Dolly Parton's Life, Death & Places To Visit

Dolly Parton in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Public domain image of Dolly Parton.

Public domain. From Wikipedia. See Wiki for more details. Seen here with President Bush and other music luminaries.

 Dolly Parton, the Queen of Country Music, died on Tuesday 25th March 2026. President Trump ordered flags in the USA to be flown at the mid point for a week. Half mast is the word used on ships. 

Places To Visit

1 Dollywood Museum

Opened 2026 in the Dollywood Hotel

2 Dollywood Hotel

3 Statue of Dolly Parton

4 Country Music Hall of Fame

5 Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles

7 Star on walk in Tennessee.

Music City Walk of Fame, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Two of her most successful songs were: 

9 to 5; and 

I will always love you.

She had lots of plastic surgery. 

She kept out of politics, saying that her business was entertainment.

She contributed a million US dollars to research which developed a vaccine against Covid.

Her other well known charitable donation was to start a fund for donating books for children under the age of five. This started in her area, spread around the USA, and reached the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, and Australia.

Useful Websites On Dolly Parton

https://www.songtellerhotel.com/museum/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Parton

Announcement

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bk_mCuNa8iA

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2026/08/25/dolly-parton-death-celebrity-reactions-tribute/91460553007/

-ends-

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More Chances To See Hotel Ducks in Roanoke

 I had read and told you about the Peabody Hotel Ducks in Memphis, Tennessee, in the south of North America, in the USA. I searched online and found the group have another hotel, a Peabody hotel, in Roanoke which is in Virginia. 

I lived in the USA in Rockville, Maryland, in the north of Washington DC. At weekends, we would leave early on a Friday late afternoon or evening and head down the coast to warmer weather to see another city or attraction in the USA. 

The Roanake's Peabody hotel is only three hours away from Washitnton DC, whereas the Memphis hotel is about four hours away. Travelling is easy in the USA. 

Driving There

We used to love driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a mountain top route through the forest, traffic-free and way above the motrowary along the coastline. The motorway was quicker but you could always turn downhill if you needed toilets and refreshments.

So if you are in a big city in the east coast as a resident, business person, or holidaymaker, think about going south to see the ducks. The five mallard ducks marching in to the fountain, then out again later, is a great entertainment for both children and adults. The ducks are very opular so to get a good view go early to either get a seat or stand along the duck route as they march in at 11 am, or beside the fountain, or on the interior balcony above if you are in a bedroom.

It's free for visitors, and the hotel has lots of bars and restaurants.

What else is there to see and photograph in Roanoke. Its famous feature is the hilltop star.  The city is now known as the star of the south.

Useful websites

Wikipedi on Roanoke

Wikibvoyage

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Roanoke

Tripadvisor

The hotel group websites

https://www.peabodyhotelsandresorts.com/gallery

My article on the other Peadbody Hotel with ducks in Mephis, Tennessee (with music attractions, Elvis assocations).

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The Peabody Hotel Ducks in Memphis, Tennessee

 

Ducks in the fountain.

The red carpet parade.

Ducks close up.

Overhead view of fountain with ducks and onlookers.

You can see a series of pictures in Wikipedia and on the hotel's website. The Peabody Ducks live on the roof of the hotel. Every day they parade down the red caret to music and end up in the hotel fountain for a few hours of the afternoon, until they ceremoniously return.  They have their own little duck hotel on the rooftop.

This has been going on for decades and ducks don't live forever. Pet ducks, depending on specis, can live from five to 10 to 15 years.

So new ducks have to be trained to follow the group

A few facts

When did it start? 1930s

Where is the hotel downtown (city centre)

Time of march

11 am and 5 pm.

Type of duck

Maallard\

Useful Website

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122183881196197962&set=gm.1028260391958441&idorvanity=785121569605659

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Texas Law Makes DUI (Drunk) drivers pay orphaned children child support

Texas flag. From Wikipedia Flag of Texas.

USA flag, the stars and stripes.

Texas today, the USA tomorrow, the world the day after - or the year afterwards.

The law is called Bentley's Law for short.It's full name is Ethan, Haile and Bentley's Law. The law was passed in Tennessee, then Texas.

Ethan and Haile are the children whose parent, a policeperson, was killed by a drunken driver in Tennessee. DUI means driving under the influence. Bentley, and his brother were orphaned when both their parents were killed by a drunken driver in Texas.

Useful Website

 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12475615/texas-drunk-drivers-child-support-bentleys-law.html#comments

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Marty Robbins & Hank Snow Sing Classic Country Music Songs and visit Opryland the the Country Music Museum

Marty Robbins and Hank Snow.

Country music classics. All tell stories.

"Moving on."

I have fond memories of touring the USA when I lived there.
Nostalgic songs.
Today I discovered some happy and sad ones such as the long black veil, which I shall write about in another post.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Useful Websites
https://www.opry.com/tours/
https://web.archive.org/web/20130629185254/http://countrymusichalloffame.org/visit

About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

MUSIC MUSEUMS & MUSICIANS: from Amy Winehouse and the Albert Hall to Elvis, to Country, Classical, Handel and Pucchini

 Thomas R Machnitzki (thomas@machnitzki.com) - Own work

Graceland covered with snow. Memphis, Tennessee.

Music themed gate showing guitarist and musical notes. It is often worth going to a home to photograph it, even if you don't have the time and money to visit, or the location is closed. You might be impressed by the location, read and photograph a plaque outside about the famous person who lived there, or talk to other tourists about your mutual hero, or other places to visit in the vicinity connected with the famous person.

If you do get inside, however much you know about your favourite famous person, there is always more to learn.


The Jungle Room, Graceland, USA. Photo from Wik'pedia.

Here's a list of music museums for you and your family to visit. I have made it alphabetical and by country ro help you compile a bucket list for your travels.

The list is compiled by categories, including composers, singers, country, auditoriums and statues of singers and musicians. Some singers and songs are associated with landmarks (Blue skies over the white cliffs of Dover), or statues or graves or monuments of people best known as film stars or other categories. For example, Marilyn Monroe was known for much else besides singing Happy Birthday to President Kennedy in New York, and may be featured in waxworks museums, at Niagara and the Hollywood Heritage Museum.

The long, obscure word auditorium comes from the root words for ear and listening. Aural - related to the ear. (Oral is speaking as in oratory.) Audible means can be heard.

Statue of Stephen Foster removed because of objections to the banjo playing slave. Photo from Wikipedia. What a pity. I thought the happy banjo player was charming and the best part of the statue.

MUSIC CATEGORIES
1 Country and Western
2 Blues
3 Opera
4 Classical music
5 Folk
6 National
7 Ethnic

ETHNIC
National anthem and patriotic and classic composers.
National anthem lyricists.
Jewish
Amy Winehouse, Gershwin, Marilyn Monroe (converted for husband playwright Miller). See videos on Youtube of: Amy Winehouse and Yiddish songs such as Roumania.

Greece
Composer of the national anthem on a Greek island.



Sydney Opera House, Australia

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Opera House

FRANCE
Opera House, Paris

ITALY
Venona, open air opera
La Scala Opera House
Torre Del Lago, home of Puccini, statue outside.

Torre Del Lago, Italy, former home of Puccini, now a museum.

POLAND
Huge Chopin statue, landmark shown on tours of Warsaw.
Chopin House museum.

ROMANIA
See Youtube video of Yiddish drinking song Roumania by Aaron Lebedeff.

SWITZERLAND
Statue of Freddie Mercury in Montreux, and Museum devoted to him and his band, Queen.

Bernd Brägelmann - Bernd Brägelmann

Freddie Mercury Statue in Montreux, Switzerland. 

Amy Winehouse waxwork in Madame Tussaud's, London, England.

UK
Amy Winehouse in Madame Tussauds, Baker Street, London.
Amy Winehouse statue and trail and Jewish museum in Camden, London.
Handel museum in London.
Hendrix museum beside Handel Museum in London.
Handel's organ in Whitchurch Lane, Edgware, NW London, England.
Elgar Museum.

Handel and Hendrix museums on the upper floors of these two adjacent houses in London.

USA
Elvis, Graceland. Cars and guitars in many museums in the USA.
Hollywood Heritage Museum, Los Angeles.
Nashville (country music).
Dollywood.
Opryland.

FESTIVALS & MUSIC VENUES

UK
Royal Opera House Covent Garden
Sadlers Well
Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London, England
Royal Albert Hall
Elgar Birthplace Museum

Elgar Birthplace Museum.

Elgar composed the music for Land of Hope and Glory which is played at Last night of the proms, in the Albert Hall in London, England.

EVENTS
New Year's Day concert broadcast from Vienna, Austria, on TV and radio in the UK.

Useful Websites
https://www.facebook.com/ScottishOpera
https://www.viennaconcerts.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Puccini
https://handelhendrix.org/
https://www.dollywood.com/
Roumania Music only:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0agi_Gj2IEc

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, trainer specialising in public speaking and business English..

Elvis Enthusiasts - where to see Elvis memorabilia and events

The great Elvis shrine is Graceland in Memphis but there are many more cities and countries where you can still see places and items and connected with Elvis and learn about his visits, films, recordings, and events. (List at end, but read on through this post.)

USA
When I lived in the USA we had not yet discovered distant family there, so we were free to go travelling every weekend. Without even looking for them, I found Elvis items all over the USA and Canada. A car or guitar seemed to pop up everywhere, a disc in a rock theme restaurant, a car in a car museum, a guitar in a music museum, a statue in a waxworks, photos in a local history museum. Or a hotel with a room where he stayed a night, a hall where he performed music, or a landmark where he filmed. Worldwide sites were to be found: in the USA, Canada, UK.

TENNESSEE
I went on a press trip to Opryland, Nashville, Tennessee. We stayed at the Opryland Hotel. It was huge. When somebody phoned me from the lobby to say, 'come down and meet us, our coach is here,' it would take me 20 minutes to get from my room at the far end of the building all the way to the  nearest lobby, then on to the correct lobby, in the other half of the multi-storey figure of eight building. Endless walking galleries overlooked and wound around the two (or more) bandstands and themed restaurants.

The best thing about my stay at Opryland was that the room service set the radio to play Elvis and Country Music which was playing when I opened the door of my bedroom. I was so happy. I had just flown in from England. I knew I was in the USA. I knew I was in or near Nashville, the heart of Country music

In the evening we went to an Opryland music theme park concert featuring singers. We had a chance to meet Brenda Lee in the interval.

BRENDA LEE
She was sitting sewing. The journalists were allowed only one question each, so as not to tire her, and to give them all an equal chance. My question was: 'What do you think Elvis died of?'

I assumed she must have been asked many times. so she would react phlegmatically, giving a stock answer. To my surprise, she was flustered and upset and said, "I wish we knew. If we had known, perhaps we could have done something to help prevent it."

You can also visit events:
1 Elvis competitions. (USA)
2 Elvis theme nights at restaurants with Elvis lookalike singers. (UK)(See my previous post for events at Orama restaurant in Hatch End, NW London, England, during 2016.)

Should you wish to be married by an Elvis lookalike, somewhere there's a chapel, or two or more, in the USA's favourite wedding location, where you can do so. If you missed out on this the first time you got married, there's always the next time. (Or, if you stay married, a renewal of vows, your children's bar mitzvah parties, or your daughter's wedding.) Or hire your own Elvis outfit for a fancy dress party for New Year's Eve or a friend's 'Fifties' or 'Sixties' theme birthday party. (We hired one in Singapore. A white suit.)

Elvis Sites - Here are my favourites:
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Sun studio (museum, hourly tours led by a musician, photo spots, food).
Graceland and Gravesite in Graceland.

Photo by Ron Cogswell
Tupelo, Mississippi, USA. Birthplace museum.

Elvis Sites Websites
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/aug/17/top-10-elvis-presley-memphis-attractions
graceland.com
http://travelblog.viator.com/11-sights-and-tours-perfect-for-the-elvis-fan/
http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/elvis-sites.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Hawaii
His pink Cadillac is in Graceland. Read about his cars and Australia connections here:
http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis_presleys_1955_pink_cadillac.shtml
(This post under construction - come back for links photos later.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker, comic performance poetry, songs.
You can also see me and my profile on Facebook, like me on Facebook. Follow me here and on Facebook.
Link to me on LinkedIn.
You can watch me talking about restaurant etiquette on YouTube.
I have profiles and several books on Amazon and
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Buy books for yourself and your family. Meet me and get books signed at writers' events or Toastmasters International Speakers' meetings.
Harrovians, London, UK
HOD, London, UK
I am often in Singapore.
If I am not at your nearest group, invite me to a meeting to speak. I have a speech about Christmas, Harvest festivals (wine and food); and New Years (Chinese, Christian, Jewish, Muslim,) Around England and Around the world.

If you love music, travel on - songs associated with cities; UK, Europe, USA

Cities are associated with songs. When we used to show slide shows on returning from overseas, we would pick a song to set the atmosphere as we started and ended. Now you can do the same with a slideshow on Powerpoint or the Apple version, Keynote.

England
Why do I think songs are associated with cities? Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner, the popular song says. As I leave for Europe on the ferry I hope 'there'll be blue skies over the white cliffs of Dover', as Vera Lynn sang to raise morale in World War II.
A few more:
The Eton boating song.

Here's a list I'm compiling:

UK
Ireland
When Irish eyes are smiling. (Great song to accompany a picture of family, friend, or character met on your travels. Or a picture of your favourite singer or group.)
If you're Irish come into the parlour!
Molly Malone.

Scotland
You take the high road ... great song to accompany a picture, a vista, of a road through the Scottish hillsides and valleys.

Europe
Many more songs are associated with France, Italy, Spain.
France - The Marseillaise; Sur le pont (D'avignon - music to accompany any bridge - you say, 'Well of course this isn't Avignon, this is such and such a bridge,' or, "This is the bridge at Avignon, so many miles north of where we travelled to  .... where we saw this bridge across the river ... )
Italy - All over Italy ...
Spain - Que Viva Espagna!

USA
Bridge over troubled water - 'this is the Golden Gate Bridge ... and the prison of Alcatraz is  open to visitors ... from here you can look down on ..."
I left my heart in San Francisco
Galveston, oh Galveston ...
... that's why I hang my hat in Tennessee

Many states and cities have songs or musicals associated with their names: Chicago; Oklahoma; Miss Saigon.

You could also research through history, finding the top ten records of the year to match your photos, either of the year of your birth, your trip, or of buildings which you have photographed, or a historic photo from Wikipedia of the same main street years ago, such as a Wild West town.

Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer, speaker.

PS If you are making a public presentation you will have to find works which are old enough to be out of copyright, unless you invest in paying for a performing right license. (Some venues will already have this.)

Where To See The Whiskey Barrel Tree and Jack Daniels and Music City

In December 2014 i saw the barrel tree on a poster on Oxford Circus underground station in London. Jack Daniels Whiskey build a whiskey barrel tree at their HQ in Tennesse, USA.

The company have been sending barrels to Britain for some time. They used to send their used barrels to Scotland.

But in recent times they have been sending barrels to London, England, for decorative purposes to build a tree which is displayed from November through the Christmas period. The company is also involved in promoting music in the UK. See their website.

If you get to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery in the USA, here's what you might see in Lynchburg and Tennessee.

Statue of Jack Daniels. (Photo from Wikipedia article.)

Jack Daniels in the USA runs tours all year. 

The outdoor tour takes about one hour ten minutes and includes steps so you will need outdoor walking shoes and clothes. 

Another tour includes a tasting, for which a charge is made.

More information from http://www.jackdaniels.com/visit

If, like me, you are armchair travelling today, take a look at whiskey barrel furniture. You can have furniture made from barrels turned into tables, barrel drinks cabinets, and trugs - trays with upright handles, or chairs.

http://www.oakbarrel-furniture.co.uk

Barrels can also be used for gardens, as rain barrels, water features containing miniature lily ponds, containers for three level three size stepped fountains, and full size or half barrel troughs for plants.

A barrel tree was built in Covent Garden last year (2013) using white oak barrels, covered in lights and topped with a seasonal star. 

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, photographer, author, blogger and speaker.