The King?

Today is the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.  I can't vouch for the authenticity of this story, but I have been told that when he died in 1977 that my mother was upset that I would never really know Elvis.  Whether that is true or not, it is a correct statement.  I never have really understood Elvis.  That's not to say that I don't like some of his stuff.  I do think he has made some worthwhile contributions to the music world, but I have always found it hard to comprehend the King label.  Maybe it's a generational thing.  I thought Motley Crue did a pretty good cover of Jailhouse Rock.  It's funny how history repeats itself.  Michael Jackson died four days before Ethan was born.  Admittedly I was sad, though by the time he died his reputation had moved way beyond the "King of Pop" into some sort of a weird recluse--at least here in America.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I was always a fan until the day he died.  I guess some of my musical influences did come from my parents.  Even though Elvis didn't rub off on me, I do still listen to plenty of Neil Diamond and Willie Nelson.  As an overall rock fan though, I do plan to make the pilgrimage to Graceland one of these days.

After the big festival in Atlantic City, we took the time and drove to Washington DC.  I hadn't been there before, and I just wanted to see what it was all about.  I knew one day wouldn't be enough to see the city, but it was a nice way to get an overview for any future trips.  We spent the day walking around the mall area and visiting the monuments.  We were able to see quite a bit including the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.  There was no water in the reflection pool because they were doing repair work.  We also saw memorials for Martin Luther King, WWII, Vietnam, and the Korean War.  I would very much like to go back to DC and visit some of the museums.  We may be back on the east coast next year for Orion 2013, so we may try to make it a longer trip this time.  I will get some pictures from DC up on Facebook and maybe even add them to this blog in the next day or two.