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This is a sponsored guest post written by Memphis Travel on behalf of Memphis CVB. Post powered by Sponzai.

More than just the home of the blues and barbeque, Memphis gives you plenty of ways to play around, with fun things to do no matter who you are or what you like. Of course, if you’re into Elvis, rock-and-roll and mouth-watering ribs, you’ve got to check out Graceland, Sun Studios, and the Rendezvous. But Memphis has much more to offer than this holy trinity of southern culture, with enough to see, do and eat to make it the perfect location for your next long weekend getaway.

The families out there (or the wild at heart) should be sure to check out the Memphis Zoo, one of only four U.S. zoos with giant pandas. Recently ranked the #1 zoo in the U.S. by TripAdvisor.com, the Memphis Zoo lets you get up close and personal with the animal kingdom. And with the recent addition the Northwest Passage, home to Polar bears in a see-through underwater exhibit, and the zoo’s newest section, Teton Trek, kids and adults alike are certain to have a blast.

Don’t let your midtown experience stop at the zoo; the Cooper-Young and Overton Square neighborhoods are just down the street. Ask a local Memphian where to find a tasty bite to eat, great local music and ice cold beer, and they will probably direct you here. Speaking of beer … the environmentally conscious visitor can enjoy a locally brewed beer by Ghost River Brewing or walk through the natural landscape and educational facilities at the Lichterman Nature Center.

Memphis has museums for just about everything. From the Civil Rights Museum, Cotton Museum and Fire Museum in downtown to the Brooks Museum, Children’s Museum of Memphis and the Pink Palace Museum further east, the number of places to have fun while you learn are as bountiful as the barbeque restaurants. Families, friends, sports fans, history buffs, self-proclaimed food critics – Memphis has everything you need to keep everyone happy.

So when you visit Memphis, stay a few extra days. Even the locals don’t run out of things to do. And to make it easy, memphistravel.com is launching a new travel guide to help you plan your next vacation. Simply choose from a list of interests and you’ll be given a sample itinerary with lots of great ideas. You can also register for a chance to win one of twelve trip packages that include tours, gift certificates to Memphis’ favorite restaurants, hotel stays and more. Go to itinerary.memphistravel.com to get started.

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Recently, when going through some more of our Yates family documents, I found one that I hadn’t remembered seeing before. Or, at least I didn’t remember scanning it and putting it in the Yates documents folder until now.  My dad passed away in June of 1996 and in the four years previous, he had written for us some of his memories of events in his life.

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One of our favorite stories he would tell would be of his trip to Alaska when he was twenty traveling there with  his Bordeaux, Washington friends. (Story above).  When my mom died in 2001 I went through all the valuable family documents and brought them home (with my brother’s blessing) for safe keeping.  And, little by little I’m going through them and writing a story or posting an image to share with family and anyone else who might be interested.

The previously mentioned document I spoke of at the beginning of this article was my dad’s Civilian Conversation Corps honorable discharge.  If you read his Alaska story version of it first, it kind of gives you an idea of just what kind of guy he was at that tender age.  Let’s just say he was practical, OK?

I’m not sure who took this picture of my dad and his friend from Missouri  after they caught these dog salmon near the CCC Camp. Dad had his own Leica camera and had learned to develop his own photos when he was in high school (I assume), but who knows if he actually had the camera with him on this trip or not?

On the back of the picture, in my dad’s handwriting, it says, “myself and a friend of mine and some fish we caught at twin creek camp. the friend is from Missouri. the fish are dog salmon that we caught in the creek just beyond.” Too bad he didn’t identify the guy by name, but maybe some descendant of his, looking for information about Twin Creek CCC Camp at Petersburg, Alaska will find this post and recognize him.

Last, but not least, here is the front and back of Dad’s 16 October 1940 honorable discharge document from the Civilian Conservation Corps:

(click on images to see them full-sized)

For more information about the Civilian Conservation Corps, please visit their homepage at Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy.

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One of the perks of having my family tree on Ancestry (for FREE)  is that while I’m not actively searching their databases, they are doing it for me.  When they find a “hit’ I get an email and a link and can go right to the document or record.

That’s what happened today and I’m so happy to know the actual date of when my Grandpa Elvin (Al) Moline and his second wife Lillian Epstein Moline actually sailed on the Lurline to Honolulu, Hawaii.  At that time it was the Territory of Hawaii since it wasn’t made a state until 1959.

It looks like the duration of their ocean cruise there was five days.  Of course, now I wonder if they came back the same way, where they stayed in Honolulu and what wild and crazy things those two kids did there.  (He was 57 and she was 45) I wonder how they got to San Francisco where they boarded the ship?  At the time, my aunt Joyce and her husband Frank were in Formosa (not yet Taiwan) where Frank worked for an airline.  It’s possible they, or just Joyce, flew to Hawaii and met my grandparents and then they all flew home to Seattle together.  That’s all speculation though.

What’s interesting also is that when you read the words passenger list you usually think of someone who’s emigrating or immigrating from another country, not just going on vacation.  Aloha!

(Click on image to get full size to download)

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It’s so easy to shop for auto insurance these days.  You just go to a site, plug in your needs and let them do all the work for you.  “Back in the day” we had to call around and see who had the best rates (tiresome, and time consuming), get a quote, and then make the big decision on which company to go with.  Or, you asked your family and friends who they recommended.  You can whine all you like about computers and the Internet, but getting auto insurance quotes online is so much easier these days.

Someone rear-ended us on March 15th this year and I’m so glad we escaped unscathed with no damage.  We have car insurance, but you never know if the “other guy” has any.

Compensated for this article.

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