MIDDLE AMERICA

Bad weather in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Utah forced our trip to detour back down south, cutting through the heartland of the U.S. Translation: no Mount Rushmore.

 

We're still on track to be back on the 25th - in the meantime, enjoy this collection of photos from Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.

 

 

The St. Louis arch...extremely impressive in person:

 

 

OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL

Very powerful to visit the memorial dedicated to the victims and survivors of the 1995 bombing - especially this week:

 

 

 

Each of these chairs represents one of the deceased - each has a different name engraved on it:

 

 

The original fence put up in 1995 to mark off the blast site:

 

Every single one of these chairs had either flowers or a memento left on it:

 

Very cool - in addition to honoring the deceased, they list the individuals in the blast radius who survived the attack:

 

 

We were looking for something to do in St. Louis and ended up taking a tour of the Budweiser factory. The tour is free and it was insanely crowded - we found out why: you get free beer and pretzels at the end. Or in my case: Diet Dr. Pepper. It was a wild afternoon. But the tour started with seeing some American legends...the Clydesdales:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we were driving through Missouri, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Sure, we passed the exit, but was it worth doubling back to take photos? You be the judge:

 

 

 

 

Dad winning next to a painting of his idol (from a bar in Indianapolis):

 

We spent a few hours at the lovely Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa - enjoyed it so much we booked a room at the one in Albuquerque:

 

 

 

Finally, for the blog readers who enjoy the classic television program known as Breaking Bad, then you will love these next two photos...if you haven't seen it, you're probably confused:

 

 

ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME

To say that anyone reading this needs to go to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is an understatement. It's an all-day music experience that should not be missed.

 

We spent close to five hours there and you could easily spend at least 9 listening to all of the great things they have spread out over six floors. It's also the last major thing we will be doing on this trip and a good way to go out. We've seen and experienced so many amazing things over the past three weeks - this will definitely go in the top 5.

 

Note: We could not use flash inside so some of the photos may be a little dark. But don't complain: we're not charging you to read this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lennon and McCartney's suits from an early tour:

 

Left: breakdown for "Hey Jude" - Right: Lyrics for "Yer Blues"

 

Lennon's handwritten lyrics to "In My Life":

 

Beatlemania - yes, that comb is huge:

 

The settlement agreement signed by the four Beatles dissolving their partnership:

 

These two pages divide the Lennon/McCartney songs that the band never recorded and return them to their authors:

 

John Lennon's Sgt. Pepper's uniform:

 

 

There's a new member of The Rolling Stones:

 

If anyone is looking for birthday present ideas for me:

 

 

The Glove!

 

 

 

 

Martin Scorsese's shooting script for The Band's "The Last Waltz":

 

Robbie Robertson's guitar from the performance of "The Weight" with The Staples':

 

Apparently we haven't seen enough Elvis stuff on this trip:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jimi Hendrix's handwritten lyrics for "Purple Haze":

 

A drawing made by a young Hendrix:

 

One of his guitars used to record:

 

A poster to one of the first U2 shows:

 

Bono's lyrics to U2's first single, "Out of Control":

 

Bono's jacket from their 2002 Super Bowl Halftime Show appearance:

 

Remnants of the ZOOTV tour:

 

Pearl Jam's Mike McCready's smashed guitar from a 1992 show:

 

The original Nirvana demo tape:

 

I wish I were at this Fillmore show:

 

Eagles stuff - a setlist, Don Felder's guitar from the Hotel California tour, and Timothy B. Schmidt's duffle bag full of hotel keys:

 

A closer look at the duffle bag:

 

Neil Young's handwritten lyrics to "Heart of Gold" and "Rockin' in the Free World":

 

Hank Williams' lyric notebook:

 

The Man in Black's suit:

 

Hank's suit:

 

Roy Orbison's shades:

 

Bo Didley's famous guitar:

 

Muddy Waters' guitar and suit:

 

The Clash section featuring Joe Strummer's awesome guitar:

 

The lyrics to one of the greatest songs ever, "London Calling":

 

Bonnie Raitt's suit and guitar from the 1990 Grammy Awards, which sadly I remember watching like it was yesterday. She was great!

 

An assortment of Stevie Nicks' witch dresses:

 

On-stage set-up for The White Stripes: