Basically, Tennessee is great. Dolly's from here, Loretta's from here, Isabelle's dad is from here. Gillian Welch isn't from here but she had the sense to move here. And so did the King. Nashville is here, which is just the coolest town, and it's where Isabelle's family has lived for a long long long time. We had so much fun running all over town with her Uncle Charles and Aunt Juanita Fentress and their daughter Karen. There is never enough time to hear all their stories that take place here, so we may just have to move here for awhile.
We stopped by our favorite print shop, Hatch Show Print! The printers inside were hard at work, sort of, and totally inspiring and welcoming, as always. The city was in mourning for Grand Ol Opry star Porter Wagoner (see the sign below Ernest Tubb's guitar).
Uncle Charles was on the Nashville City Council for many years, but with his encyclopedic knowledge of the place, you would think he was the mayor. We had a great time learning all about what Nashville used to be one time, and looking at all the new life sprouting up all over the city. Here he is with Sam Jones Fentress, named after Isabelle's great grandfather.
We visited Karen's work, where she is an assistant DA. If you have ever seen Law and Order, it's just like that, Fred Thompson even comes around from time to time. Aunt Juanita fortified us with a meal usually reserved for Christmas morning: her special casserole, delicious cheese grits (cheese grits!!!), and fresh baked Amish Friendship bread.
We were sad to go, but we had to forge ahead to Memphis. The gates of Graceland were closed for a private party, but we were welcome to stay in the parking lot "long as yall like". Even the security is hospitable in the volunteer state. We arrived at the banks of Old Muddy at sunset and crossed over that beautiful river into unknown territory: Arkansas.
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