Road Trip Diary
Suzy Sube's Search for the Soul of America! Or, I quit my job to travel for a bit and shift gears, and needed to blog about it.
Leg 1 (March/April)
Leg 1 (March/April)
Leg 2 (May/June):
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We are back in Los Angeles safe and sound, but I still have to catch up on the last few days of our trip - back through New Mexico, Arizona, and home to California! The Southwest is very near and dear to me, and being able to visit these states twice on our trip was a huge treat. Please enjoy this marathon post that concludes this road trip...but stay tuned for more travel to come later this summer :-) Days 32-33: New Mexico (Albuquerque, Acoma Pueblo, Gallup) I've loved Albuquerque since I was a kid, and was excited to return for the first time in about 7 years. New Mexico is full of so much beautiful scenery and good food, and given our limited time in ABQ (less than 24 hours), we tried to make the most of it, and hit Route 66 spots whenever possible. Much of our time was spent in Old Town ABQ - first stop was the San Felipe de Neri parish. While the building that stands today was constructed over 230 years ago, the church itself dates all the way back to 1706. You can walk through the sanctuary and a small museum next door, which had some eccentricities...(apologies, but I did not take a pic of the bloody Jesus in a coffin on display in the museum...). We had a fantastic dinner Church Street Cafe (traditional New Mexican fare), which is housed inside of what some consider the oldest residence in Albuquerque (dating back to the early 1700s). Along with the rich history, I just love that in New Mexico, servers don't ask if you want sopapillas - they just bring them - and it's totally normal to order a dish 'Christmas' (with both red and green chile). Afterward, we had a night cap at the High Noon Saloon nearby (casual yet classy spot in another cool older building). On the walk back to the car, we saw no less than 5 stray cats and a raccoon meandering around Old Town...must be a hot spot! Sad to leave so soon the next morning, we stopped at Java Joe's (featured in 'Breaking Bad,' impeccable vibes) for coffee and crepes on our way out of town. If you are in NM, I would highly, highly recommend taking a pueblo tour if you can - obviously, just be very respectful (it's an active community), and make sure you know if you need a camera permit to take photos. As we made our way west of ABQ en route to the Acoma Pueblo ('Sky City'), we stopped to use the bathroom at the Dancing Eagle Casino, and Alex decided to play some slots...he made $10, so it ended up being a worthwhile stop! We then made the stunning drive into Acoma land to tour the legendary pueblo atop a 357-foot mesa. This is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited communities in the US (since the 1100s). Historically, the Acoma would summit the entire mesa by hand/foot holds carved into the side of the rock; fortunately, today there is a bus that takes you to the top. The tour was substantial, and the guide was fantastic. Our guide permitted us to enter the San Estévan del Rey Mission church at the pueblo (dating back to 1641), which was one of the most stirring spiritual places I've ever encountered (no pictures allowed inside the church grounds). We also encountered many artisans on the tour, and bought some petite cat/bunny pottery to bring home. Our stop for the night was in Gallup, near the NM/AZ border. This is a very cute town with one of my very favorite Route 66 stops, Hotel El Rancho. where we stayed for the night. This hotel has a closely intertwined history with Hollywood dating back to the 1940s, and was essentially built to be a home-base for actors/crew who were shooting in the area. Many rooms bear the names of celebs who have stayed there - ours was William Bendix. I really enjoy an old hotel with a cozy common area, so we spent a good deal of time just hanging out (and blogging, of course). My only complaint is they were not transparent that there isn't AC (yet there is a unit on the wall), so we inadvertently made our room a lot hotter by trying to run the AC...but in the end it was fine, and would definitely stay there again if it wasn't supposed to be really hot out. Gallup Coffee Company down the street was also a very satisfying stop on the way out of NM, toward AZ. Days 34-35: Arizona (Painted Desert/Petrified Forest NP, Jerome, Sedona, Cottonwood) The incredible diversity of Arizona has been a major revelation on this trip. You can go from the desert to the forest (and then a weird hybrid of the two?) practically at the turn of a corner. Before getting to the forest, though, we stopped at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park, just over the Arizona border. This park is a gem full of so much truly ancient history and beautiful landscapes! While you can technically drive through it within an hour, definitely set aside at least a few hours to explore the many wonders this park has to offer (you can easily fill a whole day or more, if you have the time). Some of the highlights were the Painted Desert Inn (which has an ice cream parlor), the excavated site of Puerco Pueblo, and the ancient petrified wood of the Crystal and Rainbow Forest. Sad to leave this magical place so soon, but knowing we needed to try to get to our campsite before dark, we left the park and headed to Winslow, known primarily of course for being memorialized by the Eagles in "Take it Easy." As you can imagine, there is a lot of 'Standin' on the Corner' kitsch, but Winslow has a few other fun stops as well, including the Tiny Church of the Mother Road, the Brown Mug Cafe, and La Posada Hotel (the 'Last Great Harvey Railroad Hotel'). Fighting for daylight with still a couple of hours before our stopping point for the day, I briefly contemplated if we should bunk in Winslow for the night...but opted to press on so we could make the most of our brief time in Sedona. The drive through Flagstaff was beautiful as we headed southward to camp for 2 nights in Cottonwood at Dead Horse Ranch State Park (much prettier than it sounds). Luckily, it was not too difficult to set up camp after dusk, and we were rewarded with waking up to some pretty epic views from our campsite the next day. I've been very impressed with the facilities in AZ State Parks - I mean, I can deal with vault toilets if I have to...but nice bathrooms with showers and running water are vastly preferable! After breakfast at camp, our first stop of the day was the Tuzigoot National Monument in the beautiful Verde Valley (near Cottonwood). This historic hilltop pueblo built by the Sinagua people between 1125 - 1400 has 110 rooms! While the excavation methods used in the early 20th century are now controversial by today's standards (a lot of reconstruction took place), it's still an immensely impressive site. After touring the monument, we headed up into Arizona's 'Black Hills' to Jerome, a historic copper mining town. There's a surprising amount of places to see - we stopped by the Mining Museum, Paul & Jerry's Saloon (the oldest family-owned bar in AZ), Nellie Bly Kaleidoscopes, gift shops galore, and the Douglas Mansion in Jerome State Historic Park. Unfortunately we didn't have time check out the historic Haunted Hamburger (which is apparently the hottest spot in town), as we had to get to Sedona for lunch. We headed onward to spend the afternoon in Sedona, first stopping for lunch at the incredible Mariposa Grill, which had some of the most spectacular views I've ever seen at a restaurant (the food was also fantastic). You can't go to Sedona without visiting a crystal shop and hiking, so we headed to the Peace Place and Red Rock State Park. It was quite hot, but Red Rock fortunately had a lot of shade. Unfortunately, the red rock views were less than stellar from this eponymous park....but there were plenty of great overlooks on our scenic drive up to our sunset viewing location, Airport Mesa. After sunset, we said farewell to Sedona and headed back to Cottonwood for dinner at the Merkin Vineyards and Trattoria (and yes, they do lean into that name). It did not blow me away, but we tried some pretty good white wines and took a couple of bottles to-go. You may know that Sedona can be fairly expensive...but staying in Cottonwood (30 min away) was very affordable, and still convenient to see everything in the area. I wish we could have spent a few more days here to take in all of the wonderful sights (and find some of the famous Sedona vortexes...), but after an epic cinnamon roll from Sedonuts and Coffee, we had to press on to our final stop...I'm not too sad though, because I'll be back in Sedona next month for my friend Ali's bachelorette party! Days 35-36: Idyllwild The drive out of Cottonwood through Prescott National Forest was beautiful, but after a long windy mountain road, I was thrilled to return to flatter desert terrain (and to my surprise, more saguaros!) Crossing the state line back into California felt great after 5 weeks away, which is the longest that Alex or I have been outside of California for quite some time. We ate lunch at Steaks n Cakes in Blythe, CA (the namesakes are solid), and made good time on the drive to our last stop, Idyllwild, for the wedding of our friends, Breana and Miller. We stayed for the second time at our favorite quirky bed and breakfast, Hicksville Pines...which is like the weirder mountain lodge cousin of the Madonna Inn. This place is meticulously curated by nerds who share many similar interests with Alex and myself, with themed rooms paying homage to Twin Peaks, Dolly Parton, John Waters, Dita von Teese, Disney's Haunted Mansion, and others. Our A-frame room this time had a fantastic array of psychedelic art that looked amazing under black light. We grabbed some Idyllwild Pizza (highly recommend) and had a great time hanging out with other guests in the Rec Room common area (which has a jukebox, arcade, and other games), and relaxing in the hot tub. We chilled more the next day before heading to the wedding, which was at the very elegant Harvey House in town. It was a beautiful ceremony and delightful evening, and had the chance to catch up with some folks I hadn't seen in quite a while. Our final morning, we had our signature Hicksville waffles, said goodbye to the cats, and headed down the mountain back to LA, stopping for lunch at the Jolly Jug in El Monte (known for their 'dip' sandwiches). We made it home, not too much worse for wear, and have slowly been unpacking/reorienting...it's a lot to be on the road for 5 weeks! Thank you immensely to those who have read this far - it really means a lot! We did so much on this trip that I knew I'd need to document it to remember all of the details. While the blog ended up being A LOT more work than I anticipated, it was totally worth it and so much fun to write. We loved this trip so much, and plan to travel more later this summer, so I'll do my very best to keep blogging later in May - stay tuned!!!
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As a native Texan, I am used to weather changing on a dime...but our drive from Memphis to Texarkana was a doozy. Storms had been ripping through Tennessee and Arkansas while we were in Memphis, so we knew we'd need to be cautious on our drive into Texas. It was smooth sailing to Little Rock - we stopped for a bit so Alex could visit the Clinton Library. I was a bit museum-ed out, so I took a nap instead (sorry, Bill). Alex did enjoy it, and we stretched our legs a bit around the property before moving on. Originally, I really wanted to visit Hot Springs on our way to TX, but decided against it due to the impending weather. I'm VERY glad we did that given the timing of the storms that were to come...we will have to catch Hot Springs another time. As we got closer to TX, the storm clouds and severe thunderstorm warning/tornado watch became very concerning. We were only about 30 minutes away from our motel in Texarkana when it began raining so hard that we eventually had to pull off into a Denny's to wait out the worst of it. After stress-eating some salted caramel french toast, we caught a lucky window where the rain died down enough to see and get to our destination...but the storm pounded the entire region all night and into the morning. It was quite intense! Fortunately, the rain subsided around midday, and we were able to finally depart for Dallas. Poor Alex had to experience almost every type of crazy Texas weather you can on this trip...and we're very grateful our plans were flexible enough to not have to drive into anything dangerous for very long. Our reward for making it through the storms safely was getting to meet Buc-ee the Beaver on our last stop before arriving in Dallas! For those who may be unfamiliar...Buc-ee's is the greatest rest stop/gas station in the world (you can fight me on that). Their mascot is of course, Buc-ee the Beaver, and he is NOT always present at the store, so getting to meet him in person is a special treat! Additionally, I am exceedingly proud that Alex has become a Buc-ee's superfan in such a short time (we stopped at 4 different locations). Days 29-30: Dallas - Ft. Worth We finally arrived in Dallas, and met up with my long-time friend Jonathan at Meow Wolf - Grapevine (our 4th Meow Wolf location!). I won't spoil anything, but for the uninitiated (or if you didn't see the Houston post), every location of Meow Wolf is unique - but they are all interactive art exhibits/experiences that incorporate a vague storyline somehow related to accidentally openeing a "portal" to another dimension (AKA, it's very trippy). You can either look for clues to try to solve the mystery, or just take it all in (I always choose the latter). It's very weird and fun, although this location was maybe my least favorite due to how overwhelmingly crowded it was (it is inside of a giant mall). It would be great if they could reduce capacity by at least 20% so you're not constantly trying to get around people, but I'd still recommend checking it out if you're curious and it's the most convenient location for you. Their other locations are in Santa Fe, Denver, Houston, and Las Vegas, with another opening in Los Angeles at some point in the (hopefully near-ish) future. It's definitely not for everyone, but I am a big fan of the fact that they bring in local artists at each location to collectively create such unique experiences. We also had a great dinner at one of my Tex-Mex favorites (Uncle Julio's) - although as a bit of a Tex-Mex snob, I don't think any of the additional locations are quite as good as the original location on Lemmon Ave in Dallas.... Since Alex had never seen Fort Worth before, we had to make a quick visit to the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. Ft. Worth is nicknamed 'Cowtown' for its long history of livestock exchange/rodeo, and it is a TOTALLY different vibe from Dallas. There are many great attractions that I wish we'd had more time to see - if you're ever in the area, definitely check out the Stockyards, Ft. Worth Water Gardens, Ft. Worth Zoo, Kimbell Art Museum, Bass Performance Hall, the Van Cliburn Competition...the list goes on. There's so much happening in Cowtown - just listen to Girls5Eva and Tap Into Your (Fort) Worth (RIP Girls5Eva... the most underrated show in recent memory). We got there just in time to see the morning cattle drive (they literally do a cattle drive twice a day) and poke around some local establishments a bit (White Elephant Saloon, Avoca Coffee Roasters). I wish we could have stayed longer to look at cowboy boots...but we had a pretty packed day of social engagements, with lots of friends and fam to see. We then began our whirlwind tour of back-to-back social engagements to try to catch who we could (apologies, I totally failed at pics given how busy it was). We first headed to Arlington to catch up with one of my oldest friends, Lacey, at Braum's (an old favorite, they make killer sundaes). Lacey and I go back to elementary school...she is a girlboss technical writer/mom of 3, who I try to make sure I get to see anytime I come to DFW. From there we headed to Oak Lawn to pick up some goodies from Eatzi's (gourmet market mecca) to bring to my 97-year old grandmother, Jody, and my Aunt Amy, who we got to catch up on all of our road trip adventures. Jody is a legend, who is still very with it at 97. Our next stop was El Fenix, probably the biggest staple Mexican restaurant of my childhood (and also the literal inventor of Tex-Mex, est. 1919). My college friend/therapist extraordinaire, Brooks, came to meet us, who is always a sassy delight, and forever ready to devour queso and guacamole with me. After a whirlwind social day, we finally arrived in Highland Park, where Alex's aunt and uncle (Michelle and Houston) live, and graciously offered to put us up in their fabulous home. It was wonderful to finally meet the Texas branch of Alex's family, including 3 of his cousins (Madeleine, Hailey, and Francesca), and hope we can return to DFW again soon! Days 31-32: Dallas to Amarillo I wish our visit could have been longer, but Michelle treated us to a fantastic lunch at Hudson House before we hit the road for Amarillo. The drive from Dallas to Amarillo is a fairly dull one that most people do not look forward to...but we stopped in Bowie, TX to see the World's Largest Bowie Knife (which was...something). For those who weren't forced to take 2 years of Texas history in social studies (TWO years, you guys), Jim Bowie was a pretty bad guy who fought at the Alamo, and allegedly died while he was bedridden, fighting off the Mexican army with his famous huge knife (...). It's also very confusing for non-Texans to learn his name is pronounced BOO-EEE (not like the superior BOW-EEE). I'd recommend sticking with David, personally. We did make a few worthwhile stops in/near Amarillo, though - 1) The Big Texan: This restaurant/brewery/motel first opened on Route 66 in 1960. It was a fun place to stay (the rooms are cowboy-kitschy, but affordable and very nice), but the Big Texan is best known for its absurd 72 oz steak competitive eating challenge. If you can finish an obscenely large steak, a fully-loaded baked potato, 3 jumbo shrimp, a salad and a dinner roll in an hour, the meal is free....but the catch is you have to do it 'on stage' at the restaurant. It's VERY silly, and you could not pay me to do that - surprisingly, though, their reasonably portioned food is actually fantastic. This place is a ~whole~ vibe (and sadly not veg-friendly) - still worth a stop for the kitsch factor. 2) Dutch Bros Coffee/Got Donuts?: Since this was our last day in Texas, I made it my mission to find one last good kolache before leaving the state. Kolaches are Czech pastries that come in both savory and sweet varieties, and they're a big deal in TX. I was only able to snag some savory ones this trip (thank you Got Donuts) and some fancy coffee at Dutch Bros Coffee before hitting our next two stops. 3) Palo Duro Canyon: This state park is only a 40 minute drive from Amarillo, and holds the second-largest canyon in the U.S. (behind the Grand one, of course). As a kid, though, I saw this one before the Big one, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. It's also not too challenging to access - you can see a lot by just driving through the park, and there's also some great hiking. We drove through and did a tiny bit of hiking before it got too hot. My favorite thing about this park is the amphitheater built into the canyon that shows "Texas: The Musical" every summer (which I got to see as a kid, and my mom was also a performer back in the day)! 4) Cadillac Ranch: The West TX/Panhandle region loves its weird outdoor art installations (almost as much as it loves measles....), and the Cadillac Ranch was a shining example of that. Given the massive amount of rain, the cars were completed surrounded by a pool of water. This prevented us from participating in the ritual of perpetuating the art by spray painting the cars ourselves - but I can almost guarantee there would have been some kind of major spray paint can malfunction if we'd tried it, so probably for the best.... Next up: New Mexico, Arizona, California (Pt. 2) I know I'm a broken record, but time flies...I can't believe we'll be back in LA in less than a week! Here is a catch up on the rest of our journey through Tennessee - a downright MECCA of music history (and much more). Days 24-25: Nashville After our invigorating time at Big Ears in Knoxville, we wove our way to Nashville along some beautiful mountain roads (slightly scarier due to the intermittent rain). We met up with my mom, who flew in to join us for the Nashville portion of the trip! It was so great to spend a couple of days with her - just wish it could have been longer. We hit the ground running with lunch at Monell's in Germantown - a unique boarding house-style Southern comfort food restaurant, where everyone eats family-style at a big tables (multiple parties seated at the same table). It was a fun experience, and very delicious. Our next stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum downtown, which vastly exceeded my expectations! You may know that I have not always been a fan of country music...but I've gained a much larger appreciation in recent years, and glad I finally came around. The museum does an excellent job walking you through the history of country music from the earliest beginnings, which had a section on gospel music of the early 20th century. My mom and I were very pleasantly surprised to see a photo of my great grandfather, Dwight Brock, in this section! He performed with the Vaughan Quartet and the Stamps Quartet, among others, and pioneered the use of rhythm piano in gospel groups (fun fact: Elvis credits the Stamps Quartet as a major influence from his youth). My favorite exhibit, though, of course, was on the Western Country Rock that dominated Los Angeles in the 60s-70s. I also loved that the museum even included very recent work I love, like Beyonce's COWBOY CARTER, Orville Peck, and Chappell Roan's "The Giver." On a whim, we walked a couple of blocks up to the Ryman Auditorium, initially just to see the outside. The Ryman is known as the 'Mother Church of Country Music,' served as the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943-1974, and was also known as the 'Carnegie Hall of the South' for a time, as well...needless to say, it's a legendary space. We inquired at the box office just for kicks, and there were still tickets for the evening show...a Bacharach tribute with Todd Rundgren..?! Weird and decidedly not country-related, but we were curious enough and already had tickets to the Opry the following evening where we would surely get our country fix, so decided to get tickets. To kill time before the show, we made our way over to 'Honky Tonk Highway,' which had lots of cool neon signs, and fun-looking honky tonks, but the cross-bleed from all of the clubs playing different live music was a bit too overwhelming. We took refuge at the Assembly Food Hall (you know I can't resist a food hall), which was a much calmer place to hang out, and had a lot of Nashville faves. The Ryman show was actually great - I love Todd, who was so funny (even though he can't really sing anymore...), and the rest of the band was fabulous. The Ryman was just as special as I thought it would be, even though 2.5 hours of Bacharach is...a lot...but they sang ALL the hits. The next day, we had a lovely lunch with my friend Carrie and her wife Elizabeth, who happened to be passing through Nashville en route from Seattle to Michigan, where they are moving! We had a great time catching up at the Elliston Place Soda Shop, a great old-school soda fountain dating back to 1939 (with excellent hot chicken, too). Our visit was too short, but luckily we will see Carrie and Liz again in a few months when we are visiting MI for a wedding. After lunch, we had to stop by Centennial Park to see Nashville's own Parthenon...an actual replica of the real one...very interesting/bizarre. The weather was lovely, so we also walked around the park a bit (there's even a Taylor Swift bench!). After a siesta, our evening was spent at the Grand Ole Opry, which is always entertaining. The show was great - we saw Collin Raye, Rhonda Vincent, Tucker Wetmore, Hailey Whitters, Taylor Hicks (yes that guy from American Idol), Taya, and The Cleverlys perform. While I had a wonderful time, and the Opry is undoubtedly an institution, I do have some conflicted feelings about it. The Opry has always been fairly conservative and resistant to change (although it has been making some strides). One recent example...Beyonce's COWBOY CARTER introduced me to the first commercially-successful Black female country artist, Linda Martell, who was also the first Black woman to play the Opry (paving the others to eventually follow in her footsteps). Her singular album Color Me Country is just fantastic, but racism in the world of country music did not allow her career success to flourish for long. She eventually gave up performing in order to make ends meet, which is a travesty. All this to say - while the country music world has certainly making an effort to become more inclusive in recent years, there is still an air of homogeneity at the Opry that does not go unnoticed. , Days 26-28: Memphis We sadly had to say goodbye to my mom, who had business to attend to in Raleigh, and made our way to Memphis. The storms and tornados at this point were starting to worry us, so we didn't waste time getting to Memphis, in case the storms took a turn for the worse (more on that, later). Taking advantage of the non-rainy weather (at the moment), we opted to head straight to Graceland. I had been once before as a child, but Alex had never visited. I definitely appreciated this more visiting as an adult, with much more knowledge of Elvis. Weirdly, some of the decorations that seemed lame as a kid I loooooove now (AKA the peacocks...). We also had a great dinner at Coletta's - a favorite Italian restaurant of Elvis, which also happens to be one of the oldest restaurants in Memphis (opened in 1923). We had to sample their famous BBQ pizza - forget the bougie CPK version, this is just pulled pork on a cheese pizza (lol)...but it was delish. They are clearly big on boosting their affiliation with Elvis, as well. The storms were a-comin', so we skedaddled to our hotel, and thankfully arrived just before a major thunderstorm came through (which raged all night). Our stay in Memphis will likely be my very favorite of this whole trip - The Peabody! We were very lucky to spend a couple of nights at this absolute institution - the lobby bar area is colloquially known as "Memphis' Living Room." The Peabody has been in operation since 1869, and in its current location since 1925. They are perhaps best known for their "March of the Ducks" that occurs twice a day (and they reallllly lean into the duck aesthetic, which is fine by me). The tradition of having 5 ducks march into the lobby fountain at 11am, and march back to their penthouse palace on the roof of the hotel at 5pm, goes back to 1933 when the hotel's General Manager and friend got very drunk and set some duck decoys loose in the hotel fountain after a hunting trip. Eventually, one of the bellmen (Edward Pembroke), a former animal trainer, offered to train the ducks to march from the roof into the fountain each morning, and back to the roof each evening. Pembroke continued to serve as the "Duckmaster" for over 50 years before passing the torch - and the tradition lasts to this day. Each duck is only 'employed' for 90 days before returning to the wild, and duck is not served anywhere on the menu at the Peabody (not even in its French restaurant)! We obviously had to catch all of the Duck March action (and also may have a crush on Kenan, the current Duckmaster...). By the way, you can still see the March even if you aren't staying at the hotel!
In between Duck Marches, we had a particularly epic day of music tourism, and visited two historic studios. Stax Records (now known as the Stax Museum of American Soul Music) is a must-visit for any fan of soul music - their roster included artists like Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Booker T. and the M.G.s, The Bar-Kays, and many more. The original studio at Stax was sadly razed in 1989, but the Stax Museum took great care to recreate the studio on the same site, almost exactly as it was (which is on view as part of the self-guided museum tour). I'd also highly recommend watching Wattstax, their epic festival held at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1972. We noted on during our Stax tour that one of the most important gathering places for both Stax musicians and prominent Civil Rights leaders was The Four Way Cafe, just down the street. This was such a warm (and delicious) neighborhood institution - open since 1946, it was also one of the first integrated restaurants in Memphis. Our next stop was Sun Studio - known to many as the 'Birthplace of Rock-n-Roll.' Many historians claim that the first rock record, "Rocket 88" was cut here by Jackie Brenston/Ike Turner in 1951. As with many major historical firsts, this was largely due to an accident - an amp fell off of the band's truck on the way to the studio, which caused distortion in the electric guitar...and the rest is history. Among many other historic records, this is also the studio where Elvis cut his first hit, "That's All Right," and where Jerry Lee Lewis also recorded his biggest hits, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Great Balls of Fire." The guided tour was fascinating, and it is a must-visit for any rock lovers. We also poked around Beale Street a bit before heading back to the hotel for a rest, and capped the night off with some ribs at the legendary Rendezvous restaurant across the street. Our last morning in Memphis (April 4th) marked the somber 57th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. The rooms where Dr. King stayed at the Lorraine Motel (and the balcony where he was murdered) have been preserved and integrated into the National Civil Rights Museum. This is another must-visit if you are in the area - heavy for sure (and a bit crowded, too), but essential. It was particularly moving to learn more about the history behind MLK's famous "Mountaintop" speech, which was delivered the night before he died. It almost didn't happen...he initially was going to skip the event due to poor weather, but after a packed crowd showed up in spite of the rain, he decided to go forward with the speech - and winged it. Go back and read it...his premonitions are haunting. I hope our politicians can muster up even 1/3 of MLK's courage as we battle the current administration. Our last stop in Memphis was the Arcade Restaurant, a classic diner dating back to 1919, which was an excellent send off. We loved Memphis (and Tennessee as a whole), and can't wait to return. Next up: Dallas-Fort Worth, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Gallup We've been on this trip for almost a month now, and it has flown by! This long (and delayed) post is a devoted recap of our time at the Big Ears Festival, which was essentially the impetus for this journey in the first place. As most people are not very familiar with this festival, it is a 4-day event featuring nearly 200 concerts, talks, film screenings, exhibitions, and more in over a dozen different venues in downtown Knoxville, TN. The music tends toward indie, jazz, folk, blues, experimental, and ambient...in my opinion, Big Ears usually has the most interesting lineup of any festival by far, given that it fully embraces the fringe of so many different genres. I am tremendously grateful to have a partner in Alex who has such compatible (and wildly eclectic) taste in music and film - this festival was tailor-made to satisfy all of our quirky interests, and then some. We tried to maximize our time as much as possible, and somehow saw over 20 performances, 2 films, a handful of exhibitions, and squeezed in some great restaurants during the festival, as well. Needless to say, we had a fantastic time, and would not hesitate to recommend this festival to anyone who is 'sonically adventurous'! The three major themes that emerged from this festival (for me) were: 1) How genres in music have become somewhat meaningless (hooray for that!); 2) Apparently I'm very into what I'm referring to as 'cosmic femmes'; and 3) Catharsis. So many of these shows were deeply healing in every respect. While I took videos at every show we attended during the festival (which you can find in a highlights reel on my Instagram if you're interested), I decided that it would be more useful for first-time listeners if I shared one higher-quality YouTube link of a song I love from each artist that highlights one of these themes, instead of the videos I shot. However, I included a few of my own videos here (Sun Ra Arkestra & Yo La Tengo, Steve Roach, and Rufus Wainwright) due to the unique nature/visual elements of the performances that felt worth sharing. I've also linked trailers for the films and info for the exhibitions, where available. I know it is kind of silly to do all of this work for a recap, but I just felt so inspired by these performances and want to give these fantastic artists the tiny bit of credit that I can offer. Honestly, this festival was a dream, and I'd go back in a heartbeat - simply the best all around.
Next up: Nashville, Memphis |
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July 2025
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