2014~ Wednesday, August 13, Day Trip tp Cathedral Cavern Grant, Alabama

I went to the YMCA to work out on the machines. We stopped at Aldie for Milk, eggs, and other sundries. Then on to Wal-Mart for hot sauce. 

As we were leaving Walmart, I stopped at Auntie Anne's Pretzels and ordered a cup of mouth-watering cinnamon sugar bites with a frosting dip. I ate them in the van and ended up with cinnamon sugar everywhere. Yum, Yum!!!!!

We took our groceries home, and Hubby changed into his walking shoes. We stopped at the post office and then went to get our pool water checked. 

We stopped near the Brown's Ferry turnoff to take a picture of the red oak tree stump saved after the April 28, 2014, EF3 Tornado that hit the Holt's home. Sitting in the Holt's front yard was the red oak stump, topped with a wood carving of her Irish setter, Charley.

The honest Charley was standing in the driveway. He gave us a friendly bark as if to say, HELLO. 

Charley

Charley

It was after lunchtime, so we stopped in Athens, Alabama, at Burger King. Hubby ordered two one-dollar hamburgers, and I ordered a large onion ring. Toto dri,nk I orderea d large water with lemon. I wasn't very hungry because I had already filled up on the cinnamon bites. 

We traveled down Highway 72 through Huntsville, over Mono Sano Mountain, and down into the valley of Hampton Cove.

We stopped atop the Scenic Gunter Mountain at the Kate Duncan Smith Daughters of the American Revolution School.

Kate Duncan Smit, a Daughter of the American Revolution School

I can just imagine sitting in the classroom, looking out the window, and longing to be in the woods below.

There was an overlook where we parked to take pictures of the fields and the woods.

View the School down into the valley below.

This School was built from fieldstone, cut sandstone, and pine logs in 1924.

The campus has twelve buildings built between 1924 and 1957 and includes about 240 acres.

Kate Duncan Smith, Daughter of the American Revolution

Kate Duncan Smit, a Daughter of the American Revolution School

Kate Duncan Smi, the Daughter of the American Revolution School

Cathedral Caverns State P, located in Kennamer Cove, was our next stop. 

There were a total of 10 in our group, and each person $15, except our tour guide.  

The massive entrance to Cathedral Caverns is 126 feet wide and twenty-five feet high.

Inside, we saw Big Rock Canyon, Mystery River, Stalagmite Mountain, Frozen Waterfall, Goliath —a huge stalagmite column that reaches the ceiling —the shadow of Abraham Lincoln, Darth Vader's head, Hurd of elephants' butts, and many other sites.

Cathedral Caverns

Cathedral Caverns

Cathedral Caverns

Cathedral Caverns

Hurd of Elephants

Darth Vader's head

Our jolly, funny tour guide drove a golf cart in and out of the cave.

On the way back, my knees started to hurt. So Hubby and I jumped on board. It was a steep ride out of the cave, and we had to hold on tight to keep from being dumped off. 

The walk itself was over two miles round-trip, up and down a steep, slippery walkway.

We thanked our tour guide and headed into Guntersville. We stopped at Wintzells Oyster House, where we shared a plate of delicious fried Shrimp and Oysters dipped in cocktail and tartar sauce.

We each ordered baked potatoes covered in butter, with buttered bread and hushpuppies.s

For dessert, we ordered blackberry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream. Yum, Yum!!!!

Wintzells Oyster House in Guntersville, AL 

Wintzells Motto 
My Town

We stopped in Hampton Cove to fill up with gas. Hubby took the wrong turn, and we came out of the Southside of Huntsville instead of crossing Mono Sano Mountain. 

I was so sleepy on the way back, and I think I drifted off before we were home.

We were home at about nine pm.  

We had a great day.

2015 ~Saturday May 9, I Got Swamped!

I Got Swamped!

Another day of fun!
From 11–12 P.M., listened to Mitch Mann, a one-man band, play his guitar while singing a variety of songs from Blues, Folk, Country, Pop, and Rock.
He sang about Tom Clark, a bandit during the Civil War in the Shoals, who robbed and killed people.
He was caught, put into jail, taken out by a mob of townspeople, and hanged along with two members of his gang.
He sang Big Midnight Special by Johnny Cash.

Let the Midnight Special shine her light on me,

let the Midnight Special shine her ever-loving light on me. (Traditional)

The song is historically performed in the country-blues style from the viewpoint of the prisoner and has been covered by many artists.

He sang several songs about the small town where he grew up, along with many others.

After the entertainment, we watched a short video about the shoals.

Quad Cities Taxi& Limousine

Everyone walked outside and loaded into the trolley.

Opened windows with the wind blowing your hair and no air conditioner, long windows for a great view, a jolly driver, and the Swampette Judy Hood was our tour guide. 

The trolley driver told the story that the trolley originated in Philadelphia, near the Eastern State Penitentiary, and was used to transport people to view the Penitentiary that once held Al Capone.

A prison sentence at Eastern State Penitentiary not only separated you from the outside world but also from all human contact.

Built in 1829, it was the first jail to implement solitary confinement for every single inmate, which is thought to have brought on mental illness.

Even outside the tiny cells, guards would wear hoods so they remained confined even as they wandered through the stone halls.

The prison, which closed its doors in 1971, is considered by many people as one of the most haunted buildings in America. 

You can visit there during Halloween to experience Terror Behind the Walls, available at different prices ranging from $13 to $39.

http://www.easternstate.org/halloween/visit/schedule-prices

One of the tourists is playing the piano. 

Studio B instruments

Our first stop was FAME Studios.

A twenty-four-year-old man was our tour guide for FAME STUDIOS. He took us to Studios A & B and provided us with as much history as he could in a short time.
He was very knowledgeable about the history of the Music of the Shoals.

We were allowed to take pictures inside, but not up close to the entertainers.

We loaded back into the trolley and rode to Building 3614 on Jackson Highway in Sheffield, Muscle Shoals Sound, where we met David and Patterson Hood.

David and Patterson told the history of this studio.

Many of the trolley riders had their picture taken with the Hood family members.

Muscle Shoals Sound 

Some of the people who were on the trolley

David & Patterson Hood, and Me

David Patterson, Judy Hood, and others 

We rode by the historic marker of Percy Sled, who recently passed away, but was in the Shoals for the unveiling of his marker. 
Unveiling was September 30, 2014.
Percy Sled was born on November 25, 1940, and died on April 14, 2015. 
He was 74 years old.

Record store owner and WLAY disc jockey Quinn Ivy established North Alabama Recording Studio (Norala) at 104 E. Second Street in Sheffield in 1965. He purchased the equipment, including an AMEX 351 and Berlant mono tape recorders, as well as a radio station console. Ivy-mounted egg cartons on the studio walls to deaden stray frequencies.
The first song recorded at NORALA was Florence native Donna Jean Thatcher's "I'm Out of Touch." Several months later, Percy Sled cut the classic "When A Man Loves A Woman." With proceeds from the Slede session, Ivy completed a better-equipped studio across town in 1968 and named it Quinyy. Ivy also produced Tony Borders, Buddy Causey, Jeanie Green, and Z.Z. Hill, Ben E. King, Mickey Buckings and The New Breed, Don Varner, the U.S. Male, and the Wee Juns.

Percy Sledge
"When A Man Loves A Woman"
Hospital orderly Percy Sled recorded 'When a Man Loves a Woman' at Quin Ivy's studio in 1966. Sled's breakup with a girlfriend inspired the lyrics credited to songwriters Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright.

The release featured Marlin Greene (guitar), Spooner Oldham (Farfisa organ), Albert 'Junior' Lowe (bass), Roger Hawkins (drums), Jack Peck (trumpet), Bill Coifed (tenor sax), and Don Pollard (alto sax). Greene and Ivy produced the cut. At Roger Hawkins' request, Ivy played the recording for Rick Hall, owner of FAME Studios. Hall felt it had hit potential and contacted Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler, who released it. The song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was Atlantic's first certified gold record. Rolling Stone magazine ranks it number 54 among the best songs of all time.

Percy Sled was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Spooner Oldham followed in 2009. Donna Jean Thatcher Godchaux, who sang backup on the hit, was inducted in 1994 with her husband, Keith Godchaux, and other members of the Grateful Dead.

Our next stop was the Music Hall of Fame.
EverMuseum has given the freedom to view the Museum at their own Museum
I was very impressed by the diverse musical instruments used by the entertainers.
There were autographs from entertainers, music playing, a bus donated by the group Alabama, Webb Pierce's Boneville, featuring six-shooter door handles, steer horns on the hood, and rare silver dollars inside, stars for the inductees, and much more to see.

Group Alabama 

Music Hall of Fame walkway

Billy Joe Royal's signature

Aaron Wilbourn picked cotton to purchase this used Kay guitar for $140. This was his first guitar.

I talked with the Museum's lady behind the Museum's counter in the Museum's gift shop. The Museum's telling me about the entertainers who come once a month and play at the Museum's entrance for free.
It's the entertainers who get to know their fans.

We loaded back into the trolley and rode back to the visitors ' center.
On the visitor center lawn, a young woman was entertaining a crowd.
Had a great day, even though it was in the 90s & I did not get too hot. 
With the windows down in the trolley and my hair blowing in the wind, I had a delightful day.

1992 ~Camargue lines, bold colors, movement! Art

I did this piece in College at Faulkner University in Huntsville, Alabama
I chose this piece of art because of the lines, movement, and bold colors used!

This piece of art is a powerful use of illusions of energy and grace.
The unique style of lines is a precise and elegant topography of motion.
This piece expresses life and motion.
The subject is not the major part of the piece, but the artist is trying to bring life to the piece by using the vertical placement of lines in the horse's hair.

The artist uses contour hatching in the horse's body and cross-hatching in the spaces around the horse.
The artist used bold colors which gives movement to the horse.
He uses blue/green on his body, he uses pink/black in his mane, he uses purple/pink on his legs.

The body of the horse is large in contrast to his surroundings which show motion.

Why do I like this piece?
The use of bold colors, and the way the artist brings life to each line he draws.
The horse represents life, the struggle for survival. This picture would bring life and color to a very dull room.
Even a child would enjoy this colorful piece.

The Camargue horse is an ancient breed of horse indigenous to the Camargue area in southern France.

By artist Guillaume Azoulay

1992 ~ Ethel The Gourmets Pantery Pardise Art

This piece of art is a representational visual form (the cat in the pantry is the theme) to depict the appearance of things.

The everyday things that the artist uses are sort of abstracted: 

Spiced Mice, Flabby Tabby Diet Mix, Puffed Mice, Birds Nest, Uncle Toms Instant Mice, Etc. 

In contrast, to a baker’s pantry. 

You have to be a cat lover and pretend to be a cat. 

He uses items in a distorted way to emphasize or reveal certain qualities or content, a cat's imagination, a cat's paradise.

The artist uses his white to create a delightful and hilarious image of Puss’s paradise.

Why I like this piece of art is the uses of warm colors (red, orange) to make Ethel, the cat appears to expand and advance. 

The overlapping is used to emphasize the cunning cat, Ethel.

There are geometric shapes throughout the picture, squares, rectangles, circles, and other shapes. 

The middle shelve is the center balance and using the primary color yellow and the geometric shapes on the shelves as dividers give asymmetrical balance.

This modern piece of art is a priceless piece of art, especially for cat lovers.

Ethel the Cat by Charles Wysocki
Great piece of art!

Cat Books:

 Corporate Cats, Bye, Bye Birdie Pie, Out of the backyard into the pit, Preparing the Canary, etc.

Foods:

Sour Puss Pickles, Pussy Willow Catprika, Old Tom Crows Feet, Friday Cats, Monarch poultry seasoning, Spray Poupon, Fabby Tabby Diet Mix, Tweeties, French's Song Restorer, Admiral Bird Smoked Herring, Bird's Nest Jelly Beans, Etc

2015 ~ Tuesday, May 5, Day trip to Rock City

Tuesday, May 5, 2015 

We had a great day; we rode to Chattanooga to see Rock City. The last time I visited Rock City, my daughter was nearly walking. Now, I have grandkids who are much older. 

We drove up the mountain around many sharp curves. There were guardrails along the cliffs, many with dents in them.

As we approached Rock City, I captured this site.

The falls, the flags, lovers leap, and the overlook

See Rock City
I can remember when you saw "See Rock City, & Ruby Falls" on the side or top of every barn

As we passed on the way to Chattanooga.

We bought tickets at the ticket counter.

Rock City Adult General Admission costs $42.49, which includes tax, for one day

We had a great time. This was the Hubby's first visit. 
These flowering trees were everywhere, and they were terrific.

Flowering Trees

We walked through many tight spaces between rocks, climbed many stairs, and walked across a swinging bridge, from which we could view seven states from one spot.

There were many tight walkways and many stairs

There were many places where a wheelchair or stroller could not go.

There were restrooms, a restaurant, a leather shop, a place to pan for gold, vending machines, and music playing as we walked along.

Panning for gold

We met a couple from Chicago, the man took our picture in front of the waterfall.
I was using my telephoto lens, and he had a regular lens. We swapped the lens so he could take our picture with my camera. When finished, we swapped lenses; we both were using a Nikon Camera.

There were seven flags to represent the states that we saw:
Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama 

Panoramic View of the flags and seven states

We saw a wide range of sizes, shapes, and interesting rocks.
Cool rocks below:

Turtle Shell Rock

A place to rest under the Mushroom Rock

I had forgotten what was here, but I remember the Gomes and the underground display of little people. 

There were gnomes everywhere; this one was working

I don't remember the nursery rhyme characters. 

There was a little Girl. 

There was a little Girl

There was a little girl 

Who had a slight curl

Right in the middle

of her forehead,

And when she was good,

She was very, very good,

And when she was bad,

She was horrid.

Hubby said this poem suited me to a T.

When we visited the Nursery Rhyme area with the black light, the suit I was wearing glowed.
The suit frightened a woman because she thought one of the characters had come to life, and she screamed out! 
Neither had noticed the suit glowing because we were too busy taking pictures and reading the nursery rhymes.

I looked like I was in the Tron Movie with my orange glow-in-the-dark shirt and pants

We got turned around after we came back down the mountain. Hubby said they don't need to let old people loose in a big city. We got back on the Interstate, and we were looking for a place to eat. 

I saw a Cracker Barrel sign and I said Where there is a Cracker Barrel, there are other restaurants. We took the ramp exit at Cracker Barrel, which was the same exit we had used when we left to visit Rock City. 


It was the same Logan's Roadhouse in Chattanooga that we were looking for when we came down Lookout Mountain. LOL

Logan's Roadhouse Chattanooga
The Logan, we decided to eat at, but when we left the mountain, we got turned around
Got on Interstate and got off onto highway 11, where we saw a Logan's sign.
Hubby said this is where we got off the first time to go to Lookout Mountain.
I guess it was meant for us to eat here

Sirloin steak with baked sirloin potato

I ordered a 6-ounce sirloin, baked potato, Caesar salad, and ice water.
My Hubby ordered a New York Strip with a baked potato, Caesar salad, and sweet tea.
For an appetizer, we ordered fried mushrooms, and we had two large rolls with butter. YUM!!
We had enough food for supper to bring home!!

We rode through downtown Scottsboro but did not stop.

We stopped at Russell Stover's in Athens, where I got a cookies and cream ice cream in a waffle cone.
Hubby got a pint of strawberry and French Vanilla Ice cream.
And we bought a large bag of Russell Stover's Candy.
We were both on a sugar high!!