Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, my Brother's birthday. Time, 7:30 a.m., temp, mid-40s, high to be in upper 60s. Very foggy this morning. Biker friend Paul and I are riding to Bristol, VA to visit a museum. It is suppose to be the birthplace of country western recording. Surprise, Surprise. It wasn't in Nashville and yes, WE were going to a museum.
We pulled out of our meet-up spot at 8:05 a.m. It's about a 120 miles to Bristol but you have 3 cities all in a wad there so it gets a little slow when you hit the Triangle (Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol).
This was the sight just outside of my subdivision at 7:30 a.m. It was time to take the "seeing eye stick" out and put it into action.
A little farther up the road the conditions hadn't improved any so it looked like a slow scanning pace, watching for those side roads and fools that drive under these conditions without headlights turned on.
The sun was just coming over the tree tops and was going to have a hard time burning the mist out of the air this morning. The fog went from "okay" to "thick" in 15 minutes this morning.
So, you just take it easy hoping that anyone coming from the side would look twice this morning to make sure before they pulled out into the traffic.
Farther up the road you get a better view of the sunrise, the mountains and the mist. Taking pictures in the fog is very interesting, it's the driving that makes you a bit tense.
To shorten the time we decided to run some miles up the interstate where the fog was not an issue. So we cranked a bit on that old throttle.
Then we turned west onto a very nice 2-lane highway and got back into the fog again. This picture I refer to as "Sentinels In The Mist".
But this is one of my favorites. Without its leaves it seems a bit eerie, like one of those Halloween cartoons.
This highway took us through some beautiful farm country, lots of horses and cows. And some pretty old farm houses to boot.
Another turn and we're on US 11, a highway that starts South of Slidell, LA and runs up to the Northeast. That was the primary road before interstates were constructed. At Rogersville we made a little stop, grabbed some coffee and a breakfast sandwich as a late breakfast or early lunch. About 20 mins. later we were off and running again to Bristol, VA.
About 11:15 we rolled into downtown Bristol,VA/TN. It has been years since I was downtown as most of my trips North was on the interstate and in a hurry. State Street is the dividing line between Bristol, TN and Bristol, VA. We rode in on State Street.
The museum was once an auto dealership. You would never know it now. It is a very nice building and contains 3 theatres, one which is fairly large. Featured in one wing of the museum was Tennessee Ernie Ford who was from the Bristol area along with The Carter Family (June Carter who later married Johnny Cash).
Paul checked under the Christmas tree to see if a present was there for him. No present, just a lump of coal and a bundle of switches. Apparently he's been a baaaad boy.
This beautiful quilt hangs on the wall of the stairway going up to the second floor. Very artistic. Akin to a tapestry.
They had a lot of 1920 era black and white photographs, some movies, etc., telling the story of the first recordings of Country Music. First recorded was primarily Gospel songs. Later it crossed all boundaries to include Blues, Blue Grass, Country and Gospel. All because one man found that they had a mobile recording machine and he put it to use in various towns around the area.
There were groups of people that played and sang around the area and when the recording started their names became well known as their music was now recorded and played on the radio stations. The Carter Family, The Tennessee Ramblers, etc.
When the Western Electric Microphone was developed the quality of the recordings improved immensely. First recordings were rather scratchy sounding.
Ralph Peer was the man that started doing the recording and put country music on the radio stations. Quite a feat considering many places still was without electricity. People that had radios would invite their neighbors and friends over to listen.
The Bristol Sessions became very popular. Visiting singers/players would just gather and have a jam session in which a recording was usually made for later playing.
The museum showcased a number of music entertainers and their instruments, like Bill Monroe and his mandolin, old banjos (four and five string), autoharps and this rare Harp Guitar.
This is an old gramophone with cylinders of recorded music.
A small Christmas table was set up in the lobby of the museum.
In the featured wing Tennessee Ernie Ford was displayed and some of his original TV tapings shown. One was Minnie Pearl from The Grand Ole Opry, the only time she was on his show.
The displayed information was very interesting. Often the voices of sons or daughters of deceased stars was used telling of their relative's music career, family life, etc.
I use to watch Ernie Ford on TV when I was a kid. It was one of my parents favorite TV shows. Wholesome family shows that all members of the family could watch. Not quite like today where you have to first screen the show to see if it can be seen by children. Just shows the decline in morality these days.
After two hours in the museum we mounted our trusty steeds and headed back toward Seymour, TN. Taking some back roads of course.
One such road brought us by the Bristol Raceway, one of the toughest auto race tracks in the racing circuit.
Lots of rolling hills and large tracts of farmland. And straight roads too.
A pretty old farmhouse proudly flying Old Glory. Quite a place.
We crossed several streams that flowed from another stream that was once a lake, etc., etc., etc.
This particular portion was down to a small channel. Apparently caused by a draw-down of the lake.
More rolling hills, straight roads and plenty of blue sky. Making time. Practically zero traffic on several of the roads.
And far off in the distance you can see the outline of the mountains. We were headed back to the house where straight roads were rare and mountains plentiful.
Once someone's nice little house. Now just an empty hulk with 3 large trees standing guard over it as time takes its toll.
Pastures aplenty covered by a vast blue sky and a sun starting to get low on the horizon. Probably should throttle up a bit as the day is waning.
The white fence in the foreground must have been a quarter of a mile long at the least. In other words, it would take a heap of paint and a lot of brushing to keep it nice and white. It surrounded quite a large amount of acreage which had some very nice looking horses on it.
As the sun drops lower the vail of clouds soften the brilliance to a smothered purplish haze. Crank that throttle some more, time is fleeting fast.
This old beat up barn/shed/garage caught my attention and with that gnarly old tree made the place look like something out of the Old West.
Funny how that sun seems to drop a lot faster when you're trying to make sure you beat it before it gets dark.
And coming down the home stretch, about a mile to go. Yes, I pulled into the garage at 5:00 p.m., just a short time before Ole Sol went to bed for the night. The entire day ridden in valleys and hills with no mountains to cross. Most unusual but an excellent day all the same. Learned something new today. We all should strive to learn at least one new thing each day just to keep our minds and brains active.
Approximately 242 miles door to door. Foggy start, sunshine finish. Good things learned, new places seen, and continued friendship explored. As Paul would say, "ADGD", short for "A Dang Good Day". So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, I hope you will learn something new about something even if it's about yourself. Enjoy your life, it doesn't last here on Earth forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment