Memphis Tennessee



The main reason to visit Memphis was to connect with good friends Jill and Scott.  They were wonderful hosts while we were in town, and we had the additional benefit to visit with both Jill and Scott's Mom's. Every time we see them, which isn't nearly often enough, we understand just how important your close friends are. This really is one of the core reasons we wanted to travel.  Taking opportunities to see friends and family along the way.

One afternoon Jill picked us up and we met Scott who had spent the morning golfing at his club.  After lunch we collected fishing gear, out of Scott’s clubhouse locker, ordered up a golf cart, and headed off to fish the water hazards on the golf course.  Scott has caught some very large Bass from out of these lakes.  We spent the next hour or so, avoiding players on the fairways, and casting for Bass, Bluegill, and Crappie!  Scott tends to keep a fishing rod with him, as he plays golf.  I can see why! 



We're going to Graceland!


We did have one specific goal while we were in Memphis.  Visit Graceland!  Over the years, we have visited Memphis several times, but have never made it to Graceland.  It really is something you have to do at least once in your life.  And once would be enough for us.







Living Room

Modern Kitchen - for the 1970's
Down in the Jungle Room

The Den














The Back Yard





Everyone should have a shooting range!










































It is a fine tuned, and well oiled operation.  You can spend quite a lot on your day there, especially if you want the FULL Elvis experience.  That includes seeing all of the jumpsuits and cars.  We chose only the mansion tour and (for $5 dollars extra) the custom airplanes.











The other must see in Memphis is the National Civil Rights Museum. Housed in the Lorraine  Hotel, where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 it is a compelling reminder of the courage and sacrifice those brave souls undertook to fight for the rights that I have taken for granted for my entire life.





Rosa Parks
Focused on the Memphis Sanitation workers strike, which had brought Martin to Memphis, it is a wonderful compliment to the similar museum in Birmingham.  After visiting each of these, and pausing to listen and look around to what is happening today, I am reminded that we are not yet where we should be.  And I begin to wonder if we all have the courage, and are willing to make the sacrifices needed to make sure that everyone enjoys the same rights that many of us take for granted.


Montgomery Bus Boycott
















Parchman Prison

























Segregated Diner Sit In's























March on Washington
Mississippi 1964

Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike
Sanitation Workers Strike






















Dr. King's Legac




While in Memphis we stayed at the Agricenter International, which is a part of the Shelby Farms Park.   This is a large RV park that hosts many people who are living there full time.  You can tell by the way stuff builds up around the trailers and motorhomes, many of them look to have been parked there for some time.  

One of our neighbors was Luis, a pipeline worker from Dallas.  He would always offer me a beer which then led to a nice conversation.  Luis had been working and living here for 3 months.  He was headed off to Dallas, and then on to visit family in Mexico before moving onto his next job.



Road Hazards
One morning we had an unpleasant reminder of what living on the road can be like.  I stepped out of AIROSMITH to see dark black smoke billowing into the sky, a dozen spaces down, and two rows across from us.  Grabbing my phone, and running toward the smoke, I was just dialing 911 when I heard the sirens of the approaching fire trucks.  The family was already out of the fully engulfed motorhome, but with very few of their possessions.  The fire destroyed the one motorhome, and damaged the trailer parked next to it.  We watched over the next week as they slowly salvaged what ever they could from the wreck.  I began thinking about what I  would, or could do if that happened in the next space to you.  How quickly can we hook up and move?  Maybe we should conduct drills!



The park also hosts travelers like us who stay for several nights and move on.  This time we stayed nearly two weeks.  We stayed here in Rocinante, our previous travel trailer, in the fall of 2010.  The park has changed much since our last visit.  It is a 4,500 Acre park with hiking and biking trails, and a pond for kayaking.  Additionaly the Wolf River flows through the park, and along that a Greenway path where one could ride a bicycle all the way to the Downtown Memphis and the Mississippi River.

Hyde Lake Paddle


















Memphis Sunset
















Wolf River Bridge


Memphis Mtn Biking














The Greenway Trail

















Big River Crossing
On a nice morning we drove into Memphis, and rode our bikes across the Big River Crossing, a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that spans the Mississippi, ending up in Arkansas.  


The path connects on the west side, and you can ride along the river in both directions.  Unfortunately the path was closed due to flooding.  The Big River is running high.  Coming back over the bridge we watched from above as a river “Pushboat” maneuvered about 30 cargo barges up the river.






Memphis from the Mississippi






State Line

















Pushboat




















For lunch, we bicycled over to the Peabody Hotel, and entering off of an alley, dined on some famous Rendezvous Barbecue.














Memphis good friends, great memories and wonderful experiences.



Beale Street

Comments

  1. Thanks for the update. I like the MLK legacy quote - I had never read that before. You are making retirement look like a good option.
    Carry on...

    ReplyDelete

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