Free Bird's Adventures

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

2008 ~ Sept 27, Saturday, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Athens Veterans Museum, Space & Rocket Center

The address is , .

We left the house at 9:30 A.M., stopping at the AT&T Store.

Every year in September, the offers free admission to a participating museum of your choice.

Today we are going to to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

Alabama Music Hall of Fame

In the first room we entered, a photograph hung on the wall of famous entertainers from the great state of Alabama, or those who made it big in Alabama.

Listed that I saw were: Jerry, Walker, William Levi Dawson, born Anniston, AL; Delmore Brothers, from Elkmont, AL; J. L. Frank, born Limestone Co., AL; Erskine Hawkins, born Birmingham, AL.

Others were W. C. Handy, born in Florence, AL.; Nat King Cole, born in Montgomery, AL.; Rick Hall, Buddy Killen, born in Florence, AL.; Sonny James, Sam Phillips, born in Florence, AL., and Hank Williams, born in Georgia.

Photos hanging on the wall at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame

Pictures of other entertainers included the Commodores, Fern Gasdin, Bobby Killen, Lionel Richey, the Speer Family, Don Davis, the Delmore Brothers, Tammy Wynette, Emmylou Harris, Clarence Carter, Jim Nabors, Percy Sled, Alabama, Donnie Fritts, Cleveland Eaton, and Freddie Hart.

The Hall of Fame Gallery featured portraits of the Inductees painted by Tuskegee artist Ronald McDowell.

Induction is reserved for a select few who have made exceptional contributions throughout their careers.

As we walked into the next room we saw a 12-foot jukebox playing pop, & classical music.

12 Foot Jukebox

Over in a corner next to the jukebox, we see a wax figure of Nat "King" Cole seated at a piano.

Nat King Cole

We saw on display the recording equipment used by Sam Phillips' Memphis Music Service, as well as the contract between Sam Phillips and RCA when he sold his rights to Elvis Presley.

Sun Records and Sam Phillips

Tommy Shaw of Styx fame has his shirt and guitar on display, along with Ransom Wilson's flute, Jim Nabors' Gomer Pyle outfit, and stage outfits, Emmylou Harris, Donna Godchaux, Bobby Goldsboro, Lionel Richie, and The Commodores

The tour continues through a 16-foot guitar arch into the Country Music section, where personal memorabilia belonging to Sonny James, Tammy Wynette, Vern Gosdin, Jeanne Pruett, Freddie Hart, & Rose Maddox was showcased.

We saw a life-size wax figure of Hank Williams, Sr., wearing one of his original stage suits.

Hank Williams

We saw Webb Pierce's 1960 Pontiac convertible, the "Golden Country Car," with 500 silver dollars, silver guns mounted, and Texas Longhorns' Steer horns mounted on the front.

Webb Pierce's 1960 Pontiac

There were numerous instruments belonging to country stars.

We walked through the tour bus owned by the group Alabama. I was told that the Music Hall of Fame was built around the bus.

The Group Alabama Touring Bus

After exiting the bus, we stepped into a brick-sided nightclub where the Rhythm and Blues section was belting out music.

There was Erskine Hawkins's trumpet, Martha Reeves' and Eddie Kendricks' stage outfits, gold records by Wilson Pickett and Percy Sledge, the 1935 official portrait of W.C. Handy, and other historical artifacts.

When we left the nightclub, we entered the Muscle Shoals section, which highlighted the studios that made Northwest Alabama world famous.

A video recaps the history of the Shoals music industry. The artifacts include the console Rick Hall used to record Arthur Alexander's hit "You Better Move On" and the instruments of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.

Next, we saw a Recording Studio where a person may select a music track and record a personal cassette or make a video recording right in the Museum.

Recording Studios from the Studiothe Gospel Showcase; among the artifacts were outfits, pictures, and awards from such notables as Jake Hess, Gold City, The Speer Family, and The Sullivan Family.

The newest addition to the museum exhibits featured the songwriters of Alabama.

The Wurlitzer jukebox provides hundreds of chart-topping songs by Alabama songwriters. Billy Sherrill, composer of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man," anchors one end of the exhibit, while Curly Putman, who gave us "Green, Green Grass of Home" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today," anchors the other side.

Alabama Music Hall of Fame Celebrating Life & Work of Oak Ridge Boys Member William Lee Golden

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame is honoring the iconic singer William Lee Golden with a rare exhibition of his dynamic and powerful paintings.

The collection will be on display from September 3 to November 14, 2008.

A 19-piece body of work will be showcased, providing a glimpse of the legendary artist's vision of the world through the beauty of nature and the vivid language of color.

Pictures by William Golden

The exhibition will chronicle scenes and snapshots from his extraordinary travels and career, reflecting GoGolden's deep appreciation for our country's history and natural environment.

This exhibit will allow visitors and fans to explore, experience, and enjoy the expressive artwork of the Brewton native.

Among Golden's featured paintings for the exhibit is Bush Garden.

The piece was done in honor of former President George & first lady Barbara Bush, depicting the breathtaking garden at their Kennebunkport, Maine, estate. Mrs. Bush describes the artwork as a source of family joy and a treasure.

William Lee Golden is a 1997 Inductee into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

Our next stop was the Athens Veterans Museum.

Athens Veteran Museum is located at 100 West Pryor St. PO Box 15,00, Athens, AL 35612 (256) 771 7578

The 100-year-old L&N freight depot is a 4,000-square-foot museum that houses an impressive display of artifacts from the Revolutionary War through today's conflicts.

The Museum includes uniforms, medals, weapons, and artifacts from the home front, and highlights the incredible sacrifices made.

We were greeted at the door by a World II Veteran, he told us about the different area of the museumMuseuming with The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies on the North American continent and ended in a global war between several European great powers.

He asks us if we knew what he had in his hand, and it was a block of tea. Now I understand what happened at the Boston Tea Party.

The Boston Tea Party was an act of direct action protest by the American colonists against the British Government in which they destroyed many crates of tea belonging to the British East India Company on ships in Boston Harbor. The incident, which took place on Thursday, December 16, 1773, is seen as helping to spark the American Revolution and remains one of the most iconic events of the era to this day.

The American Civil War (1861–1865), aWar known as theWarr Between the States, World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars) was a global war which took place primarily in Europe from 1914 to 1918, World War II, or the Second World War,1941-1945 (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all the great powers, making it theWarst widespreadWarr in history, the US beginning with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes, with major hostilities lasting from June 25, 1950, until the armistice signed on July 27, 1953. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975. The War was fought between communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and South Vietnam, supported by the United States and others

Exhibits

Local Veterans of WWII, Korea, & Vietnam will host visitors through the Museum and in some personal displays. The Victory Garden will be staffed to show home front Alabama 1942.

Today is a special one-day exhibit of rare collector military weapons.

We met Margaret, a German who lived in Kassel, Germany, during the bombing of the city.

Margaret (about age 8) is pictured with her mom, Gertru, before the bombing.

Margaret and her mother, Gertrude

She said that her family stayed in a bomb shelter during the bombing, and when they came out of the shelter, the city was destroyed.

We thanked her for the information, and she and I discussed my journaling. I told her that I always wrote in a book about the places that I had been, and she said that was a wonderful thing to do.

She said her children were not too impressed with her life until they were older, when other children found out she lived in Germany, then they wanted to hear her story.

There were pictures of the city's destruction and of the town rebuilt years later. The city of Kassel in Germany was severely bombed during World War II, and more than 10,000 civilians died during these raids. Kassel is in the northern part of the federal state of Hessen, between Frankfurt (190 km south) and Hannover (160 km north).

In the early 1940s, it was the capital of the Prussian Province of Kurhessen, the seat of a Regional Supreme Court (Oberlandesgericht), and headquarters of the authorities responsible for highway and railway construction for Central Germany.

At the end of the tour was a gun display featuring many different types of guns used in wartime.

Guns on display

The guide had to show me the three paintings: two were in the men's restroom, and the other was in the women's restroom.

In 2002, Karen Middleton painted a picture of Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, and a couple kissing.

Ginger Rogers

Rita Hayworth

a couple kissing

The story was that a soldier got off the boat and kissed the first girl he saw.

I will end my tour with a wartime prayer by Eleanor Roosevelt.

A Wartime Prayer

Dear Lord, lest I continue in my complacent way, help me remember that somewhere, somehow out there, A man died for me today. As long as there is a war, I must then ask & answer Am I worth dying for?

By Eleanor Roosevelt

Next, we rode to Huntsville.

US Space and Rocket Center, located at One Tranquility Base, Huntsville, AL 35805, 256-837-3400.

US Space & Rocket Center

US Space & Rocket Center

I was amazed to find a new addition to the Space and Rocket Center: the Davidson Center, which houses the ticket counters.

We spent about an hour walking around the center, which was in the Davidson Center, where we saw a Saturn V hanging from the ceiling.

We went to the old building; nothing much had changed. We browsed for a few minutes, and I took some pictures.

US Space & Rocket Center

At Bridge Street Center, my husband bought a carrying case for his iPhone, and we ate an ice cream treat at Maggie Moo's Ice Cream & Treatery.

Bridge Street Center

Took a few pictures, then we rode home.

2008 ~ June 1-6, Spending time with family in Whigham, GA

Day 1: June 1, Sunday 2008

We picked up Dakota at 10:00 A.M. at . He had been visiting his grandparents in Russellville, and we were taking him home.

We stopped at , to use the restrooms, have a picnic, and let the kids play in the park.

Peach Park is a fruit market where they sell watermelons, peaches, and .

The park had a garden to stroll through with swings, a , a large waterfall behind the store building, and a nice playground on top of the hill behind the store.

It was too hot and muggy to stay outside, so we loaded up and headed down the I-65 toward Montgomery.

In Montgomery, we took I-85 toward Atlanta, GA, then south on 231 toward Dothan, AL.

We stopped in Dothan, AL, to fill up with gas. Then, we rode over to and walked through the park, which took us about an hour and a half, stopping to take some pictures.

Raised beds of flowers, Dothan Botanical Gardens

Dakota Dothan Botanical Gardens

Marcus Dothan Botanical Gardens

The Aermotor Chicago Dothan Botanical Gardens

Lora and Meadow Dothan Botanical Gardens

At the park, we saw the rose garden, , , azaleas, the butterfly garden, and the vegetable garden.

The first 14 acres of Southern Gardens include roses, herbs, daylilies, camellias, , a meditation and butterfly garden, plus a demonstration garden, a nature trail, wooded areas, and a 1-acre pond.

We arrived at Andy's around 6 P.M., and we played the word game on the game channel.

Lora, Meadow, and I slept in Sierra's room.

Day 2: June 2, Monday 2008

We all stayed at Andy's while Charity went to her doctor's appointment in Dothan.

When Charity returned, she said that her doctor had postponed her test because her mouth had not healed enough for her to be put to sleep.

Lora and I spent the day washing clothes and cleaning the house.

Twice, I walked to the end of the road.

For supper, we ate fresh potatoes, squash, "buffalo" meat loaf, and chocolate cake.

All the kids went to .

Day 3: June 3, Tuesday 2008

Today we are going to the while Charity goes to her dentist appointment in Dothan.

Charity takes Lora's van after she drops off everyone at Wiregrass Mall and goes to her appointment.

We spend the morning shopping, and the kids ride the and the train.

We eat lunch at , where everyone enjoys a slice.

Lora bought Marcus a video game, Charity bought Dakota a pair of shoes, and she bought herself some clothes.

There is a slow leak in one of the tires on Lora's van, so we stopped at to get it fixed.

The man who knows how to fix that special type of tire has gone home.

Lora has air in the tire, and we ride back to Whigham.

Sierra and Madison are at camp, and camp ends at 3 P.M.

We are still in Dothan. Charity calls Andy, and she tells him to pick up the girls at camp.

That night, all the kids went to vacation bible school. Nevada said someone had hurt his feelings, and he added, "I am not going back to that church."

I walked to the end of the road.

Day 4: June 4, Wednesday 2008

Charity, Meadow, and Montana are going with Lora to Tallahassee, FL, to get Lora's flat fixed. They dropped the girls off at camp.

They were gone all day.

I walked to the end of the road twice.

Day 5: June 5, Thursday 2008

I walked to the end of the road.

Lora cooked a for dinner.

Charity carried Madison and Sierra to camp.

Dakota and Marcus, Jr., went to a friend's house to swim, and they both got sunburned.

Day 6: June 6, Friday 2008

This is the girls' last day at camp. Lora, Meadow, and I stayed to watch the girls' program, which lasted two hours.

It was very hot in the non-air-conditioned building, with gnats swarming everywhere.

We were each given handheld fans to work off the knots and to cool ourselves.

After the program, they had a picnic with watermelons, cookies, sandwiches, and drinks.

It had been a long, hot morning, and finally, the camp program was over.

We took Sierra home and up Marcus, and started our six-hour trip back.

We stopped at Sonic for lunch. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with fries and a .

We stopped to fill up with gas, which cost Lora $60.00; it was ten cents cheaper when paying with cash.

The trip home was pleasant, with a couple of stops to use the restroom.

Lora dropped me off at 9:30 P.M. My husband was still at work and didn't get home until 10 P.M.

2008 ~ Friday, April 18, Spent the day at Grassmere Zoo, with grandkids in Nashville, Tennessee

Friday afternoon at 12:00 P.M. Lora called and said she and the kids were going to Grassmere Zoo in Nashville and she asked if I wanted to go with them.

She came by picked me up and we rode to Nashville, Santana was with them.

At Grassmere Zoo I had my camera with me, so I was taking pictures while Bucko pushed Meadow in her wheelchair.

We went to the Grassmere Zoo at 3777 Nolensville Road Nashville, TN 37211 615-833-1534.

In the Savannah loop, we saw three brown African Elephants, Hadari, Sukari, and Kiba they were standing next to a huge bolder, one of the elephants was holding a large stick with his trunk, and a Zookeeper was standing with them.
We saw one giraffe bending down to eat the lush green grass, and another giraffe standing straight and tall. There are six different types of giraffes at the Grassmere Zoo they have reticulated and Masai giraffes.
We also saw a couple of Red River Hogs they are very sociable animals, they can weigh up to 250 pounds and get up to three feet tall.

African Elephants

Giraffe

Red River Hogs

In the Central Zoo, we saw the beautiful blue Macaw, we saw gibbons at Gibbon Island, we saw the dens of the meerkats, we visited the seahorses, and many other reptiles and fish at the unseen New World.

The kids climbed inside the glass that leads into the middle of the meerkat's dens to get an up-close view of the meerkats.

Visiting the Meerkats

The kids stopped to play in the jungle gym and we watched a bird show at the amphitheater.

Bird show

In the Jungle loop along the bamboo trail, we saw a white tiger, lynx, red-ruffed lemur, ring-tailed lemur, cougars, red-crowned crane, red panda, porcupines, and tapir, we stopped at Alligator Cove to watch the alligators, the flamingo lagoon was filled with pink flamingo’s, the kids could touch the animals at critter encounters and Kangaroos Kickabout.

Critter Encounter

Alligator Cove

We left Grassmere Zoo, and we rode down I-40 to Opry Mills Mall which took about twelve minutes it was a little over eight miles.

Lora parked near the entrance of the Rainforest Cafe at Opry Mills.

At the Rainforest Cafe, we were seated in the Tuki section with the amusing and curious baby elephant that Meadow was mimicking.

Lora and I split a portabella wrap with tomato basil wrap layered, which was rolled with spinach, red onions, roasted red peppers, and grilled portabella mushrooms, tossed in roster garlic balsamic dressing.

We all shared an awesome appetizer adventure, the idea of two or more featuring Chimi-Cha-Chas, Spinach, & artichoke dip, with tri-color chips, cheese sticks, served with chicken tenders, served with fresh guacamole, marinara, coconut curry sauce and for dessert, we ordered an out-of-this-world Sparkling Volcano.

We walked around the mall looking inside many of the shops, it had been a very exciting day.

We started the two-hour ride home, all the kids fell asleep, and we were home by 12: p.m.

Monday, June 22, 2015

2010 ~ Feb 19-20, Marine Biologist for a Day at the Aquarium in Nashville, Tennessee

2010 ~ February 19-20 Nashville, Tennessee

We took a group of girl scouts to Nashville to the Aquarium to be a Marine Biologist for a day, we spent the night at one of the mom's time-share. We stopped in the Dairy Queen in Lawrenceburg to eat dinner.

Dairy Queen in Lawrenceburg

Day 1: Friday, February 19, 2010

At the Time-Share the girls swam, ate snacks they danced, and played games.

The next day the girls dissected a squid, went on a scavenger hunt, listened to a lecture about fish that was in the aquarium.

We were taken to the back room of the aquarium to see how the fish are care for, to see how their food is prepared.

We were shown where the divers go into the aquarium tank, afterward, everyone was given a quiz when we finished the quiz we were served a meal. When we finished eating, we divided into groups and took the girls shopping.

Marine Biologist for a day

February 20-21, 2010 we took eight girls scouts to the Nashville Aquarium in Nashville, Tennessee to be a marine biologist for a day.

Day 2: Saturday, February 20, 2010

The girls met at the Aquarium Restaurant at Opry Mills Mall at 8:30 A.M.

The girls were Marine Biologist for a day at the Stingray Reef, each girl was given a Tee Shirt & a name tag with The Nashville Aquarium inscribed on the front of it.

Each was given an all-day pass to the Stingray Reef, where they could pet & feed the Stingray, visit the exhibits, ride the carousel, and they were given a discount card of 15% off at the gift shop.

The Marine Biologist asks if anyone was afraid of the snake before we enter the backup room.

If so, to let her know, because she was going to take out a Scarlet Kingsnake to show the girls. Everyone was okay with going into the room.

The biologist brought out a Scarlet Kingsnake, which is very similar to the Coral Snake.

We were told that it is found in the southeastern area of the USA. We were then told how it’s a tri-color pattern of black, red, and yellow mimic the venomous coral snake.

She said just remember that red on yellow can kill a fellow; red on black is a friend of Jack.

Scarlet Kingsnake

The girls petted the Scarlet snake, they could see, they could feel how smooth and shiny the snake was for it had just shed its old skin.

Their next project was to dissect a squid, on each table, for each girl, was a dead squid, a tray, and scissors.

dissect a squid

Squid are marine cephalopods

The girls were told that Squid are marine cephalopods, there are over 300 species

The Girls were told about the anatomy of the squid, how the main body mass is enclosed in the mantle, how the skin is covered in chromatophores, which enables the squid to change color so it can camouflage itself from its prey.

They went through the anatomy of the squid from the nervous system to the Reproductive system (they were told to cut the ink sack into) were shown the ovary of the female and the testis of the male. In the digestive system are the stomach, bolus, caecum (for digestion), liver, and rectum. In the Cardiovascular system, the squid has three hearts.

The head end bears eight arms and two tentacles that contain suckers along the edge.

The girls were divided into groups of two and given a paper with questions to be answered by doing a scavenger hunt. They had to read the information on each of the displays to find the answers.

Some of the animals were the: tarantula spider, crocodile lizard, Piranha, Coral reef, Rococo Toad Bufo Paracnemis, stingray, Knight Anole, Emerald tree boa, Potbelly seahorse, clownfish and sea anemones.

They spend a few minutes petting and feeding the stingrays and we proceeded to the Aquarium Restaurant where there was a 200,000-gallon aquarium full of tropical fish.

Their project was to learn about the fish that lived in the 200,000 aquariums, their environment and then to go behind the scenes of the aquarium.

After the lecture on the aquarium and the behind scenes tour, we were all given an aquarium super fun puzzle and the questions were:

The stingray’s last means of defense was is. Barbs

A group of fish is? School

The natural filter of the ocean? Shellfish

How a fish breathes? Gills

What divers use to breath underwater? Scuba

The back support of squid? Pen

A cartilaginous fish that people are afraid of? Shark

Fish spend 30 days here before going on exhibit? Quarantine

Saving resources for future generations? Preservation

An endangered animal with plantlike qualities? Coral

Opening located on the underside of rays head? Fill-slits

A fish skid? Scales

The top fin of a fish? Dorsal

The real skin coral of the green moray eel? Blue

One category of fish? Bony

An increase in the earth’s temperature caused by pollution? Global warming

Using a limited amount of resources? Conservation

A venomous snail from Indonesia? Cone-snail

Cousin to sharks and rays? Guitarfish

A snakelike fish? Eel

Question time

Answering the questions

group picture

Behind the scenes, we saw the holding tank for the aquarium, quarantine system, where the fishes water was prepared, main pumps, main sand filters, bio towers, and main chillers, carbon water filter.

We walked upstairs to where the fish were in a quarantine tank. We entered another area where we walked along with a narrow walkway overhead of the aquarium where the lighting, air condition ventilations were to see the working of the aquarium. This area is where the divers go into the aquarium, where the chemical is despised into the aquarium.

Diver in aquarium

We visited the kitchen was a fresh fool is prepared daily for the fish and then to the laboratory.

We all got to look into a microscope to see some of the bacteria that might get on the fish.

We were allowed to hold a sand dollar, sea urchin, and starfish. After the question and answer time in the lab, we all went to the restroom to wash our hands.

Washing our hands

Posing for a group picture

We all pre-ordered our lunch, so it was ready when we finished our being a marine biologist for a day.

Our table was prepared, so we all sat down, we were given a quiz before we were served lunch.

Lora and I shared a Lettuce Wrap, that was filled with a Grilled shrimp basted with the lime marinade and served with seasonal vegetables.

After lunch, we divide into three groups and went into Opry Mall, I had Emilee, Brianna, and Ashley. Lora had Madison, Santana, Megan, and Sarah and the other woman had her daughter Kaitlyn.

We stopped at Build-a-Bear Work Shop, the Rainforest Gift shop (where the girls put snakes around their necks and I took their pictures) Emilee bought a mood necklace, I bought the girls chocolate candy, Brianna bought chocolate-covered cherries, Emilee and Ashley bought chocolate covered Marshmallows, and I bought a chocolate-covered pretzel. We stopped at one store where Brianna put on an Irish Green hat and a scarf, I took Brianna’s picture, she took my picture. I was wearing a crown that said, Kiss me I am Irish. We tried on a couple more hats, took a few more pictures then we walked back to the aquarium. We went back to the stingray aquarium rode the carousel, and the girls feed the stingray.

Group picture at the Aquarium

Getting a back rub

Trying on hats

Stopping at the Rainforest Cafe Gift Shop

Ready to go home

We waited for Lora, she was still shopping, the other woman said she had to go home, I took Megan, Ashley, Brianna, and Kaitlyn with me along with Sarah and Emilee.

We all went looking for Lora, Madison, and Santana. We walked around the entire Opry Mall, we met up with Lora, Madison, and Santana at the Apple Barn.

After a few more stops, we walked to the car and started home. It took forever getting out of the parking lot. We went through the drive-thru at McDonald's in Columbia, TN bought some hamburger’s for supper and rode home. We arrived home at about 6:30 P.M.