Murray, Kentucky

Posted 2 hours ago

Yesterday, I traveled most of the day from Chattanooga to Murray, Kentucky. Along the way, I stopped in Nashville to visit my oldest. But this trip was planned around me going to a Murray State basketball game this afternoon with my son. I had come up his freshmen year to see a game with him and I wanted to make sure we got to do it one more time before he graduates in May.

I made my first visit to Murray almost four years ago. My son and I traveled up for his in-person interview for the presidential fellows scholarship. It was also our first time to visit the campus. We had planned to visit earlier in the year but winter weather cancelled a weekend trip and they ended up doing several things online, including a group interview for the scholarship my son was pursuing.

We were woken up early in the morning but a tornado siren. It is hard to get your wits about you and make sure you grab anything that is real important like car keys when you are jolted from a deep sleep by that terrifying sound. Just weeks earlier, a tornado had hit a town nearby and done a lot of damage so I took this very seriously. We crammed into the breakfast area of the Holiday Inn Express we were staying at and waited anxiously. About forty minutes later, we received the all clear. I felt sorry for my son knowing that he was not going to have the full night’s sleep he had hoped for before the interview.

His interview was early in the morning so we got up and drove over to campus. We were welcomed by the staff in the honor school office and chatted with some other students and parents that were also interviewing that morning. My son’s interview went really well and for the first time in the process, he felt pretty confident that he was going to get the scholarship. They awarded up to 16 so we knew he had about a 50% chance at this point. (He did end up getting the scholarship).

It was cold and gray that first visit. We got an individualized campus tour and got to tour the honor’s college dormitory. My son felt like this was the right place for him. I bought him his first Murray State sway, a yellow sweatshirt. We saw Batman at the small movie theater and then hung out at the hotel the rest of the evening.

I did not know at the time how many visits I would make to Murray over the next four years or how I would come to like this small town in Kentucky. My son has had great opportunities here and I am very grateful. I have enjoyed spending time here with him. Being a visual person, it helps me to not feel like he is so far away because I have been able to spend time in his world and can visually picture places in my mind when I am talking to him and hearing stories about his experiences.

My lasting memories of this place will be the times that I have helped him move in and move out each year. I usually spend a few days with him in Murray when those times occur. Usually I spend more time during the move out because I will help him pack up in between him finishing up his finals.

I also have some fun memories of time by myself. I have written several articles on this site while in Murray. My second trip to Murray was to bring my son for a retreat with other presidential fellows the weekend before moving in. I ended up staying in Murray for a few days by myself while he was on the retreat. It was a nice little retreat of my own. Another time, I came up for a few days to help him move out in December. He spent the spring studying abroad in Barcelona. I was writing a post a day so I wrote several in my down time when I was not helping him to pack up.

This is my fifteenth trip to Murray. I may only have two more trips. One for his senior art show and then the final one for his graduation (and to help him move out). There is a chance that he might be here again next year. His fiancé is considering different graduate school options and Murray State is one of them. There is even a chance that my youngest could transfer here next year after she graduates from community college.

I felt a little bit nostalgic on this trip knowing that it was one of the last ones that I will be making. It will be my last one by myself. And this one is more relaxed then the next two will be. I am exciting about attending the basketball game this afternoon and cheering on the Racers with my son. I am grateful for all the great memories I have built here and we still have a few more to build in the future.

Murray is where I discovered Culver’s, which is my favorite place to get a burger. I love their mushroom and swiss butter burger. I a couple of those beauties on my first trip here. They built a Culver’s in Chattanooga that opened up in September and I have been a regular customer. I am not sure if I will visit Culver’s on this trip or not. It is still my favorite of all the Culver’s I have been to.

I had the idea for this post as I was driving into Murray last night on Highway 80. The setting sun was behind some blue clouds and I was just thinking how much I enjoy visiting this small Kentucky town that was not even on my radar five years ago.