When in comes to celebrities, you don’t get much higher than Elvis Presley and Kermit the Frog. Both are from Mississippi. I visited their birthplaces on Monday.
Apparently, Elvis is kind of a big deal in Tupelo. Kermit, not quite as much in Leland.
When I made the turn onto Elvis Presley Dr, where The King was born I received a small surprise (pic related)
they don’t even have a chrome fire plug
My first thought was, “Huh. The King was born in the New Carrollton Public Library. I thought he was poor.”
Then I looked to the right and saw his actual house.
It’s about the size of a Hummer (the SUV).
That other building is so that people who didn’t do anything of note but hold the reins can charge exorbitant fees for allowing you to tour the grounds. I tease. Most of the money they take in is spent on signage that reads, “Don’t take any pictures…dick” or words to that effect.
I went into the gift shop and bought some incredibly overpriced, cheap Chinese-made swag because, that’s what you DO. But, I did not pay to see the exhibits. I don’t have many principles but one of them is to not pay to view something that should be free if they won’t let you take pics. It really pisses me off, frankly.
I needed to cool off. So, I went to the Tupelo Aquatic Center. It is a modern swimming facility (state-of-the-art, really. pic related).
It is just on the other side of Veteran’s Park from the Elvis House. They make it clear in every way that they can, that this is where Elvis would have swum as a child if it hadn’t been built two decades after his alleged death. Instead he swam in the crick under the bridge. And, got whooped for sneaking off to do that.
I paid 5 bucks and they didn’t even ask for ID. They are so backwards in Mississippi. I could be a terrorist for all they know. Who doesn’t ask for ID these days? SMH. I changed into my swimming togs and jumped into the deep end.
Now, I don’t want to brag about setting any world records or being better at stuff than anybody but, I’ve heard that Michael Phelps can swim all day and not even break a sweat. Whereas I attack it with such intensity and ferocity that I am completely exhausted in under half a minute and need to be rescued by the geriatrics in the Aquacize class three lanes over.
I wonder how many medals he could win if he would put forth that kind of effort. Just saying.
Once the water was pumped out of my lungs I saddled up the EM-50 Phantom Rambler and headed west to the little town of Leland, Mississippi. Childhood home of Jim Henson.
I arrived at the museum at 3:58. They close at 4:00. The nice lady there said there was no charge for admission and encouraged me to take as many pictures as I wanted. She would even stay late, but she might have to run out to make it to the Post Office before they close and, if so, would I mind shutting the door behind me when I left?
I said I would be as quick as I could. I say that to women a lot. (Ha! No I dont.)
There isn’t much there. One of the original Kermits, donated by the widow Henson (pic related)
It’s blurry
A big Kermit for posing with. (pic related)
An Ernie and a Fozzie (pic related)
And a gift shop. Proceeds go to keeping them open and maybe adding another room.
When I left, the lady said to me as sincerely as anything, “Thank you for being a fan of the Muppets. Have a blessed day.”
It was so nice to finally be recognized as a Muppet fan that I didn’t even mind that “blessed day” crack.
Tuesday looms like an ominous shadow. It promises another day of not being with the one I love. But, I stay the course and dream of that first kiss when I greet her at the Memphis airport. Until then…adventure may be out there, but so am I.