Brian 50th birthday shirt!!

OH DAMMIT! WANT!!

I know my wife and I will be wearing these the next day!

Kinda like how she wore her Britney Spears shirt on Saturday after Ms. Spears was in town Friday night...


I promised my wife better music, but probably not nearly as many pyrotechnics.

-BK

andi wrote:

OH DAMMIT! WANT!!

I'm still trying to sweet talk shinya..

kelleyM wrote:

get them while they last!

Brian birthday shirt

You beat me to it, I just saw it.

Well crap Daddio looks to drop around 200.00 already. The shirts look great. I will be sporting mine the next Monday in Alberta Lea. Speaking of does anyone know what there is to see Eddie related in Alberta Lee? Taking the long way home south to Alberta Lee to Clearlake Iowa (Surf Ballroom) cut across and catch Route 66 in Missouri to Springfield Illinois for a Cozy Dog, then home to Indy. Any info on Alberta Lea and Clearlake would be helpful. Thanks and see you there.

Russ

Albert Lea really has just two Eddie Cochran-related points of interest: 1) The Freeborn County Historical Museum and 2) A stone marking the spot where Eddie's childhood home once stood. If you start at the museum, they can get you a map and directions to the marker. The museum has a small, but still very cool collection of Eddie memorabilia, including the leather pants and vest Eddie wore on his last tour. There's also a display honoring another Albert Lea-born celebrity, Marion Ross ("Mrs. Cunningham" on Happy Days).

The museum has a library, where you can ask the librarian to take out binders full of Eddie articles, photos, fan newsletters, and fan mail. They also have a school yearbook from the last year Eddie spent in Albert Lea before moving to Oklahoma City. I believe the photo with Eddie is clearly marked.

Here's the thing: The museum is CLOSED on Mondays. They're open Tuesday-Friday, 10am to 5pm.

So if you're gonna go, consider going on Friday, if you can. It's about 90 miles south of Minneapolis at the intersection of I-90 and I-35. Clear Lake is about 45 minutes further south of Albert Lea, although you can go there anytime - including Monday, if it happens to follow your return path, so that you can limit how much of your Friday would be spent for that side trip to Albert Lea. Or perhaps you're taking I-90 or I-35 to get to Minneapolis. Then, Albert Lea is on your way, and there's no excuse for not stopping (unless it's after museum hours). If you can't get to the museum, it may not be worth the trip.

For more info: check out the museum website: Freeborn County Historical Museum

Here's a photo of about half of the Eddie stuff on display. Sorry for the quality - I used a crappy disposable camera for this 2005 photo:



and the stone, marking Eddie's boyhood home:



There's also a bar named Eddie's in town, but I don't believe there's any Eddie memorabilia there. When Brian went there in 2006, he did meet somebody who was a childhood friend of Eddie's, though, which is better than any piece of memorabilia, in my opinion.

As for Clear Lake, I don't know if the Surf Ballroom is open during the day. I've only ever been in there for a concert. However, the second traffic light off the interstate (8th Street) is the street you turn on (heading North) to get to the Crash Site. You can still take in the outside of the Surf, and the memorial markers for Ritchie, the Bopper, and Buddy Holly. I'll see if I can find more specific directions later.

See you at the show!

T-Minus 84 hours, 25 minutes!

Blow Out the Candles-billy

Wow Rick thanks for the info, I would have been dissapointed on Mondy and it was closed. We will plan around it. I do not have to be back in Indy until Wednesday the 15th. We are counting down the hours as well, I will see you there also.

Russ