Memphis

Our next (and last) stop on our week's vacation was Memphis, Tennessee. Neither of us had been there before and weren't sure what all we wanted to do besides eat Memphis BBQ. ha. But we managed to find several things that we really enjoyed.


Our hotel was just a short block away from Beale Street. That's a street where there are tons of BBQ places and tons of venues for music. We could smell BBQ in the air. We could hear the music quite well in our room. Thankfully it didn't go terribly late and we used a white noise app on my cell phone to cover up the noises when we wanted to go to sleep.

Here you can see a corner of Beale Street and the location of our hotel. Our hotel is the taller light colored building in the back that in red letters says Hampton Inn & Suites.

The first day we were in Memphis, we decided to visit Graceland. Neither of us are Elvis fans, but we thought "when in Memphis...".

Proof we were there:

I was surprised at the number of people waiting in line for a shuttle bus. 

And I felt conspicuously young.

There is quite the set-up for this tour. Across the street from the house is all sorts of shops, etc built to enhance the experience. We waited in line for a shuttle bus to take us across the street to the mansion.

 I would say the inside was a cross between gaudy and what-were-they-thinking- early-70s-decor.

It was interesting to hear about how Elvis made it big. Sad to think about how much he had and he still wasn't a happy person towards the end. The tour didn't really talk about the end of his life much, but it all seemed so pointless, you know?

I'm glad we did the tour. I told Hubby that now we'll have to rent an Elvis movie. He didn't seem convinced. ;)


That evening we decided to go to Beale Street and specifically BB King's blues club.

 We managed to score a seat right next to the stage.

We enjoyed a nice meal and a couple of different bands. The music was outstanding!

This gal had some fun dancing. And I'll tell you a secret::: a small part of me wished I had the guts to get up and dance like her. :)

And this guy was awesome on the organ. This ain't no church organ!

We enjoyed the evening at BB King's immensely! As we were heading back to the hotel, we decided to cap the evening with a carriage ride around downtown Memphis.

The weather was just perfect that Thursday night. It was a lovely ride combined with the driver telling us about downtown Memphis and the history of the place. He even recommended a BBQ place that we hit the next night.

Just Enough Light (re-post)

**Reposted From October 15, 2007

Today marks the five year anniversary of this here blog. I thought I would re-post my very first post. This explains the reason for the name Just Enough Light.

If there is one thing I am learning in life as a Christian, it is that often God gives me just enough light for the step I'm on.

Trust.

Why do I lack trust when God has yet to fail me? I pray as I move on in my life, I remember God's faithfulness to me and my loved ones as we have faced difficult times. It seems the more difficult thing is waiting on God's timing. But His timing is always perfect. Just think how we'd mess things up if we rushed ahead. I am so guilty of wanting to do that.

Just Enough Light
Sometimes only the step I'm on,
or the very next one ahead,
is all that is illuminated for me.
God gives just the amount of light I need
for the exact moment I need it.
At those times I walk in surrender to faith,
unable to see the future
and not fully comprehending the past.
And because it is God who has given me
what light I have,
I know I must reject the fear and
doubt that threaten to overtake me.
I must determine to be content where
I am, and allow God to get me where
I need to go.
I walk forward,
one step at a time,
fully trusting that
the light God sheds
is absolutely sufficient.

-Stormie Omartian

The Day That Was Heavenly For Me

As we were talking about our trip, I pulled up Google Maps (I hardly look at a paper map anymore) to look at what our route would be. I noticed that Paducah, Kentucky wasn't terribly far out of the way.

Why was I interested in that town? Why, because it has The National Quilt Museum! I have read and heard about Paducah for years. In addition to the museum, Paducah hosts a huge quilt show in the spring. I read somewhere that 40,000 people show up for it.

We drove to Paducah Tuesday night of our vacation. Wednesday we got up and had a yummy breakfast at Chick-fil-a. Such a great place. The food is good (I can eat chicken in any form) and the service is impeccable.

We headed for the quilt museum and ended up spending almost three hours there.

I was excited to go in. Sadly, no pictures are allowed. And I didn't cheat. There were several different exhibits. One was of very modern art-type quilts. Not quite my taste.

In another area had miniature quilts. One quilt was about 18" square and had 7,000 pieces in it. Crazy. Another of my favorite miniature quilt was 20" square. The border had tiny Dancing Dollies that were about 2.5" across the bottom. Go to this blog post to see the quilt I made with Dancing Dollies. I just loved it. I wish I had a photo of it.

Another area was showcasing quilts that have won awards. Wow! Those were fantastic. Way over my ability.

My favorite exhibit was of a quilter who had collected old quilt blocks and reconstructed them into new quilts. It was very fascinating. If you go to the National Quilt Museum's website to this link, scroll down and you can see some of the quilts. The exhibit is called Blending the Old and the New.
I think one reason I was so intrigued with the exhibit is because I have quite a few old quilt blocks that my grandmother made. She passed away in 1963 and I never really knew her. I want to figure out some way to use those old blocks some day.

Hubby even enjoyed the museum. It was fun to look through it with him.

After lunch, we headed to a store called Hancock's of Paducah.  I've heard of this place for a long time. This is a fabric store with bolts of fabric as far as the eye can see. Behold:::

This picture doesn't do it justice. There are thousands and thousands bolts of fabric. That doesn't even include the pre-cuts and kits they offer. And the home decor fabric. After I had been in the store for and hour Hubby (who was taking a nap in the car) texted me and asked me if I was having fun. My response was:

Oh. My. Goodness. You'll have to some in just to see it all.

It was just heavenly. I think I was in there for close to two hours. There was just no way I could not walk up and down every single aisle and look at everything I possibly could. It was heavenly. :)

I am so glad we made a day stop in Paducah. And I and thankful for my hubby's patience with my obsession interest in all things quilting. He's quite the guy.

Monday and Tuesday in St. Louis

Monday and Tuesday of our vacation was spent doing some sight-seeing around the area.

Monday we wandered around St. Charles, which was the first capital of Missouri and the third oldest city west of the Mississippi. The historic part along the Missouri river is quite quaint with a number of shops and restaurants. Most of which are closed on Mondays. Oops. No matter, we got the feel for it anyway and probably save money in the long run. :) I did find a quilt shop (yay!) and bought a little fabric for a quilt I'm planning for one of the guest rooms. We also found a glass shop. They had materials for making stained glass and other things. I actually bought a bunch of handmade marbles. I don't really know why. This is what I said on Facebook:

I just bought a bunch of marbles. Is it because I want to feel younger? 

Or because I feel old and I am worried about not having any marbles? Hmmm....

 I love to buy something just for fun to remind me of a trip I have taken.

Monday night we went to an area in St. Louis called The Hill. It's a historic Italian neighborhood. There are several blocks of what is called shotgun houses.  Shotgun houses are no more than twelve feet wide arranged with one room after the other.

 

We had fun wandering around a grocery store on The Hill. I know that sounds kinda odd, but we find it interesting to see foods from other cultures. The variety of olives, pasta and anchovies is fascinating. We bought a few things to bring home with us. Supper that night was at a recommended restaurant. I had some pasta with marinara and meatballs. At first I thought it was a bit stingy that there was only 2 meatballs on the plate. But the size of them was deceptive. They were nestled down into the pasta and were so large, I had a difficult time eating them both. We both enjoyed our meals.

Tuesday we packed up our stuff and headed for a day in downtown St. Louis before we hit the road again. 

We went to a house that Scott Joplin lived in for three years. He composed ragtime music for the piano in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Hubby loves his music and can play several of the pieces quite well. At the end of our self-guided tour we were treated to a piece on the player piano.

We had enjoyed a yummy breakfast at an IHOP, so we didn't need lunch. We went straight to the Mississippi River for a river tour on a steamship. 

We took lots of pictures of the Gateway Arch.

Does every one know that you can ride in an elevator type thing (I actually think it looks a bit like a clothes dryer that's big enough to sit inside)  to the top of the arch? Above is a close up photo of the windows at the top. We did not go up there this time. We have done it three or four times in the past.


A few more shots of the Mississippi River:

I got a big kick out of the cargo this train was carrying:

We enjoyed our couple of days in St. Louis.

Tuesday afternoon we left St. Louis and headed towards Kentucky. We were making our way to Memphis, Tennessee. But first we stopped in Paducah, Kentucky. More on that in the next post...

(Oooo... another cliff hanger!)

Not Just A Weekend Recap

Hubby took last week off of work and we escaped. It took us a long time to figure out where we wanted to go. My first suggestion was to head north. A lot of people in Minnesota say that the north shore of Lake Superior is their favorite place. We talked about that for several weeks. Finally I said I just wasn't quite feeling it. Let's go south. Let's go to St. Louis for a week.  Eventually, we decided to make more of a road trip out of it and go to Memphis as well. (And did that end up being a God-sent decision for so many reasons; the biggest one being that it snowed in northern Minnesota last week. So glad we missed that!)

So, in true bloggy fashion, I'll recap our week in several posts. Complete with photos.

(Speaking of photos, I've come to realize that Hubby and I don't take a lot of photos of us. Just the stuff around us. Maybe it's because we haven't mastered the self-portrait thing and let's face it, the angles required for self-portraiting just are not all that flattering. I have a self-portrait photo I'll post in a few days. That ought to keep you hanging on and coming back for more. ha.)

Our first day was spent driving to my sister's house. It was kinda out of the way for our route, but we thought it was worth the extra miles and time anyway. On the way we drove through the town where my parents live, so we called and arranged to meet at a Panera for lunch. (You should know that Panera is on my list of favorite places and will pop up several times here in my recap.) Since our alma mater was playing football that evening, and my parents (who have the same alma mater) have been going to home football games for something like 40 years, Hubby decided to wear his new ISU polo shirt.

Yep. My dad has the exact same shirt! Mom was even decked out in Iowa State apparel.I was not. (I should probably get something to add to my wardrobe.) Notice the Cyclone license plate? Yes, my parents are die-hard, loyal fans. 

We had a very enjoyable lunch with them (worth the stop and extra time, as well) and got on the road again. 

We arrived at my sister and brother-in-law's place late afternoon and enjoyed a yummy dinner and a tour around their house. We hadn't been there in a long time and they had done a lot of remodeling. Brother-in-law did it all (bathroom remodel, lay wood flooring, kitchen counter-top, etc.) and it looks fabulous! Sister and I talked quilts. She has a stack of old feed sacks from our grandmother and has decided to make a quilt from them. (Go to this link to learn a bit about the history of feed sacks.) I tried to answer her questions and give her a few tips. I look forward to seeing the finished product. A bonus for me: She gave me a pile of feed sack fabrics she wasn't going to use! I am very excited about figuring out some way to use it! It will be a wonderful way to honor my grandma, whom I never knew. She passed away when I was only 2 1/2.

Sunday morning we hit the road a half an hour later than we had planned just because we were enjoying a yummy breakfast and good conversation.

We drove to St. Louis. First stop? Lunch. Any guesses where? No, not Panera, but St. Louis Bread Company. 

It does looks a bit like Panera, huh? St. Louis Bread Company was the original name, then there were some buy-outs and joining...blah blah blah...name changed to Panera. (Google it if you want to know more.) But in the St. Louis metro area, they kept the name St. Louis Bread Company.

Second stop in St. Louis was the zoo. We used to take our kids there a lot when they were little. It's a great zoo and admission is free! We had so much fun wandering around and remembering being there with the munchkins. We first took Caleb there when he was a little over two years old. He was so excited at the thought of hugging the tiger. (No, we didn't let him.)

After we tromped around the zoo for a few hours, I was treated with a pedicure. I totally meant to take a picture of me and my pedicurist because she was someone really sweet and special! My niece! She lives and works in the St. Louis area. She did a great job on my pedicure. I wish I lived closer so I could have her do that more often. We had a great time just chatting away. (Thus no photo.) Nice not to have to suffer through awkward small talk. :)

Monday and Tuesday will be the next post. 

(So I guess my title isn't quite accurate. This is a weekend recap. Saturday and Sunday. Oh well.)

Peanuts

The other night Hubby and I ate a late supper at a hamburger joint that has peanuts available to munch on while waiting for the burgers. I told my hubby that eating peanuts out of the shell like that reminded me of three things from my childhood. And lucky you! I thought I'd write about it here.

1. I remember one of the the first times I ate them. I must have been 7 or 8 and we were visiting my aunt and uncle in eastern Tennessee. Uncle farmed tobacco and they lived in a house that pre-dated the Civil War. It had a building that I was told was for the slaves and there was a place on the front porch in the brick that a cannon ball smacked into. I remember sitting the the front yard in metal lawn chairs that looked something like this:

My aunt and uncle had some friends over and I remember an older man teaching me how to crack open the peanuts by finding the seam and pressing it until it popped. It was a bonus if I found three peanuts inside.

2. When I turned 10 we spent the day at a friend of the family's house. Our friends gave me a bag of peanuts in the shell for my birthday. A whole bag! All for me! I was number 4 in the family and it was rare I got something just my own. I remember savoring those peanuts. I would pull out our toy record player and put on my record of The Three Little Pigs to listen to while I ate my yummy peanuts. I believe I got that record for my birthday as well.

3. I used to walk around singing a song about peanuts I probably learned at camp. I remember being able to play with our cassette tape recorder/player sometimes and I would take it to my room and just talk or sing. I'd talk about what I was doing (like putting my laundry away) or I would sing songs. (I wonder whatever happened to those cassette tapes....) I remember singing a song into that tape recorder that went something like::

Found a peanut, found a peanut, found a peanut just now. 

Just now I found a peanut, found a peanut just know.

(Catchy, huh?)

Believe it or not I found several YouTube videos of this lovely song. I will post the least cheesy one::

You've now been given a glance into the way my mind works in seemingly normal activities like eating peanuts at a hamburger joint. :)  Funny the way memories can come flooding back of random moments of my childhood.

Table Runners

A few day ago I wrote about spending a lot of time sewing. I have finished a couple of table runners and thought I'd post some photos.

Remember my post about using a  die cutter to cut up some of my stash and how I ended up with this pile of 5" squares?

Here's a table runner I've made from just a small part of that pile: (I made this one for my sister.)

I made just a little label for the back. 

I like how using the same fabric as the backing blends in so well.

I bought a charm pack called Breeze from my one (so far) visit to The Missouri Star Quilt Company. I just love the colors. This is the table runner I made from that: (I made this one for my daughter.)

For both of these table runners I sewed the binding on the back and brought it around to the front and sewed it with a running zig-zag top-stitch. I like the added texture and it's a bit more durable.

It feels good to finish some projects. And yes, I already have the next one laid out and ready to go. :)