2023 Aug 18, Day Trip to Jackson, Tennessee

Today, we rode Jackson, Tennessee, by way of Highway 72 through Iuka, Burnsville, to Corinth, Mississippi. In Corinth, we took Highway 45 through several small towns to Jacksonville, Tennessee. 

We stopped at Murphy's in Jackson, Tennessee, to fill up with gas, which cost $42.75 at 10:47 AM.

Our first stop was at the Carnegie Legends, "The Legends of Tennessee Music Museum."

This museum is located in the old Carnegie  Library, where Carl Perkins played his first guitar when he was just a boy. 

This museum houses such artists as Carl Perkins, Tina Turner, Eddy Arnold, Sonny Boy Williamson, Maybelle, Isaac Tigrett, and Jonathan Singleton. 

Many items that were once in the Rock-A-Billy Museum are now housed in this museum. 

The gold statue of Elvis Presley and the large poster pictures of Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Elvis, and many others are also located in this museum.

GOLD ELVIS

The Rock A Billy Tribute Sculpture of a Guitar by Don Worth on November 29, 2006, was also placed on the lawn of this museum.

Next, we visited Rusty's TV and Movie Car Museum, located at 323 Hollywood Dr in Jackson.

Owner Rusty Robinson has over 35 cars in his museum.

The Blues Brothers 

Some of the cars that you will see are:

Rust-E-Ze # 95 Race Car 

Jurassic Park Jeep #29

The A'Team GMC Van 

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure bicycle 

Barbie's pink Corvette

Tow Mater Towing and Salvage in the movie Cars 

Knight Riders Tran-am 

The Blues Brothers Pq1 Police Car 

The RV was used during the Christmas Vacation. 

Starkey and Hutch Red and White Ford 

The van used by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 

Ghost Busters Station wagon 

the car used in the movie Christine 

The Bat Mobile 

The Mystery Machine Van used by Scooby Doo and Friends 

And many more.

We stopped at the Madison County Courthouse to take pictures of markers. 

We ate lunch at Catfish Cabin around 2 PM, where we ate hushpuppies, shrimp, catfish, white beans, and coleslaw.

On the wall were pictures of WC Handy, Carl Perkins, BB King, and Furry Lewis. 

Golden fried shrimp with White Beans and cole Slaw! Yum!

Some of the towns we came through going home were Finger, Adamsville, Crump, and Savannah, Tennessee.

 

Growing up in the Shoals

Earline in Story-Land was enjoyed by many children in the Shoals Area, including myself, for over 22 years.
All I remember about Earline Burns was her television show and where she lived.
Both my grandparents lived in Sheffield, and one of my grandparents went to Church not too far from Earline's house.
We moved to Florence in 1962, sometimes, when we would travel to Sheffield, we would go by  Earline's house on Hatch Blvd., but most of the time, we would travel down Second Street.
I remember seeing her blue Cadillac Convertible sitting in front of her small pink house, which had been torn down.
My parents lived in downtown Sheffield when they married and moved to Tuscumbia when I was about 2 1/2.
Entertainment was watching a movie on the big screen either at the Theater or a Drive-in.
I saw many movies at the Colbert Theater, Tuscumbia Theater, Norwood Theater, Shoals Theater, Wilson Drive-In, and Joy-Land Drive-In.
My siblings and I would walk to the Shoals Theater during the summer months and watch a movie for ten cents.
I was always small for my age and could get into the theater for the cost of a child long after I was passed that age.
I remember Buck's night at the Drive-In.
We would go around the neighborhood, filling the car full of neighborhood kids.
We could all get into the movies for one dollar a carload.

I don't remember listening to the radio, but we did own a black-and-white TV.
Dad worked for Mr. Hensley Jarrett, hauling large power poles. Our TV Antenna was atop one of those tall poles. I remember the pole had spikes and Dad climbing to the top to install the Antenna and the wires running into the house to the rabbit ears sitting atop the TV.
We could pick up all the local channels.

We watched shows like Gunsmoke, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Bob Hope Show, Calling All Cars, The Cisco Kid, Death Valley Days, Dragnet,  & The Lone Ranger.
Since I never listened to the radio, I did not know that many of the television shows that I watched were once live radio shows.

Many famous people came to the Shoals in those early years, but growing up in the Shoals, they were just another face in the crowd.

When I was a teenager, just turned sixteen,  I worked at Shockley's Pancake House, which was across the street from Holiday Inn, where many of the famous entertainers stayed when they were in town.

I served the Four Seasons, and I  had no clue who they were.
As a working girl who never listened to the radio, I had no clue who came into our restaurant.

Now that I am older, I am learning so much about the Shoals Area that I have been a part of.

I walked the streets of Florence, Sheffield, & Tuscumbia, and  I spent many hours at Spring Park.

I remember Dad bringing home a trunk that he had gotten from the Helen Keller Home that had been thrown away.
It had several books inside the trunk, one was a Blue Hard Back Brothers Grimms Fairy Tale Book.
I read that book many times.
When we moved to Florence in the early 1960s, the Fairy Tale Book must have been thrown away because I never saw it again.

I remember going to Spring Park, riding the train, and playing on all the playground equipment, which was like an amusement park.
There was a swimming pool just up the street, and inside the park was a large wading pool.
The park fell into disarray for many years, and its glory days are gone forever.

I remember the Liberty's & A & P Supermarkets where mom shopped, they gave S & H Green Trading Stamps, Plaid Stamps, and Top Value Stamps just for shopping at their stores.
When collected into multiple books, we would take them to the Trading stamp store for merchandise.

So many things we no longer have as time changes.
We now have a cell phone, no sharing party lines, and phones hanging on the wall.
We no longer use an outhouse, we now have portlets.
We no longer have to heat the house up to cook, we have a microwave and convection ovens.
We no longer use glass, everything comes in plastic.

Gasoline is no longer 100% and costs 25 cents a gallon.
A new Corvette fully loaded costs over 80,000 dollars.

In the next twenty years, many will be living in Space.

One hundred years sounds like a lifetime.
When I was a kid, I thought 30 was old, now, one hundred doesn't sound quite that old.

1998~ November 25-28, Trip to Graceville, Florida

Day 1: Wednesday, November 25, 1998

I traveled with Mike, his family, and Ronald to Graceville Florida to visit my younger son and his family.

Day 2: Thursday, November 26, 1998

Robin & Charity spent all morning cooking the Thanksgiving dinner.

The kids played outside and the weather was very warm,

The Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was playing on the television.

Day 3: Friday, November 27, 1998 

We went shopping and we left the boys with my sons they were all watching football games.

In 1998, the Pittsburg, Steelers, and Detroit Lions went to overtime. Pittsburgh's Jerome Bettis called the coin toss in the air, but confusion surrounded the call. The officials misheard Pittsburgh's call and awarded Detroit the ball, which went on to win 19-16 on their first drive in overtime. Because of the fiasco, team captains are now required to call the coin toss before the coin is tossed. 

Minnesota vs.Vikings score is 46 to Dallas Cowboys 36.

Charity, Robin, Sierra, Hannah and I left early for the early morning Black Friday Sales at Wal-Mart.

It was a madhouse at the crowded Wal-Mart, where everyone was grabbing, shoving, and pushing to get the early morning sales.

Ronald needed a new television, I found one at Wal-mart, I did not have a shopping cart to put the television in so, I sat on the television box, so no one would take it.

Finally, someone offered me a shopping cart, I loaded the television into the cart Sierra and I walked to the checkout counter.

Robin and Charity were standing in the checking line.

We rode to the outlet mall where we shopped for several hours. 

Day 4: Saturday, November 28, 1998

Saturday morning we packed a picnic lunch, we all rode to Panama City Beach.

At the beach, we built sandcastles in the sand, swam in the Gulf, and played football in the sand.

It was a great day to be on the beach because it was not crowded.

Jake, Ronald, Hannah, Sierra, Charity and Me

Jake and Hannah 

Ronald building a sand castle 

Ronald building a sand castle 

Hannah, Sierra, Dakota, Charity 

Mike playing football

Me on the beach 

Hannah, Dakota, Sierra 

Jake and Hannah

After dark that night in Panama we walked down the road passing several hotels that were already decorated for Christmas.

Mike, Ronald, Andy, Jake, Hannah, Sierra, and Hannah 

When we came back to my son's house the kids decided to decorate their tree for Christmas.

Jake, Hannah, and Dakota decorating the Christmas Tree 

Day 5: Sunday, November 29, 1998 

Our trip home was a little crowded because we had to make room for the television that I had bought at Wal-mart on Black Friday.