So much to tell you, let's start with Dallas and Jackson

So we must apologize to those of you who have been sitting by your computer screens waiting for us to blog - we've been very bad! In our defense, we've been spending time with such wonderful people and having so much fun that we just didn’t have an opportunity to update.

Rather than fill you in on everything all at once, let's start with Dallas and Jackson, and a little bit later we'll tell you about our Tennessee Tour.

After a drive lasting over 12 hours we were beyond pleased to be spending the next 4 nights with Sondra, Ryan, Harley and Jackie. They were wonderful hosts, and we had so much fun spending time with them; Danny especially enjoyed the fact that Ryan was happy to play with him on the Wii, while Micol enjoyed spending time with two adorable doggies (no comment on the other dog we spent time with in Dallas - ahem, stuart!).

Among the highlights of our stay in Dallas were: Dinners at great restaurants with Sondra, Ryan, David and Bethany; A trip to see Bruno (which is hard to put into words - we definitely enjoyed it, some more than others, but not sure how exactly to describe it and I think we are also trying to keep this blog PG); a visit to David’s barber of 25 years (which also involved a shave from Mr. Everhart - good with his hands but a serious chain smoker, so Danny got what we like to call the Tobacco Shave); a trip to a hookah bar (bringing back memories of Israel), and a lot of time spent on the Wii (well Danny spent time on the Wii, while Micol played with the puppies). And finally we drove downtown for a very posh lunch with David and Bethany (thanks Bethany for treating us!), and we got to wax nostalgic, driving by the Belo Mansion, the site of the wedding – it brought back lovely memories.

After Dallas we went directly east to Jackson, Mississippi to visit Jordan. Apart from our wonderful host Jordan and our visit to the Institute for Southern Jewish Life (where Jordan works), there really isn’t a lot to tell you about Jackson. Except for the fact that on the first morning there, we experienced a crazy thunderstorm complete with blinding lightening and torrential rain (thank you once again America for this lovely send off). And of course, the storm was quickly followed by the hot and sticky humidity for which Mississippi is so famous.

That said, Jackson was the scene of a great triumph, as together with Jordan (and two of her friends) we entered a local pub quiz, and emerged victorious. Our team, the Jackson 5, won a resounding victory storming home with only 6 mistakes out of 45 questions. That said, I am not sure winning a pub quiz in Jackson is the biggest achievement (you know what they say…) Micol did believe that one of the reasons we won, besides her ridiculously high IQ, was the fact that another competing group named themselves the Jackson 4 - In Micol's words, "It was just too soon" and their disrespect turned in our favor.

After our victorious win, we spent one of the worst hours of our life in the foyer of a movie theatre in Jackson waiting for the sixth installment of Harry Potter to begin. Despite the lack of organization, fire hazard, and all round incompetence, the people in Jackson are so calm and laid back that Danny was the biggest agitator in the crowd, trying to start the crowd on a booing spree - it did not really catch on in the way he had hoped and everyone was left wondering why Daniel Radcliffe's much older brother was in Jackon, Mississippi and why on earth he was booing his own brother's film. After that experience the movie had to be utterly fantastic to make up for the hour of sweaty hell (Micol thought it was worth it, Danny was unconvinced, and he swore never to return to that cinema - an angry letter is in the works - to the movie theater that is, not the filmmaker).

We then put on our blue suede shoes and boarded the car...to touch down in the land of the delta blues…Memphis, Tennessee! We were told by a few important people in Jackson that the Civil Rights Museum was much more imporant to see than Graceland - there was a little hesitation on Danny's part but we decided to go the more educational route. We drove to the Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King's Jr.'s assassination - it was turned into an incredible civil rights exhibit and a memorial in his honor. The AAA book told us to allow at least an hour for the museum; three hours later we had barely scratched the surface. There was sooooo much read and see and experience. We highly recommend the experience to everyone who visits. What amazing, albeit slow, strides this country has come - from segregated schools and bathrooms to a black president. We still have so far to go, but sometimes it is nice to take a step back and admire how far we've come.

After the civil rights museum, we had about an hour to walk around the Rock and Soul Museum before it closed. Certainly not as impressive as Graceland would have been, but it was pretty cool. It featured information and memoribilia on musicians from B.B. King to Carl Perkins to Jerry Lee Lewis to Elvis. You could also listen to a lot of the music on the audio guide...Danny was pretty embarrassed by all of Micol's dancing, but he also enjoyed himself. We then took a walk to Beale street and listened to the blues playing in the streets and watched the drunk bikers stumbling around. We played the tourist card and ate at B.B. Kings (one of the only places that actually had a menu NOT dominated by pork and catfish), and were serenaded by two great blues bands, while Danny giggled and blushed everytime our waitress Precious called him "baby."

After dinner we had planned to stay at one of the fine motel establishments that lined the Memphis streets, but Micol had the bright idea of driving the three hours to Nashville through the night so we could have a much shorter drive the next day. About an hour into the drive, however, an incredibly frightening thunderstorm decided to literally rain on our parade, and frightened Micol to such an extent, not to say anything of the psychotic truckers driving over 70 mph on the wet highway, that she pulled to a gas station and let Danny take the rest of the drive. Eventually she found her happy place and self soothed, and Danny got the two safely into Nashville where we bunked for the night.

The next morning, we awoke to the continuing gloomy weather that has been following us across the country. Undeterred by the gloom, we took a short trip around Nashville, driving through Music Row (where all of the Recording Studios are) before stopping for some pancakes in a very cute little pancake shop. The woman suggested we might want 2 half orders instead of 2 full orders, but we didn't listen, and so as we began our drive to Cincinnati we had plenty of pancakes to snack on for the journey.