Rockabilly Saturday Night and Daisy Duke Day has come and gone and I had such a blast. This is one of those huge posts spanning a few days with a bunch of pictures so settle in and enjoy. Here we go...
This is the story about a guy and his rental car. I prepaid for a rental car a few months ago. Last year when I went to Nashville, I didn't get a rental and relied on cabs to get me around the city...big mistake. For the price of a trip downtown and back I got a regular rental car. Then I got to the counter at the airport. The lady working at Alamo, Michelle, asked what I was in town for and when I said Dukes, she got excited because she knew Jacqueluine, the Cooter's Place store manager. She then asked what kind of car I wanted and asked if I wanted a fast one for an additional charge. I asked if she had an orange Challenger. She said maybe, and called it in. She said they only had white and I bit. So for the next few days, I was driving around the music city in one awesome muscle car that was close to what I wanted. It wasn't a new version of the General, but perhaps it was an updated Cale Yarborough car. Only die-hard Dukes fans would get that reference. I really loved this car.
Friday at Cooter's was busy with preparation and meeting people. I met some old friends and made some new ones.
Flash was getting ready for the big day too.
I met Kylie and her dad Hugh on Friday night. Kylie really loves Daisy Duke and couldn't wait to meet her. I enjoyed talking to the family several times throughout the weekend.
Saturday started early and I was running around all over the place. The line to meet Daisy got long pretty quick.
If you buy one of Catherine Bach's Hands on Hips Society necklaces, like Danielle did, you can jump the line, like she and Ken did. Those are some smart people there. A few more people joined HOHS throughout the weekend. I wonder who sold so many necklaces...
What's a Dukes event without Dukes cars? There were several beautiful ones there.
Prime parking spot there.
Here is Hank (in the blue shirt) and his family meeting Daisy. Our pal Hugh is behind him in the salmon colored shirt.
I went all the way to Nashville and met some folks from right near my home. This is Harry and Mary from Waynesburg, PA. Of course the Steelers hat drew me to them. It was nice meeting some fellow Western PA Dukes fans so far from home.
The line was long and the sun was hot. But everyone had a great time.
The lovely Lisa Meadows from Cooter's Garage Band sang for the crowd while they were in line.
Miss Alma had some fun in the Flash suit.
A LOT of fun.
The line moved pretty quickly and and everyone was able to get everything signed.
The local Fox affiliate WZTZ Nashville stopped by to interview Cathy.
The day went by pretty quickly. I got to hang out with my good pal Brad and also spent some time with Gary Schneider. I met a bunch of fellow Dukes fans like Shawn, Derrick, and of course John Weyrick who is involved with the Hazzard County Stunt Team. Everyone was talking about the
Autotrader #New01 commercial and how much fun it was. Nearly every Dukes fan there is clamoring for a new Dukes Reunion. It was a blast talking Dukes non-stop.
The General Wee got a lot of attention. It even has a Dixie horn.
Ben wasn't all that active throughout the weekend. He masterminded a political coup that you can read about
here. He was doing national interviews about the recent Virginia elections for days leading up to the event. I did get to spend some time with him which is always fun. None of that stopped him from performing at the Rockabilly Saturday Night concert.
He introduced the Rockabilly legends and also sang with his Garage Band.
That man really loves performing with Lisa Meadows and the rest of his band. They put on a great show.
Daisy pulled a couple of friends up to the dance floor and really got down.
Hey look! It's
Jeff's pal Sleepy LaBeef! He performed as well.
You just knew Catherine would get up on stage. We all know what song they are singing in this picture.
It was a really fun concert and I got to watch it all right with Catherine and Alma. Couldn't ask for more than that.
Sunday was my big day. They didn't start too early, which was nice. Catherine did a quick signing in the front of Cooter's before the brunch.
The Dukes of Hazzard always take care of their fans.
The moment I prepared for had come. During the special brunch I had the privilege of hosting the question and answer session with Daisy Duke. There was a great buffet set up and the three of us got our fill of very good food before we began.
Catherine and Miss Alma gave me a great introduction. Here I am trying to hock my business cards while Daisy mentioned my site. Imagine that, Daisy Duke talking up me and my site...crazy.
It was so much fun hosting this event. I prepared several questions and also walked around the crowd taking audience questions. I believe someone took a video of the event, but it hasn't surfaced on the internet yet. They said they were going to post it, so I'm looking forward to that.
Daisy shared a lot on insight and really seemed to enjoy the event. She discussed driving, her athleticism, the differences between Dukes and her current role on Young and the Restless, and I even got to ask her about Dukes Collecting. It was very special and I'm so glad I got the chance to be a part of it.
Catherine and Alma really seemed to like my questions and the whole event. Right after, Daisy signed my paperwork. This is a very special addition to the collection.
Speaking of collectibles, what trip to Cooter's Place would be complete with a new pile of Dukes stuff?
I bought my pair of
Dukes of Hazzard Child Tennis Shoes a few months back. I got them from Cooter's and they came from Daisy's actual collection. I got my certificate proving that. It will look nice next to the beautiful shoes.
This is cool little holographic post card.
When I bought the
set of metal keychains from Cooter's last month, they hadn't yet received the Boss Hogg Caddy. Glad to add it to the collection.
I bought a few 01 golf balls last year. But I grabbed another and I'm actually gonna throw this one in my golf bag. It will be fun to hit the putting green with this bad boy.
The 2015 Dukes calendar is already out. Jacqueline told me they were trying to order more 2014s but they company was out. They told them they could get the 2015s though.
The 2015 seems to have gotten away from the collages and moved to single pictures. They are all good ones.
I love seeing Dukes of Hazzard items with current WB copyright information on them.
I really liked how the receipt from Cooter's Place referred to some of the items simply as Duke Stuff. Just like I do.
The items I was most excited to bring home were these brand new, hot off the presses, beautiful Dukes of Hazzard General Lee beach towels.
Can you tell I'm a little excited about these? Well, the reason is that they were my idea. My original design was simpler, resembling the Gen'ral's door. I want it to be printed horizontally and just have the 01. That one is in the works. I initially didn't think I would like this design as much, but I really do. I can't wait to take this thing to the Delmarva shore. I'll be sporting my Dukes beach towel at every beach volleyball court in Ocean City, MD and Bethany Beach, DE.
Back to Nashville, I really loved my rental car. It took me all over town. I drove it to Antique Archaeology, a great Thai food truck, the huge Opry Mills mall... this car got me all over like a champ.
I thought it was pretty funny that the car was licensed to Georgia. In my mind, it doesn't say Fulton, it of course says Hazzard.
Before I left town on Monday, I had to park the Challenger next to Cooter's General Lee.
Not too shabby.
If you are up on your Larry Franks Dukes of Hazzard history, you know the first time I was in Nashville was on CMT's tab in 2005 for the cluster of a contest they held. Not going to go into all that now, but I did get to take some great pictures with Ben and Waylon Jenning's personal General Lee in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
I have this giant print of the picture in my bedroom and I look at it everyday. I went to the same spot last year at night just to check it out. This year I had a cool car so I thought I'd try to recreate it.
Not bad at all. I don't think I've changed that much in nine years. There is apparently a new building behind the Hall of Fame.
In other Nashville happenings, I searched the internet for the best pizza in town and I was lead to Manny's House of Pizza. It was in a weird little part of the city called the Arcade. The Arcade itself could use a little face lift, but Manny's should never change. This place rocked.
I walked in and saw this poster on the wall. I knew I was in the right spot if the Hulkster gives his stamp of approval. He was right, it was great.
I had a slice of pepperoni and a meatball sub. It was an excellent lunch. It could have been some of the best pizza I've had. I highly recommend Manny's House of Pizza after you've had your fill of fried catfish and barbecue.
This was an incredible weekend. Ben and Alma always take such good care of me and hosting the Q&A was a dream come true. Alma said I now have to host a Q&A at every bigger Dukes event and I couldn't say yes fast enough. I got some great one on one time with Catherine and discussed a lot of Dukes. I really don't think this weekend could have been better. Thank you so much Alma Viator and Catherine Bach. I had a blast!!
