Rick and I started a goal earlier in the year of trying to get to ten new temples this year. We started doing this in 2018 and '19 but then the pandemic came and shut everything down. So earlier in the year we decided to start it up again. In March we were able to attend the Pocatello, Idaho and Star Valley, Wyoming temples. We have been planning a trip down South to get to six (that actually turned into SEVEN) new temples. Just after the 4th of July holiday we got started.
We began our Southern Temple Road Trip very early on July 5th. After a full day and an evening of fun we got to bed around eleven and woke up just before 2:30 to get ready and head to the airport.
We flew out with no issues at 5:30 and was able to make our connection in Dallas.
We arrived in Memphis by noon and set out for an afternoon of adventure.
Our friends from the ward Gary and Mollie Gowans suggested that we try a tasting tour on our trip. They had done that a number of times in different cities and really loved it. We thought we'd give it a try because...who doesn't love food!
We met up with a company called Taste of Memphis and headed out to some restaurants. Our guide was Taylor and we had six other people in our group. It was a walking tour that started out on the famous Beale Street. Taylor gave us information about the history of the area as we walked.
We started out at a place called Dyers. Elvis Presley used to come to Dyers twice a week and order a double double, fries, and a coke when he was alive. Dyers is famous for their fried burgers. Yes, it is true. They deep fry their hamburgers! We ordered a double double and split it. That is two burgers and two slices of cheese.
This gentleman behind us is in this picture is the the cook. His name is Bobby. He took each patty and smashed them down supper flat and then put the burger in a huge cast iron pot full of oil and let it fry. He could put about twenty burgers in at one time. The oil is an oil that has been added to for decades! Kinda like a sourdough starter is used. After the burgers fried for about ten minutes he dipped a slice of cheese in the oil and brought the burger up over the pot and put the cheese on the burger drain the oil quickly from it and then put it on a bun. He then topped it with lettuce ketchup mustard and pickles and served it up. I must say it was very tasty! Probably unhealthy as ever but it sure tasted good!
Our next stop was Blues City Cafe. This is a place that B. B. King would frequent....even though he had his own place across the street where he would play and sing. His place is called B. B. Kings Blues Club.(obviously;)
At Blues City Cafe we were served up Memphis style ribs (baby back), coleslaw, and beans. We liked them very much. There was half of a pink vintage Cadillac that belonged to Elvis hanging on the wall for decor! It was cool. Apparently Elvis liked Cadillacs and owned nearly fifty of them.
I believe this is where the drinking started for the six others in the group. They would all be ordering drinks for the next three places we stopped. It sure made them friendly!
Next we walked a few blocks over to South of Beale, an upscale bar. We ordered a type of sweet and sour deep fried cauliflower. It was super delicious! More drinks for our friends. By the end of the tour we got to know our "friends" pretty well:)
Next we walked back to Beale Street and stopped at Rum Boogie Cafe. We got to try out their gumbo, a southern treat. I was a little nervous about eating gumbo because I am not a huge fish fan but this actually tasted pretty good, especially with crackers.
This place was loaded with guitars and instruments that belonged to famous people. They were signed by their owners and hung up for display.
Our last stop was a tiny candy shop called Beale Sweets Sugar Shack. The proprietor, I cannot remember her name, was nice but quite a bit inappropriate. She liked making dirty jokes and told us a few. Anyhow, we ordered some delicious fudge and headed out. We thanked Taylor and said goodbye to the others and made our way out!
We drove around Beale street one last time and then drove over to the Bass Pro Shop. We actually took a wrong turn which put us on the bridge over the Mississippi River and took us into Arkansas! Yay! We could add one more state to our trip! We turned around and got into the Bass Pro Shop. It was built in a huge pyramid (a lot like the Luxor Hotel) filled with all sorts of cool stuff. It was a huge store with sportsman stuff, hotel, restaurant, and overlook. After perusing a bit we took the free standing elevator up thirty two stories to the top level. We walked thru the restaurant and stepped outside. What a beautiful view we had! There was a storm brewing in the distance and the River was right next to us. We were so happy that we made this little stop. We didn't buy anything, except our tickets to the top and it was worth it!
The next morning we started out our temple tour.
We did initiators at the Memphis Temple and then drove three hours to Birmingham and did iniatory in that temple. It was really fun to be in these smaller temples. One gentlemen called them the Hinckley Temples because these are the ones President Hinckley designed to get the temples out closer to the members. We loved visiting the celestial rooms. So beautiful!
Memphis Temple
Birmingham Temple
We overnighted in the Birmingham area and then had an exciting family history day!
We woke up early and stopped at Walmart to grab some long sleeves and bush trimmers. We knew that the Fraternal Cemetery we were going to search was going to be overgrown. We arrived and walked around for about an hour to try to find some family names. Sooo much of the cemetery was just completely overgrown!
We split up and had a fun time searching through the underbrush for family names.
We found a few....
Carlins and McCanns.
Somebody had been there to clean out around their plots!
We had an appointment with the Southern History Library at eleven so we headed into Birmingham to do some research. We each found some cool stuff but nothing that would tell us where the Drysdale plots were. And more importantly we could not find ANY information on Elizabeth Paxton and Eliza Drysdale. They made it to the states from Scotland but there is no trace of what happened to them after they arrived. I found in one of the books that in the 1930's a census of sorts was taken of the Birmingham cemeteries and and that time there was a Drysdale plot in this cemetery but not any gravestones. It sure would have been nice to know which plot was theirs.
After four and a half hours at the library we wanted to get back to the cemetery to look around some more.
While not being able to find the Drysdale plot it was good to be in the area of some of Rick's ancestors. We know that they were buried there in the Fraternal Cemetery just not the exact location.
Here are some more pics of that.
The next morning we headed out towards Atlanta to do sealings in the Atlanta Temple. It was a two hour drive to get to Atlanta for our morning appointment. The Atlanta temple has been around awhile and it had a different design. We loved doing dealings in this temple! It was the only time on this trip that we did sealings and I'm so grateful we did! The work is marvelous! To bring families together is such a great privilege!
Atlanta Temple
After getting a quick takeout lunch at a hip Asian cafe we set out on the road. Our noodle lunch was soo delicious! I basically had to feed Rick his noodles because he was driving and we were on a tight schedule to make our next appointment in Columbia. He didn't want to spill on his shirt. We loved our lunch! We had a lot drive time of three hours to get to Columbia. This was our longest day of the trip and we were happy to get to our final destination that evening but we DID get to Columbia on time and did initiatory work here. This was another small temple but again we loved doing the work and loved seeing the celestial room!
Columbia Temple
We overnighted in Richmond and then got to a church close by for Sunday worship.
I love attending different wards and feeling the closeness to others that the gospel brings.
I teased that we got to do church with the Southerners and sang the hymns with a twang!😂
After our meetings Rick gave me a blessing that my knee would continue to heal. It has been so bothersome since my surgery. I'm hopeful that the physical therapy will help.
We then drove the three hours over to Myrtle Beach. We stayed at the Sheraton Convention Center Hotel and had a very nice room on the 4th floor. There was a concierge lounge on the 11th floor of the hotel and we were able to get some appetizer foods to have for dinner. Meats, cheeses, crackers, fruit, and other items filled us up! The view from that high up was really beautiful! From our room it looked like the ocean was quite a ways away but from the 11th floor vantage point we could see that it was just a few blocks over.
The next day was a rainy one. That didn't stop us, though. After a really nice breakfast buffet Rick had to do a little bit of work. I read while he worked. In the afternoon we rented some bikes. CJ from the bike place delivered them right to our hotel where we could store them through the night and use them the next day. Even though there was rain we rode our bikes through the main part of Myrtle Beach. We stopped at a couple of different piers (and had to pay a dollar for each one) to walk down them and watch the fisherman. By the time we got back we were soaked through!
After getting back from our ride we showered and changed into dry clothes and went to dinner. We found a fun pizza place right near the hotel. The pizza was sooo delicious! We were really full but who can resist Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Not me. We both got our favorite...New York Super Fudge Chunk! This is the best ice cream out there! It's full of decadent chocolate ice cream with dark and white chocolate chunks and pecans. Soo good! Needless to say, we were stuffed!
Southern States Temple Trip continued on next post.......
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