Teressa provided the write-up for our visit to Memphis:Saturday morning Brian drove us from our campground in Mississippi to Graceland in Tennessee. Graceland exceeded our expectations in that it had all the warmth and charm of a real home--not a show home like the Antebellum houses of the south. Throughout the self-guided audio tour, we heard Elvis crooning or watched him on videos placed throughout the house and grounds. He truly was gifted--especially in his younger days, in my opinion. During one of his concerts he sang a medley of Dixie and the Battle Hymn of the Republic that brought me to tears. As much as we appreciated Elvis' amazing voice and talent, we were disappointed to hear that more people watched Elvis's Aloha concert in Hawaii than watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon!
After Graceland, Brian drove us into downtown Memphis to Beale Street. We were all hungry and on these kinds of excursions we just can't go back to the RV to eat. Too many miles. Within a block of parking the car we were conned out of some money by a recovering drug addict who claims to have been clean for 11 months. His gig is to approach the tourists and give them all kinds of information like best places to eat on Beale Street and history about the statue we were looking at (at first I thought it was Louis Armstrong, but was corrected as it was WC Handy, the Father of the Blues). The guy wanted money to help pay the costs to sleep at the Baptist church/rescue mission. Whether he conned us or not, we were impressed that he was offering a service. We saw him hit up a bunch of other tourists and wondered if we might have to borrow some money from him when we return from our trip...
Beale Street was...unique. It's a pretty run down part of downtown Memphis. We did get to hear good music coming from many of the clubs (all taped as it was afternoon). The whole of Beale Street is about 4 blocks of clubs and restaurants. The kids wanted to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe but we talked them into trying one of the local joints – Alfred’s. It was reasonable and had the ambiance of a not-quite-seedy blues club, and it had good food. Brian thought the Cajun fettuccine was one of the best things he has ever eaten.
Saturday evening Gary and I had errands to run. We left the kids home and went to get gas and buy some things at the local Walmart. Upon checkout, I happened to do a 360 degree scope of the place. Of over 100 people, Gary's was the only white face I saw. Quite a contrast from our demographics in the West. To me, it was fascinating to be seeing the reverse of what so many African Americans in the West see every day.
Today, Sunday, we left Mississippi and drove north through a piece of Arkansas into Missouri. You won't believe us, but we probably saw 300 hawks today. They were perched in the trees or on telephone posts along the freeway. Pretty cool. We are staying at Hinton RV park in Sikeston, MO. In order to get our Kentucky post cards, we had to drive 30 miles, across the Mississippi (again) and the Ohio rivers. We found a little shop in Wickliffe, Kentucky. I kid you not---1/3 of the store was cigarettes. The rest was staples and tourist stuff. We found our post cards showing Kentucky horses and stables, none of which we saw, and hurried back to Missouri before dark. Oh---most of the Arkansas post cards had hillbillies on them! I chose not to buy those and perpetuate the stereotype, but I thought that was interesting.
After Graceland, Brian drove us into downtown Memphis to Beale Street. We were all hungry and on these kinds of excursions we just can't go back to the RV to eat. Too many miles. Within a block of parking the car we were conned out of some money by a recovering drug addict who claims to have been clean for 11 months. His gig is to approach the tourists and give them all kinds of information like best places to eat on Beale Street and history about the statue we were looking at (at first I thought it was Louis Armstrong, but was corrected as it was WC Handy, the Father of the Blues). The guy wanted money to help pay the costs to sleep at the Baptist church/rescue mission. Whether he conned us or not, we were impressed that he was offering a service. We saw him hit up a bunch of other tourists and wondered if we might have to borrow some money from him when we return from our trip...
Beale Street was...unique. It's a pretty run down part of downtown Memphis. We did get to hear good music coming from many of the clubs (all taped as it was afternoon). The whole of Beale Street is about 4 blocks of clubs and restaurants. The kids wanted to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe but we talked them into trying one of the local joints – Alfred’s. It was reasonable and had the ambiance of a not-quite-seedy blues club, and it had good food. Brian thought the Cajun fettuccine was one of the best things he has ever eaten.
Saturday evening Gary and I had errands to run. We left the kids home and went to get gas and buy some things at the local Walmart. Upon checkout, I happened to do a 360 degree scope of the place. Of over 100 people, Gary's was the only white face I saw. Quite a contrast from our demographics in the West. To me, it was fascinating to be seeing the reverse of what so many African Americans in the West see every day.
Today, Sunday, we left Mississippi and drove north through a piece of Arkansas into Missouri. You won't believe us, but we probably saw 300 hawks today. They were perched in the trees or on telephone posts along the freeway. Pretty cool. We are staying at Hinton RV park in Sikeston, MO. In order to get our Kentucky post cards, we had to drive 30 miles, across the Mississippi (again) and the Ohio rivers. We found a little shop in Wickliffe, Kentucky. I kid you not---1/3 of the store was cigarettes. The rest was staples and tourist stuff. We found our post cards showing Kentucky horses and stables, none of which we saw, and hurried back to Missouri before dark. Oh---most of the Arkansas post cards had hillbillies on them! I chose not to buy those and perpetuate the stereotype, but I thought that was interesting.
2 comments:
I know exactly where that store is. I think it is Route 51 you come out of Missouri, then go through Illinois for about 45 seconds then up the hill in Kentucky. Store is on the right on a bend in the road.
One third of the store being cigarettes is right. I also think 1/3 of the store was set aside for baseball hats with things about hunting, fishing, pick-up trucks, guns or praying about one of those things on them. I spent about an hour there.
John Olsen
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