Tennessee Holiday Pictures

As promised a week ago (sorry English family), here's some pictures from our Tennessee holiday. As soon as we got back I had a work event in Cincinnati so I've not had time to write much. I hope captions are good enough for now :)

Nan & boys. She kept them amused for 12 hours and deserves a BIG trophy.

Our cabin. Air conditioned with full kitchen and bath. I'm too old and knackered to crawl round on my knees in a tent for a week! Plus, we had a fridge for the wine :) 

Danny, Yogi and cool dude Jack

Danny on the peddle cars

Jack on peddle cars.  The blue inflatable water slide was a major source of amusement for all of us.
My descents were erm,  unladylike at best! 

8 hours of swimming, sliding & bouncing

Father's Day bedtime story "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus!"  

Jack at Gracelands

Luke at Gracelands

How handsome was he!

Gracelands

Meditation Garden at Gracelands

Jack at Gracelands

Luke at Elvis's car museum. 

Don't step on my blue suede shoes

Hay ride with Yogi.  Danny wasn't touching that experience with a barge-pole! 

Boogie on down on Beale Street

Tupelo, Mississippi

Elvis at 13

His dad Vernon paid $180  for materials to build this two-room cabin with no water or electric, but it got re-possessed when Elvis was three and they moved out (Vernon had just spent 8 months in prison for writing a bad check for $4). Elvis bought this house back the same time he bought Gracelands and visited it often.
One month before he died he spent an hour alone inside. 

At Tupelo

Elvis's mum Gladys bought him his first guitar from here for $7 as a birthday present.
He wanted a  bb gun. Good choice Gladys! 

Danny doing his thing

Luke finally conqueres the piranha

Jack & Danny made friends with two boys Ashton (10)  & Luke (8)  and the four of them were thick as thieves every day, well into the night. The two boys were from South Dakota and just great lads - well mannered and friendly. The four of them reminded me on The Goonies - only they were off exploring for the ghost cat with a flashlight each night.

The King

The Mighty Mississippi

The Peabody Hotel, Memphis

Duck parade at The Peabody

Danny & his dad on Beale St.

Jack & his mum on Beale St.

Captured on Beale St. - the most luxurious transportation for Pugs I have ever seen.

Bike night on Beale St. 

In Nashville. My favourite holiday picture

Jack - Hello Moose!
Danny - Pow pow pow!

At Johnny Cash & June Carter's house in Hendersonville, just north of Nashville. They lived there 35 years, from 1968 to 2003. Anyone who's ever watched "Walk The Line" would get how special this place is.
The mailbox was empty by the way  ;)

It's such a nostalgic place and so sad that it burned down in 2007.
We spent a long while there, outside the wood and stone wall fence. It was deserted and felt like a ghost town, but had signs up  saying security cameras were watching, so we resisted jumping over. 

The Cash/Carter property and the ranch house over the street (his mum's house where he spent his last days) are both for sale.  I should probably buy lottery tickets. 

Johnny Cash & June Carter's gravesite at the Memorial Gardens in Hendersonville.
The cemetary also has the graves of all the Carter family, the Cash family, and Luther Perkins

Craig took his family to The Grand Ole Opry

So there you are. A fabulous holiday. I wish I had photos of the fantastic fun we had on the blue water slide and of Luke at Sun Studios and the Gibson guitar factory. Also, Luke got to go up on stage at the Nashville Palace and played his own song one night but we had already gone back to the cabin. Doh! How cool was that. There's still lots to do with the family so I'll be posting again. And I am currently nurtering about 6 little Mimosa trees that I took from the perimeter of Johnny Cash's garden. If I can have a tree in my garden, that came from his garden, then I'm going to be one very happy woman.