Tupelo, Nashvile, and Home Again!

It was hard to believe the Wing and Prayer tour only had two more stops to make on this 21 stop, 14 day excursion. But it was true. We were headed to the famous John Grisham launching bookstore of Reeds Gumtree Books - next to our last. The end was drawing near.

Now one thing was becoming apparent to us all along the winding road - we never knew what to expect and every stop offered up something special. A different slice of life and the unexpected pleasure of a surprise.

Reeds offered up the friendly faces of Emily and Jane and the one and only Jack Reed, son of the founder of Reeds but the instigating factor for getting the bookstore added and off the grown. He honored us by making a special trip in to welcome us to the store. Honor is a loose word for the experience. After conversing with Jack for over an hour (and never wanting to leave) we were humbled by his wisdom and his presence. We both purchased HIS BOOK at his protest and captured the storyteller offering some sage advice for the ages.


Reeds is one of the places that when you wander in you want to park. The kind of place where we found ourselves having serious conversations with booksellers in the children's area with questions like "Did you find Llama, Llama Misses Mama as good as Llama, Llama Red Pajama?"  Seriously. Our appreciation for fine literature knows no boxy boundaries.

Another wouldashouldacoulda was added to our list  - never, ever come to Reeds Gumtree Books or the beautiful little city of Tupelo without more time to spend and spare. Never.

Headed straight on down the road (in a roundabout find another story kind of way) we passed through Tennessee and flowering trees and pulled up at our last stop - Davis Kidd in Nashville. What a delight to see friendly faces waiting and people who had great patience as we poured out stories, stacked up stories, and laughed through incidents of the long road show. Afterwards when we caught our breath - we realized no one probably understood a tired, manic word we'd said. But they were all so beautifully attendent. We met sisters Mary Elizabeth and Sara who shared with us thoughts on her most recent reading experience. You can view the clip here:

It was a great evening of storytelling, celebrating story and wrapping up this Great Southern Wing and a Prayer Tour. Tired. but too happy to care, we finally had to hush and let the good folks of Davis Kidd go home for the night and say goodbye.

We have too many favorite lines to post them all. We kept quoting the great literary line from The Tale of Two Cities - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" as we pushed, pulled and lugged luggage state after state. But well worth every stop, turn, mile and smile along the way.

It will take months to process everything that we learned and that happened on this trip but we can pinpoint a couple of things that are worth sharing:

*Community bookstores are vital to the ongoing health of the gathering of people who love books. They are our town squares, our central outposts for civilized discussion, and a place where souls can find something in common - their love for the written word.

*Young people are reading everything and everywhere which gives us great hope that our idea of a book and a good story will live for a very long time.

* That in this age of blogging, facebooking, twittering and so on - and kudo's to social media for connecting and reconnecting so many of us - nothing will ever take the place of a little face to face grace.

And now the only great literary line that come to mind is  . . .

"THAT'S ALL FOLKS!"

Thanks for staying so close to us as you followed along. We have loved sharing this evolving trip with you.

And now - On a Wing and a Prayer - we have to say goodnight. Please scroll down to see all the wonderful pictures of where we've traveled and the friends we've made along the way.

 River and Shellie

Big Fun at Page and Palette

We entered Fairhope with incredible Sunshine, a festive Spring air and with everyone dancing! See, we mean it.



 Where we received the key to the city upon our arrival. (okay - we received the keyhole but that was good enough for us. We felt welcomed.)

 Page and Palette corners the market on most, excellent reads.
 
The Cat was waiting. With attitude.

 And so were old and new friends. And enticing things to buy.

 Our newest friends were waiting patiently when we arrived. And no, we were not late. They were early and that really is the truth. What beautiful souls and how much fun they were.
 
 Ellen made that great dish the Caviar of the South. Yum, yum. Really.

 Love this sign and it is all true.
 
 We love it when children feel so welcome.



 Ahhh, stories, stories, stories.
   
 Beautiful Rita graced us with her presence. Thank you for listening to everything.

 Rick gave us a little technical advice, and just cracked us up. And he made our other new friends from Chicago feel a real, southern welcome. Love that fact that the family visiting had never once before been to an author reading, signing, or tapdance. Rick said  that it certainly wouldn't be their last he was sure of that.


 Bookstore Ellen and Sandra.

 WE have a pocket full. A double fisted pocketful!
These boards of welcome have been some of our favorite things on the trip and we are saving all the pictures for the Mama's. 

 

  
 Ellen was so nice to host us. She made our night.
   
 Ummm, which way do we go?????

 We walked back to our home away from home  away from home like tired but happy pups, still telling stories, still staring at that great full moon,



Love a town with a clock. We wanted to take this one home with us. For the record it's glued down!
 

 Somewhere in here is a place to lay our tired heads. 


Shellie is missing March Madness and she has whined about it a lot! Really, really a lot. She is so missing it she wanted to find a place with a tv when we discovered there was no hotel restaurant or room service.












So we roughed it like any good writers on the road. A little fireplace, a bite to eat, and a whole lot of Thankful.

Turn the page folks, we are in bed and then down the road to Lemuria Books and Jackson, Mississippi.

Coming and going on a Wing and a Prayer!

River and Shellie.

Yawn Books, Bound to Be Read, and SIBA within 24 hrs? SURE!

Hey, hey, I said hey - do you know the way to . . . scroll down to blog post to see just how many times we will ask anyone or anything that stands still long enough for directions.



The quaint town of Canton, Ga where we wish we could have sat here, enjoyed sunshine, and the southern hospitality.



Books, ice cream and lunch? Now folks, What more could you ask for?

OKAY - so MAYBE you could ask for the Great American Trailer Park Musical. Now, why can't we stay in one place long enough to see a great musical. 

Our favorite bathroom picture yet.

Our friends Carmen and Tara at Yawns.



We were having a creative moment here. Wonder if the Cohen Brothers have these kind of consultations in the middle of the stream.

Shellie, Michelle, and Tara discuss why they love Yawn's, books clubs, and their current reads.



New tech toys? SURE! One more for the road. Thanks John for pointing us in the right direction at Best Buy.

Jef and our earliest visitor at Bound to Be Read Books.



Pulitzer award nominee finalist Charles McNair shares a secret - he really did come from Alabama with a Banjo on his knee.

Best-selling author Patti Callahan Henry, Pulitzer author Charles McNair and the Wing and Prayer girls.

A beautiful global traveler who has been in 88 countries and came home again. So happy you found us and Bound to Be Read Books.

Then our gracious friend Patti Callahan Henry opened her home to us. God bless you Patti and Faye and all the other angels on the road.


OH we miss our dogs! This one is a real good hugger with much love. Patti's dog Hank who told us stories we are not at liberty to reveal. They were confidential.
 


This is Tracy, Patti's assistant. She is a superwoman and we want one.


Thanks Patti for a refreshing pause and a great interview to be featured on our respective radio programs.



Hold our breath - we found our way to the SIBA event at the Spring Book Tour.



Check out the digs. Yes, it did have special hotline telephone.

The SIBA visitors and board members were the greatest! Everyone gets their name tagged to their picture tomorrow but for midnight - smiles, places, action. We told stories and celebrated the same. Thank you booksellers across the south and the U.S. for loving books and making them a life long passion!










See you tomorrow in Birmingham and yes - We'll be coming in On a Wing and A Prayer -

River and Shellie