Legends, Paying My Respect

I mentioned in an earlier post that my wife and I recently visited the final resting places of two of America's most famous.

Our first of two stops was the Monument that is constructed over the final resting place of Guitar GOD Jimi Hendrix. The monument is amazing. A large dome covers the grave and original headstone. It is a beautiful display of marble and serves as the final resting place for the man many would consider the greatest guitar player of all time. The monument is a beautiful marble design. Also with James "Jimi" Hendrix at the memorial you will find other members of his family including his Grandmother, Mother and Father.

Here are some pics of his monument:

An overall view of the Jimi Hendrix Memorial

The original headstone was moved to the memorial after Jimi was moved to this new location.

It is grand indeed. While it is clear that fans of all ages/generations visit this Mecca of music frequently it is still very well kept and well respected. Many fans leave flowers, sheet music and other items in tribute to Jimi. Others use a non-permanent method of writing messages to the legend such as chalk or charcoal on the walkway leading to the monument.

It is an amazing feeling to be in the presence of a legend.

On our trip to visit the greats of the past we also stopped at the final resting place of martial arts LEGEND Bruce Lee. Bruce is buried in a very small cemetery just north of Seattle. His son Brandon was laid to rest next to him after his tragic accident while filming the movie The Crow.

Bruce's grave is precisely what I would have expected for a philosophical giant and a champion of the martial arts. Nothing too elaborate and set off and away from the public eye. His tombstone is successful in marking his location and paying tribute, all while being low key and not imposing on nature.

Here are some pics of Bruce and Brandon Lee's final resting place:

Now you are probably wondering, why these two?

Well, there is no doubt that Jimi Hendrix was a rock and roll giant. His powerful guitar is still to this day used in movies, commercial and other music. Most guitarists try to emulate him and most of us who can't play the guitar imagine what it would be like to be as good as him.

As for Bruce Lee, he was one of my childhood heroes. I was really first introduced to Bruce (who died two years before my birth) by my Uncle. He has always been a huge fan of the martial arts, and to be a fan of the arts is to be a fan of Bruce Lee. I was amazed at the things this little man could do. Often as Americans we are impressed by the biggest muscles, the largest gun or the loudest bark so to speak. Bruce had all of these wrapped tightly in a 5'7" body that was well under 150lbs. He scared boxing legend Mohammed Ali into backing out of a fight. That is something!

I am a collector of his movies and a fan of his art. I have studied his philosophy and will forever remain influenced by all that he accomplished in his short life.

It really was an amazing day. As we started out on our journey it was pouring down rain. It rained all the way until we arrived in Renton, WA. Just as we were pulling into the cemetery it suddenly stopped raining. We were able to get out and walk around Jimi's memorial. I took numerous photographs and my wife did a charcoal rubbing of Jimi's original headstone. We are going to put something together with the rubbing and the photographs.

After an hour or so it was time to head on to Bruce Lee's grave. I visited Lee's grave about a year ago, but decided I'd like a charcoal rubbing of his headstone as well.

Once again, no sooner than we got in the car it started pouring again. As my friend from Georgia says, "It was raining so hard it was like a cow peeing on a flat rock."

It rained all the way until we pulled off of I-5 just north of Seattle, WA to take the back roads to the final resting place of Bruce Lee.

Just like our visit at the Jimi Hendrix memorial the sun peaked out and gave us the opportunity to spend about an hour taking pictures and completing the charcoal rubbing of both Bruce and Brandon's headstones.

It was a very cool experience. It was a great stroke of luck when the rain stopped not once but twice. It was a memorable and very cool day.

Rock On Jimi, And Kick Ass Bruce (only when necessary)

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at October 22, 2004 09:01 PM