The rosy fingers of dawn spread over day 5 of our road trip, and after 2 nights sleeping in a tent, we decided to enjoy having a real bed and indulged in sleeping in. Marisa was feeling a little better so we decided to make a full day out of Memphis.
It all started with a trip to the Civil Rights Museum which is built into the Lorraine Hotel. This is the hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and is now an incredibly well done and important museum that covers the history of black Americans from the late 1600’s all the way to Martin Luther King, Jr’s death in 1968. If you’re ever in Memphis, you should definitely add this to your list of places to see. I think it’s a very important part of American history that most of us never really learn in school and it’s something we should all be aware of.
For example, as late as 1960, Mississippi had laws in place that kept less than 5% of the entire black population from voting. Or that 9 black boys were falsely accused of raping a white girl and some of them spent up to 19 years in prison - much of that time even after people knew they were innocent. Or one of my personal favorites was the story of James Meredith - the first black to attend Mississippi State (Ole Miss). At one point in time, Bobby Kennedy had called out federal troops to confront the Mississippi state police and National Guard that had been ordered by the governor to stop Meredith from going to classes. Imagine that: A state governor calling out his troops against the United States military to stop a young black man from going to college. It’s crazy to think that happened just 50 years ago in our country. So again, if you get the chance, spend the $12 and go see this museum - it’s probably more important than making the trip to Graceland.
After the museum, we made it our mission to find some good Memphis food and we succeeded. Wandering around the back streets of Memphis, we came across a place called the Green Beetle. Unlike the tourist trap of the night before, this place wasn’t crowded, had delicious food, and some of the most amazing service I encountered on our trip. So get yourself down to the Green Beetle when you’re in Memphis and ask for Jason - he’ll be the guy with the green eyes and the green shirt. I highly recommend the pork chop with mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of fried okra and Marisa said her quesadilla was equally tasty.
After lunch, Memphis had one more attraction and an unexpected surprise for us. The attraction was Mud Island. You can take a gondola over or, as we did, you can walk across the gondola bridge for free. Once across, you can enjoy the 2100:1 replica of the Lower Mississippi River (complete with wading in the cool water), see some great views of Memphis, and enjoy a soda pop on a picnic bench. It’s a nice relaxing way to spend an afternoon.
The surprise? The New Kids on the Block were performing a concert! Other than my one trip to the Dufrin Hotel in Vancouver, I’ve never seen so many late 30’s women dressed up like prostitutes - and many of them with their 8 year old daughters in tow. We actually considered getting tickets (and by “we” I mean “Marisa”), but in the end we decided to walk back to the car and head to New Orleans.
On the way back to the car, we came across Memphis’s “water park”. It was a series of about 30-40 geysers that shot water up to various heights. Since it was about 147 degrees outside, we decided to take a quick detour through the water park and enjoy splashing through the various fountains of water. It was a fun and refreshing end to our stay in Memphis.
