2014 Day Two: Memphis, Little Rock, Texas

Monday, June 30th 2014

Just about 3 hours west of Nashville is Memphis, situated right on the Mississippi River, just across from Arkansas.  The city's surrounding area was pretty quiet.  After all our fun in Nashville, our stomachs were crying for nourishment every few hours, so by now we were starving.  Welcome to downtown Memphis around Beale street - the main strip of attraction.  We actually didn't eat on Beale, but a few blocks outside at Gus' famous fried chicken.  Doesn't look like much from the outside, but it was a full house inside, with a line to get seated.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the place at the moment.

After lunch we walked up an empty commercial district, Main Street.  Most stores and restaurants here were closed on Mondays, and therefore were closed on our Monday visit.  That's OK, we were headed to the National Civil Rights museum. 

The museum is situated at the site of the old Lorraine Motel, now defunct as a hotel, but a historic site and the interior is part of the Museum.

Why you might ask? This is the site where Martin Luther King JR was assassinated.  He had been staying here in Memphis planning his next protest.  He was occupying rooms 306 and 307 with some of his partners, and was standing on the balcony of Room 306 when he was shot.  The rooms seen below:

The shot came from across the street in a boarding home, now also part of the museum.  This part of the museum focused on the investigation behind his assassination.  Unfortunately we had to only briefly pass through this section as we were already behind schedule from spending so much time here.  It was a beautiful museum, obviously well funded and loved by many, and a great enriching experience.

We then walked back up to Beale, which we only walked the length of without doing much.  We had already eaten and had to get back on the road.  It's unfortunate, this place looks like a lot of fun.  Much like Nashville, but the theme surrounds more Rock and Soul music - being the home of Soul, and the named birthplace of Rock and Roll.  

So very loud and exciting at 2 in the afternoon! Music everywhere.  The place was largely empty... since it was a Monday at 2 PM.  I really would have loved to be here at night.  But, we had our fun in Nashville, so we were OK with moving on.  One final stop at the riverfront, facing Arkansas, and we were back on the highway.

Welcome to Arkansas!  What I can tell you already is that they take their speed limits very seriously.  Plenty of threatening signage, as well as threatening highway patrol cars everywhere.

It was a long, truck filled and mostly boring ride into Little Rock.  When we arrived, we realized the attractions were few.  Our first stop was to the Central High School museum, which was about the integration of schools in the 60s, and specifically about the Little Rock 9 - the 9 african american students that were the first to attend Central High School.  We had already learned a lot about this historic site and the events around it on our trip last year, when we stopped at the Brown vs. Board of Education site in Topeka, Kansas.  We were interested to learn more.  We arrived right at closing time for the Museum, and thankfully the staff let us stay for about 20 minutes past that time.  It wasn't a big place, but there was a lot to see.  What a struggle to endure.  So much history, and it was really interesting to hear the stories - recordings of interviews of some of the Little Rock 9 students.

Hopefully this is all legible.  Anyone who knows me is familiar with my stance on equality and racism.  In case it can't be read, the lady in the right side of this photo is holding a handwritten sign that says "We like you, we just don't want you in our school."

I wonder where she is today, and how she feels that her ignorance is on display in museums.  There is no argument to justify this feeling, I'm sorry.

The High school was just around the corner from the Museum.  It's HUGE! I wish I could have captured it all in one shot, but it's impossible.  The school appears to be 4 stories tall at the center, and it has wings wrapping around to the left and the right of this photo.  You may notice there is a pond in the center right in front of the green.  It's a beautiful building.  We were leaving right as Summer School was getting out.

We took a short driving tour, most of the streets around the school were poor and run down.  Not much going on.  Perhaps a mile away was a much different story, a wide road atop a hill had small well landscaped mansions on both sides.  Lots of nice architecture.  We had to stop for Arkansas' best BBQ place.

That's right, Whole Hog Cafe.  We were informed there is one other location.. and oddly enough it is in Cherry Hill, NJ.  Of course we had to find the one Arkansas joint whose CEO lives in Cherry Hill.  Delicious anyway! We took a bottle of their barbecue sauce with us.  Purchased, not stolen...

We are significantly behind schedule at this point, so we're on route now into Dallas.

I really never thought I would have driven to Texas, but now I have, and here I am.  Speed limit just raised to 75, so we're just trying to bang this out as fast as possible.  We're spending tonight and all of tomorrow in Dallas, at which point I hope to update again.  Also, we just had a major exciting itinerary change.  Details to come!