Day 42 - Tampa

Tampa - Definitely a bit cooler than Orlando.  Will be here for a week.  I think I will be ending this blog here.  A new blog next week, when we go to celebrate our 35th Wedding Anniversary in GREECE !!!

Some Amazing evening colors in the Tampa Sky  We were having tea sitting on the deck in the back of our rental..

A closer shot

Day 41 - Orlando to Tampa

Orlando - Pleasantly warm (bordering hot).  After a couple of down days, driving to Tampa today.

Day 38 - Off to Orlando

Milder day, but still hot.  Took a late check out and started out around 12:30pm.  Stopped at West Jacksonville Costco for gas (the Costco on the East does not have gas).  Reached Orlando around 5:30pm. 

Next couple of days in Orlando.  For the next week or so we will be taking a break from sightseeing and tourism.

Day 37 - Savannah

Very hot & humid.  Drove downtown and parked - very reasonable rates $1/hour.  Savannah has free bus rides in the downtown area.  We hopped on one of them and went to the waterfront area.  Savannah has free ferry rides too! So we took one for a round trip on the river - City Hall to Convention Center to Waving Girl Landing and back.  Nice way to get some good pictures.  We then had lunch and took the bus to Forsyth Park.  Walked in the park sometime and went to enjoy ice cream at Leopald's.  This historic ice cream place was established in 1919 by three Leopald brothers, and is now owned by their heir Stratton Leopald, who is also a Hollywood film producer, and was involved in the production of several famous movies like Mission Impossible III, Sum of all Fears, etc.  The Ice Cream Parlor has lots of Hollywood memorabilia.   Concluded our day by returning back to the hotel.

Random car parked in Savannah

City Hall with the Gold Plated Dome

Riverboat used for Lunch and Dinner Cruises on the Savannah River

Talmadge Memorial Bridge & Savannah Convention Center 

Lunch! Shrimp & Grits and Cheeseburger

Mission Impossible III Memorabilia

Some filming equipment on display

Day 36 - To Savannah via Hilton Head

Charleston - Hot humid day.  Filled up gas at Costco - lowest price I have paid so far $2.38, and off to Hilton Head.  Routed via back roads and got to see some wonderful southern style colonial homes.  At Hilton Head, after lunch headed off to the beach.  Atlantic Ocean on Day 36!

Drove to Harbor Town Pier to see the lighthouse, spent a little time there and then left for Savannah.

At the Atlantic shore in Hilton Head

Getting my feet wet in the Atlantic Ocean

Hilton Head Harbor Town Lighthouse

Hilton Head Harbor Pier

The Talmadge Memorial Bridge leading into Savannah

Day 35 - Boone Hall Plantation

Charleston - Very warm day. Visited the Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens.  It's one of America's oldest working plantations, with continuous agricultural activity from 1680's.  Rice, Indigo & Cotton were the main crops, later diversifying into Pecans with a side industry of Brick making.  At it's peak it had about 4,800 acres.  Now it's a little over 780 acres and still grows cotton, pecans, vegetables,etc.

We had a tractor-pulled open air-wagon tour of the property and then attended presentations on the history of the place and the Gullah culture.  The Gullah word is believed to have been derived from the word Angola, the place from where majority of the slaves that worked in this area came from.  After the presentations we had a tour of the main house, which was rebuilt in 1935 in "antebellum-style", an European style and architecture of the 1900's.  We then strolled through "Slave Street" - a row of still standing slave cabins (only 9 of them left) - and the gardens, before returning back to the hotel.

Avenue of the Oaks - Driveway to the Boone Hall Mansion

The Boone Hall Mansion

The smokehouse - meat used to be salted and smoked here to preserve it (No refrigeration in those days)

Cotton field

A slave cabin

Day 34 - Off to Charleston, SC

Greensboro - Good brunch with Nicole & Terry and they drove us around a bit of Greensboro, showing us some nice localities.
We started towards Charleston, SC, around 1pm, and drove straight to downtown to see the Rainbow Row - a line of houses painted in pastel colors.  Then parked car and walked around the waterfront park, visiting the pineapple fountain.
Had dinner at Fleet Landing Restaurant & Bar and checked into the hotel for the night.

Rainbow Row

Waterfront Park Fountain

Pineapple Fountain

The Arthur Ravenel Bridge

At the Waterfront

Day 33 - Greensboro

No plans for today - just chilling in Greensboro

Day 32 - Greensboro

Beautiful sunny day after the hurricane/tropical storm Michael passed through yesterday.  Looking at the skies, no one can ever say that a hurricane passed through yesterday.  We arrived on its heels, with most places out of power and downed trees.  No cell service either. Power and cell service at Madhu's friend's place was restored a couple of hours after our arrival. 

Came across something amazing in their house - an original bill for legal services rendered in South Africa from Mahatma Gandhi!  Was from one of their ancestors.

Went out for an Indian lunch buffet at Taaza, and surprisingly, every item was tasty and delicious.  I believe they have kept up the standard from the time they opened.  After lunch we went on a drive to Grandfather Mountain - one of North Carolina's most popular spot.  About a 3 hour drive and the views were fantastic.  Walked across the "Mile High Bridge".

The bill for legal services from Mahatma Gandhi

Madhu and her friend Nicole in front of Nicole's house

A view from Grandfather Mountain

The Mile High Swinging Bridge at Grandfather Mountain

Day 31 - To Greensboro, NC

Newport - Michael hit the coast yesterday and has moved quickly along - today it's crossing the Carolina's.  We'll be following it, and by starting late in the day (after 12pm), we hope to just get the rain not the storm.  It should be off the Carolina's (at least Greensboro) by the time we reach there.

Day 30 - Off to Newport, TN

Night Halt at Newport, TN on way to Greensboro

Day 29 - RCA StudioB & Parthenon

Nashville - Pleasant day.  Drove over to Downtown Nashville Music Center for the tour to the famous RCA StudioB where hundreds of Platinum and Gold hits were recorded by top artists like Elvis, Dolly Parton, Chet Atkins, Fats Domingo, etc. Fantastic tour - listened to some great classics in the studio.

Next we had High Tea at "The Cafe at Thistle", filled up on gas at Costco (where else) and drove over to Centennial Park to see the Parthenon and the statue of Athena.  This is an exact replica of the destroyed Greek Parthenon including the statue.  Fascinating history of how this was reconstructed from old pictures, sketches, etc from the period when the Parthenon in Greece was standing.

Entering the RCA StudioB

Recording room

Mixing room

Equipment on display

The singer's used to stand on the spot marked by the blue 'X' (lower left).  Room had 12 microphones to pick up sound

The Piano in the room on which Elvis and others played

Bridgestone Arena downtown Nashville

Music City Center downtown Nashville

Statue of Athena in the Parthenon at Centennial Park

The Parthenon at Centennial Park

Day 28 - CMA Museum & Grand Ole Opry

Nashville - Our place was less than a mile from Centennial Park - so up in the morning and off to a walk in the park - which also hosts the Parthenon (replica of the Greek Parthenon including the statue of Athena.  We will visit this on Tuesday as it's closed on Mondays.   A quick visit to Kroger's for groceries and back to the apartment to get ready for some sightseeing.

We Lyft it to the CMA Museum, only to find out that the tour to the famous RCA StudioB are sold out for the day.  So we buy tickets for the Museum and the RCA StudioB tour for the next day. The Museum is three floors of Music memorabilia.  While the focus is mainly Country music which started with banjo's and fiddle's, there's is rock, jazz and r&b too.  Very interesting and educational.  Along with the evolution of Country music, there is a history of the parallel evolution of musical instruments and audio equipment.  Items on display included the early banjo's and fiddles to the many types of guitars - regular/steel/custom, and costumes of singers from early times to today.  Also on display was Elvis's Gold Plated Cadillac, with TV, stereo, bar & phone inside.  Lunched at the Mexican cafeteria in the Museum and got back for some rest.

Evening concert at the Grand Ole Opry was at 7pm - It was a tribute to Ray Charles by artists that were influenced by him and included - Boyz II Men, Chris Young, LeAnn Rimes, Travis Tritt, and others.  It was a fantastic two hours.  This program was being recorded live by PBS to be broadcast in February 2019.  As it was a live recording, some of the singers had to sing their songs twice for a retake - so we got to enjoy them twice over!  After the convert, we managed to make it in time for some Nashville Hot Chicken at the famous Hattie B's - Hot as in Spicy Hot. Had to drink a beer to cool it down - wow!

The Parthenon

Centennial Park

A Steel Guitar

An early model 78rpm JukeBox

Tried to get an interior shot of the Jukebox - the 78rpm's stack

Elvis's Gold Plated Cadillac

The description of Elvis's Cadillac - In addition the Gold, it had diamonds and appliances too!

Some of the guitar's on display

More guitars (including a variation of the Hawaiian guitar)

Wall display of Platinum and Gold records of various popular artists

At the Grand Ole Opry for the performance

Travis Tritt

Add caption

Cam

LeAnn Rimes

Lucas Nelson s/o Willie Nelson

Chris Young

Boyz II Men

All the artists singing together

The famous Hattie B's