WWII National Museum

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.
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Number 3000!

This is post number 3000 on Blogger - since my first blogpost back in 2003 :-)
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The end of the river and our road (river) trip



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.
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Plantations in Louisiana


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...
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Lunch time


trying to find something to eat in Natches - without any luck...
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Vicksburg - The Battle for the Mississippi River




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.
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Bill & Hill in Little Rock



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... :-)
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Chicken pot

At the Ashley Restaurant in the Capitol Hotel, Little Rock AR.
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Last minute X-mas present wish

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...
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the place where the world found its SOUL

SUN record studio - where Elvis cut his first single

STAX - now a great museum about soul music
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Graceland





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!
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Walking in Memphis




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...
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Superman

In his "Home town" Metropolis, Ill.

Lots of beautiful skies
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On the Mississippi - at last!




Popeye the sailor in his hometown Chester (on the Mississippi)
Not a lot ferry's are working during the winter time - but this one was, so we hopped on.
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Meet me in St. Louis




One of the things on my bucket list was to see the masterwork of Eero Saarinen: The Gateway Arch in St. Louis. It was much much better then I had hoped for. It is truly monumental. All the best icons in the world are a "simple" shape - be it a obelisk, pyramid or even the Eiffel Tower. No wonder Saarinen choose to use a simple shape as well - but added some genius touches. The height is exactly the width and the structure is twisted and clad with stainless steel. That makes that the Arch is always different - no matter what the weather is like or what angle you look at it. The ride to the top in a "bubble" tram is an adventure on its own. The the view breathtaking.
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Roadtrip part II



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Mark Twains' town - Hannibal on the Mississippi



It was really fun to wander around in Mark Twain (Sam Clemens) old home town. The houses where he, Huck and Becky lived in are all there and you can really feel the atmosphere of his famous (autobiographical) books coming alive. I reread The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn while being in Hannibal and was actually surprised how good and funny this book actually is. I vaguely remember old movies about Sam and Huck and when home I have to try to find those too.
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Lemme see him, Huck. My, he's pretty stiff.... ;-)

 Norman Rockwell - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...
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Michel Bras in St. Louis

We had dinner at restaurant Niche where chef Gerard Craft created a very interesting tasting menu for us with a mashed potatoes dish that seem to come right out of Michel Bras' Kitchen way back in Lagiuole. And sure when I asked Gerard about it - it was this what he intended to make :-) - and he succeeded. According to Eddie it was even better because of the consistency....
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