets, a few fountains, sparklers (for sparkle bombs), and a few other things.  The guys put all of their launchers together and were able to launch 6 mortars at a time.  It was really cool.  We put on a really great show for each other.  After our fun little experience I know why these fireworks are illegal in Utah.  We set our fireworks off in a street by a fields which we caught on fire about five times.  If it had been a field in Utah it would have been bad news.  It was a great 4th of July with a BBQ, fireworks, and friends.  The only thing we missed was family.  Love you guys.             

Mud Island

On Sunday, Josh and I went downtown with a bunch of friends and rode the trolley.  The trolleys in downtown Memphis are over a hundred years old.  Ours was 103 years old.  It was fun getting to see the city that way.  After the trolley ride we walked over to Mud Island.    Mud Island has a scale model of the Mississippi river starting at Cairo, Illinois to New Orleans.  I never realized how long and big the Mississippi was.  I now have a better understanding of why they call it the "Big River".   

 We had fun playing in the water and being with friends.

Announcement!!

Yesterday my younger sister Karen called me and told me that my mom was going to be a grandparent.  It took me a while to register that.  I then realized that she was pregnant.  Before Karen and James even got married she kept telling me how she was going to have the first grandbaby.  Well now she is.  I guess if I really cared about having the first grandchild Josh and I could have done something about it, but we didn't.  I figure all of the grandchildren will be loved the same.  Well Congrats Karen!!!!  Thanks for taking the pressure off.