Category Archives: Museum

Beale Street

1 Reply
Obviously, I’ve been in a writing slump. Then I was looking thru pictures and completely forgot to share this with you. A huge attraction in Memphis is Beale Street. I really had no idea what I was missing…
Beale Street is just a party street. The ends of the street are blocked off and watched over by the fine Memphis Police Department. There’s musicians, performers but mostly just people walking around drinking and having a good time. It originally started up in the 1920’s with nightclubs, theatres, shops along with drinking and gambling. Obviously, it has carried on thru to today. The street is still packed.
She’s waiting for customers!
I was amazed at how many historical landmark signs we saw just down this area of what felt like three blocks, although now that I think back about it I really shouldn’t be. The musical history down this street alone is impressive. Elvis was influenced here, BB King made his mark here and artists are still beginning their claim to fame in this area.
Someone was loving this sign.
Now, Beale Street isn’t the only stop in the area. Really, there’s quite a lot to see and all within walking distance of each other. I wish we could’ve had a chance to check a few of these out. Maybe next time…
Sun Studios – Known as the birthplace of Rock and Roll. It’s recorded numerous artists, perhaps you’ve heard of a few guys named Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash? You can still go in and record. How cool is that?
This is just a “Kooky” sign we saw. Sy loved it.
Home of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Sy showing his Dallas Mavs pride.
I was more interested in what was diagonally across the street – Gibson Guitars! I would’ve loved to go on a factory tour!
Memphis wouldn’t be Memphis without the Rock and Soul Museum in the area.
The street was lined with these different sports balls along the street. I had to include them. They were fun!
Autozone Park is nearby as well located right in the middle of the city area (at least it felt like it) and diagonally across the street from the Peabody. Checkout the local minor league baseball team – it looked like a nice place to see a game.
Memphis, if only we could have had a little more time to spend together!

Oak Alley Plantation

Leave a reply
One of the most beautiful places I have been in the South is Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana. Believe me, I will be the first to tell you that I think Louisiana smells dog gone awful. This plantation proved to me that there are hidden gems everywhere, including Louisiana. Note: It didn’t smell on the plantation.
The plantation is located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. To get to the plantation, you must cross over this large bridge that goes over the Mississippi. The view alone will make you start grabbing for your camera. As soon as you cross over it (well I guess it all depends on which way you are coming from eh?) you take Route 18. Following this little old road, on the left you will go by old, little Southern homes and other plantations. On the right, there will be a bank and on the other side of that ole thing is the Ole Mississippi.
Near the end of the way you will come across Oak Alley Plantation. You can’t miss it as the trees, oh the trees are a sight to see. If you stand at the end of the walk you will look directly at the main house. If you are at the main house you will look directly at the Mississippi River. The magnitude of these trees is just magnificent. It completely takes your breath away. I think I could’ve taken pictures and just basked in the presence of these trees all day.
Some quick history – although to get the entire story you will have to go visit the plantation yourself!
The “Mansion” was originally built in the late 1830’s by George Swainy. His father-in-law was the architect of the home. When you think mansions today, I at least envision these 10,000 sq. ft homes. This isn’t the case. Mr Swainy was having the home built for his wife, a Southern belle from New Orleans. She left the city life to go live with her husband on the plantation and he wanted to provide her with a bit of the life she left behind. The home is grand, surrounded by 28 columns around the home. Each window has an adjacent window on the other side of the home to help the air flow thru and cool the house down. The entire first floor was covered in marble. It’s since been removed as one of the later owners of the home allowed his sons to race the horses thru the house. So the story goes. The home was originally built to be elegant and to host numerous parties.
Oak Alley was a sugar cane plantation. Sugar canes are still found on the surrounding property. Throughout the years, the home has passed thru numerous owners. The home still has some original pieces as well as the list of how much they paid for their slaves and other items within the home. The most expensive being the silverware.
The property also boasts luscious gardens, blacksmith building, “slave housing”, a restaurant, gift shop and you can even stay the night in the cottages if you like. Movies have also been filmed here. The tour of the home is spectacular. Spoken in the Cajun tongue, it really allows you to feel as if you’ve taken a step back in time and can partly envision what the home was like back years and years ago. The home itself is beautiful but I can’t imagine how it must have looked when it was just built. I asked the question… “Does anything weird ever happen here?”. Sure enough, the tour guides stated that you never feel alone in the home and that some have experienced strange phenomenons. I wouldn’t doubt it, nor would I want to be left there alone.
And the trees, I don’t think I’ll be able to get over the size of these trees. They were gorgeous!
If you are ever in Louisiana, be sure to swing by Oak Alley – someday I hope to make it back!

Laramie, WY & the Wyoming Territorial Prison

3 Replies
Laramie was my next destination, home of the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Territorial Prison. Yes – I said prison. I was excited!
Getting back onto the I-80 from Happy Jack Road.
I arrived in Laramie and this is the view. I don’t think you can ask for anything better!
Laramie is home to the University of Wyoming. From what I could see there really wasn’t anything else in the town other than the school and housing.
Chief Washakie is one of the statues on campus.
Chief Washakie (“Shoots on the Run”) was a warrior who led a band of Shoshones to the Treaty of Fort Laramie council meetings in 1851. He is well known for his leadership in fighting and friendliness with the white pioneers. He had a distinct sound heading into battle as he carried with him a balloon of dried buffalo hide filled with rocks which earned him the name “The Rattle” or “Gourd Rattler”. Chief Washakie later became a scout for the US Army. He is known as one of the most respected leaders in Native American history, even honored by the US Government by naming a US Outpost on a reservation as Fort Washakie. This is the only US Outpost ever to be named after a Native American and the only Native American to have a full military funeral. The dining hall (see in the background) is also named after Chief Washakie (not nearly as cool as a Fort or County but none the less).
His life was pretty interesting, you can read more about him here and here.
I think this is the most popular statue at the University of Wyoming – Wyoming Cowboys / Cowgirls.
Wyoming Territorial Prison can also be found on the outskirts of Laramie.
The prison was built in 1872 and its as creepy as it is old, well as long as you are touring it by yourself. Crazy me was roaming around Wyoming and where do I choose to go? A old prison, go firgure. In 1890, the prison was renamed the Wyoming State Penitentiary. The prison was open for 30 years, housing over 1,000 men and only 12 women along the way. Outlaws like Butch Cassidy, Dan Parker, Clark “the Kid” Pelton and Eliijah Canary were all housed here.
In 1903, the prison became the stock farm for the University of Wyoming. In 1989, local citizens fought to have the building restored to a historical landmark and here it is today.
The prison offers self guided tours and give yourself a couple hours because the property is extensive. You can tour the prison museum, Warden’s house, Horse Barn exhibit, Box Car house, Broom Factory (where the prisioners worked), Church and the Ranchland.I don’t have a lot of pictures of inside the buildings as I was attempting to take videos and kind of run thru it as it kind of freaked me out. Have I mentioned that already? Walking through old buildings alone isn’t really the kind of thing that I’m super excited about. One building was filled with two floors of individual cells and rooms used by the prisoners and you could hear every little noise. I was bound to get the heck out of there but I also wanted to see everything the landmark had to offer.
The property also showcased part of what would have come with the livestock holdings from the University of Wyoming.
A small western town was also built on the property all decked out for Halloween. I suppose this would be a good place to go for haunted houses or tours. I’ll leave that up for one of you to tell me how it is.
The view definitely wasn’t bad though, that’s for sure!
After all my fright and the sun beginning to set, I figured it was a good time to get the hell out of there (I really was creeped out). But the views, man, I’ve wanted to go back since before I left.
The entire way back to Colorado, I would see these land for sale signs and the land was pretty cheap if I remember right. Wouldn’t that be an adventure to just settle out in the middle of nowhere.
I can dream.
Back on the road.