The day I started my own Grill & Bar in Dallas

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A sunny day in Dallas

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The fountain building

The first Nieman & Marcus - little disappointing...

Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition at DMA

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A sweet retrospective of the work of JPG in the Dallas Museum of Art with a nice trick: they projecting faces on the dolls - so it seems that they are really there. 3D done simple and with great effect. The clothes were outrageous and completely unwearable as usual - even the pret-a-porter collection stuff.

"Our Jaap" in Dallas

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Dallas and the Sixth Floor

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We all know that JFK was murdered on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas. But is still pretty impressive to see the actual spot where he was killed and the warehouse where Lee Oswald shot his gun. It's now a museum where you can relive the whole day from minute to minute.

Mission Impossible IV

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Tom Cruise is awesome as Ethan Hunt in MI IV. The scene at the El Burj is goosebumps giving - nice car too...

French Quarter revisited

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Bourbon street is really awful = especially during the evening/night. But when strolling with a bleak sunny sky the French Quarter gives a whole different look and feel. It's actually pretty nice.

WWII National Museum

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NOLA has been carefully rebuild after Katrina and the city seems to come back to live again since the last time I visited it - just after the storm. A brand new very nice WWII museum tells the story of this war and the role of the Americans in saving the world.

Number 3000!

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This is post number 3000 on Blogger - since my first blogpost back in 2003 :-)

The end of the river and our road (river) trip

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After 2200 miles and 10 states (Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana) we arrived and the end of the mighty river - the Mississippi.
It was a fun road trip with lot's of history and nature along the way. The people were very friendly and the food delicious. Thanks to tripadvisor we found great places to stay.
It was a awesome trip.

Plantations in Louisiana

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Tom and Mason fooling around

Tom, Karen and Meg have enough of our guide...

There are many plantations still conserved in Louisiana. Some original Cotton some Sugarcane.
After we met our Mulvany friends in Baton Rouge we did a short excursion of our way down to New Orleans to a couple of the grandest houses: Nottaway and Oakally. Not a lot was said by the guides about the slaves on who's costs these houses and farms were build and run...

Lunch time

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trying to find something to eat in Natches - without any luck...

Vicksburg - The Battle for the Mississippi River

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One of the biggest battles between the Union and the Confederates was in Vicksburg. The Union wanted to control the Mississippi and so split the Confederates. After a long, long battle Grant succeed in Vicksburg (Gibraltar of the Mississippi) and the battlefield is now a national park. Very interesting was to see the Ironclad Cairo war ship with which the Union controlled the river.

Bill & Hill in Little Rock

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We visited Little Rock, Arkansas to have a look at the Clinton Presidential Center which is a huge building along the Arkansas river. It gives a nice overview over the 8 years Clinton was president with a library where you can look a minute to minute itineraries of his days in the White House. (May 26 1998 10:00 -10:01 courtesy call to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands...)
Bill himself is your (audio) guide and yes - he mentions Monica... :-)

Chicken pot

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At the Ashley Restaurant in the Capitol Hotel, Little Rock AR.

Last minute X-mas present wish

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The 2012 Camaro, 6.2L 426-hp V8 engine only €20.000 :-) That's as much as a FIAT 500 1.2L 85-hp V2 engine on auto.nl...

the place where the world found its SOUL

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SUN record studio - where Elvis cut his first single

STAX - now a great museum about soul music

Graceland

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Studebaker Blackhawk

Graceland is a place in Memphis you cannot miss to see. In the winter time it is actually fun as well - because it is quiet and the house it self is decorated. The mansion itself is bigger then I thought with all kinds of quirky rooms in 1970's decoration. It has also all his golden and platinum records - which are a lot because this guy sold over 1 billion records... He is still one of the best selling artists around by the way. I am not a big fan of Elvis and his music, but it was impressive to see his TV debut, his (31!) feature films, his Las Vegas concerts, his outrageous costumes, his automobile collection and his private jets. Yes - at Graceland you can see it ALL...
And after every exibithion they have a special gift shop - so Eddie and I counted at least 20 of those!

Walking in Memphis

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We were Walking in Memphis and saw a lot of interesting things. This is the hometown of Sun and Stax records. Where Elvis, Isaac Hayes, BB king and many many others recorded their first records. This is also is the place where Dr. Martin Luther King was killed back in 1968. The motel where that happened is now the excellent and moving National Civil Rights Museum. You can actually see the spot where he was killed and across the street the window where James Earl Ray shot him.
We also did a tour in the Gibson guitar factory where they make the (semi) hollow models. It was great to see how many care and passion it takes to make one guitar. You want to buy one if you see it, only to be placed back on earth when a boy of 8 years old shows how it is really done with easy and a smile...

Superman

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In his "Home town" Metropolis, Ill.

Lots of beautiful skies