My Other Paul Shows
Saturday, April 30,2016. So, I know I've posted that Mom and I were going to see Paul McCartney in Little Rock, Arkansas. But, that's only a quarter of the story. ;)
Thursday night 4/28 I got off work--and it had been just a frustrating evening all around--and went home. Mom and I ate dinner, packed up our stuff into the car and went to bed. We left at around 6 the following morning. By the time we got all of our running around and stopping done, we were on the road by 8:15ish.
Our route was an interesting one. Instead of just taking I 24 to I 40 and crossing the state going through a bunch of cities and over Monteagle (which I cannot handle driving over very well), we went from Chattanooga, down through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and back into Tennessee via Memphis.
Freak out #1 happened when we exited off I-24 and realized we didn't have to cross a mountain. We were joyous! lol
Freak out #2 happened in Huntsville, Alabama when I saw the US Space and Rocket Center. I always drive by this but have yet to go in. Notice....I said "yet." It is SO happening! lol
So, the drive was fun. We listened to Elvis Radio on Sirius XM all the way to Memphis. We laughed, sang, told jokes. It's probably the first time I've truly enjoyed a road trip, you know? But, this was so much fun. It didn't matter what route we took to Arkansas, all of them led to Memphis. So, since my mom is a big Elvis fan, I said, "Hey, let's stop at Graceland." Mom was on board.
It started off bright and sunny, but the closer we got to western Tennessee, the worse the weather became. By the time we were in Memphis, it was a complete deluge and I needed an ark instead of a vehicle. We found Elvis Presley Boulevard and I pulled into the parking lot across the street from the mansion. The power in the booth where you paid for parking had gone off, so she couldn't take any money. So, she pointed the way to park and told us to "Have a Blessed Day." WOO! Free parking! I felt like I was in a Monopoly game!! lol
Found a place to park--and, no, we were NOT the only ones there that day. It was still busy.--and it just poured and poured with rain. I'm serious. I thought the car was going to float away! I thought to bring a long-sleeved shirt, but it was in the back of the car. I got out to get it and was greeted by water up to just below my knees. By the time I got to the back of the car, my shirt was soaked. I put on my long sleeves anyway. I also brought two baseball caps for us to wear out in the sun. I gave them to Mom and she put one one before she got out of the car. The water was up to her thighs.
We walked together, huddled, through the water, to the connecting bridge and up to the Welcome Center. When we got inside, we looked like drowned cats and were soaked to the bone. Mom insisted that we buy dry--long sleeved--new clothes, so that was the first thing we did. Nothing we could really do about our pants, but we got matching new shirts. :)
Afterwards, we bought tickets just to tour the mansion. The tour was different this time. Last time we took it--almost 3 years ago--it was just a headphone set attached to a player that you listened to for the tour. This time, they had an interactive iPad tour where they gave you headphones and an iPad and you got to listen to John Stamos narrate your way through Graceland. That was fun. The only thing that bugged me was that there was no fast forward or rewind and you had to double-click to the next room/section. It didn't just flow. But, eh.
When we were finished with the mansion, we took the bus back across the street and stopped in another souvenir shop; where we bought some rain ponchos. They helped a little, but not too much. Our dry shirts still ended up getting soaked in the next deluge. OMG it would P O U R rain, then stop, then P O U R rain again. It was almost as if Mother Nature was having a fit or something. EESH
We walked past the Elvis Radio booth. It was just after 2pm CT and George Klein's radio show just started. In case you don't know who that is, he's one of Elvis' oldest friends. They went to school together. (Clicky here to read more about him!) The last time we were there, no one was in the booth. But, this time, we got up to the window and there Mr. Klein sat. Mom said hi and waived and he waived back! She nearly jumped up and down. I'll bet she would have if she hadn't been standing in the rain. We looked around some other shops and then headed back to the car--where there was still a flood, but not as bad as it had been when we arrived.
We got in the car and made our way through Memphis and through to Arkansas.
The hotel we stayed in was less than 10 minutes away from Verizon Arena. JOY And, it was nice, clean and had a ton of room in it. MORE JOY. We sacked out pretty early Friday night, mostly because the bed was so comfortable that it just couldn't be helped. LOL
Saturday morning, we got up and got our continental breakfast :) and then had to find Walmart. The floods in Memphis ruined our shoes, so we needed new ones. (Whew! Mine were SUPER stinky!!) Then, we made our way to the Clinton Presidential Library. You know, I thought that I would not like it much at all. I'd only ever been to 1 other Presidential Library--JFK's--and, while I have respect for the man, it bored me to tears. At least it was in a beautiful spot, though. And, so was the Clinton library. It was a quaint little corner in Little Rock--actually, this was the only time we were in Little Rock proper. Everything else was in North Little Rock--whole other town. It was busy with a lot of things going on--as well as a few other Beatles/Macca fans there ;) It began with a short film, narrated by President Clinton, and then we got to view a replica of the Cabinet Room (I sat in the President's chair because I rock lol), a lot of personal correspondence, awards, the president's personal daily calendars---gosh there was SO much to see; even Olympic torches!!! My favorite part, though, was the replica of the Oval Office. I sat at the Resolute Desk.
Ha ha funny story. We walked into the Oval Office and they started off by telling us it was a replica of the Resolute Desk. And what did I say?
"I'm having a National Treasure flashback." LOL Ok, so it was Part 2 that had the desk in it.....but whatever Still love those films LOL
We had our photos taken, with each of us sitting at the desk. Mom looked better sitting there, so we kept that photo. :)
Afterwards, we found a H U G E mall with this great Italian place to eat some lunch. After awhile, we met up with the rest of our Macca crew at Creegan's Irish Pub. We got there somewhere around 2:30. Come to find out, Paul stopped by there earlier that day (probably while we were at the Library), too. LOL OY Anyway, we hung out for a bit and then Mom and I realized that we needed to charge our phones. We actually had a pretty great parking place for the show already, so we weren't about to move. Instead, we chilled out in the car, charging our phones until time to go inside.
I tried to print our tickets before I left work on Thursday night, but it just wouldn't work. So, I downloaded the Ticketmaster app and that's what was scanned for entry. First time ever I have not had a paper ticket for a Macca show. And, it went perfectly. No problems at all.
We got inside and it was just bedlam from the get go. The line to buy Macca stuff was almost as long as the line to get inside the arena for the concert! So, Mom and I walked around a little bit. Reps from PETA were there--so got some free stuff from them, including a CD narrated by Paul. Then, Mom and I got in a shorter To Buy Macca Stuff line. I got some keychains and a tour book. Least amount of Macca stuff I've ever bought at a show. I bought more at Graceland! LOL
We found our seats, and I was pretty joyous to realize that we were sitting right in front of a giant screen. To look at Paul on the stage, we would have seen him from the side and back. But, now we didn't have to worry about that. We sat beside these folks from southern Arkansas, who were big Paul fans and this was their first concert. Super awesome. Chatted with the wife in the couple a lot. She was also a big Elvis fan, so we had to tell her all about our experience at Graceland the day before.
From our vantage point of view, we could see down into the side of the stage where all of the TV screens are, where they tune the guitars--including tuning and polishing Macca's Hofner bass; which was totally awesome and made me uber jealous! LOL We also watched as the crew put down a string of lights on the opposite side of the stage on the floor. And Mom said, "I'll bet that's where he comes in at."
"You're probably right, Mom."
Honestly, if we weren't talking to the Arkansas chickie next to us :) then we were watching the crew prep the stage for the show. I was utterly fascinated. I'd never been able to watch before. We also listened as a DJ spun some Macca/Beatles tunes. That was pretty awesome sauce.
The pre-show film started and, well, it was nice that it was a different thing from the Out There tour, but it was inferior to its predecessor, I think. It could've been so much more. But, that doesn't matter. It was still cool to watch.
Then the lights went out. And, Mom and I both immediately started watching where they placed the strand of lights. Footsteps passed the lights. And suddenly........P A U L!
And, we both began to cry. So did the Arkansas chickie next to us. :)
It's been quite a number of years since I've seen Paul in an indoor arena. 2005's US Tour to be exact. And, I have to say that I think I like it much better. It seems more intimate--well, as intimate as you and 20,000+ other people could possibly be with the same guy--than a huge stadium show. At one point, they put a curtain down and everyone came to play instruments at the front of the stage. I hadn't seen this done since 1993 with Linda in the band. And, they played a few songs like that. My favorite???? In Spite of All the Danger. Hands down the best for me. I'd never heard that song live before--I don't think anyone has, actually--and it just moved me to tears again. haha---oh! and! I recorded it! :) I had very little battery left after the show was over, but that was ok. I managed to capture a couple good photos. Second favorite of the night? Blackbird. You know, Paul always says that song was inspired by the racial unrest in the 1960's. Imagine how amazing it was to sit in Little Rock and listen to that song. And, then to find out afterwards that Paul met 2 of the Little Rock Nine before the show? Wow. Sends chills up and down my spine. (If you don't know who the Little Rock Nine are, you can click here to read more.)
The show was truly amazing--except for when everyone started doing the Arkansas Razorback call. Yeah, I'm a Kentucky Wildcat. I don't do that stuff. (GO BIG BLUE :) )
It didn't take us long to get back to the hotel after the show, and we pretty much crashed out.
Next morning over breakfast we met some more folks who'd been at the show the previous night. It was pretty amazing to hear the different stories. I like listening. It's like fellowship--but with Beatles fans. This is important in the Church of Macca. We Maccaologists must mingle and listen to others' stories.
We packed up and left North Little Rock. Got to Memphis....and the sun was shining so bright that we needed sunglasses. JOY! I put my Elvis shades on. (I've had these for years. Bought them at the airport in Memphis LOL). We didn't plan to stop. But then....we got lost. And, we ended up right on Elvis Presley Boulevard. So, we did what anyone else would do: park and take photos in front of the gates and in the driveway at Graceland. Duh. :)
Hey, that was pretty fun, I must admit. I didn't think that Mom would actually go for the idea, but I was wrong. We had a blast. And, there were a few other folks there doing the exact same thing. Hey, at least this time we weren't gonna drown from the deluge. LOL
By the time we got home, the rain from Friday followed us to Tennessee. It rained...but at least we were home inside this time. LOL
Yeah, the plan was just to travel to see Paul; something I've done 13 other times before. (This show was # 14.) But, I reflect more on the fun that I had with Mom. Our relationship has truly evolved and just blossomed. For this, I am grateful. We did some pretty awesome things this weekend, no doubt about it. But, what I'll remember most is the fact that we did these things together.