Monday, November 30, 2015

My Counter Floweth Over

We've spent the last five days in a hotel.  We delivered a load the day before Thanksgiving and with the slow freight and the holiday, we knew we wouldn't be working so we decided to rent a car and get a room.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Golden Corral - which was just eh, with no leftovers, which is the worst part about Thanksgiving on the road - then on Black Friday avoided the stores like the plague, because, well, that's just crazy, but the next day we did hit Best Buy to look at a new laptop and iPad for me.  I saw the iPad Pro, which is huge, I actually think it's too big, then we went to Big Lots to get Christmas decorations for the truck, did some laundry, had dinner out, then headed back to the hotel.

Yesterday morning we checked out, went for lunch, returned the rental car, then hit the grocery store to restock the truck for the week. You can see part of our bounty above. I have lot of pantry space in the truck, but the fridge and freezer space is more limited than I'd like. I always have to get real creative when I shove stuff in there. I don't even let Ed touch anything because it's my own personal Jenga, one wrong move and everything will come tumbling out.

We will be looking for a load this week, although freight has been pretty slow so I'm not sure what the outcome will be.  We also need to get a 10,000 hour service on our generator so hopefully we'll find a place along the way to do that, too.

Tomorrow is the first of December, can you believe it?? That means it's a little over three weeks until Christmas. Man, where has the year gone?

Well, it's a good thing we stocked up on food because I'm going to need the nourishment to start Christmas shopping!




~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: Breakfast Served All Day
2013: A Peek At Mission Learning
2012: Pretty Yung Ting
2011: How To Get Kids To Eat Vegetables
2010: Back In The Saddle
2009: Logging Lots Of Miles
2008: Apples, Fudge And Homemade Jam
2007: Eddie Hick Runs Deep Friday
2006: If You Can’t Make It To France
2005: I’m Sleeping With Someone New

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Table For Two, Table With View

After a day of driving around looking at waterfront property, Ed and I had dinner at Bubba's Seafood Restaurant & Crabhouse in Virginia Beach, Virginia where the steady flow of boat traffic kept the scenery interesting.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: 
Ready For The Himalayas

2013: The Lady In 7A
2012: No, Not Harry Potter. GRACE Potter.
2011:
UPSide Down

2010: Gucci, Gucci, Gu
2009: Big Trucks + TV = Big Truck TV
2008: Insane In The Holiday Brain
2007: Umbrella-ella-ella-ella
2006: Dress Code
2005: And It Begins…

Saturday, November 28, 2015

When Working For Peanuts Pays Off

The Planters Peanut headquarters in Suffolk, Virginia
Whenever we explore a new area I get online and find out what I can about the place - first Wikipedia, then the town/city/area website if they have one.  I like to know if there's anything I should know about, anything I should see, an historical fact I wasn't aware of and should know.

When we found ourselves in Suffolk, Virginia, I did the same thing.  We've driven through there many times because it's a truck route we often use to and from the Norfolk area, but we've never actually explored it. So when I did some Googling and discovered that Suffolk was the birthplace of Mr. Peanut, the mascot of Planters Peanuts, I knew I had to find him.

I loved the surprise even more when I learned that the founder of the Planters Peanut Company was Italian immigrant Amedeo Obici (Ah-may-day-o O-bee-chee).  Born in Oderzo, Veneto, Italy, he came to the United States in 1889, not speaking a word of English, first landing in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

It was there that he learned about roasting peanuts from his future wife's family, which inspired him to start his own peanut cart. Because roasters were expensive, he made his own from parts he found at a local junkyard, and started selling peanuts from his own cart.  In 1906, he founded his company and within 10 years, had sales in excess of one million dollars!

He and his wife Louise eventually moved to Suffolk, Virginia - the "Peanut Capital of the World" - where he built his new processing plant, which we visited thinking we'd find Mr. Peanut and peanut goodness. We did not.  The security guards directed us downtown to find the statue and the Planters Peanut store.

The Planters Peanut Center has been in business since 1967 and is located in downtown Suffolk and is a nice little window into peanut history.  

The store is tiny, but has a nostalgic feel to it.  There's information about peanuts on the walls, brochures about peanuts, staff who know things about peanuts you never thought you needed to know, and a little poster showing the progression of Mr. Peanut.

An additional fun fact - Mr. Peanut was the brainchild of another Italian, Antonio Gentile. Born in Philadelphia to Italian immigrant parents and living in Suffolk, he submitted his drawings to a contest Planters Nut and Chocolate Company ran when looking for trademark ideas. He won the contest, pocketing a $5 prize.

They roast peanuts daily in the store, using a 1936-model peanut roaster. The bag of peanuts we bought were still warm!

In 1924, Amedeo and Louise Obici purchased the 253 acre Bay Point Farm which is located on the Nansemond River. The Obici House still stands today and is now a wedding venue, meeting space, and the location of the Pro Shop and Bar & Grill for the Sleepy Hole Golf Course.

You can see photos of the interior of the Obici House here

The Obici House and the Bay Point Farm property is now owned by the City of Suffolk and is listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

You'll also see the Obici name around town.  After her death, Amedeo wanted to create a lasting memorial for his wife so he named a hospital after her - the Louise Obici Memorial Hospital, which is now known as Sentara Obici Hospital.

In addition to the little Mr. Peanut statues lining the fence at the plant, and the one that stands in front of The Obici House, there's also the iconic peanut in a top hat located in downtown Suffolk.  I happen to think the peanut statues are a little small considering the fame of Mr. Peanut and the reach of the Planters Peanut Company (I don't remember any peanuts other than Planters in my life), but he's there if you want to see him in all of his 3-foot glory.

And if you happen to be in Oderzo, Italy, Suffolk's sister city and the birthplace of Amedeo Obici, you'll see another statue displayed there.

It was a gift from Planters.  A reminder that working for peanuts can eventually make a person - an immigrant, at that - a huge success!




~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: Making Magic With Dough
2013: I'm Sure He Was Delicious
2012: Drowning My Sorrows In Mountain Dew
2011: Red Hair At Night, Truckers Delight. Red Hair At Morning, Truckers Warning.

2010: Rok New York
2009: South Dakota Sky
2008: Nutty Friday
2007: It’s Not So Much Fun To Roll Out Your Best Sales Schpiel On A Mute
2006: Forced Happiness
2005: Firestarter

Friday, November 27, 2015

Cured In Smithfield

Took a ride to Smithfield, Virginia today.  This is an old abandoned house we passed along the way.

Smithfield is located about 30 miles west of Norfolk, and is famous for the curing and production of Smithfield Ham. The curing process was derived from a process Native American taught settlers five centuries ago.

The company, Smithfield Foods, raises 12 million and processes 20 million hogs annually.  They are the largest pork processor and hog producer in the world. To be called a "Smithfield Ham", certain requirements - defined in a statute in 1926 passed by the Virginia General Assembly - have to be adhered to.  One of them is that it be processed within the town limits of Smithfield.

Smithfield Foods was purchased in 2013  for $7.1 billion by a Chinese firm, which caused quite a bit of snorting and squealing in the community and elsewhere.  It was the largest-ever Chinese acquisition of an American company. The Chinese now own 1 in 4 pigs raised in the U.S.

We didn't see, hear, or smell any pigs while in Smithfield, but we did take a ride through the company headquarters.  The town sits on the Pagan River, is super cute, has lots of little shops along Main Street, and several historic buildings worth a look.

And remember...in the south, everything's got a little pig hidden in it somewhere.  Can't even have a vegetable without a little ham hock thrown in.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: Happy Thanksgiving!
2013: Football Eyes In A Pear Head
2012: Snack Attack
2011: Last Full Day Of Freedom
2010: Keyed Up
2009: The Ultimate Mrs.
2008: Happy Thanksgiving
2007: The Kind Of Contraction That Produces A Laugh, Not A Baby
2006: Wanderlust Officially Approved
2005: The Eye Of The Beholder

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Monday, November 23, 2015

Annoying People For Eight Hundred, Alex

Ed and I love to watch Jeopardy!  It's fun and it makes me realize, simultaneously, how much I know, and how much I don't know.  I'm a genius for a minute and then I'm like, "This stuff happened in the world?  How did I not know about that?"

Today I almost couldn't finish watching the show - and it's only 30 minutes long - because of contestant Laura Ashby, a lawyer from Atlanta. Laura, known on Twitter as #JeopardyLaura, has such an incredibly annoying affectation to her voice, she was almost unwatchable.


I found this video of her performance. It's short, but you can definitely hear her dragging out the last letter of the word. She did it with numbers too, "Cake Design, one thousaaaaaaaaaand."


She did this throughout the entire show. See another short compilation of video clips here.

I went online to find more about her and found that not only were other people commenting on her voice, but there's a Reddit page of people who hate it.  Apparently, this is her second appearance on the show and regular watchers were rooting for her to lose just so they wouldn't have to listen to her on another episode.  So much for that.

This woman is a lawyer.  She went to Yale. I'm sure she's very smart, but I couldn't imagine having to work with her or argue a case against her. I really think I'd have to leave the job if I had to listen to her all day.  I just couldn't do it.

I actually thought she sounded very much like Jill Abramson, the former Executive Editor of the New York Times, who I heard being interviewed a few years ago on Alec Baldwin's show, Here's The Thing.  I almost couldn't get through the interview because of her voice, but at the same time it interested me and repelled me, so I had to keep listening. If she was doing it to distract or annoy, it was working.

Laura's voice has an air of pretension to it, like AAbramson's but she didn't do it all the time, which was odd.  If it's there, it should be there all the time. It's rich girl mixed with valley girl. Uptalk and Vocal Fry. It's not southern as we know Atlanta to be, but it's definitely affectation, maybe from her Yale days. I honestly couldn't imagine being her friend or married to her (she is actually married) and this manner of speaking not bothering me. Of course, as my grandfather used to say, "There's an ass for every seat." I'm sure I am just annoying to some people as she is to me.

Except I couldn't be.  Could I?  No.  Please tell me I'm not. Wait...I'm asking Ed right now.


Anyway, while I was watching, I tweeted. And it was probably my most awesome Tweet ever as far as likes and retweets go.  I got a celebrity retweet!!  OK, so it came from Ellen Cleghorne, an SNL cast member from the early nineties, but still.


As soon as I saw the name, I knew it was someone famous.  It rang a bell but I couldn't place her.  So I Googled her and as soon as I saw her face, I knew exactly who it was. The chick from Saturday Night Live!

The worst thing about this episode?  I can't unhear #JeopardyLaura's voice. In fact, I'm talking like her right nowwww.  Ed is getting annoyed. I keep playing the clip, too.  It's like a bad accident, I can't look away. And I just keep imagining her at her day job, being a lawyer, annoying the court.

As I typed that, I just had a thought.  If you're a Serial fan, she might even remind you a little of Adnan Syed's lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, who spoke exactly the same way.

Weirrrrrddddd.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: Eddie Needs A New Tuque
2013: Quickly Losing Count
2012: Opposites Don't Always Attract
2011: Shit Eating Grins. And Giggles. And Shits And Giggles.
2010: Waiting It Out
2009: My Life According To Sugarland
2008: EPCOT On Fire
2007: Eddie Full Of Turkey Friday
2006: Crouching Poultry, Hidden Turkey
2005: Is It Really A Sandwich?

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Self Service


I caught part of the red carpet before the American Music Awards (which I don't watch) today and I saw Hailee Steinfeld talking about her new song, "Love Myself".  Even though I saw her in Pitch Perfect 2, I had no idea she was an actual recording artist.  She's really not bad, and I'm totally diggin' the song. It's catchy.

#LOVEMYSELF




~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: Lube 2
2013: Making Mud For The Two Wheelers
2012: Have A Delicious Thanksgiving!
2011: The Boneyard Of The 309th
2010: These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things
2009: I’m Only Interested In Breasts
2008: What Price Fun?
2007: True Blue
2006: Hitchcockesque
2005: The Borscht Belt

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Birdwatching Saturday

We've been sitting around for a few days now. First, we were in a Walmart parking lot that offers truck parking near our delivery location, then we went to one of our "secret" spots (no neighbors, screaming fast internet), then two nights in a no-name truck stop, and now we're at a Love's.

Today we spent some time birdwatching. We really didn't have a choice since the birds essentially swarmed most of the trucks in the lot.  Sitting on hoods, perched on hood mirrors, they were everywhere.

I decided to feed them.  I had some kettle corn in the truck that had gone stale because I wasn't eating it and thought it'd be the perfect treat for the birds milling around. They loved it.

Based on my research, and the pale yellow eyes, I'm pretty sure these birds are Great-Tailed Grackles
They are iridescent black, and in certain light you can definitely see the greens, blue, and violets in their feathers.  The females were around too, but they're not as pretty - boring brown and half the size of these birds - so I didn't take any pictures of them.
Here's a view from the rear. This tail and coloring definitely seems to match the definition of the Great-Tailed Grackle.
They're obviously used to being around people because they weren't afraid of our voices, or the trucks rolling by. They ate the popcorn out of my hand!
Here are a few hanging out on the trucks parked next to us. 
Once the popcorn was gone, the appeal for me faded. The birds still hung around and hopped all over the truck, I could hear them on the roof of the sleeper.

So there you go, one of the more lame things we do with our down time.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: 
Flashback Friday
2013: The Best Kind Of Mob

Friday, November 20, 2015

Delving Deep Into The Nefarious Actions Of A Truck Driver

“…it's a part of an officer's job to enforce the rules and regulations of the road, and that applies to all. Not only that, but crimes are being committed by some operators of these big rigs. Some are involved in narcotics, contraband smuggling, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, and a number of other crimes that require law enforcement action.”

How's that for a second paragraph? They don’t even get into the Stopping Big Rigs article before they say that truckers are involved in some of the more egregious crimes in society today. I’m surprised they didn’t add murder and pedophilia to the list.

Let’s break it down.


No wonder they're scared to approach us.  Once they overcome the fear of the big bad trucker - and think of us as just a "big car" - the first hurdle they have to cross is asking the driver of the "big car" for their license and registration. There’s a scary task.

It seems the reason they're intimidated is because they are anticipating slight of hand and tomfoolery when we hand them a binder with our pertinent papers. 
If a trucker is handing an officer scraps of paper, that’s one thing, but because we’re responsible for keeping track of and maintaining SO MANY PIECES OF PAPER, we think a binder seems like a pretty reasonable solution to keeping them organized. I'm surprised they don't agree.

I'm not sure who's handing law enforcement entire binders, but if a driver does happen to hand them a night neat package of papers tied with a bow, it's not because we’re trying to confuse them. It's not a diversion tactic, it's what responsible drivers do. We can show them anything they need or ask for, but it would be helpful if they actually knew what they were looking for and looking at, since that’s their job.  


Perhaps law enforcement isn’t aware of all the paperwork that’s required to do this job. It’s not just license, registration, and proof of insurance. Those are the basics anyone needs to carry to operate a motor vehicle, but as the article said, what we're hauling depends on what paperwork goes along with the load. That documentation is just the beginning, they also usually check what goes ON the truck - IFTA stickers, inspection stickers, DOT numbers, etc. Being polite to the officer is the best way to handle a traffic stop, and we do know that they often have no idea what to ask for, but it's not our job to do their job. 


“Once you have the proper paperwork in hand you can issue a citation for violations or you can delve a little deeper if you want to.”


Oh, I love that line.  You know what that sounds like to me? That sounds like code, the sort of code every industry uses to not let anyone else know what they're up to. In this case, it sounds like “delving a little deeper” means to look for stuff they can write us up for - legal or not.  You know, maybe something that isn't really a big deal but that will generate revenue for their department. After all, they've got to make the big scary task of pulling an intimidating vehicle over on the side of the road worth their while.

As for the logbook, many law enforcement officers don't even know what they're looking at. I got pulled over once on the side of the road in south Texas - reaallllly south, border south - and told them my log was on my laptop. First, the guy was more interested in what was inside my "really cool, big sleeper", but when I showed the officer the current log on the laptop, he gave it a cursory glance, waved his hand and said it was fine.  It was obvious he had no idea what he was looking at.


“Look for missing hours at a time and unusual layovers in source cities for narcotics like Los Angeles, New York City, or Phoenix.”

Seriously?? This is truly laughable. I can tell you right now, we have hundreds of hours that have gone missing in all of those cities. And layovers that have lasted anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. Are they serious?? We’re truck drivers. That’s the nature of our work. And FYI, Mr. Police Officer, you're just as likely to find drugs in non-source cities - cocaine in Columbus, heroin in Dayton, meth in Tulsa.  And millions of truckers have missing hours in those cities, too.  


“See if his fuel receipts match the locations in his logbook.”


First, if you pay cash, you have no record (like your name on a credit card slip) of getting fuel, where it was bought, or what time you bought it. Second, if you don’t keep your fuel receipts in the truck - like we don’t - you won't have any fuel receipts to show anyone. And last, every major truck stop that I’m aware of, doesn't even print times on the fuel receipts, so the locations can match but times may not.

In addition, a lot of the truck stops have a desire to decrease the mounds of paper they get buried under and will even offer to email the receipt to you. Many drivers record the information at the time of fueling and then download the transactions from Comdata every month. Yes, there are drivers that don't properly maintain their log, but you'd have to be a real fool to not log your fuel if you’re keeping the receipt with time and location printed on it, in the truck with you. 


Let me also ad that many of these law enforcement officials don’t know how many gallons our tanks hold or how far we can go on the fuel that fills those tanks. It’s likely the math would take them more time than they’d be willing to spend to figure out if we could conceivably get from Point A on the receipt to Point B where they pulled us over, on the amount of fuel that we bought.


"All big rigs…carry shipping papers or what’s called a bill of lading with them."


Sometimes we don't even get a bill of lading. What we most often get is an email containing the information we need on the shipment. I keep a copy of that on my computer and print the bills - that I have to create myself - when necessary. The regulations (49 CFR 375.505) don't specifically say you must carry a printed bill of lading when hauling regular freight, although it's true that most people do. HazMat's a different story, with that you need all kinds of documentation kept in a certain order in an easily accessible location, but regular 'ol freight? Nope, not required.  

“Look for handwritten bills of lading or handwritten corrections. Because everything is computerized these days this could be a sign of something suspicious.”

So many shippers are so sloppy and unorganized, that many drivers are given blank bills by their carriers that need to be filled out because the shippers don't provide them. And not everyone has the ability to make a computer generated bill like I do, so they write them out by hand, old school trucker style. Also, handwritten corrections might be made because someone made an error in the name of the item being shipped, or the count of the items being shipped, or the address the items are being shipped to. There's nothing suspicious about handwritten bills.

Sure, there are suspicious behaviors to keep an eye out for – the gold chains are a little odd - but handwritten bills, Hawaiian shirts, Bermuda shorts, and flip-flops aren’t necessarily the best indicators of truckers hauling blow. It is true that the stereotypical trucker has a certain “look”, but this is 2015 and we have a new crop of young drivers. There are guys out here in shorts and flip-flops, track pants and t-shirts, pajama pants and slip-on shoes, much to the chagrin of the old timers whose uniform was jeans, boots, snap-button cowboy shirts and trucker hats. If not looking, dressing, or acting “like a trucker” is a red flag to law enforcement, then I’m in a shitload of trouble.


“Don’t be alarmed if the driver doesn’t immediately pull over. The driver is more aware of his vehicle’s peculiarities than you are.”


This is true, we try to look for the best and safest places to pull over, but when I see some of the places trucks are stopped, I think they may have been intimidated by a law enforcement officer to pull over sooner than is safe for them to do so.


I’m glad to read that the officers understand most of us are hardworking souls, and I do agree that drivers do commit traffic infractions and get involved in criminal activity, but the tone of this piece suggests that we are hiding our activities – by handing an officer a binder, hanging out for days in big cities, or having handwritten bills.

And I'm concerned about their delving.





~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: Delivering In The District

2013: Loving What's On The Inside
2012: When You Walk Like That, Talk Like That, Look Like That...
2011: Like And Loathing In Las Vegas
2010: Get Fresh With Me…Please!
2009: In The Blink Of An Eye
2008: Duck, Duck, Drake
2007: The Lady And Sons
2006: The Department Of Mindless Vegetables
2005: Ooo Rah Johnny Cash!

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Coastal Trees

Ed took a photo of a few trees on the North Carolina coast just before sunset.  I like the way the sky slightly goes from baby blue to baby pink as it gets closer to the tree line.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: BuffaSNOW
2013: The White Dove Of The Desert
2012: A Beautiful Listen
2011: The Music Of The Night
2010: There’s No Better Place On Earth
2009: Getting Tanked In Al-Nahar
2008: Bracing For A World Of Mouse Ears
2007: At Least He’s Up Front About It
2006: Aten HUT!!
2005: Be The Player

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Not Everything Is Lost

source

After learning my flight was detained 4 hours,
I heard the announcement:
If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic,
Please come to the gate immediately.

Well—one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
Just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.
Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her
Problem? we told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she
Did this.

I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick,
Sho bit se-wee?

The minute she heard any words she knew—however poorly used—
She stopped crying.

She thought our flight had been canceled entirely.
She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
Following day. I said no, no, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late,

Who is picking you up? Let’s call him and tell him.
We called her son and I spoke with him in English.
I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and
Would ride next to her—Southwest.

She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.

Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and
Found out of course they had ten shared friends.

Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.

She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life. Answering
Questions.

She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies—little powdered
Sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts—out of her bag—
And was offering them to all the women at the gate.

To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a
Sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the traveler from California,
The lovely woman from Laredo—we were all covered with the same
Powdered sugar. And smiling. There are no better cookies.

And then the airline broke out the free beverages from huge coolers—
Non-alcoholic—and the two little girls for our flight, one African
American, one Mexican American—ran around serving us all apple juice
And lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.

And I noticed my new best friend—by now we were holding hands—
Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,

With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always
Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought,
This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.

Not a single person in this gate—once the crying of confusion stopped
—has seemed apprehensive about any other person.

They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can still happen anywhere.

Not everything is lost.

~ Naomi Shihab Nye, b. 1952

---

My father made a version of this cookie, not the stuffed ones but walnut ones.  He called them Walnut Crescent Cookies.  They're delicate and buttery and melt on your tongue. He rolled each one by hand, bending them into teeny little crescents, then dusted them with powdered sugar. I think I'll be making them for Christmas.

And celebrating that not everything is lost.




~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014:
Hairspray Is Gross

2013: Breathing Retro Life Into The West End Of A Miracle Mile
2012: A Little Bit Of Wyoming
2011:
A Franchophile’s Paradise

2010: 10 Things I Learned On My Vacation In Italy
2009: A Beautiful Deep Fried Pocket Of Cornmeal Dough. Or, My Mom.
2008: A Foxy Furry Little Friend
2007: The One That Got Away
2006: Don’t We All?
2005: Miss Singular

Monday, November 16, 2015

The Birthplace Of The King

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in this house - 306 Old Saltillo Road (now called 306 Elvis Presley Drive) - in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935 at 4:35 am. 
It's a small, two-room shotgun style house built by his father, Vernon, grandfather, and uncle with $180 Vernon borrowed from his employer. You can see the layout here. When Vernon could no longer make the payments on the house, they had to move.

In 1948, when Elvis was 13 years old, his family moved to Memphis. That's where he launched his music career from, in 1954.

That's also where he died in 1977, at 42 years old, pronounced dead at a local hospital after being found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of Graceland, his last and most famous home.


His birthplace home stands in its original place and the grounds surrounding it are part of The Elvis Presley Birthplace Museum and Chapel

There's a museum, the actual church he attended as a child, a bronze statue of Elvis at 13 years old, the "Walk of Life" with facts about each year he lived in Tupelo, and more.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: 
A Whole Big Lot Of Love

2013: When A Pig Wraps Himself Around A Chicken Deliciousness Ensues
2012: Let The Stockpiling Begin
2011: From The Island To The Desert
2010: The Town I Was Dying To See
2009: Gleaming Curve
2008: Color Me Casual
2007: Eddie Goes Running Friday
2006: Forever Yours
2005: Home Away From Home