Downtown Saturday

JMB and LAB went to the big city this morning. We parked in the free parking garage right behind Market Square, and we walked to Gay Street to see the big Suffragette Parade. Our friend Nan Scott was in charge so we went to support her. A bunch of ladies dressed in old fashioned white dresses and hats walked along shouting..."We want the Vote" There were three men in the back with a sign that said "Ratify the amendment." Then the old cars rolled by with period dressed men and women in them... Last were horses with the girls dressed in long dresses and riding side saddle! After a ceremony on Market Square they unveiled the Suffragettee Statue...very pretty...
The Mast Store on Gay street was having a grand opening .We browsed and I bought a shirt and a watch. We had a fun morning..

Saturday Walk

We hadn't walked all week because of our busy schedule..so yesterday we drove to the Rifle Range County Park and walked the trail that goes behind the houses. The land that couldn't be developed is covered with iron weed and many wild flowers. It was in the direct sun, so we drove to Adair Park after that and walked the shady trail. . We stopped by the Marble Slab and got waffle cones; I got Rocky Road which is double chocolate mixed with marshmallows, walnuts and chocolate chips.
After all the icecream we decided we needed to walk some more...We walked a mile around Fountain City Park, and then we came home to wash the Taurus and watch the birds and finish the jigsaw puzzle.

Fun Day With Rose

Rose and Gma went back to station WDVX to the Blue Plate Special and heard another good singer....Larry Stephenson. He and his band arrived in a huge bus from Nashville. Then we went to market square where Rose shopped at the Vagabond shop. We ate lunch at a new market square restaurant ...different chickpea carama deep fried thing with black beans and rice and tofu . We bought corn and peppers and green beans at the farmer's market..
Then we took off for Sevierville. We found the museum closed, but we went across the street and talked to Bon. His son Brian told us where to find the genealogy section of the Sevierville library so we spent two hours there. We found pictures of my grandparents house and lots of information about the Murphys.
There was an article about the fire at my grandmother's house. She had told me about it. She was ready for Christmas and had all the presents wrapped and the pies and cakes made for Christmas dinner and she left the house to go visit her sister. The house caught on fire and burned down. Some of her furniture was saved, but they had to move to a new house. There is a good picture of their house in the book that Rose bought.
Rose wanted to look for my great great grandfather's tombstone, so we drove to Murphy's chapel and searched the graveyard there. Rose started scraping grass and dirt off a stone and there it was!! It said: James Crawford Murphy founder of Murphy College. It was like a treasure hunt, and we found the treasure! Rose took lots of pictures.

Station WDVX

Our Senior Sinners group from church went to the Knoxville Welcome Center on Gay Street today. Station WDVX broadcasts there live everyday at noon . It's called the Blue Plate Special. It was nice blue grass music. Mark Barker was one of the performers..He played guitar and sang. The Wright Brothers were good too..This is a East Tennessee radio station 89.9 fm or you can get it on the internet..A group of Japanese students were there so I said "Conishiwa "to them and they were surprised...They said "Hi" and giggled.
Some of us old timers remember when the Midday Merrygoround was broadcast from Gay Street every day. The performers would come out on the sidewalk and play.

Long Walk

Yesterday we walked from the house to Fountain City Park..It's the first time we walked that route since all our leg problems ..We went down Eldridge Rd. and then the sidewalk on Broadway to the park. A Smoky Mountain Fudge ice cream cone at the Creamery gave us enough energy to get back home. Last night the Misfits had a hamburger party at church ..It was fun. Ronnie gave us some tomatoes from his garden...

Murphy Reunion

We went to the Murphy reunion yesterday..Paul and Rose picked us up and David and Melissa went with us. We went the back way to Bears Crossing .....Chapman Highway to New Era Road. It was a pretty lodge with log cabin decor and lots of windows...Jo Ann was there with Charlie and their son Wayne and his two children. Wayne led the prayer before we ate..He's a Baptist preacher and his brother Larry is a Baptist preacher . Bill's son Warren was there. I had never met him, but I felt close to him because of Bill and Pat. I had been in their wedding..Pat was in my sorority at UT. Bill was a Methodist preacher. He was Jo Ann's brother.

Jo Ann's sister ,Sara Sue , was there from New York with her children from California and Spain She had two small grandchildren. Martha and her family came in late ..I didn't get to taste her kidney bean salad, because I was through eating when she got there.. Vickie and Sharon and Jonathan came with Ryan and Lauren. Jimmy Murphy was cooking the hamburgers . Dale, his wife, was there, and their son Darryl came in with his wife and three children .Darryl was one of my students in my library at West Hills .Elementary. He remembered me but he didn't know we were kin ...

I was impressed with the Murphy men..Yes they were getting bald, but they were handsome men and they were so warm and friendly like the Irish. Rose says the Irish Lads are like that.

Rose had all her genealogy papers with her and she was busy with people the whole time. They all gathered around her and helped her sort out the family names.

Cousin Bon didn't show up. I had talked to Nancy earlier and she had promised to try to come. I'll have to call him and tell him what he missed.

John (Martha's brother} had planned to come with his family from Florida but he called that he couldn't get away.

Sara said that she had been to see Mary Charles (Martha's sister in New York} and she had told Sara that she felt left out of the family. It was a sad story that still hurts me..Martha's Mother died right after she was born, and their father took Mary Charles and John to Florida ..He remarried , but they had a hard time, and Mary Charles told Sara that Mary , their stepmother ,had kicked them out of the house when they were 18. They had such a loving family in Seveirville, but they never knew it. Mamaw took Martha and raised her, and when she graduated from high school she came to Knoxville to live with us. She went to beauty school here and that's where she met Walter.

It was a wonderful time for me and I appreciated my family taking me and waiting around while I talked to everybody. They seemed to enjoy it too.

ice cream cones

For the last four nights we have gone to Fountain City Park to walk around three times...(a mile) , and then we go get an ice cream cone at the creamery or at the new marble slab. At the marble slab we get double chocolate with cherries ..At the creamery we get raspberry chocolate truffle. Good!! It has been so hot that we have to stay in until 8:00 p.m. We still go out in the mornings to exercise class and to the swim class. The rest of the day we read or work jigsaw puzzle...Rose gets home today, so perhaps our lives will get more exciting...

My beautiful granddaughters

And their Dad ain't bad looking either..