SPEAKER_01: 0:02

Hi, and welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast. I am Z Michelson, and I hope you enjoy your time with us today. Hey, this is Z Michelson, and I am here with the illustrious Jay Lawrence again. Because when we talked about America the Beautiful tour, we only got halfway through the city.

SPEAKER_00: 0:21

Yeah, we were only halfway through. I can't believe it.

SPEAKER_01: 0:24

So now tell me, this is part two of America the Beautiful. We left in, where were we? Montana?

SPEAKER_00: 0:30

Well, West Yellowstone, Montana, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 0:33

Right. So we were in Montana. And now you have to swoop around and come back down.

SPEAKER_00: 0:39

So how are we going to get back to sunny Florida? Is that the big Right?

SPEAKER_01: 0:43

How you how are you coming back and what are you seeing on your way back?

SPEAKER_00: 0:47

Yeah. Well, we're in day number nine. That's where we started. And we left West Yellowstone and headed south toward the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park. And we were headed towards Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02

Okay, so you're kind of flipping around again. So you're going to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Did it take a whole day to travel to Jackson Hole?

SPEAKER_00: 1:09

No. No. It's not that far. But on the way, we were on Route 26, heading out of uh Yellowstone National Park, and we were on the John V. Rockefeller Parkway, which look it's great forest. You see good forest all the way. And then we're approaching the Grand Teton National Park. And by the time we got there, it was time for lunch. So you know, a half day. We left at eight. Well, we stopped in Yellowstone, saw a couple of the geysers on the way out.

SPEAKER_01: 1:37

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 1:37

You can't miss the geysers. And so we stopped at the Jackson Lake Lodge in the Grand Teton. Dominica said, let's have lunch. The mural room. Everybody else was going to the cafeteria. Dominica knew that we should eat in the in the mural room. Big mirrors, a big windows, expansive views of the Tetons. Great place. Great place to have lunch.

SPEAKER_01: 2:06

Fabulous. Now, was that it were you stopping there for the night at that lodge or just for the afternoon?

SPEAKER_00: 2:12

Just for the lunch. Yeah. Just for lunch. Yeah. Because we had to get to Jackson. Oh. That that was our goal. And so uh the lodge on the outside looks kind of modest. And you walk up, you walk in, and then there's a grand staircase that you walk up, and all of a sudden the mirror, the the windows open up, and there's all the mountains right in front of you.

SPEAKER_01: 2:34

How beautiful that is. How beautiful that is. Now, because she was stopping for lunch, was I mean it was a registered tour, you know, a registered stop on the tour bus. Now, did you have to pay for your lunch?

SPEAKER_00: 2:47

Yeah, this one wasn't this one wasn't included because you could go to the cafeteria or do whatever you wanted to do.

SPEAKER_01: 2:53

It was a f it was a free time stop.

SPEAKER_00: 2:55

It was a free time stop, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 2:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 2:58

Oh, it was beautiful. And we walked around there were some paths. Pardon?

SPEAKER_01: 3:02

What did you have for lunch? Do you remember?

SPEAKER_00: 3:04

I I think I had a steak. I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01: 3:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 3:08

Well, yes, it's hard questions. What did you have for lunch?

SPEAKER_01: 3:12

I mean, you went to this beautiful restaurant inside the lodge, but then you had to look out over the mountains.

SPEAKER_00: 3:17

But then, of course, I walked around a little bit. Dominica was walking paved uh paths out in the woods and coming back. And of course, I found the bar overloot to them. So I had to have a beautiful IP right there in the bar. So it was great.

SPEAKER_01: 3:33

And then you enjoyed that stop. So how long were you able to stop and wander around and enjoy that time slot?

SPEAKER_00: 3:39

Uh probably two hours.

SPEAKER_01: 3:41

That's not bad. That's not bad at all.

SPEAKER_00: 3:43

Time for lunch and uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 3:45

So now I've been meaning to ask you, hang on. Pardon me. Hang on. Yeah. I've been meaning to ask you. Now, when you're in and out of these lodges where you're staying for the evening, do you, you know, are they helping you with your suitcases? Are they throwing it on the bus for you? Do you have to schlep your own bags? What you know, is that what's part of it?

SPEAKER_00: 4:02

Well, the way the way our tour guide works it out. One, you pack a small bag and you pick it up at the bus and you go in and out. And so every like third day, we got the big suitcase so we could change clothes and all that. So and then those suitcases were taken care of. We didn't have to worry about them.

SPEAKER_01: 4:22

So your little overnighters said you you carried yourself a bit.

SPEAKER_00: 4:25

Now that you brought that up, speaking of different beds, uh, one of the things that I decided to do was I created a game called the Bed Challenge.

SPEAKER_01: 4:35

The bed challenge. What's the bed challenge?

SPEAKER_00: 4:37

All the hotels we were staying in, and I wanted everybody on the bus to rate the bed. The reason why is because my wife and I, we have a sleep number bed. She has a sleep number 30, and I have a sleep number like uh 45 or 50.

SPEAKER_01: 4:56

So one of you like it hard, one of you like the sauce.

SPEAKER_00: 4:58

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 4:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 4:59

So the challenge was, you know, how do you how do people rate the beds? Well, that kind of came into everybody was checking and rating more than just a hotel. But what I discovered was I needed a harder bed to sleep on than my so I'm now up to a 60 on my bed left. Now, is it that exciting?

SPEAKER_01: 5:20

That's that's too hard. I I'm an old waterbed gal. I loved my waterbed. And I had a free and I had a free flow, so I was constantly moving.

SPEAKER_00: 5:28

Oh, yeah. But the problem with that was that was kind of like the softness on the sleep number. I had a hard time rolling over anymore.

SPEAKER_01: 5:35

Oh, yeah. Stuck in it. You got stuck in the mush.

SPEAKER_00: 5:38

Yeah. So that's so I wanted to mention that the if anybody wants the information on the bed challenge, I'd be glad to give it to them.

SPEAKER_01: 5:47

Jay had the bed challenge on his trip.

SPEAKER_00: 5:50

The bed challenge.

SPEAKER_01: 5:51

All right, all right. So you went, you were looking at the fabulous Grand Tetons, which are absolutely breathtaking, and then you got back on the bus.

SPEAKER_00: 5:59

And we were headed into Jackson Hall, Wyoming.

SPEAKER_01: 6:02

So that's that's where you were heading, Jackson Hall, Wyoming.

SPEAKER_00: 6:05

So we got there in mid-afternoon, had some free time, and uh we walked around, and of course, you go see the the town square. They have those uh antlers, antler, uh pile of ant the antler arch. And across the street from the antlers and the city park is of course the million-dollar bar. The million-dollar cowboy bar.

SPEAKER_01: 6:27

Oh, cowboy bar.

SPEAKER_00: 6:29

You don't sit on a bar stool, you sit on a saddle at the bar.

SPEAKER_01: 6:34

That's cool. That's fun.

SPEAKER_00: 6:35

So I had a hard time getting my foot over the saddle, but I got up there by golly. My wife saw a thrift shop, and so she had to go thrift shopping in Jackson, Wyoming. Good things happened.

SPEAKER_01: 6:46

So that's well, now that you're sitting there on your saddle, that gives you the feel of riding a horse, even though you're not going anywhere. So where did you stay in Jackson Hole? Did you stay in Jackson Hole that night?

SPEAKER_00: 6:57

We stayed at the a grand um uh was called the Antler Antler Inn, I believe. Antler Inn.

SPEAKER_01: 7:06

Antler Inn. Mm-hmm. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 7:08

And uh yes, Antler Inn. Good. And I hate to say it was probably the on the tour, the lowest number, but it was in downtown Jackson. It wasn't big exclusive place.

SPEAKER_01: 7:21

But it was around right.

SPEAKER_00: 7:22

You were around where you can that night we were booked to do a Conestoga wag covered wagon cookout and show.

SPEAKER_01: 7:30

Conestoga?

SPEAKER_00: 7:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 7:31

Conestoga cookout. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 7:33

So uh we went to the uh bar five, bar T5 ranch. Everybody got on the Conestoga wagon, and there were like 15 wagons, and we went up the trail, up in the mountains, right? And that's where we had the cookout and the show, and it was one of those, you know, ching-ching-ching comedy type things, but it was great.

SPEAKER_01: 7:54

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 7:54

The barbecue was fantastic. So, and then riding on a Conestoga wagon makes you wonder how the people made it across America.

SPEAKER_01: 8:04

Yeah, I mean, it was not a comfortable ride.

SPEAKER_00: 8:07

No, no, and and the our our wagon, partly we went up a paved road, and then you'd went on the gravel road, the old up in the mountain. Oh, and the horses the horses were pulling, there was something else.

SPEAKER_01: 8:19

So that was fun. That's a fun, that's a fun adventure or an excursion or expedition. Yes. So you did that and you had a nice meal and you had a little bit of an entertainment show with it, which is pretty cool. Yeah, and you did that that night. Yeah. Or you okay, so that's cool.

SPEAKER_00: 8:35

And then you day number nine out of fifty.

SPEAKER_01: 8:38

It was all on day nine. Wow. Okay, so now you had a nice meal, you stayed at a decent hotel right in the heart of the town, which is pretty cool because this way you can walk to wherever you want to go. And now the next morning you get up, and where are we going?

SPEAKER_00: 8:53

This is kind of like the turnaround turnaround because you gotta head east, you gotta leave.

SPEAKER_01: 8:57

Now you're going back.

SPEAKER_00: 8:58

Yeah, yeah. So we headed east, and the mountains were in our rear view mirror. Uh, you know, we got to Cheyenne, Wyoming, that's where we're headed. And there wasn't much excitement to happen in Cheyenne, Wyoming, except we found a great steakhouse and uh fantastic steaks.

SPEAKER_01: 9:17

Oh, that was sounds like you ate a lot of steak on your journeys.

SPEAKER_00: 9:20

You betchum. I and the amazing thing is, I didn't gain any weight. I thought I was like overeating, and I did really good. Because you're walking around, not overeating, even sitting on a bus for hours at a time. You know, you think you're not getting a lot of exercise, but we we did pretty good. So that was day number 10 was really kind of anticlimatic because you were leaving the mountains behind you, and we headed to like Cheyenne, Wyoming. Right, you know, we weren't there for the road.

SPEAKER_01: 9:53

No, did you do did you do anything in Cheyenne or was that just a stopover?

SPEAKER_00: 9:56

That was just a stopover. So day number 11. Uh, we headed east on Interstate 80, and our next goal was to stay in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska. And you know, uh Lincoln, Nebraska. Lincoln, Nebraska is where I spent 14 years in uh the radio and television business, and I had a great time. Uh met up with an old friend. We went to eat at an Italian restaurant, gave me a personal tour of the back of Lincoln, and you can't believe everything's great.

SPEAKER_01: 10:26

So you had your you had your own tour while you were there.

SPEAKER_00: 10:29

I had my own tour, yeah. Looking at my old stomping grounds, like I said, where I'm sure it changed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 10:36

I'm sure it changed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 10:38

Lincoln's one of those big towns, big cities that still have a small town feel in it. So it's of course a college town, uh college, insurance, and the government. That's a big the big industries of the town.

SPEAKER_01: 10:54

So where did you stay in Lincoln?

SPEAKER_00: 10:56

We stayed at a uh Fairfield Inn, which was brand new, which was a very nice, very nice location. We stayed on the south side. In fact, just they've built a road, you know, a bypass road around the town. Yeah. I didn't even know where we were until we finally got there. We were on the south side of Lincoln, Nebraska. So that was day number day number 11. Now day number 12 was pretty exciting. We had a short we had a short drive from Lincoln, Nebraska to Branson, Missouri.

SPEAKER_01: 11:31

Branson, yeah, that's very popular. That's a popular pit stop.

SPEAKER_00: 11:35

Well, it's known as the entertainment capital of the world, you know. Yeah, well, there's more shows going on there than than anywhere else.

SPEAKER_01: 11:42

In Vegas, yes.

SPEAKER_00: 11:43

Yeah. It's a lively hub nestled in the Ozark Mountains, and it's renowned for its theaters, live music shows, and family-friendly attractions.

SPEAKER_01: 11:55

Now, did you stop and see a show? Did you get into any of the shows? Was it just a tour around the town? What did you do?

SPEAKER_00: 12:02

No, we got there because we were gonna see a show.

SPEAKER_01: 12:05

You were gonna see a show.

SPEAKER_00: 12:07

We were treated to a show called the Haygoods Show. Haygood Haygoods, which happened in the Cooper Theater. And the Haygoods had been doing this show for 31 years. It's a family affair.

SPEAKER_01: 12:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 12:21

The funny thing is the Haygoods. It was a fabulous show. Good entertainment, you know, nice harmonies, dazzling special effects, and family-friendly fun. And one of the entertainers said, you know, if we would go on America's Got Talent and won America's Got Talent, you know, we would lose money. Because they these people sell out their show every time they do the show.

SPEAKER_01: 12:49

And it's a you know was it was it music entertaining? Was it like a theater play? What was a little or both?

SPEAKER_00: 12:56

Musical entertainment. Musical, okay. They're siblings, they're all different ages, family, you know, and it keeps the audience on our feet because we were toe tapping all the way through. It was a great night, great entertainment.

SPEAKER_01: 13:11

Was it a dinner theater or no?

SPEAKER_00: 13:13

No.

SPEAKER_01: 13:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 13:14

No, it was not. We had we'd had we'd had our um a dinner at a place and I can't remember what the name of it was. But they're at that place they had entertainment. In the restaurant for the show.

SPEAKER_01: 13:28

It was stiff, but that was in Branson.

SPEAKER_00: 13:30

Pardon? And the and the theater was like right across the street from us, but we had to get on the bus to go across the street to get to the theater. Duh.

SPEAKER_01: 13:38

That's okay.

SPEAKER_00: 13:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 13:40

That's okay. So where did you stay in there in that town?

SPEAKER_00: 13:44

Uh we stayed at a uh a a uh restaurant. Uh I uh I don't remember the name of it.

SPEAKER_01: 13:49

So it was like a regular chain, was it a chain hotel? Like a jewelry or a fairfield?

SPEAKER_00: 13:55

Right. More like a yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01: 13:58

Cool. So that was day 12.

SPEAKER_00: 14:01

That was day 12, yes. You're you're following along as the bouncing ball goes.

SPEAKER_01: 14:05

Following along. We're going on we're going on this trek together, Jay.

SPEAKER_00: 14:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 14:09

Now, what happened after that? The next day is day 13.

SPEAKER_00: 14:13

Get on the bus.

SPEAKER_01: 14:15

Get on the bus back on the bus.

SPEAKER_00: 14:16

Because we're heading towards Florida. But actually, after we left uh Branson, we were headed to Memphis, Tennessee.

SPEAKER_01: 14:23

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 14:23

And um tour guide was gonna take us through Beale Street, see all the old stuff. But Dominican had not seen you're all you're all choked up.

SPEAKER_01: 14:31

You're all choked up over Memphis.

SPEAKER_00: 14:33

Graceland.

SPEAKER_01: 14:34

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 14:35

And so she asked the tour guide, she said, Hey, can we go to Graceland?

SPEAKER_01: 14:38

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 14:39

And the tour guide worked it out that we got a big tour discount, and uh we were dropped off. 15 of us went to see Graceland. And it was one, it was a place I'd never been, and I wanted to go see it. I don't know if you remember uh when I took my son through uh Memphis heading west as we were moving him west. Let's go see Graceland. Well, it's a good thing we didn't because it's quite a complex.

SPEAKER_01: 15:01

It is, yeah. That's not a you know, that's not like a five-minute jump in and jump out. Yeah, right. So you got to see Graceland and and you guys were excited because neither one of you seen it.

SPEAKER_00: 15:12

Right. Dominica just kind of wanted to do a drive-by just to see it because her she had built a house in Pennsylvania that looked an awful lot like Graceland. So she wanted to see it.

SPEAKER_01: 15:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 15:25

So the bus dropped us off. Okay. Graceland is more than just the house. Across the street now is museums, museums, right, and museums. And so you and the weirdest thing was Graceland wasn't on the right side of the street.

SPEAKER_01: 15:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 15:41

Every time I'd seen it, you went in this way, and you know, it just felt awful. Weird. So we went, got our ticket to go see the house.

SPEAKER_01: 15:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 15:51

And and we have a picture of us in front of the house, too, you know. Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_01: 15:56

Now, when you get your tickets, that was not technically included in your travels, and they just added that in for you. So you had to go.

SPEAKER_00: 16:04

We added that, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Right. And it was well worth it.

SPEAKER_01: 16:07

It was well worth, you know, if you're gonna be in in Tennessee, you know, you gotta stop any crazy.

SPEAKER_00: 16:13

Right. Right, right. So, um, so then uh van you, they put you in a little van to go across the street and to um to see the house. Right. That was well worth it. It was worth it.

SPEAKER_01: 16:28

Well and then you got on the property and both of us say we we'd always heard it was tacky.

SPEAKER_00: 16:34

It wasn't tacky, it was a beautifully arranged home. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 16:37

And you know, yeah, that was that was nice.

SPEAKER_00: 16:39

And and I got my and I got my Sun Records ball cap now, so I can share that I've been in the Memphis area with getting the Sun Records. You know, that's that was exciting.

SPEAKER_01: 16:49

So you got you got some souvenir.

SPEAKER_00: 16:51

Pardon?

SPEAKER_01: 16:52

You got a souvenir.

SPEAKER_00: 16:53

Actually, I bought myself a souvenir, yes. So um, and uh we got to see Elvis's classic collection of cars, and right and uh his costumes, gold records, and all kinds of things, and then the really realizing that he had created a meditation garden out there and that's where his father had had the body brought back to the home. And so it's the family's interns there, and it it's it's kind of a restful celebration and reflection time, a place to be. So we really enjoyed that.

SPEAKER_01: 17:26

So that's good. So you had a nice time there.

SPEAKER_00: 17:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 17:28

So now after they picked you up from Graceland, where did you go?

SPEAKER_00: 17:32

Well, we were headed to Horn Lake, Mississippi.

SPEAKER_01: 17:35

Horn Lake, what's in Horn Lake, Mississippi?

SPEAKER_00: 17:38

Drury Inn. It's it's right across, it's I it's right across the street from Memphis.

SPEAKER_01: 17:44

So you know, it's so it was just it was just a stop for the night.

SPEAKER_00: 17:48

Yeah, yeah. Okay, but but there again we're going home, Drury, and so then day 14 back on the bus, headed to Atlanta to another Drury, which the drew by the airport, which is a great way to go. If you know it's by the airport, so when you come out of the Drury Inn, you get practically right on I-75 and you're heading south, and there we are.

SPEAKER_01: 18:11

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 18:11

We're on the bus again.

SPEAKER_01: 18:13

We're on the bus again. So with all of this, now you wound up in Atlanta or outside of Atlanta at the Drury Inn, because you don't really stay inside of Atlanta.

SPEAKER_00: 18:23

Right, right. We didn't didn't do anything uh tourist.

SPEAKER_01: 18:27

Did you stop again at your little nut and ice cream place on the way back down?

SPEAKER_00: 18:31

Funny you should mention that. On the bus ride heading south, we stop at Bucky's. The bus stops at Bucky's, and of course everybody gets Bucky's have the cleanest bathrooms, and that's where you go, but they also we get food. Uh that's the way the tour works. Uh you end up getting your food, so we create a picnic lunch. We get back on the bus, head south, and when we hit the first welcome center, Florida, everybody gets off the bus, you sit up the picnic tables. We have a great picnic lunch.

SPEAKER_01: 18:59

All from Bucky's all from Bucky's. Yeah. And now you're back in Florida.

SPEAKER_00: 19:04

Back in Florida, yeah. But of course, Bucky's, I had to get four cinnamon rolls. Gigantic cinnamon rolls.

SPEAKER_01: 19:11

Oh, you like the cinnamon rolls at Bucky's, and I still have not been to a Bucky's. And I have not yet gone to a Bucky's.

SPEAKER_00: 19:19

There again, my explanation of Bucky's is uh cracker barrel on steroids.

SPEAKER_01: 19:24

Barrel on steroids, okay. And I noticed you didn't stay at any crack you didn't go to any cracker barrels on your journey.

SPEAKER_00: 19:29

Um, we stopped at uh one location where we were, and the bus actually pulled into a cracker barrel location. People could go eat there. We ended up going to a roadhouse, which was actually right next door. Right next door.

SPEAKER_01: 19:45

That was good too. And again, you probably had steak.

SPEAKER_00: 19:48

Uh I I don't remember what I I know I had a large beer there. Since I wasn't driving, I could drink.

SPEAKER_01: 19:56

So tell me, now that you've been on several of these bus trips, what are the ins and outs of bus trips? What should you advise people if you're gonna go on a bus tour, what they should do, what they should bring? Do you have any recommendations?

SPEAKER_00: 20:09

You don't have to do the driving. Right. So that's a good thing. You don't have to worry about that. Right. What you should bring. Of course, we all overpack, you don't have to pack as much. And uh it's all planned for you. Where you're going to be. That's nice.

SPEAKER_01: 20:21

And they do they also give you some free time, which is nice too. Right, right.

SPEAKER_00: 20:25

Like in Cody, Wyoming, we had time to go shopping in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 20:30

You went shopping. Yes. Now, how much how much stuff did you bring back? Did you need another suitcase with you when you no, no, no? Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 20:38

No. But my wife did gather quite a bit of things from the thrift shop in Jackson Hole. We had to make special arrangements under the bus to put her to put her.

SPEAKER_01: 20:49

Well, I'm glad you guys had a good time. I thank you for sharing your adventures. Are you do you have another adventure plan down the road?

SPEAKER_00: 20:56

No, we're just heading to Disney in October. So we'll have to run at Disney.

SPEAKER_01: 21:02

I know, Disney, Disney. Because we're Disney, of course, is in our backyard.

SPEAKER_00: 21:07

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 21:08

Well, Jay, thank you for joining me today. I appreciate it. I'm glad you guys had a fabulous time and a safe trip. And when you're going on your next road adventure, we'll be talking again. So thank you for listening to me. Thank you for joining me. And hopefully you'll be able to know more a little bit about going on bus tours. Have a great day. Again, thank you for listening to me today. This is Lee Michelson, wishing you all safe travels. And remember, always reach for those stars. And if you only get to the moon, at least you made the trip.