Nearing the end of the road...for now.

Day 28

This will be my last blog entry.  We’ve driven 630 miles today and are now camping along Lake Erie on the eastern edge of Ohio.  In one day we've gone back to early spring foliage after enjoying all the beautiful blooms of the South.  Wow!

We’ll drive equally far tomorrow and then be home!

 It’s been a wonderful month on the road; we’ve seen some amazing historical sights and some beautiful state and national parks.  Even better though,  we spent time with my sister and her husband, and I reconnected with so many of the peers that I grew up with in St. Louis.  Life is good!

Returning to My Roots

Day 26 & 27

We’ve spent the last two days in St. Louis, I attended my school’s 50^threunion. 

The last reunion I attended was my 25^th, so it was great to see a lot of my old friends after so many years.  I went to the same school from 5^ththrough 12^thgrade; there were only 42 in our graduating class, so I really knew many of my classmates very well. We spent a lot of time together and it was great to reconnect with so many of my classmates. It seems like it was only a few days ago that we were together in high school.

Martin Luther King's Dream

Day 25

On the road by 7:30 this morning, stopping for breakfast before arriving at the Lorraine Motel/National Civil Rights Museum in downtown Memphis.  The Lorraine is where Dr. Martin Luther King was murdered on April 4, 1968.  

The museum was built around the motel.  The exterior of the motel and the two rooms that Dr. King and his associates occupied are exactly like they were that evening.  The photos of Dr. King on the motel’s balcony with his associates, and then  all of his associates pointing toward the shooter are so well known that it was in some ways creepy to see this spot in person.  

The museum was incredibly moving, and after spending two hours looking at all the exhibits, photos, and video, it’s hard not to be brought to tears.  Beyond the details of Dr. King’s visit to Memphis to support the local sanitation workers strike, the museum covers the civil rights struggle in the US since Africans were first brought to our shores as slaves.  Videos of civil rights activists on the buses of Montgomery and at the lunch counters of Woolworths in Nashville are so moving as you witness the violence these passive protesters sustained from the white citizens of these cities.

One of the more moving speeches, other than those by Dr. King, was by Robert Kennedy the night of King’s assassination.  Kennedy was delivering campaign speech when he was handed a note about King’s death.  He immediately shared it with the audience.  His eloquence was remarkable; not written by a speech writer and not displayed on a teleprompter.

The museum was very crowded, students of all ages were everywhere. 

Both Joni and I were very heartened to see four high school girls, two black and two white, who were obviously good friends, talking back and forth to each other as they moved through the museum.  Hopefully they prove that Dr. King’s dream is coming true.

The rest of the day was spent driving north to St. Louis where I will be attending my 50^thhigh school reunion.  Along the way we stopped in St. Genevieve, Missouri, which is the oldest settlement in the US west of the Mississippi.  It’s not much more than one hour’s drive south of St. Louis.  I had never been there, but my parents loved to go their for a day trip, so I felt obligated to check it out, however, briefly.  It’s a small town, but well preserved…definitely worth the detour.

Magical Mystery Tour

Day 24

The theme for today was music!

Our campground is only a few miles from Graceland, so that was our first destination…but only as a drive by.  I’m not a big enough fan of the King, in fact I never even bought an album, so the $59 entry fee was just too much for us.  From the main road you can’t seen anything other than Elvis’ airplane, the Lisa Marie.  Big whoop…sorry Rich Marvin...although I do have to admit, the King's presence is omnipresent!

From Graceland we went out to breakfast at Café Eclectic.  I had “The Whole 9 Yards”(eggs, tater hash, sausage, & toast), and Joni had French toast on ciabatta bread.  Both were a little bit different and delicious!

Next stop, the Sam Phillips’ Sun Recording Studios, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, U2 & others made records.  Our guide, obviously a musician & singer, was very informative and entertaining as he provide intricate details of individual artists recording idiosyncrasies. 

 U2's Larry Mullen Jr.'s drum kit

Leaving Sun Studios, we headed over to the Gibson Guitar Factory for their tour.  We had to wait a while, so we took off for a walk on Beale Street the whole time singing Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis”.  Beale Street, which is just a block from the Gibson factory, is a lot like Bourbon Street in New Orleans or Honky Tonk Row in Nashville, only smaller, and quieter.  It was actually very quiet, but it was only noon, I’m sure it gets lively at night. We stayed on Beale all the way to the Mississippi River, where a very nice river front park has been created.  The temperature reached 86°F today, so we found a park bench in the shade as we enjoyed watching the flow on the Big Muddy.

At 1 pm, I took the guided tour of the Gibson Factory, one of three in the US, but the only one that allows tours.  At this factory they only make electric hollow body guitars, in Nashville they make solid body guitars, and in Bozeman, Montana, they make just acoustic guitars. The tour lasted about one hour and was fascinating to witness all the steps that are followed to make these beautiful instruments.  All Gibsons are handmade, no computer assisted machinery, and it takes 3 ½  to 4 weeks to make just one guitar.  Every day they complete about 60 guitars.  They do sell all of the Gibson models in their factory store, but at the same price you would pay from your local music store or on-line shops like Guitar Center.  Joni stayed close at my side and removed all my credit cards from my wallet last night, in anticipation of me giving in to such temptations.

We had lunch at a tacos/tapas restaurant called Babalu (just like Ricky Ricardo’s hit).  We started with guacamole & sangria, and finished with chicken, shrimp, & veggie tacos.  Yummy!

After lunch we continued our music tour heading to the Stax Recording Studios museum where we watched a brief movie about the studio and then took a self guided tour through their museum filled with memorabilia from all their artists, including:  Aretha, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Al Greene, Wilson Picket, Ike Turner, Isaac Hayes, etc.  This museum obviously focuses on Soul in comparison to the Sun studios that fathered rock-n-roll.  At both museums I couldn’t resist picking up some CD’s. I’m sure I could probably download these on iTunes, but there's a certain magic to buy them at the source, and I wanted to listen to them immediately.  FYI, I purchased  Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Redding, & Sun Studios Greatest Hits!

yes, the studio was in an old movie theatre

Booker T's Hammond B3 Organ

Isaac Hayes' gold plated Caddy

It was now 5 pm, we weren’t hungry, but we were tired, so we headed back to our campsite, picking up some sweets to go along with our coffee tonight.

Ancient Civilizations, Battlefields, and the Blues

Day 23

If I wasn’t retired I would have gone back to school today.  

We started our day touring the nearby Poverty Point Plantation, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This photo explains the site better than I can:

Like other Indian settlements, there are a number of “Indian mounds” that distinguish the area and were recognized as such in the mid 19^thcentury.  However it wasn’t until the 1940’s when aerial photography became commonly used that a series of six concentric semi-circles were discovered that were located at the eastern edge of the largest mound.  Incredible artifacts, 8000 spear heads for examples, were found here and demonstrated that these people traded and traveled with other peoples since there are no rocks like these anywhere nearby.  Estimates of the population go as high as 4,000 inhabitants.   The largest mound was constructed by the natives, one basket at a time, each filled with 50 lbs. of earth.  The 72 foot tall mound required 15.5 million baskets to construct, yet there is no clear purpose to these mounds, and there is no evidence that these were burial mounds.

The darker grass in the gap on the trees on the left shows one of the rings.  They weren't that tall which is why they were never noticed on the plantation.

The name for this site is taken from the plantation that was located on this property in the 1800’s, and they believe the plantation was named after Poverty Point bend on the Mississippi.

From Poverty Point, we returned to the Vicksburg National Battlefield Park.  Listening to a CD audio tour we spent the next three hours exploring the park which is where the Confederates finally surrendered to Grant after a 47 day siege that included vicious daily battles. Vicksburg is located on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi to the west, and therefore control of the city gave you control of the river.  The Union forces tried to take the city from the east, but because of the extremely hilly topography, the defense of the city was very easy for the Confederates.  Trench warfare was employed by the Union army as a way to provide some degree of protection as they attempted to move up the steep hills, but they were continually turned back by the Confederates.  Eventually the Confederates ran out of food and ammunition, so they surrendered, but rather than be imprisoned, the Rebel soldiers were allowed to go home.  Many think that was a gesture of respect from Grant who previous to this battle always demanded unconditional surrender.

The remains of the Cairo, sunk during the Civil War and not found until 1960.

 20,000 casualties for the combined armies.  

Before we left Vicksburg, we had a late lunch of fried chicken, corn, black-eyed peas late 19^thcentury inn.  Practically all buildings in Vicksburg were destroyed by cannon fire during the siege, so the oldest buildings post date the war.

Our final destination for today was the T.O. Fuller State Park Campground, just outside Memphis. Most of today’s drive, over 340 miles was through the Mississippi  Delta which is very flat, very dusty, and very poor.  

Along the way we drove through the city of Clarksdale, immortalized by  Blues Legend Robert Johnson’s classic “Crossroads”.   I couldn’t resist this photo of the crossroads which is now well marked, nor could I resist getting some take out barbecue from Abe’s roadside stand at the junction.

...Natchez to New Orleans, Living on Jacks and Queens

Day 22

Eversince I was a young boy, watching the TV western “Maverick” on Sunday night, I’ve wanted to see the town of Natchez that was mentioned it the theme song.  Today I saw it!

We left our campground at 7:45 and stopped for coffee and a pastry at a café right near the lake. Mandeville is really a pretty town, very upscale, beautiful homes right along the lake.

Lakefront park along Pontchartrain in Mandeville

We arrived in Natchez around 1 pm, so we went straight to a restaurant Joni had researched, “King’s Tavern” which is the oldest standing building in Mississippi, built in 1739. It was charming and our lunch was fabulous.  We shared a humus plate and a brisket flatbread.  For drinks Joni had tea and I had moonshine!  Equally fabulous too.

After lunch we drove around Natchez.  The town was empty but charming nevertheless.  Prior to the Civil War, Natchez was a prosperous port on the Mississippi, and home to many very wealthy cotton farmers who built their mansions high on the bluffs that overlooks the river.  I think it epitomized the Old South.

From Natchez we drove along “Natchez Trace Parkway” which stretches 400+ miles from Nashville to Natchez. 

It is now maintained by the National Park Service and is very similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Along the Parkway there are many historical stops to explore.  We checked out Emerald Mound, the second largest Indian Mound in North America.

Originally the Trace was a route created by the Natchez Indians before the French settled in this part of the US.  We only followed it for about 40 miles as we made our way toward Vicksburg.

We arrived in Vicksburg around 4 pm, stopping at the visitors’ center of the Vicksburg National Battlefield Park where we watched a movie, toured the exhibits, and purchased a audio guide for our self driving tour tomorrow.

The Park closes at 5 pm, so he headed to our campsite for the night in Poverty Point State Park, Louisiana.  It was very nice, spotless & un-crowded since it was Sunday evening and families with kids had to go back to work/school.   After setting up our van for the night we dined inside the van due to the bugs on take-out Mexican.  Pretty good considering we’re in the middle of nowhere!