March 2006
We took a weekend trip to see Jen's family in Memphis. While there, we went to the Gibson guitar factory.
Before the tour, we got to hang out in the store for a bit. Chad seems to like this guitar.
Jeremy found one to play around with as well.
And even Bob got in on the action.
On the tour, we got to walk through the factory where workers put together (by hand) many of the Gibson guitars.
After putting the pieces together, they wrap the body with what looks like oversized shoelaces to hold it together while it dries.
Here are some guitars part way through the process.
After the guitars are painted, they sit for days to ensure they're completely dry.
We also went to the Peabody Hotel, where the famous Peabody ducks live. Here they are in the fountain in the lobby, where they spend their days.
They roll out the red carpet for the ducks when they come down in the morning, and when they return to their palace on the roof at the end of the day (which is what we saw).
The place was packed with people who came to see the ducks.
Here the ducks go, leaving the fountain on the red carpet.
And into the elevator, accompanied by the duck master.
On Sunday, we looked forward to a wonderful bell performance. Here's an excerpt from the bulletin. Note that there are two typos here (Susan Sellers should be Jen Sellers, and Jen's sister is named Michelle, not Michael).
Regardless of the confusion, they bells were excellent. Click here to see a video of them (requires Quicktime 7, 5.4MB).
