Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 22:51:21 EDT
Reply-To: RAlanen@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
Subject: Trip Home from Burning Man Part 5
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>>Another long story ahead as we have not been able to make an Internet
connection since leaving New Orleans <<
Now in Paris.......Tennessee that is ! Before getting into this report
I need to clarify a few things. Hans, the trip report numbers ARE mixed up
as you noted. Sorry about that but I lost track there a couple of times,
once at Burning Man and once again in Texas. Anyways, I'm calling this one Part
5.
There are four reports that are mixed up. "Off to Burning Man Trip
Report #4" is good and "Trip to Burning Man Part 4" should have been Part 5.
That's the one I said it was Tuesday morning and it really was Monday morning.
You go to Burning Man and see how well you do remembering what day it is and
what trip report # is up next ! Then, the "Trip from Burning Man Part 3" is
good and "Trip Home from Burning Man Part 3" should have been Part 4, so one
is part A the other is part B that's that.
And, one more error that I need to apologise for. It is Marie Leveau
not Marie Leveaux ! I hope the Voodoo Queen will forgive me and lift all hexes
on my bus !
Now back to Paris. Certainly is lovely here at the Paris Beach Resort
er Paris Landing State Park. We got in here Thursday evening and may spend
the day relaxing after all the excitement of Clarksburg, Tunica and Memphis.
The drive up to Clarksburg was good and again no problems. Clarksburg
is home of the Delta Blues Museum, the Cross-roads where Robert Johnson
supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in return for guitar playing ability and The
Ground Zero blues Club. I highly recommend a visit here especially if you
like the Blues and want to understand the how it all got started. We did a
quick tour of the town and found our way to the Expo Center where we found a
good campsite with electricity and water and no charges ! There were a dozen or
so other campers around, we made diner and snuggled in for the night in our
upper bunk.
Wednesday morning we made our way to the Walmart and local dollar store
for some shopping and restroom use as the free campsite had locked toilets,
go figure. Then we went off to the Blues Museum down on Blues Alley. The
current exhibition "The Chicago Blues Connection" was excellent with an
abundance of live original video and stills of all the great Blues artists like Muddy
Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter. We spent most of the morning in
there and finally hunger pangs led us out to a walk across the street to Ground
Zero, a huge old funky Juke Joint that was sort of renovated and put back in
operation by actor Morgan Freeman. We had Catfish sandwiches and Coronas
while perusing the many posters of past shows and the inscriptions on the walls
left by the thousands of past visitors.
We then took a stroll down the main street to walk off the catfish. We
found the Cat Head Shop a funky sort of place with tons of a Blues related
items, bought a poster and some cards and got the lowdown of what's happening
around town. Seems there's a fellow from San Francisco working up at Ground
Zero who is bummed out that he could not go to Burning Man. We head back up
there to tell him our stories and show our pics. He recommends we go visit
the Hopson Plantation and stay for the Perrys Blues show at Ground Zero tonight.
Off we go to the Hopson Plantation near the real Cross-roads now a main
intersection of two major highways all with overpass and all. The Hopson
plantation is where so many of the great Delta Blues singers worked picking
cotton until they found their way North to Memphis, St. Louis and Chicago. The
Hopson plantation is now home of two thriving enterprises dedicated to
preserving the heritage of the Blues and how it all got started. One is "The Shack
Up Inn" run by Bill who has taken the old workers cabins and gin mill
buildings and made rentable rooms complete with piped in Blues music. A central
office is cluttered with memorabilia and Bill is more that happy to spend hours
chatting about his little part of Mississippi. Across the way is the
Commissary where the workers used to gather in the evening and is now owned by Jimmy
James where he and friends run a Bar, Restaurant, Blues venu packed full of
memorabilia that would take you days to sift through. We spend a few hours
there sipping ice cold Corona's and Vodka laced orange juice conversing with
other visitors and the bar maid who also doubles as the booking agent for the
blues players. She had plenty of good stories and I could have spent the
entire evening with her except there was no show there that nite but rather at
Ground Zero.
Off we go to see the Perrys, a local Blues band featuring Bill Perry and
his son. They are great and we meet up with all the folks we hat met
earlier in the day. A young fellow named Andrew sits in on the guitar for a few
numbers and is so amazing that Bill tells him to quit stealing the show. Our
table mate, Michael Clarke, a chap we had met earlier in the day while taking
a stroll on the Sunflower River Walk in Clarksdale, tells us he own three
Vanagons and a Morris Minor. We immediately become good friends ! Michael
originally from Chicago and another friend are running a Canoe operation doing
paddling tours on the Mississippi. They are also building dug out canoes. He
want's us to stick around and take a full moon canoe trip they have planned
for next week. We decline as our schedule is getting tight and we need to be
in Watkins Glen for October 01. We close up the place, bid fare well to
Michael and head off to our campsite and some well needed sleep.
Thursday morning we pack up and head of to Tunica, Memphis and our road
North. Tunica is a Las Vegas in the making. New Casinos are everywhere,
there is also a riverboat called "The Mississippi Queen", which offers diner
tours, we decline all, take some photos and get on the road to Memphis. We head
for the Shangri-La Record shop on Madison where we were told by our friends
in Clarksdale we could get the lowdown on what's good going on in Memphis.
They send us down to "Wild Bills" on Vollentine Ave., as this is supposedly
the "real deal" if you want real live Blues music in Memphis, there's no music
tonight so we head off for a walk up and down Beal Steet. Looks much the
same as Bourbon Street in New Orleans. We decided we'd had enough of this
circus and head on up the road.
Getting out of Memphis was a chore as trying to find our way on to Hwy.
79 in all the traffic was confusing. We decided to take the scenic route
instead of I-65 and see what's happening in rural Tennessee. More cotton fields
and more cotton fields with some tobacco now and then. It was getting late
as we approached Paris and we Paris Landing State Park and decide to head
there. Fairly nice park on Kentucky Lake which is the leading into the
Tennessee River. Big marina, golf course, restaurant, chalets and of course our
campground. Initially we thought to stay the following day and explore but after
a quick tour of the nearby marina we see not much to do and decide to pack
up and head north again.
Still keeping to the scenic Hwy. 79, we follow the rolling hills into
Kentucky where some small mountains begin. We see on our Flying J map there is
one up the way we're heading. We can't seem to find it and end up at a
Tourist info in Cave City where we find a flyer for a Bluegrass Festival in Vine
Grove, Kentucky about an hour up the road. There is camping and we like
Bluegrass so we go there. Getting into Vine Grove about 6 pm just as the
evening's music is getting started. We find ourselves a swell place by a small
creek, have an electrical plug in, get set up, make diner and spend the evening
listing to real Kentucky Bluegrass.
Saturday we stick around for the day as the park is nice and there's a
full days entertainment ahead. After a pancake breakfast and spilling the
coffee twice I pull out all the carpets for a good cleaning, call my sister Pat
to wish her Happy Birthday then head to town to see a parade and local crafts
show. We miss the parade and find the craft show interesting. A display of
antique and custom cars grabs my attention alas no Volkswagens or Vanagons
except if you want to count the Beetle chassied '52 MGTD replicar ! Back to
the park for the Bluegrass show which starts at 1 pm. There are pickers
everywhere and seems all the local were born with some kind of stringed instrument
in their paws. We meet a Canadian couple from either British Columbia or
Prince Edward Island, the story is confusing, the've been travelling for six
months, play Bluegrass and go to all the festivals.
Rita & I take our chairs, find a spot in the crowd to call ours and
listen to the bands and eat barbecue. It was great and a fluke to find such a
spot. You never know what's in store up the road. Into the wee hours and many
pickers later the music is over and time for sleep. Rita has already called
it quits and when I get to the camper it's dark and she's snuggled in. I
crawl in and fall asleep quickly.
Sunday morning, I'm writing this story and hope to find a place to send
it in our travels up the road today. Festival is over and when we finish
breakfast, this story and pack up we will be back on the road again.
Got to a Flying J near Columbus, Ohio where this message is being sent
from. Called Ina, she is still in Phoenix area and still having oil leaking
problems. Karl's mechanic is supposed to look at it again tomorrow. Stay
tuned. Rita and I are still together, having fun and no problems ! We expect
to get to my Sister Pat's in New Kensington, Pa. sometime tomorrow. Sandy are
you around ? Give a call at Pat's.
I may upload more pics related to the above travel story if I have time
so be looking.
Oh, almost forgot, we almost bought a '95 Eurovan Winny full camper in
Louisville today. We saw it in a used car lot as we passed. Price on the
window said $9950 so we pulled on the binders and went back for a close up. It
sure looks good and clean. They let us out for a test drive for about a half
hour and I could not find a thing wrong with it. Clean as a whistle in and
out and under. Air works and has and awing and Sony radio-cassette player.
Fairly new tires. Mileage was 99,950. We offered $8000 he countered with
$9,200 so we said we go and think about it. We ended up near Columbus and
we're still thinking ! Phone and address is: Holiday R.V. & Auto Sales, 7565
Dixie Hwy., Louisville, KY, talk to Bob King @ 502-935-5588, if anyone's
interested. We've decided it's not for us right now.
Just a side note to say this is one of only four VW Vans, camper or
otherwise, spotted anywhere since leaving Larry Chase back in Arizona. One
Vanagon Westy with engine out in Texas, one Carat spotted at a garage sale in
Kemah and one bay window bus Westy in a Bosch dealers yard somewhere down the
road yesterday. That's is that's all ! Where are ya' all ?
Don't forget about the Westys @ Watkins event, Watkins Glen, NY, October
1,2 & 3. Camping is at the Watkins Glen State Park. No reservations
needed. Contact Joel Cort
_joel_cort@yahoo.com_ (mailto:joel_cort@yahoo.com) for more info. Rita and
WILL be there Friday some time ! Ceeya all there !
Cheers,
Frank Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm) a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June 09 ~ 12, 2005
'87 Westy, '90 Carat & Lionel Trains
Member: _Vanagon List_ (http://www.vanagon.com/) , _LiMBO_
(http://www.bcn.net/~limbo/) , _IWCCC_ (http://www.westfalia.qc.ca/) &_ CCVWC_
(http://www.ccvwc.ca/)
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley_STEBRO/Vanagon
Stainless Steel Mufflers_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm) _Frank
Condelli & Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html) or
http://frankcondelli.com
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