Sweet Home...
I've had the opportunity to travel a fair number of places in my life. While I might not be a world traveler like some folks here on HIVE, I have done a bit of exploring in my own back yard. When I was a kid, my parents used to plan these big two week long camping trips in the summer. We would all pile in the car or minivan, and head out on the road for hours at a time.
Back then it was a lot different than it is now. We didn't have all the entertainment stuff to keep us busy. It was our trusty walkman with maybe ten tapes that we handpicked to save space for all of our other stuff. Puzzle books, reading books, road trip bingo, and all other kinds of old school manual stuff to keep us occupied.
I've never been great at sleeping in vehicles but I think a large reason for that is these trips we used to take. As we were traveling this great nation, I didn't want to miss anything. Sure, if I was reading a book I might miss something here or there, but for the most part, I've taken the US in with eyes wide open.
Though I would love to travel and see the great big world out there, I think if I never get that chance, I will still be pretty blessed to see what I have seen. I've been to just about every state East of the Mississippi River, and to several of the states out West. I need to fill in that a bit more though!
Anyway, I was thinking about all the traveling I have done, and I was thinking about all the great sights that the United States has to offer, and that gave me the inspiration for this weeks #threetunetuesday post sponsored by @ablaze.
This is actually going to be a new series where I post three songs that have a state name in the title or the song. I'm going to try to do them alphabetically, but I am not going to promise that I won't take a break every now and then.
So today we start at the beginning with Alabama, hence the title of this post.
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I've already written at least one or two posts dedicated to Jim Croce. He is absolutely iconic and it is sad that he was taken from us so soon. In the short time he was creating music he gave us some really insightful and moving pieces. @mrsbozz and I got to see his son perform a year or two ago and the stories he told about his father were fascinating.
I can only imagine what amazing music he could have given us if he had lived longer.
I've only been to just a corner of Alabama. When you travel from Nashville down to Chattanooga Tennessee, the expressway curves down into Alabama before taking you into the town. Given it was just the corner, my wife and I didn't really count it.
I'm actually not sure I have ever heard this song before, but it has Alabama in the title and heck it's The Doors, so why not. Like Croce, this is just another example of someone that was taken far too soon from us. I can't help but also wonder what kind of amazing music Morrison would have given us if he had not died so young.
Believe it or not, when I started writing this post, I didn't realize there was going to be an underlying second theme for these two songs.
Finally, I give you "Alabama Pines" by probably one of my top ten favorite modern artists Jason Isbell. My wife and I got the chance to see him right before the New Year at the end of 2023. It was quite possibly one of the most amazing shows I have been to. You can see a photo from it above. It was in an old theater which is a nice small venue and the music was absolutely amazing.
Jason is a fantastic singer, writer, and guitar player. If you ever get the chance to see him live, I highly suggest you do it.
Anyway, there you go. One state down, 49 more to go. I have a feeling a couple of these are going to be pretty hard, so you might need to have some patience with me!
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Those short camping trips were much better than todays travelling expedition. We enjoy those days and time rather than busy in taking selfie and reels videos...those Walkman used to be a swag those days.
They were pretty sweet. I kind of still wish I had mine. It got so much use! I prefer driving versus flying when we have to make trips, but some of the distances are just so far!
Traveling is a great fun. I haven't had the to do that. Unlike you, my parents were farmers and talking about traveling for them could sound like a useless gist
Ah yeah, that is probably harder to move away from. My aunt and uncle are farmers and I know it takes a lot of their time.
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Traveling is my dream. Something I hope to do when I retire, my husband with me and the kids holding down our businesses. Seems like a long way from now but we are both working towards it. We might even get an RV… lol. Who knows?
My wife wants to become a "full timer" and travel around the country with our trailer. I like having a place that I can still come back to and call home, but I am not opposed to it.
Yeah. It’s the same thought we have. For now, we will just keep working towards it.
You might have fun with the map on MapLoco --> https://m.maploco.com/visited-states
Click the states you've visited, then screenshot to save/share. 🙂
Oh, that is cool. My wife and I have a wooden map in our hallway that we can add states to it as we visit them. Our sister in law got it for us for Christmas a few years ago. We have pretty strict rules we have to follow about whether we can count it or not. For example. A layover at the airport in Atlanta doesn't allow us to count Georgia.
oh, a wooden map is pretty sweet; that beats MapLoco by a mile! 😁
It's good that you have rules. There are actually a couple of states on my map that I don't know whether should be counted or not. Like the only time I was in the Chicago area, my company flew me (and several other employees) into O'Hare where a shuttle van was waiting for us. It took us to a suburb of the city and dropped us off at a hotel where we stayed one night. The next morning, the van took us to corporate headquarters for a meeting, then returned us to the airport afterwards. I never knew whether to count that trip to Illinois or not. 😂
Did you eat there? Plus you slept there. I think that definitely counts!
This post was such a comforting read. Your childhood road trip memories brought back that old feeling of watching the world go by from the car window, taking in everything with wide-open curiosity. I love the idea of pairing those memories with music, and starting a state-by-state series is so creative. The Alabama picks were great, and now I’m excited to follow along as you travel through the rest of the map in songs. 🤍
Thanks! I am glad you enjoyed it. I am really blessed that I got to see so much of the country that way. It's much different once you get older and you have to drive yourself around!
The Doors were just mental and one of my favourite bands. This one I love with Ray Manzarek's use of the Vox Continental organ. Have a state name ttt will be cool.
Although I am looking forward to hearing the state songs next week that start with B😎
Seems you got me having a day with The Doors, here it is at 5.57am and Alexa is pumping out their songs for me
Ah no, we have a lot more A states to go through first. I think next week might be Alaska and I am kind of nervous about that one! I can't think of any songs off the top of my head, so it's going to be a deep Google dive I think! Organs in any song are pretty great. I remember having a conversation with some friends a long time ago and we were trying to figure out who the first rock band was to use an organ. I think maybe it was Strawberry Alarm Clock, but I don't remember for sure.
I did a gemini ask for Alaska songs earlier today and think you will be pleasantly surprised at how many there are!
Excellent!
I love how scintillating this post is. I love to travel. Traveling feels like therapy but I’ve never traveled just for fun. I mean the fun of taking in landscapes, inhaling the fresh air found in lush open fields or soaking myself in a cool crystal river. I’ve only ever travelled a few times, interstate(not the US) anyway, for specific purposes which were somewhat compulsory. Traveling for the fun of it is something on my bucket list. Hopefully, I tick that off someday.
I know some people like that. It's kind of a foreign idea to me that they have never gotten out and explored their surrounding world. I get it though life and circumstances don't always allow for that.