2023 Sep 15, Trip to The Movie town of Canton, MS

We rode through Russellville, AL, stopping at Jack's Restaurant for breakfast gravy and biscuits and Diet Coke. 

We stopped at McDonald's in Louisville, MS, for a restroom break and a couple of cookies and cream pies. 

After a four-and-a-half-hour drive through several small towns, we arrived in Canton, MS. 

We were greeted by our guide, Billy Joe Wells, at the Visitors Center in Canton, also known as the Trolio Hotel. 

A Time to Kill stars Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey, and many others were in this film.

Most of the filming took place around the Madison County Courthouse, the old jail, and a Sound stage was built in the city's park. Much of the stage props were in Canton's Museum.

My Dog Skip was principally photography in Canton props, also located in Canton's Museums.

O'Brother, Where Art Thou? It was shot in the Spring in Canton, MS props, and New Paper Articles in the Museums. 

The Hotel Trolio had Memorabilia from the movies. O' Brother and A Time to Kill.

Cast from A Time to Kill 

Lawyers Office from A Time To Kill 

By George Mississippians Think he's got it.
Fans flock to see Clooney filming a movie, the latest effort in his move from TV to Big Screen. 
O'Brother, Where Art Thou? George Clooney 

Restaurant/Cafe where the scene of A Time to Kill was filmed. 

A scene from "A Time to Kill" was shot at the table in this restaurant. 

Also located up a flight of stairs in the Trolio Hotel was more Memorabilia from both movies. 

Willie Morris & My Dog Skip Movie Museum

Willie Morris & My Dog Skip Movie Museum.

Every community needs a Willie. 

This museum is lovingly dedicated to the ineffable spirit of Willie Morris. 

Because he turned south toward home, My Dog Skip became a reality. 

Our many thanks to Alcon Entrainment and Warner Bros 

February 12, 2000 

A Glimpse of Willie Morris 

The Canton Convention & Visitor Bureau and Film Office 

5 & 10 cent Store Est. 1935

The General Store was where scenes from My Dog Skip were shot. 

Bone tired and Weary in a country Cemetery.
John Wayne Blough Sr. steers a team of horses through the streets of Canton during the filming of the "Ponder Heart" based on an Eudora Welty novella for PBS.  

Billy took us to several locked museums loaded with memorabilia and did a very good job of explaining about the props and the movies. 

We had not seen the movies for some time, so nothing was familiar. 

We thanked Billy for the tour and walked around the historic Courthouse Square, taking pictures of several of the historic stores, courthouses, and markers. 

We stopped at the thrift shop, where I purchased several Halloween figurines.

Canton Madison County Courthouse is also used in several movies. 

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.

2003 to present ~The movies that I seen at the theater

Some of the cartoons I went to see more than once with the grandkids 

Christmas with the Kranks

Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl

Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events

Cars

Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest 

Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix 

Charlottes Webb

Night at the Museum

Charlottes Webb

Ghost Rider

Pirates of Caribbean at Worlds End

X-Men 

Ratatouille

Hairspray

Sea Monsters

Ink Heart

Harry Potter 1/2 Blood prince

Avatar

Alice in Wonderland 

Transformers 2

Team

Monsters vs Aliens

Surfs up

Despicable Me

The Sorcerers Apprentice

Grown ups

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 1 

Tangled

Chronicle of Narita Dawn of Voyage Treader

Tron

Season of the Witch

Gullivers Travels

Rango 

Rio

Hop

How to Train your Dragon

Water for Elephants

Fast Five 

Pirates Caribbean on Stranger Tides

King Fu Panda 2

Green Lantern 

Cars 2

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows 2

Monsters vs Aliens

transformers Dark of the Moon

Cowboys and Aliens

the Last Air Bender

Disney's a Christmas Carol

Immortals 

New Years

Sherlock Holmes a Game of Shadows

We bought a zoo

Alvin

Sherlock

Mission 4

Joyful Noise

One for the money

Star Wars 

Journey 2 

Lorax 

John Carter 

Hunger Games

Mirror

three Stooges

Chimpanzee

Dark Shadows

Avengers

Men in Black 

Snow White and the Huntsman

Puss in Boots

Prometheus 

Madagascar

Chicken Run

Over the Hedge

Brave

Kung FU Panda 

People Like us

Amazing Spider Man

How to train your dragon

Ice Age 4

Madagascar 2

Dark Knight Rises

Bee Movie

the Watch 

Monsters vs Aliens

Megamind

Paranormal 

Odd Life of Timothy 

Hotel Transylvania 

Frankenweenie

Cloud Atlas 

Sky Fall

Rise of the Guarding

Life of PI

Wreck it Ralph

Hobbit 

Monsters

Cirque du Soleil 

Les Miserable

Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters

Jack and the Giant Slayer

OZ Great

Croods

GI Joe

Jurassic Park

Iron Man 3

Despicable Me 

Hotel Transylvania 

Man of Steel 

Smurf's 

MU 

Ice Age 4

Despicable Me 2

Lone Ranger

Horton Hears a who

Pacific Rim

Happy Feet

Yogi Bear 

Wolverine

Chimpanzee

Percy Jackson

Frozen 

Thor The Dark World

Hobbit of Desolation of Smaug

Captain America Winter 

God is not Dead

Heaven is Real 

X-Med 

Maleficent

Croods

Epic 

Turbo

Despicable Me 2

The Nut Job 

Rio 

Lucy 

Mr Peabody

Guarding of the Galaxy

Rio2

Tomorrow Land

Rise of the Guardians

How to Tame your Dragon 2

Monster vs Aliens

the Croods

Megamind 

Shrek 4ever

Marmaduke 

Minions 

Ant Man

Tooth Fairy 

Spongebob 2

Pattington

Star Wars the Force Awakens 

2016 January 1 Friday, "New Years Day" Star wars The Force Awakes

Had a great New Years Day

We rode to the Carmike Thoroughbred 20 Theater in Franklin Tennessee 

to watch the action, adventure, Sci-Fi, fantasy movie Star Wars Force Awakens.

Movie Tickets

The Force Awakens

Carmike Thoroughbred 20 Theater in Franklin Tennessee

This theater has seats that rock and everywhere you set you can see the movie without breaking your neck to watch it. 

I was surprised to the see new droid addition the BB-8 companion, I guess it replaced the archaic C3P0 and R2D2 droids. 

Apple sales the BB-8 App-Enabled Droid by Sphero for $149.00, which is controlled by your ipad or Iphone.

This BB-8 droid is on display at Target

BB-8 relates to your interactions, showing a range of expressions and actually perks up at the sound of your voice commands. 

I had seen one of the droids for sale at the Apple Store and wonder where they had came up with the Idea. 

The movie was action packed and it kept my interest for the duration of the movie.

The movie brought back a couple of the original characters Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and C-3PO.

I had cooked waffles, bacon and eggs for breakfast earlier that morning and it was after 2PM and we were both getting hungry, so we road to Restaurant alley at Cool Spring.

We decided on Famous Dave's one of my favorite places to eat.

I ordered  1/3 St Louis Style SpareRibs, collard greens,sweet corn on the cob, & sweet cornbread.

There ice tea is to die for and I got a cup to go. 

My  husband ordered there special 8 oz rib eye steak with caesar salad, baked potato and toast. 

We had food enough for three so we brought a box full home for later. 

Cornbread, corn on the cob, collard greens, ribs

The mall parking lot was full of cars so we decided to ride home.

We rode south on I-65 to the Spring Hill Exit.

My husband ask if I had ever been through the historic town of Mount Pleasant and I said no. 

He said before the four lane was built that you had to go through several small towns to travel to Nashville. 

We stopped at Rite-Aid which was built right next to an very old cemetery. It was so old that the brick wall was falling down on the back side and that is where I walked through to take a few pictures.

Cemetery near Rite Aid

We stopped right in the middle of town where we saw the Civil War monument and several Indian markers. 

Indian Plaques Statue

Civil War Statue

Mt Pleasant

It was getting dark by this time and it is hard to get good pictures while riding in the car.

I took a few pictures of the setting sun as we rode home. 

Blue Sky with hit of white, yellow as the sun was setting 

We had a good day, we watched a good movie, filled our bellies with good food, rode through an historic town (that I had never seen), and watched the sun go down on our journey home. 

WC Handy Week

Tuesday, July 21, 2015
My husband and I both worked in the yard all morning, swam in our very clear swimming pool. My husband put the fountain in the pool which has caused the water to cool down so the swim was very nice.
We ate lunch at Logan's Roadhouse. We ordered their special 2 meals for $14.99 add two dollars for the steak. I ordered Ceaser salad, salmon, baked potato. My husband ordered a baked potato, Ceaser salad, and a sirloin steak. YUM!!! After lunch, we donated several bags of clothes and household items to the Blue Door. We went to the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library where we listened to Justin Johnson play and tell about the many different stringed instruments that he had with him. 
We went to the movies at 4:20 to watch the Minions. 
For supper, we purchased a to-go order from Taco Bell.

Justin Johnson 

Justin Johnson

Iron Board Keyboard

Boxed String instruments

Justin Johnson

Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Today we went to Trowbridges for ice cream I ordered cherry Ice cream with real cherry's and my husband ordered strawberry. We could not find a park nearby so we parked near Wilson Park and walked to Trowbridge's.
We went to the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library where we listened to Norbert Putman talks about his life from 2-3:30PM. We rode to Carmike Cinemas - Regency Square 12 where we watched Antman, after the movie we bought some groceries at Aldies. For supper we stopped to pick up two 12inch subs from subway took then home, I ate one- fourth and my husband ate 1/2 put the rest in the refrigerator. My husband will have subway tomorrow for lunch.

Cherry Ice Cream Cone from Trowbridge 

Norbert Putman 

Norbert Putman 

Thursday, July 23, 2015
I took two grandsons, a friend of my grandson to the movies to watch Toothfairy.
After the movie we went to the mall ate lunch at Chick-Fil-a, the boys went to Game Stop.
We left the mall and went to the Florence Library to listen to Justin Johnson play and tell the history of his many different boxed stringed instruments.

Friday, July 24, 2015
I went to Swampfest songwriters showcase series number 3 to listen to Mickey Buckins, Jerry Mcgee, Max Russell, Andreas Werner and many others.
I picked up a whopper, whopper junior, ten pieces chicken nuggets for supper.

Donnie Fritts

Jerry Mcgee, Terry Richardson, Andreas Werner

Mickey Buckin, Jerry McGee

Sound Engineer

Max Russell

Terry Richardson

Max Russell, Scott Boyer, and Terry Richardson 

Andreas Werner and Terry Richardson

2015 ~Thursdays, June 4-August 6, Summer Movies with the Grandkids

June 4
Took one grandson to see Rise of the Guardians, we ate popcorn, and drank a coke during the movie, after the movie we went to Sonic, I ordered one Peanut-butter Milkshake for my grandson, a waffle cone for myself. 
June 11 
Took two grandsons to the movies to see How to Tame your Dragon2, we ate popcorn, and drank a coke during the movie, after the movie we went to Chick-fil-A, I ordered three kids chicken strips and a large peach milkshake. We came home the boys swam, played videos and spent the night.
June 18 
Took three kids to the movies to see Monsters vs Aliens we ate popcorn, and drank a coke during the movie, after the movie we went to Chick-fil-A, I ordered four kids chicken strips. We came home the boys swam, & played videos.
June 25
Took three kids to the movies to see The Croods we ate popcorn, and drank a coke during the movie, after the movie we went to the mall than on to Zaxby's where I ordered a family meal, 20 pieces of chicken strips and three large fries. We came home ate, the boys swam, & played videos. Enough for my husband's supper.
July 2
Took four kids to the movies to see Megamind we ate popcorn, and drank a coke during the movie, after the movie we went to KFC, I ordered a bucket of chicken and sweet tea. We came home ate, swam, & played videos. Enough chicken for my husband's supper.

July 9

Took four kids to the movies to see Shrek Ever After, we ate popcorn and drank a coke, after the movie I ordered two pizza's from Pizza Hut, we ate the pizza at Foodland picnic tables. After we finished I went into Foodland, bought a Frozen Chocolate Pie, brought it home. The kids played video games, we swam and finished off the pie. There was just enough pizza left for husband's dinner and a tiny piece of the pie. He might not have seen the movie or enjoyed the popcorn but at least he got three pieces of pizza and a tiny piece of the pie. LOL
July 16
Took three grandkids and one great-granddaughter to see Marmaduke, we ate popcorn, drank a coke and ate lunch at Chick-fil-A. I held the four-month-old, she was very good, had to feed her a bottle, she took a short nap and watched the movie, she was very good. After the movie we went to Chick-fil-A I think everyone was there, a group of cheerleaders was in front of me. Finally, we got our lunch. After we eat dinner we came home, swam in the pool and everyone found a nice spot to sit and we watched Incredible things that you find in a museum. The grandkids left around 7PM.
July 23 
I took three kids to the movies to see Tooth-fairy we ate popcorn, and we each drank a coke during the movie, after the movie we went to Chick-fil-A, in the mall, I ordered three kids chicken strips and one ice cream cone.
After we finished I went shopping, the boys went to Game Stop.
I took the boys to the Florence Library, we enjoyed listening to Justin Johnson play and talked about stringed instruments. It was a workshop, Justin had guitars made from the shovel, Madock handle, car tag, cigar boxes, wooden Ironing board, he mentioned over thirty different homemade guitars.
The boys took pictures and got a guitar pick. 
July 30 
I took three kids to the movies to see Spongbob2 we ate popcorn, and we each drank a coke during the movie, after the movie we went to Dominos where I ordered a large pizza for $8.99, we rode to Deibert Park where we enjoyed our lunch. After lunch, I took the boys home.
August 6 
I took two grandsons to see Paddington we ate popcorn, and we each drank a coke during the movie, after the movie we went to eat at lunch at Zaxby's, shopping at the mall and visit dad.
The kids will return to school Friday, August 7.