Musical Roots Hangout and Birthdays

 We had a wonderful two weeks in Alabama, first at an Escapees RV Club Musical Roots Hangout in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and afterwards in Huntsville to celebrate our 70/80 birthdays.

April 16 - 23, 2023:  Heritage Acres RV Park, Muscle Shoals:

The hangout focused on the music and recording studios where an incredible number of familiar hits were recorded.  If you have not seen the 2013 Muscle Shoals documentary, I sincerely recommend it. Muscle-Shoals Documentary link This is the Amazon link, but it is available on other platforms.

What was so much fun was that so many of the people in the group were enthusiastic fans of the music created here.  Alan was able to talk music with knowledgeable people wherever we went.  He had a great time, getting in long discussions with other folks who were delighted to meet someone else who shared their love of music. Just to show you what I mean: Most of you know that Alan is a font of music trivia, but he and his partner came in second in the music trivia contest.  (In their defense, the first place team had four people who knew their music, and our team included me and the other guy's wife, both of us clueless.)

The attendees at the hangout:  A fun group of people!

We particularly enjoyed spending time with Judy, Mike, and Max.

Music things we did:

Tour of Fame Studios:

B3 organ used on host of recordings

Rick Hall's desk

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio 3614 N. Jackson Highway:

They let people go in the sound booth and look at the sound board.
Alan was able to explain how it works to several curious people.

Bathroom where Keith Richards refined the song "Wild Horses." 
The studio is tiny, so it was the only place he could get away to concentrate.

Happy Alan after the tour.

Original piano used on hundreds of recordings

FloBama Music Hall:

Outstanding musicians

We look pretty good for a couple of old geezers.

Rattlesnake Saloon:  

A delightful music venue in a cave way out in the sticks on a gravel road.  Unfortunately, I only took videos, and I can't figure out how to get them into this blog.  There are pix at their website you might enjoy, though: Rattlesnake Saloon Website

Other things in the area that we enjoyed:

Dawson Distillery:  A former moonshiner goes legitimate.  We had a fun tour, and Alan bought two bottles of flavored moonshine.  They were really good.

The owner was a great raconteur.

Frank Lloyd Wright house: Rosenbaum Home

Notice cantilevered carport of front of house.

Driveway to cantilevered carport

Windows in living room faced river when house was built.

Table and chairs designed by Wright

It still had all the original furniture.

Helen Keller Home and Farm:

Family Home

Schoolroom

Original pump where Helen realized the connection between the code
word Annie tapped on her hand and what the code meant. 
If you haven't seen the movie, "The Miracle Worker," you should.

Tom's Wall:  Extensive wall system built to commemorate Tom's great great grandmother's five year walk back from Oklahoma after the Trail of Tears.  Website: Tom's Wall Website

Wall of Faces

Indian Mound:

Only include this to brag that I walked up these steps easily
a few days before my 80th birthday

Coon Dog Cemetery:

Lots of interesting markers for the dogs--mostly handmade

Shelby went with us, probably for the last time, but she did very well, accommodating to life in the truck and trailer as usual.  We are enjoying our time with her for as long as we have.  So far, she has outlived the vet's prediction of 1 - 3 months.  We have switched to giving her liquid meds in her mouth with a syringe.  Getting them into her is a two-person job: She gets wrapped in a towel like a papoose and held down gently so she won't scratch Alan as he administers the meds. Yesterday, she hid under the bed as soon as she saw us making preparations. Smart kitty!

She always wants to be in Alan's lap at the beginning of the trip. 
 Then, she disappears to a hidey-hole next to the back seat  until we stop driving.

Yes, she is allowed on the table.

She can still jump on the counter to look outside.

After the hangout, we spent several days in Huntsville at Monte Sano State Park, near where Alan's sister Charlotte, husband Harry, and two of their sons and their families live.  Alan's other sister Susie and husband Ed came from Atlanta to be with us as we celebrated our 70/80 birthdays on April 23. Charlotte and Harry had a wonderful birthday dinner, which was attended by the Huntsville Spear clan, including the three delightful grands.  I forgot to take any pictures, except for this fun one of John, taken at a Mexican restaurant one evening.  Being a modern child, he can manipulate a phone with one hand and eat chicken nuggets with the other!