I have this odd fascination with cemeteries. I really have no idea where it came from but walking through a burying ground is always a great history lesson for me and I find myself wondering about the people six feet under. Their epitaphs offer up clues, sometimes humorous even.
When someone goes on a road trip with me, they are guaranteed at least one graveyard stop to go in search of a famous grave. My friend Micheal is still giving me a hard time about our marathon of finding country music stars graves in Nashville, but that could be an another blog post entirely. On my most recent trip up to visit him, he put the brakes on my latest gruesome endeavor which was finding the grave of Dixie Carter, Miss Julia Sugarbaker herself.
Growing up, I loved watching The Golden Girls and Designing Women. I especially loved watching Dixie Carter as Julia, going off on one of her many rants regarding politics or whatever else set her off. I'll even admit, that when I want to get fired up about something, I'll still watch one or two of the rants on Youtube just to get in the mood. Even though Carter played Julia as a raging liberal, in real life apparently Carter was a Republican and sometimes was not fully supportive of some of the rants that were written for her. Having a love of singing, Carter struck up a deal with the producers that she would not cause grief about some of the lines if she was given an opportunity to stretch her vocal cords on the show.
Micheal loves Dixie Carter as much as I do, but he said there was no way he was driving two hours there and back just to see her grave. Yeah, definitely not a TRUE fan. Despite his protests, that did not stop me from going on my own and I made the journey as part of my trip over to see my Dad in Arkansas.
Carter is buried in her hometown of McLemoresville, TN. It was definitely out of the way but getting off of the interstate is always a treat since it affords you the chance to see some of the real culture of the regions. Upon reaching the town, I didn't have a clear idea of exactly where the cemetery was but since the town is so incredibly tiny, I figured that with a quick drive around, the cemetery was bound to be spotted.
When I got into town, my partner called me to check on where I was. I had not told him that I was going in search of Dixie, because I know he would have instantly been rolling his eyes at my mission. By the tone of my voice, he knew I was up to something and I came clean with him. I could tell that he thought I was nuts, but he would have done the same to find Lucille Ball. Actually, that sounds like a good idea.
After revealing my secret mission, I hung up an continued driving around. Within just a few minutes I found the cemetery and tucked toward the back was the crypt where Dixie Carter is buried. It's hard to really say I was "Star Struck", perhaps the better definition is "Grave Struck" in that particular situation. Regardless, I didn't do anything weird like weep uncontrollably or perform lines from the show in a wig and shoulder pads. I just simply paid my respects and took a few pics before going on my way. Now if the wig and shoulder pads had been in my car......
Eventually I made my way back down to some real roads and continued on to my Dad's house with the satisfaction that I had truly earned my Gay Scouts Badge for that trip.
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