Route 66 - Erick & The Mediocre Music Makers

Coming into Erick, Oklahoma

Putting Sayre and the site of The Great Indian Uprising of 1959 behind us, we cruised a few more miles west on Route 66 to Erick, Oklahoma, just seven miles east of the Texas state line and site of numerous interesting stories and people. 

Erick is the boyhood home of Roger Miller, Mr. "King of the Road" himself. Roger used nearby Texas as a source for his first guitar - he borrowed it from a pawn shop while the place was closed. This incident led to Roger's stint in the military in the early 1950s. The stretch of Route 66 entering Erick from Sayre has been named the Roger Miller Memorial Highway and the road through town is named Roger Miller Boulevard. This is also home to the Roger Miller Museum. We had plans to visit the museum and I would like to tell you all about it, but it is only open Wednesday through Saturday and we didn't come through on one of those days so, here's the outside pictures and if you tour it, let me know how it is!


Roger Miller Memorial Highway

Erick is also the birth place of Sheb Wooley, related to Roger Miller by marriage. The name "Sheb Wooley" may be familiar, but likely you just can't place him or figure out why the name is kind of familiar. Well, Sheb Wooley was the real deal - cowboy, rodeo rider, country & western singer, songwriter, actor and comedian. Perhaps he is most famous though for a little ditty he wrote and recorded in 1958 - One Eyed, One Horned, Flying Purple People Eater. Now that one most folks remember! Some of his movies included High Noon and The Outlaw Josey Wales. Appearances on TV included Rawhide, The Cisco Kid, Kit Carson, and repeat performances on Hee-Haw. The town also has named a street after him and yes, there is an intersection of Sheb Wooley and Roger Miller - and if you go to that intersection on a Wednesday through Saturday, you can visit the Roger Miller Museum and tell me all about it.

The 100th Meridian is close to Erick. Except for Erick being the location of the 100th Meridian Museum, that fact doesn't mean anything today, but it certainly did in the 1800's. Back then, the 100th Meridian was designated as where the American desert started and banks would not lend money for farms beyond this line because you can't farm in a desert!

Erick used to be one of the most notorious speed traps in America. Officer Elmer had a very fast, black V-8 Ford that enabled him to catch most anybody he wanted to catch. Bob Hope drove through Erick just a couple of miles per hour over the speed limit one time and he was busted by Officer Elmer. During his next national TV show, Mr. Hope said the only way he would go through Erick again would be on a donkey. Eventually, the tourist business dropped off so drastically that the town's business owners rose up in protest, threatened to close their stores and leave town. The town council soon put an end to the traffic ticket terror by Officer Elmer. To this day however, stories continue to be heard about an old black Ford mysteriously appearing in the rear-view mirrors of those who speed through Erick in the dark of night.

Downtown Erick on a busy weekday afternoon

Mural in downtown Erick



Entrance to the Sandhills Curio Shop

No place along the length of The Mother Road exemplifies the uniqueness of Route 66 businesses better than the Sandhills Curio Shop (201 South Sheb Wooley) and nobody exemplifies the uniqueness of the interesting people who make their home along the route than its owners, Harley and Annabelle Russell. We were lucky enough to stop at just the right time for a small musical performance by Harley and Annabelle, the self-proclaimed Mediocre Music Makers. Interesting, funny, very outgoing and unique in the extreme, meeting them was a true experience and browsing their shop crammed from floor to ceiling with thousands of   Route 66 memorabilia, signs, and, well, tons of junk, was fun as well. By all means, this is a must stop on your trip!

Harley &Annabelle Russell - owners of the
Sandhills Curio Shop 



The Mediocre Music Makers in action!

 

The totality of the "stuff" within the
Sandhills Curio Shop is truly astounding!

It was getting on in the day when we finally pulled ourselves away from the Sandhills Curio Shop, but there was still some light left and we had a couple of more stops we wanted to make before looking for a place to park our heads for the night. Our next stop would be our last stop along Oklahoma's section of Route 66.

Harley & Annabelle with Lil Dude, our traveling
troll. Check out the pics at "Where My Troll Goes"

Go to the first Route 66 entry here.

Or go to the first entry of each state:

Illinois   Missouri   Kansas   Oklahoma   Texas   New Mexico   Arizona   California 

Route 66 - Humped-back Ghost & The Clinton Museum

Map of Route 66 - displayed in the Route 66
Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma

Leaving Hydro and Lucille's, even though it was in the early afternoon, we kept our eyes peeled just in case we saw an elderly humped back man walking along the road. There has been a persistent rumor  for years that this portion of the Mother Road is haunted by just such a man. Said to appear in a brown trench coat wearing a Bogie-style hat pulled down over his eyes, he supposedly has been spotted walking along the old highway, especially on foggy or rainy nights. One story is that one of the locals picked him up one wet night, but the eerie little man wouldn't talk to him. Just a short distance down the road from where he had been picked up, the man tried to jump out of the moving car. The good Samaritan pulled over to the side, let him out and drove away. Two miles and only 3 minutes later, the driver passed the same man walking beside the road again! Another driver reported seeing the vagabond who suddenly appeared out of nowhere right in front of his car. He was so startled he failed to pull over far enough and hit the man. The driver slammed on his brakes and came to a stop, but when he went back to check on the poor victim, there was nobody there!

From Bridgeport, east of Hydro, to Clinton, the road has a number of dips and there are stretches of gravel, but most of it is concrete with little half-curbs that at one time were very innovative. The highway engineers claimed they would improve drainage, but in reality, they could turn a small hill into a solid sheet of water during a hard rain. If you got between two hills with these half-curbs on the road, you would be stuck there until the weather cleared. Worse yet, other cars would often come sliding to the bottom too, making it even more dangerous to your health and well-being. A 2nd purpose of these curbs was to redirect errant vehicles back onto the road. They did manage to do that, but many cars were flipped over in the process. Not surprisingly, you don't often see these kinds of curbs anymore.


The Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma
under threatening skies.

So we made it to Clinton without running up against a curb and flipping over or spotting an eerie, hunched-back little man in a Bogie hat, but clouds had started to build up while we dinked around at Lucille's and by the time we stopped at the Route 66 Museum, the wind had come up and it looked like a nasty storm was headed our way. There were a few cars in the parking lot as we arrived, but as we pulled in, a car that was parked in the first slot next to the door pulled out and we grabbed it. Feeling lucky today! Well, actually, "grabbed" may not be the right word as there wasn't anyone else pulling in at the same time so there wasn't exactly a lot of competition for it and also, the 3rd slot from the  door was vacant, but still...

Old truck from the Dust Bowl era complete with
the desert water bag for overheated radiators.

The Route 66 Museum in Clinton is definitely worth a stop and is probably one of the best museums on the whole route. The displays are well done and take you on an historical journey from the beginning of the route to present. Youngest-daughter and I walked through it together, looking at the pictures and artifacts, reading the informational signs and I told her a few personal stories of how things were in the 60's & 70's. We both enjoyed it a lot and it certainly brought back memories for me. The gift shop was most impressive - big and clean with a lot of items for sale at a reasonable price. The two ladies working the check-out were friendly and charming; asking where we were from and other small talk. Youngest-daughter and I both made several small purchases, things we couldn't possibly live without and left with smiles on our faces.


Now there's a Dr. Pepper of just
about the right size!

The perfect car for traveling Route 66!



Youngest-daughter shopping for something
she just can't live without.

The Trade Winds Inn - an old Elvis hang-out.

It hadn't rained yet when we emerged, but the clouds were still dark and angry.  I strolled to the end of the parking lot and took a couple of pictures of the Trade Winds Best Western Inn across the street. Definitely showing its age. At one time though, it actually was "THE" place to stay in this area. As a matter of fact, Elvis Presley used to stay there every time he was going through on one of his concert tours and everywhere Elvis stayed, other famous musicians stayed. There wasn't any tour buses in the parking lot and there probably haven't been for a good long while.

It was time to put Clinton in our rear view mirror and that's just what we did. We were headed to Sayre, more Grapes of Wrath history and an amusing story about the Great Indian Uprising of 1959.

Go to the first Route 66 entry here.

Or go to the first entry of each state:

Illinois   Missouri   Kansas   Oklahoma   Texas   New Mexico   Arizona   California 

 

D.C. Trip - Odds & Ends

Of course, since the main reason for this whole trip was to let Youngest-daughter see history with her own eyes (because 80% of what we learn and know is through our eyes), we had to take a day & see several of the Smithsonian museums, Ford’s theatre where President Lincoln was assassinated and Mt. Vernon, President Washington’s home. But there was enough time left to see a couple of places Youngest-daughter wanted to see – The Spy Museum was high on her list, and Great Falls National Park. Earlier in the school year, one of her assignments was to research, prepare a PowerPoint presentation, and give a presentation on a national park of her choice. Knowing we would be going to D.C., she found that park to be the closest to where we would be and so chose that one. Since she went to all of that thinking about it and since she received an “A” on the project, how could we NOT go there?

Connie's tent across from the White House

But first, an interesting side note. For those out there who read the Camel Club novels by David Baldacci, you will know that one of the main characters has for years kept a tent in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House and he has picket signs for and against various subjects, mostly against secrecy in government. What you may not know is this is based on fact. In real life, a number of people picket in front of the White House, but most stay for a short while and leave, going on to wherever they go next, and are soon replaced by someone else. But two folks, William Thomas and Concepcion Picciotto, didn’t leave. On June 3, 1981, Thomas plunked himself down right in front of the White House, put up his sign stating, “Wanted: Wisdom & Honesty,” and there he stayed, night and day, in the heat of summer and cold of winter, through rain, sleet and snow, until he died on August 5, 2008. His friend and fellow protester, Concepcion, known as Connie to those in that world, joined him on August 1, 1981 and she is still there, living in a tent and subsisting on handouts and donations. William’s “Wanted: Wisdom & Honesty” sign still stands. I don’t know about you, but I think after almost 31 years and still no change, I just might start considering a different avocation.

An actual shoe phone in the Spy Museum

We visited the Spy Museum; it was ok. Youngest-daughter and the momma-woman enjoyed it more than I did. There were real, actual shoe phones just like Max Smart used; there were poison pens, belt buckles with knives in them, and a lot of pictures of spies who got caught. Of course, the best spies are those you never hear about. The thing I found most disappointing was the kids who were the employees. Most of them seemed to be more interested in flirting with each other and playing grab-ass. One of them considered himself a real talent I guess and did nothing but sing very loudly and dance around. I’ll pass on this next time thank you very much.

Had a bite to eat in the Spy Café and watched
people walk by in the rain.

The Smithsonian's though were obviously on a whole different plane than the uninteresting Spy Museum. We took as much time as we could in the Air & Space, Natural History, American Indian and Museum of American History museums, but you could spend a full week going through all of them and probably still not see everything. The Spy Museum cost $19 each just to get in, the Smithsonian’s are free. It’s like Mike Tyson in his prime against a high school bully – no contest from the ding.

Space capsule at the Air & Space Museum.

Surprisingly, to me anyway, was how much I enjoyed the National Botanic Garden. Ah, just a bunch of plants and stuff, right? Oh no, so much more! Interesting plants, weird plants, waterfalls, pools, statues made out of pecan shell husks, extremely intricate “fairy houses,” and much, much more. It was a definite pleasure and ranks right up there with the most interesting and enjoyable things we did on the whole trip!

Spirit of St. Louis

We really enjoyed the Botanical Garden.



The Capitol made out of pecan shells -
somebody had a LOT of free time!



 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1dustytrack/sets/72157629432968583/
 

Elvis Slept Here - Part Deaux

(continued from previous post.)

We expected to see a guard shack or at least an "Entering Ft. Chaffee" sign to indicate we had found our destination, but from the way we came in, the only indication was a large commercial sign touting a haunted house up ahead. To our left we saw a couple of old barracks buildings in an advanced state of decay with peeling paint and broken windows. They were surrounded by a weed-infested fence with rolls of barbed wire topping it. To a couple of military vets like Chip and myself, we knew right away it must be some kind of old military prison complex. Spying more old buildings on down the road, we took a left turn and straight away found what we were looking for, the Barber Shop Museum in Building 803, the place where Elvis had his locks shorn. I'm not sure if my old Elvis-fanatic female friends would have broken down weeping at the thought of a peeled-onion-headed Elvis or if they would have just been beyond themselves to be in the same place he had walked.

Entrance to the Barber Shop Museum
 - building 803

The building was well maintained and a sign was out front, but I noticed there were no cars in the parking lot. It was 3:55pm on a Saturday so we figured it was either closed on weekends or we had missed the hours it was open. Deciding we would get out, look in the windows and walk around taking a few pictures, we walked up to the entrance and saw a small sign saying it was open until 4:00. Without much hope, I turned the knob and was surprised to find it still open.

The barber chair Elvis sat in.

We were greeted by Gina and William, volunteer docents. I asked if I could just take a picture of where Elvis got his haircut before they closed and was told, "Sure, no problem. Take your time and look around. We'll keep it open for you." Very nice folks and very knowledgeable as well. The museum was a bit on the small side, but in addition to the chair where Elvis sat, there were a number of memorabilia and historical pictures of the base. While walking around looking at all of the items and reading the informational plaques that went along with them, our two wonderful hosts told us about some of the interesting history of Ft. Chaffee, a history we were totally unaware of. We came simply to see where Elvis got his haircut and, like most good road trips if you let them, we ended up in a more interesting place than we had set out for.

One of the interesting stories Gina and William told us was about the time back in 2010 when they accompanied the TV show Ghost Adventures' crew one night trying to find ghosts at the old hospital. According to Gina, it was dark, it was eerie, it was a little bit scary, but as the night wore on, it was boring. When the show aired, they played up a couple of "unexplained" sounds and something banged on a wall. Gina didn't say the sounds were faked, but did say the building had been abandoned for a number of years and had many broken windows. Rats or other animals? The wind? Before it was over, they were just ready to get back to their room and get some sleep. Pretty cool to be able to say you've done that though!

The building where Elvis lived for a time.

We could have stayed and listened to Gina and William stories on into the evening, but it was way past closing time so we made our goodbyes and headed out to take some pictures of the old barracks. As I was getting a different camera from the truck, Gina and William walked out, stopped and said, "There was a bowling alley over there" and then pointed over to barracks number 823, just a few feet from where we stood and casually said, "That's where Elvis bunked while he was here." Say what? Elvis slept there? There was no sign proclaiming so, but Gina and William said so and they seemed to have a storehouse of factual information so I had no reason to doubt them. I gave Gina a business card and told them I would write about this. So if you guys are reading this, thanks for a wonderful time, thanks for sharing your stories, and thanks for being so nice. And by the way, I researched it later and you were absolutely correct, Elvis slept there.

Row of barracks - Elvis lived in the 1st on the left.

After walking around the locked barracks and looking in a few windows we headed back to the what we now knew, thanks to Gina & William, were the POW barracks which housed German POWs in WWII. We didn't go in to the buildings as they were surrounded by that barbed-wire-topped fence, but mostly because we would have had to tramp through a good distance of chigger infested weeds. Everyone in the southern United States knows about chiggers, but for other folks who might not, trust me, chiggers are little bitty mean, nasty buggers that you can't see, but will make your life miserable for a few days. They live in grass and especially weeds and wait until you walk along and brush up against them whereupon they get on your clothes, make their way onto your skin and bite you and make you itch until you are ready to scream. And they are not easy to kill. You usually just have to endure for a few days until daily bathing finally washes them off. Us southerners are very familiar with the little beasts, but that doesn't mean any of us want to have an encounter with them. I put on my long camera lens and took pictures from afar.

One of the POW barracks which held
Germans in WWII.

We tried to find the remains of the hospital which had burned just 2 months before, but it's a big base with lots of roads and we never were able to find it. We did find another old, abandoned building, but were unable to determine what it was in the past. Apparently, at one point, it had been used as a nursery as there were a number of planting pots, dead plants, and wooden pallets strewn around, but it appeared to be completely abandoned now.

Except for 3 or 4 guys we saw working next to one of the old barracks, we had the base to ourselves. We didn't see anyone else except a couple at the still open golf course and the Janet Huckabee Nature Center. We were free to roam around, take our time and see what we wanted to see. As the sun was sinking, we headed back on Hwy 22 to Ft. Smith for the steak dinner I had to buy Chip because my beloved Longhorns had lost to those dang Sooners.

Fence & barbed wire around the POW 
barracks - & chiggers in the weeds!

If you happen to visit Ft. Chaffee, as always, bring your curiosity, take time to enjoy; bring your camera and take nothing away but pictures. Do no damage and leave things as they are so the next person can enjoy. And if you are fortunate enough to meet Gina & William, tell them I said hi and have them show you where Elvis slept.

One of the old, abandoned barracks building.

 

Elvis Slept Here - Part Uno

On January 19, 1953, like all American males were required to do at age 18, Elvis Presley registered for the U.S. Selective Service System. Soon he received Selective Service No. 40-86-35-16. He graduated high school and by 1956, he was a super-star. On January 4, 1957, he went for an Army pre-induction physical in Memphis and was declared 1A on January 8, his 22nd birthday.

On December 20, 1957, Elvis received his draft notice. He was to report for active duty in January, 1958, but he asked for and received an extension so he could complete filming "King Creole" which was already underway. Finally, on March 24, 1958, Elvis, accompanied by his parents, reported to the Memphis draft board at 6:35 AM. He was sworn in and, along with 12 other recruits, bused to Fort Chaffee in Arkansas for further processing.

Fort Chaffee, originally named Camp Chaffee, is located just outside the Ft. Smith, Arkansas city limits. Construction was begun in September, 1941 due to the need for additional training facilities for World War II. The first troops reported for duty there on December 7, the same day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The base has seen numerous uses during its life besides training men for combat - POW internment center (from 1942 to 1946, over 3,000 Germans were held here), a hospital for treating wounded soldiers, a psychiatric unit for treating mentally disturbed soldiers, and a refugee camp. At the end of the Vietnam War, 50,809 Vietnamese were processed through Ft. Chaffee, giving them medical screenings, matching them with sponsors, and arranging for their residence in the United States. On May 6, 1980, it became a Cuban refugee resettlement center after the Cuban government allowed American boats to pick up refugees at the port of Mariel. Three weeks later, a number of refugees rioted at Chaffee and burned two buildings. State troopers and tear gas were used to break up the crowd, and eighty-four Cubans were jailed. In two years, Fort Chaffee processed 25,390 Cuban refugees. It was again used  to house over 10,000 evacuees when Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in 2005.
On Sept. 27, 1997, the base was formally closed by the government and it now mostly serves as a 66,000 acre training facility for the Arkansas Air National Guard who uses the fort’s Razorback Range for target practice.

The base has also has been the setting for Hollywood movies and shows. In 1984, the movie A Soldier’s Story, starring Howard E. Rollins Jr. was shot at Fort Chaffee. In 1998, the Neil Simon movie Biloxi Blues, starring Matthew Broderick, was filmed there. The most recent visit from Hollywood was in 1995 for The Tuskegee Airmen with Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding Jr. Due to the high number of deaths suffered by men during training, while being treated for combat wounds, while imprisoned on the base, and some suicides among the mentally ill patients, Fort Chaffee has long been rumored to be one of the most haunted places in America and was featured in episode 10 of the 4th season of Ghost Adventures on Friday, November 19, 2010.

Unfortunately, the base has seen its share of bad luck in the last few years. On January 29, 2008, high winds and a fire started by an electrical fault burned approximately 100 acres and damaged or destroyed 150 abandoned buildings. At 10:00 PM on August 3, 2011 another fire broke out in the 90 acre former medical complex. This was, according to the National Weather Service, the hottest day in FT. Chaffee history at 115 degrees. This fire destroyed the haunted hospital complex and nearly 120 other buildings. An investigation later determined the fire was started by a discarded cigarette in the old, wooden building from a group of Kentucky National Guard troops who were on the base for training. They admitted they had heard about the haunting at the hospital and had snuck over looking for ghosts.

A few of the buildings have been renovated and now house a few construction-type businesses, a chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America and several museums. One building has even been turned into a commercial haunted house. It was one of the museums that I became interested in and was the reason for my visit.

The barbershop in Ft. Chaffee

Building 803 houses the Chaffee Barber Shop Museum. You are probably right about now wondering what the heck I'm rambling on about, why in the world would I be interested in a barber shop museum and does any of this have a point? Yes Virginia, actually, it does. You see, building 803 was the base barber shop and it is where Elvis Presley received "the haircut heard ‘round the world," the G.I. buzz cut which sheared off his famous locks of black hair and, according to John J. Mawn, the Fort Chaffee Information Officer, made Elvis resemble "a peeled onion."

I am not an Elvis fanatic. Actually, there are only 2 or 3 of his songs that I kind of like and I've only seen 3 of his movies. I took a girl I was trying to impress to see him in concert in Dallas a few years before he got fat and passed away. I wasn't all that impressed, but she was so mission accomplished. I went to Las Vegas a number of years ago totally unaware there was a huge Elvis impersonator contest going on. There were Elvis's (Elvi?) everywhere. You couldn't throw a stick without hitting an Elvis or two. I took a potty break in a Caesar's Palace restroom and peed standing next to Elvis. No, I didn't look. Recently, somehow, youngest daughter became an Elvis fan so, living just 3 hours from Memphis, we took a 3-day weekend and ran over to tour Graceland. I found it too was less than impressive. Still, when I found myself in Ft. Smith for a weekend, how could I not visit this place?


In the Varsity Club sports bar 
watching "THE" game.

I graduated from the University of Texas. Chip, my best buddy of over 40 years with whom I shared life and death adventures in the military, graduated from the University of Oklahoma. The schools are arch rivals to say the least. Somehow, our deep friendship continues to survive the annual football warfare and on the weekend of the UT/OU game, we meet at the Downtown Marriott in Ft. Smith, a good-sized town located half-way between our homes. We leave the wives and kids home for this, our annual "guy's weekend." He wears red, I wear burnt orange, we drink a couple of beers, we eat unhealthy food, we talk about manly stuff, we have been known to say a few mild cuss words, we harass each other unmercifully about our respective school's teams and we flirt with the waitresses (which never amounts to anything other than fun because they are in their 20's and want a big tip and we are, well, lets just say we're a bit older).  And on Sunday, we give each other a manly hug with the requisite pats on the back, proclaim how much fun we've had, and a bit wistfully, go back to our respective homes and family and jobs.

There we were in Ft. Smith, the game was over in the early afternoon, it was a beautiful, warm autumn day, Chip was cool to go exploring, so off we went to Ft. Chaffee. At least we tried to. I plugged it into my GPS and it informed me no Fort Chaffee found. I spelled it different. Nope. We had been driving around for a while when we saw an exit sign for Hwy 22. Hey, that leads back downtown by our hotel so we took it. I couldn't believe a 66,000 acre military base would not be on the GPS so I pulled off the road and we got out my Roads of Arkansas map book and looked it up. Ft. Chaffee was just a few miles down Hwy 22 the other way. Giving the map to Chip for navigation purposes, we turned around and down the road we went. We soon came up on a city limit sign indicating we were entering Barling. I entered Ft. Chaffee in the city of Barling in the GPS. It came up immediately. So if you go looking for it, the dang thing is in Barling, a suburb of Ft. Smith, not Ft. Smith itself!
 

After a few stop-and-go miles down Hwy 22 we saw Ft. Chaffee signs. We entered the grounds and found ourselves in a historical place from another time. We found what we were looking for and so much more.

(Continued in Part Deaux)
 

Postcard From Ozark Folk Center, Arkansas

After a good night’s rest at the Mountain View Best Western, we decided to skip the skimpy free “breakfast” in the lobby and dine at a nice little coffee shop down the road a bit. If we’re going to spend some of our money, we prefer to let a local, individual-owned establishment earn our hard-earned. We arrived at the Coffee Bean at 9:03. The sign on the door said it opens at 8:00. It lied. We left at 9:05 with the lights in the store and the power to the coffee pots all off. A half a block away, McDonald's earned our hard earned. Coffee and a Sausage, Egg and Biscuit. Yummy.

Entrance area where you can buy tickets,
snacks, odds and ends.

After a quick little drive to the Folk Center and leaving our car in the free parking lot, we walked into the General Store to purchase tickets - $26 for the 3 of us. After browsing a couple of stores, including a music store which had mandolins, guitars, dulcimers, and other instruments and making small talk with several ladies in period costumes, we jumped on one of the small buses and rode to the top of the hill to the crafts village.

We picked up a brochure in the gift shop and found that the Ozark Folk Center State Park opened in 1973 with the purpose of preserving and promoting “the Ozark way of life.” The park is located on a wooded hill about 1 mile from the courthouse square of Mountain View, Arkansas and contains 24 buildings and outdoor areas housing craft stores and showcasing demonstrations and live mountain music from the 1820 – 1920 time period. The stores offer classes in crafts like pottery, knife-making, gunsmithing, jewelry making, weaving, woodcarving, broom tying, photography, crocheting, rug-making, quilting, cooking, painting, doll-making, corn shucking and more. http://www.ozarkfolkcenter.com/

Whoa Mule! An excellent, funny little 
Ozark folk band.

When we exited the gift shop, we heard live music so I followed my ears and my girls followed me until we found Whoa Mule!, a 3-man ensemble putting on a show to an audience of about 10 people. We sat down about 6 feet from them and listened as they played a selection of old folk music. I was totally enjoying it, but my girls were anxious to go shopping and seeing crafts so I bid them adios and kept my butt on the flattened log it was parked on. Their loss. With such a small audience sitting so close, the performers, all of whom were on the more experienced side of life, started interacting with us, telling stories, jokes, asking people questions and making funny comments which would somehow remind one of them of a song which they would then proceed to play. They were good musicians and really put on a great show.

The blacksmith turning an iron bar into a
hay bale hook.

When they took a break, I wandered over to the knife shop and talked to the proprietor (nice guy named Tom) for a while. From there to the blacksmith who was making a straight iron bar into a hay bale hook. I was the only visitor and he was talkative. He told me a lot about blacksmithing and the tensile strength of an iron rod and how many foot-pounds of pressure and how many strikes it took to pound flat the iron rod and how hot the fire was and how hot the rod would get – all of which I forgot within a few minutes of walking away, but it was interesting while he was talking and I enjoyed the fact that he so obviously enjoyed what he was doing.

From there I mostly just ambled around, watching a lady blowing a glass bead and then a marble; watched a lady making a quilt, learned a bit about early printing press work and moseyed around the herb garden. The most interesting store I wondered into was the broom making shop.  There were all kinds of hand-made brooms in a bunch of different colors. Most were functional, but a few were made just for show. Later in the day after reuniting with my girls, we bought one of the small “show” brooms and it is now hanging from a kitchen wall at home.

After making the rounds, I returned to catch another performance by Whoa Mule!. Different songs, different stories, different jokes so once again I really enjoyed it. After meeting up with Youngest-daughter and Mamma-woman, they informed me they were headed to the doll shop and then the sewing store so, being the sensitive totally secure in my manhood guy that I am, I said adios once again, found a place to get a coke, and sat under a shade tree by a pond with koi fish in it. In Japan, koi are considered symbols of good fortune or luck and are also associated with perseverance in adversity and strength of purpose. In Buddhism, koi represent courage. For a while I busied myself with rooting around in the flowers and bushes finding little bugs and a couple of caterpillars and fed them to the fish. I figured if I fed them, maybe some of that good fortune would come my way. They seemed about as grateful as a big goldfish can be I guess, but when I left I didn't really feel any luckier or more courageous.

I spotted a bumblebee on a flower close by so I unlimbered ye old camera and started trying to catch him in flight. Then I saw 2 bumblebees; then 3 and 4 and all of a sudden there were a BUNCH of bumblebees flying around these flowers. They didn’t seem to mind me taking pictures and never flew very close to me, but they didn’t exactly cooperate either.  I finally got tired of that pursuit and had a couple of pictures I was ok with so I walked on down the path to some more flowers and found a couple of really pretty butterflies. I took a couple of pictures then sat down on a rock and just watched them for a while. Whenever I see a butterfly, I think of “flutterby” and think that’s what they should have been named.

I finally spotted the Mamma-woman walking down a path without the girl child. She had gone to find a restroom. We walked around for a bit, but Youngest daughter didn't re-join us in what felt like the right amount of time. She didn't answer her phone when I called. I tried not to worry; she's a really good kid who almost always does the right thing. She knows about stranger danger and she's almost 13, old enough and big enough to put up enough of a fight or scream or something that good people would notice and hopefully come to her aid if an evil-doer grabbed her. We were in a fairly enclosed area with a number of people and park employees around so the rational part of me said don't be overly concerned just yet, but me the daddy was very concerned, radar on high alert, fight or flight was definitely in kill mode if some low-life has my baby. Mamma-woman and I split up to cover more ground. Within a couple of minutes, my heart beating like John Henry hammering a railroad spike, adrenaline pumping, confusion, anger, soul-crushing dread flooding every atom of my body, I headed back to the front of the park to the gift shop to alert the rangers that we have a child missing. I wanted everything locked down for 50 miles around; I wanted every Ranger here now scouring the park, I wanted helicopters, I wanted police, Highway Patrol, the FBI, SEAL Team 6, all of them here, now!

Pretty flutterby

What I got was Mamma-woman walking out of the building I was headed for telling me she had found her. The alarm bells in my head went mercifully silent; my fists unclenched; the adrenaline slowly calmed down, relief flooded in. The helicopters could go back to reporting on traffic, the police could go back to writing tickets and the SEALs could go back to killing those that need killing. Turned out when Youngest-daughter came out of the bathroom, she ran into a sweet older lady in period costume with a group of children and a few parents in tow who were headed to the auditorium to listen to stories and play a few old-timey games and the lady asked her if she wanted to come along. She tried to call us, but her phone battery was dead. She told herself we would come find her and it wouldn't be hard because the building was on the way out of the park.

When I saw her, she was perfectly safe, smiling and having a good time. I smiled at her and blew her a kiss. I took pictures. But once the activity was over, I made sure she came to realize the error of her choice. She doesn't know it, but if that's the worst choice she makes before making it out of her teenage years, I'll be one grateful and relieved Daddy.

Pensacola Then & Then

The original inhabitants of Pensacola Bay was a tribe of Native Americans known as Pensacola. Recorded history begins for the area when the first European explorers arrived in 1528 with the expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez and the 1539 expedition of Hernando de Soto. The first attempt at settlement came in 1559, but ended in disaster due to a hurricane, famine, and Indian attacks. The survivors deemed the site too dangerous to live there and returned to Mexico, leaving the area to the Indians for the next 139 years.

In 1698, the Spanish sent an expedition which built a presidio, Fort San Carlos de Austria (located a little east of present day site of Fort Barrancas). In 1722, another Spanish expedition came and built Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa (close to the current site of Fort Pickens). And in 1754, the 3rd and last settlement, Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola, was built where the current downtown historic district is located.

Sailboat in Pensacola Bay

For the next 217 years, other boring historical stuff happened, but then in 1971, the United States Navy sent me to live in Pensacola! White sand beaches to relax and play on every weekend, plenty of night life to be shared with friends, watching the Navy's Blue Angels practicing in the sky overhead while sitting on a patch of grass eating lunch several days each week, attending the Naval School of Photography (which I actually enjoyed), spending too little time with my wife and baby son and too much time carousing with my buddies. Lots of memories, lots of them good along with some regrets earned while growing up. I was young, full of energy, doing and seeing things I had never experienced before and so dumb I didn't know I was dumb. It was a sad day when I had to leave a year after arriving, but when you are a sailor and the Navy says go, you go.

Twenty years later and no longer married, my girlfriend and future new wife and I made a trip back. We didn't take the time to visit all the places of my memories. The beaches were still just as white and beautiful, the night life with attendant adult beverages was just as plentiful, and we were too busy making more good memories.

Flash forward to 1999 and once again I was in Pensacola, this time along with a wife and toddler daughter. As always, the beaches were still beautiful, the water was clear, and we had a very good time - different, but still good. There were sand castles to teach my youngest daughter to build, sea gulls to teach her to feed, sea shells to teach her to find. The strolls on the beach were much more leisurely due to waiting on tiny legs to walk or, most often, a squirming, laughing little girl to carry in Daddy's arms. And the rowdy night life and adult beverages were replaced with sitting on the dark, quiet beach watching the moon on the water.

Of course a lot of things had changed about Pensacola too. Time doesn't stand still. The population had doubled. There were many more hotels on the beach fronts and a lot more tall buildings in the city. Places I remembered as open fields were filled with homes. The trailer park with the single-wides for rent where I lived with my little family those many years ago was gone, replaced by an already aging used car lot, pawn shop, bail bond service, and a fast-food chicken place. None of the numerous bars and billiard places where I misspent some youth was still in business. The navy base now had a McDonalds and the old WWII wooden barracks my buddies had called home had been replaced with a modern, brick dormitory. One excellent change was the building of the Naval Air Museum on base, a most enjoyable and interesting addition.

Naval Air Museum

I was surprised by how much had changed over the years; so much change that I had a hard time recognizing much of anything. I didn't expect everything to be the same and we still had a great time even though it kind of bothered me to see such big changes. But then, I had changed a lot myself.




England Day 5

After 4 hours of sleep, I awoke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Small problem; it was 3:00 AM. I squished the pillow, I tossed and turned, I counted sheep and ex-girlfriends. Finally, with thoughts of a particularly boring and homely ex drifting around my head, I fell back asleep about 5:00. It was a good, deep sleep - until the alarm went off at 6:00. Bright-eye and bushy-tail was dead. But I managed a zombie walk into the shower and let the water bring me around.

Paddington Station

We made it to the station with a few minutes to spare and boarded the 7:01 train. We purchased a Family Pack, which allowed us to ride any train, subway, or bus all day. Cost 32.80 Pounds - about $52 in real money. After changing trains at Maidenhead, we made it to Paddington Station where we were to catch the tube that would stop at Buckingham Palace. It was then we discovered the Central Line, the one we needed, was "shut" all weekend for repair work. Fortunately, the wife figured out an alternative way and after several more rides, we emerged above ground at The Green Park.

After walking a short distance through the park, there it was, Buckingham Palace - and about 30,000 people! We walked up as close as we could get, but were stopped about 100 yards away and across a road with cars whizzing by. The road was now roped off to pedestrians so we found a little open spot "on the front row" and looked around. After a while when nothing was happening we thought we had missed the Changing of the Guard ceremony so we were about to leave, but first I brought out my Nikon 300MM lens and took a few photos. Then we heard someone say the ceremony was about to start and would come by right in front of us. The crowd was rather large behind us by then and we had to fight off one particularly determined Indian lady who tried to push her way into our spot. I couldn't believe this "lady." She stepped on my toes twice, kept bumping into me much firmer than if it was by accident and eventually pushed her arm in front of me and tried to force me to get behind her. Several times while she was doing all of this I tried to politely get her to stop by saying, "Excuse me" and "Ma'am, please stop." Nothing worked. I finally grabbed her by the shoulder, got in her face and forcefully told her to back off. She retreated and the next time I looked over she was gone.



Changing of the Guards ceremony at
Buckingham Palace

The ceremony itself turned out to be a bit anti-climatic. Guards on horses rode in, the band marched in, guys on foot marched in, the band marched out, guys on horses rode out, and men on foot marched out. End of ceremony. Glad we got to see it so we can say we did, but it didn't live up to the expectations in my mind.

After it was over, we saw Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, then headed toward the London Eye, a 443 foot Ferris wheel located on the banks of the River Thames. The wife had purchased tickets the night before so we wouldn't have to wait in line. Good thing as there were about 1,000 people waiting to buy tickets and only about 100 in the pre-purchased que. After getting to the counter, they didn't have a record of our purchase. I was having rather unkind thoughts as I contemplated standing in the ticket line which now had about 2,000 people in it, but the helpful clerk agreed to let us buy our tickets from him. We found out later the credit card the wife used had been frozen for fraud alert. Somebody in London was trying to use her credit card! A quick call to let them know it's us trying to use our card solved that problem.

Big Ben from ground level.

After an interesting 3-D show and waiting in another long line, we boarded the ride. Pretty darn cool ride. All of London was laid out in front of us. I didn't ask the wife how much it cost and still don't know, but it was probably worth it.

From there, it was a short walk to catch the boat for a River Thames cruise. I really enjoyed that also. The guide was informative and amusing as we passed by many landmarks and under numerous famous bridges.

Big Ben, London and River Thames from the
top of the London Eye.

By now it was long past lunch and the youngest daughter was allegedly about to die of hunger. As we walked the streets, what to our wandering eyes did appear? McDonalds! Since youngest daughter has single-handedly kept afloat McDonalds stock, there was no way we were getting around it. And to show how bland I found the food over there, that Big Mac was the best burger I had the whole time. Sad.

We hopped a double-decker bus and took a tour of London. It wasn't as good as the river cruise because it just had a rather bland, recorded spiel describing the famous sites, but we did manage to get upper, open-air seats and it was fun seeing buildings and places I had heard about over the years. We stopped at a couple of places to look around and then just hopped on the next bus since they come around about every 15 minutes. Nice.

Tower Bridge over the River Thames on a
very overcast day.

We hopped off the bus to visit the Tower of London and found that it's a 2 - 3 hour tour and was past the time they let anybody in. So we saved that for the next day and just walked around the outside walls. It was getting dark and we were tired from all of the walking and standing in queues so we headed to the subway for the trip back. Of course the map we had wasn't detailed to the individual street level so there were several false starts and standing around street intersections trying to figure out where the heck we were. During our little unintended walking tour, we came across the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Youngest daughter was very excited as she is a big fan. Unfortunately, it was closed. So was the official London Beetles Store across the street. More for tomorrow.

We finally made it back to Marlow on the 11:01 PM train and fell in bed about 12:15. Set the alarm for 6:00 again and looked forward to another day of adventure in London. And for the first time since arriving, I slept soundly and all the way through the night. Blissful.