1/15 Canton Texas, from the highway we see a sign �Christmas Lights of Texas featuring a LIVE SANTA�.
Hmmm�as opposed to showing a dead one? I can just imagine:
�See son, I told you he was dead, that�s why you ain�t getting presents anymore.�

Stopped at the Louisiana Tourist Center to pick up a map.
Walked in the door, smelt the coffee.
"AHHHHH!" Took one tiny sip. A brass gong went off inside my head. The coffee is so strong I�m ready to drive for six states, maybe go for the next 18 - 20 hours without stopping.
If I drink the whole cup I won�t sleep for the next several days.

In Shreveport, we go to Era�s Turkey Express located at 2112 Market Street for the, and I'm not kidding, best tasting turkey legs in the world!
Cooked with a spicy cajun seasoning rub. And TENDER? You need to use a fork, the juicky meat falls off the bone when you pick up the leg.
$5 per leg, and worth it.
318-681-0999 They deliver. Closed noon on Saturday, and don't deliever Sunday cause they're closed

Visited the historic Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium, site of the Louisiana Hayride radio program that aired 1948 - 1960.
Its history is deep of country musicians that played here. Pictures of various artist's line the walls. The ones I can remember, Hank Williams, Sr., Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Tex Ritter, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, there were lots more.
Buddy Holly played here along with two unknowns, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.
Great tour of the Stage of Stars Museum. Well stocked gift shop of T-shirts and CD's of the stars that played here.
Call 1-800-551-8682 or 318-220-9434 for more info.

Johnny Wessler, the executive director is looking for stories, photographs, ticket stubs of musicians and groups that played here in the 70's - 80's. Your info might be included in Volume 3 of the History of the Auditorium. E-mail him at [email protected]

1/16/05
�We accept no personal checks� I need to read the sign again hanging over the cash register at the Golden Biscuit in Minden, Louisiana. It might mean �No Personal Checks Accepted�.
Spent the night. The water in the hotel is so soft the soap doesn�t wash off, you have to scrape it off, a plastic knife from a fast food joint doesn�t work very well.
Stop at Arcadia for the Bonnie and Clyde Trade Days held every third Monday. I�m sure Bonnie and Clyde, the notorious cop killers and bank robbers, would be real pleased a trade fair is named after them. My question is why is it? Is it a hint of some sort? We find some good bargains.
Driving thru Monroe, Louisiana we saw sign, IHOP, International House of Prayer.
Note: The ATM�s in Louisiana offer three languages, English, Francais (French), and Espanol (Spanish).

1/17 We spent the night in William Faulkner and Eudora Welty�s hometown, Jackson Mississippi.
Next, we'll will head to Tuscumbia Alabama to visit Ivy Green, birthplace of Helen Keller and the house with it�s infamous water pump where she learned to spell W-A-T-E-R.
Maybe we�ll visit Earnest Hemingway's house in Key West Florida next?
Probably not, but 76 degrees sounds inviting vs the 40 degree freeze we�re feeling.

We�re planning on spending the night in Birmingham. It�s a fitting tribute being in Alabama on Martin Luther King�s b-day. The Tourist Center at the Mississippi & Alabama border was closed for the national holiday, so we�re playing it by ear as to what to see, and we�re driving without a road map.

Saw a sign outside a florist shop, �This bud�s for you�

We missed the turn causing us to by-pass the Selma-to-Montgomery March trail and the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge. Sleep. We've been driving for 12 hours, we need sleep!

We stop at a classy looking hotel in downtown Birmingham. After talking with the desk clerk about room rates, YIKES ... $180!, I change the subject and ask about places to eat.
The clerk directs us to the two bellhops.
They are so funny, each has his opinion about where to eat and argue their choice.
I ask for the directions to the places they recommend with a promise we�ll try them all.
They argue about how to get there.
It doesn�t make a difference to me, I don�t know any better, nor do I know either way they�re telling us.
One explains how Birmingham is separated in two sides, the North and the South, three highways surround the city, 65, 31, and another I don�t remember then or now.
They walk us out to our car still arguing about directions.
Sandra and I drive away wishing we�d stayed at that hotel just to listen to what those guys were going to fight over next.

We stop at another hotel. There�s a police car parked in front. Is this a good sign or not?
Are they there for a disturbance, or patrolling the area making it safer? We don�t know. My mind is numb, all I can think of is sleep and Era�s Turkey legs back in Shreveport.
The hotel is $89, the policeman and hotel clerk are taking a break, enjoying a cup of coffee.
As they and I walk out the door, I ask them where more hotels are.
I�m trying to keep my eyes open and look like I�m drunk. I expect them to tell me to do a spread eagle against the car, check me for weapons, then test me for sobriety by walking a straight line.
They don�t, but tell me to follow the street straight ahead until I come to several hotels.

Three minutes later we find a hotel, $40! I almost fall asleep signing the �check in� information.
That night I dream of Era�s tasty, juicy, succulent, turkey legs.

1/18 Slept! Refreshed! We realize how tired we were last night. I'm more clear headed. We�d been on the road too long, and the longer we drove, the worse we got.
Mentally, I was asking myself �Am I afraid of being a drive by shooting victim, or being robbed, shot, maybe carjacked?�
Questions you wonder when you�re in a strange town and don�t know where to stay. Maybe you can relate with not feeling safe while in unknown waters.
I was so tired, my attitude was, �Get shot? Good, it�ll put me out of my misery.�
After a restful sleep, my attitude changed. Everyone we've met is nice, polite, I realize I had unfounded feelings/opinion of how the local people are. Over and over again, they�re proving themselves friendly, talkative.

Picked up some visitor information from the hotel:
There�s lots to see. The Alabama Walk of Fame in downtown, the Civil Rights Institute, and the Jazz Museum Hall of Fame.
The world�s second largest statue is here, Vulcan, the god of forge.
I ask the desk clerk for directions, she mumbles something and to avoid embarrishing her I tell her my ears are bad, could she tell me again, slower. I can�t understand her the second time, I lean my head closer trying to catch every word.
She speaks louder. And faster. I have to ask her to slow down cause my ears are slow.
She says �I�ve only lived here two weeks and don�t know the area� or something like that, I still wasn't sure. I smile, nod my head, thank her.

I follow the city map the two bellhops gave us last night.
Don't aske me how we found it but we parked across from the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Museum.
From out of nowhere homeless people converged on us. Vulcan, the god of forging stayed busy.
I guess the Dallas Cowboys sweater I was wearing didn�t help. I should have worn a sign that read, �I�m a sucker, ask me for money.�

We finally made it to the museum. Met one of the inductees, Dr. Frank E. Adams.
He shared some stories about playing with �Duke� Ellington, and other interesting stories including some about his childhood and family.
He said he learned a lot of life�s lessons by watching his brothers and sisters.
He told about his brother once complained about being black.
Their dad took off his belt and whipped him, then sat him down and said, �Don�t ever let me here to say that. Be proud you�re black!�
That night his brother said he �wished he was so black, he could spit ink.�
That brother became the first black on the Alabama Supreme Court.
We asked Dr. Adams if we could take his picture.
He smiled, then disappeared to a back room. He reappeared clarinet in hand.
He played �an original song dedicated to Sandra and you, that has never been played, nor would not ever be played again.� The notes were sharp and perfectly clear, the melody beautiful. After he blew a long-winded note, he told us it �was to represent your youth and long lasting marriage�.
The website for the museum is http://www.jazzhall.com/index.htm

From there we walked towards the historical Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. A homeless guy joined up and walked along with us.
�Juan� acted as our tour guide explaining the Kelly Ingram Park.
He pointed at the line separating the �niggers� area of the park from the whites domination of the rest of the city.
He recalled the day of the Children�s March, it was a week after the infamous bombing of the 16th Street Church which killed four young black girls.
He was a participant in the march, was twelve years old at the time, his parents thought he was at school.
He stood at the front line when the dogs were let loose. He described how some policemen grabbed and held some of children as the dogs attacked.
He pointed to the statue depicting that scene, as well as another with three dogs, their razor sharp fangs showing the snarls. Both are disturbing as the actions done that day.
There�s a sculpture of the water cannons used, the pressure reached 600 psi knocking them off their feet, all the while they chanted, �We ain�t afraid of your jail.�
When they were arrested, they weren�t taken to the juvenile detention, but to jail. There�s a statue of little kids standing across the sidewalk directly from another statute of a jail turned upside down with the words, �It�s a sin to segregate.�
Both symbolize �We�re going to turn your jail upside down.�
Jaun explained �Back then, a black couldn�t look into the face of a white person while walking down the street. They always had to keep their eyes looking down at the ground.�
Back at the church, he pointed out the cracks along the church side and window sills caused by the explosion on a Sunday morning 10 a.m. service.
He knew three of the girls.
Back at the park across from the church, he explained the four fountains each representing each girl, the water continually flowing �eternal tears�.

There�s a statue of Martin Luther King standing at the same spot he gave his �Drum Major� speech a week after the church bombing, �If I�m called a drum major, let it be I�m a drum major for peace.�

Juan finished by telling us he has prostate cancer and begins treatment February at a V.A. hospital.
Just before he left us, he looked at us in our eyes, and said, �Today, Birmingham has a woman police chief. And she�s black.�

He smiled. He knows, and we know, what he, and others did back then, has paid off.
We went to the Civil Rights Institute gift store just across from Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
A poster is for sale telling of all the inventions made by blacks: The water sprinkler, weight scale, air brakes, synthetic marble from wood shavings, the ironing board, improvement of the light bulb are just a few listed.
The store has lots of books with pictures and the history of the Civil Right movement for sale, as well as the history of black musicians.
There�s a �Sister�s� calendar. One page has the quote, �It�s the early bird that gets the worm, but it�s the second mouse that gets the cheese.�

We walked around town and saw the Walk of Fame. Stars in the concrete sidewalk included authors Truman Capote and Harper Lee, actor Wayne Rodgers (Trapper John on MASH), comedian Fannie Flagg, Jim "Gomer Pyle" Nabors, and Louise Fletcher.
I remember Jaun told us the National Security Advisor, soon to be Secretary of State Condoleazza Rice is from Birmingham.

We accidently found one place the bellhops recommended, a restaurant called Fisherman�s Market.
They were right, it has the best seafood, not only better, but cheaper, and they serve more food than Red Lobster.

Finished touring Birmingham, headed 65 North, by now we finally got a state map from the hotel.
Saw a sign along the highway, Ava Maria Grotto. I�d read a little about it on the city map but blew it off cause I couldn�t find what I thought was Cullman street.
From what I read, in 1934, a priest, Bro. Josepth Zoettl started building a miniature park from donated junk. Sounded unusual, different.
Sandra was sleeping, I thought I�d surprise her with the side trip.
I turned at Cullman, Alabama to the driveway of the Saint Bernard Monastery. Woke Sandra, told her it was a museum. Paid our admission fee, petted the friendly cat guarding the cash register, then headed out the door to the backyard.

Note: I almost blew this off cause I wanted to get to Helen Keller�s place before it got dark.
I�m glad we stopped here cause it�s has the neatest little concrete structures:
Cities of Jerusalem, Rome, churches featuring the Alamo and the Vatican, something that resembled Nebuchadnezzar�s temple, a pyramid, scenes from the Bible (the Ark), and a few shrines. All are made from marbles, broken glass, door knobs, candle holders, and/or tile mixed in with cement!
If you like mosaics, or strange, unusual art, you�ve got to see this!
Plan on spending a couple of hours to take it all in, we had thirty minutes before closing, but took lots of pictures. The website is http://www.avemariagrotto.com.
Tomorrow, Ivy Green � Key West is out of the picture.

1/19 Florence, Alabama. Say what you will about crime in the big city, but this week there were three murders here. �Unusual� the locals say. �Drug related� is everybody�s guess.
Visited Helen Keller�s place, Ivy Green for lots of her personal artifacts and pictures. During the tourist season the play The Miracle Worker is performed on the back yard stage.
The photographs of H.K. and the famous people she touched (literally hand-to-face) are interesting and plentiful. You can almost make out the face of Pres. Eisenhower between her fingers.
Actor Patty Duke visited here to get a feel of the place in preparation for the movie which goes by the same name of the play.
The tour guide noted the movie was fairly accurate with the exceptions of the water pump was in the front, not in the back yard, that they raised cotton, not tobacco, and noted the movie was shot in New Jersey.
The actual original water pump is still there, little black cast iron reproductions are sold in the gift shop.
In the front yard, still standing is the giant Mississippi Oak Helen and Anne Sullivan played in. The Y of the trunk is farther up since it�s grown some since 1900.
You can help yourself to any of the branches that have fallen, just don�t tell the people in the office.

Driving to Tupelo Mississippi, Sandra and I discuss H.K.
Sandra says she became famous because she was deaf and blind and overcame her physical challenges.
I counter with she might have became famous anyway, look at Mark Twain and other writers without physical challenges, besides she had an measurable IQ of 160.
We both agree it was a remarkable challenge she faced, and overcame, but she also had an advantage a lot of physically challenged people don�t have. Her daddy had money and could afford a private tutor.
All in all, however it happened and why is God�s doing and ultimate purpose.
Note: On display is a picture of H.K. �reading� her Bible.
Note: H.K.�s hand writing is better than mine. You can actually read hers. Mine? Don�t ask.

Took the Natchez Trace. The word is from the French word 'tracier' meaning 'trail'. It's a two-lane highway without billboards or gas stations.
It was built from an old Indian trail which later the early pioneer settlers headed South.
It�s all nature and woods for 444 miles, and runs from Nashville Tennennesse to Natchez Mississippi. From Tupelo to Jackson is 189 miles.
There�s a radio frequency 1620 AM that tells you the history of the trail, all the wildlife you�ll see, and warns of the speed limit, radar enforced, of 55 m.p.h.
We saw what we think was two turkeys on the side of the road, but I was driving 70 so they were a blur.

The radio tour guide tells about the town of Kosciusko being the birthplace of Oprah Gail Winfrey.
We exit, stop at the roadside tourist bureau to find out her house isn�t there anymore, a plaque now stands at the spot, �First Home Site Of Oprah Winfrey�. There's the Buffalo Community Church where she gave her first public speech, and the Resurrection of Jesus still stands.
In the tourist bureau, saw a display of the native stuffed wildlife, including a couple of 336 pound wild boars killed on the trace. It dawned on me hitting one at 70 m.p.h. would not have been a pretty site for it, or us.
Also on display are glass bottles with colorful Mardi Gras beads attached in an unusual form. They were designed by local artist, L.V.Hull noted for her �Yard Art�.
We got directions and visited her, the yard, and house.
We took pictures, and she�s as colorful in life and wisdom, as her work.
Sayings like �It�s not your pain, but mine�(speaking on hardship/health), �That�s my water�(tears), and �I know what time it is�(could mean almost anything, from racial discrimination to animosity by other artists).
Ms. Hull makes things from hubcaps, egg cartons, picture frames, glass plates, televisions, namely anything of discarded junk.
There�s shoes she�s painted and stuck on wooden sticks making it a �shoe tree�.
I saw two antique typewriters lying in a junk heap, and would love to see what she�ll do with them.
There�s several tv�s she�s painted. On one, it�s glass screen says, �Jesus is watching you�.
Profound.
We had fun with L.V. and spent all afternoon with her. Before leaving, I had to buy one of her plates, �If you do now where your going, sit down.� Thinking it over, I wondered if she meant �If you don�t know where your going, sit down� then again, either way the message is just as important.
Driving away, I could still hear the three gospel spirituals she sang, hummed, and wailed to us.

Spent Wednesday night in Tupelo, had a light breakfast while watching the Presidential inauguration. Someone in the caf� pointed out one of the singers was from Tupelo and used to be on the Lawrence Welk show.

Another famous singer was born here, Elvis A. Presley.
We drove to his place, and visited the outside of the small humble two-room, one light bulb house built in 1931 for $130 by his dad.
There�s the large Elvis Presley Museum that houses the Elvis Presley Memorial Chapel. We saw the pictures of the pews and stain glass window on a postcard. E�s Bible sits on the pulpit. I wonder how many people come here to worship, and who. �Yes,� the sales lady at the gift store answers, �people get married here!�
Back outside, there�s a statue of him at 13 standing in front of a flowing water fountain.
You can see both for free. There�s no charge to go in the gift shop either.
A side note: In 1946, Elvis and his mother Gladys went the Tupelo hardware store. He wanted to buy a .22 caliber rifle, his mother bought him the guitar instead.
There�s no telling how famous a hunter he might have become if only �
BTW, there�s a cookbook of E�s favorite foods, including the fried banana and peanut butter sandwich he liked. I wondered how he�d liked Era�s turkey legs, or maybe her bar-b-q ribs?

1/20/05 Drove all day stopping occasionally for gas. I want to time our arrival at Shreveport for Era�s Turkey Express to be open.

1/21/05 Friday. In Vicksburg. Last time we were here was the week of 9/11/01, and the town had partially closed down. Back then, we did see and tour most of the sites including the old courthouse converted into a museum and is worth visiting to get a history of Vicksburg.

This time we took a donkey carriage ride. Most of the tour covered historic places and homes, as well as the tornado of 1953.
Our tour guide told us he used to drive semi�s for a living until three wrecks raised his insurance rates too high.
Hearing about his wrecks didn�t put me at ease, I mean he�s handling a live, mule� on city streets� with traffic� then the guide comforts us stating, �None of the wrecks was my fault!�
He was courteous, taking his time and being careful driving, watching out for traffic, and obeying the speed limit.

Visited the Attic Gallery, a 'Folk Art� store. The owners know L.V.Hull, even had some of her stuff for sale.
She got excited when we showed her the booklet about the Ava Maria Grotto having heard of it, but never seen it. She ran to show her husband the information.
Again, we ran out of time and didn�t visit the battlefield (we saw the postcards) and it�s magnificent statuary dedicated to the states of the people who fought and died here.

Returning back to Dallas but not before stopping in Shreveport for another turkey leg from Era�s Turkey Express.
Era remembered our first visit and invited us to the Mardi Gras festival Feb. 5. Oh goody, another reason to come back!

1,655 miles later, Home!

There�s no place like it.