Visited Apr. 2-5, 2022
By Janell
We arrived in Red Bay, Alabama on March 29, and signed up to have several things (mostly minor) repaired on the Beast at the Tiffin Service Center. (Unfortunately, one cannot just call ahead to make an appointment; scheduling is only done in person.) Once we were on the list at Tiffin, we knew we'd have a bit of a wait to get into a service bay
. . . so, we left the Beast in Red Bay and drove a couple hours to Memphis, Tennessee for three nights.
We had planned to take the Beast to Memphis after Red Bay, but now there's no need.
There are quite a few songs about Memphis, but I think that Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" might be my favorite.
We stayed in downtown Memphis: close enough to walk to Beale Street, but not so close that we heard the noise from it. Beale Street is very much a party scene, and there's a lot of neon. It's a good place to get some tasty BBQ, enjoy a drink or two and listen to some live music. We did just that!
Sometimes they would walk around while playing. Here's Terry upstairs on the deck with us.
Pam was very good with a harmonica! Here's a clip where Pam plays Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird".
Wish I didn't have to cut it so short (Blogger limits, you know).
Free Bird is normally a 9 or 10-minute song! (You're welcome! 😁)
Perhaps you've heard of The Peabody Hotel? Opened in 1869, it's an elegant, grand old hotel and an icon of downtown Memphis. If you have heard of it, most likely you've heard of The Peabody Ducks. The Peabody is world-famous for its five resident ducks (we saw four of them), who march daily through the lobby at 11am (from the elevator to the fountain) and 5pm (from the fountain to the elevator). If this is the first you've heard of this, you may think I'm talking about something other than real, live ducks. But no, I am definitely talking about REAL, LIVE DUCKS!
From The Peabody's website:
How did the tradition of the ducks in The Peabody fountain begin? Back in the 1930's Frank Shutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had a little too much Tennessee sippin' whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Peabody fountain. Three small English call ducks were selected as "guinea pigs", and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic. Thus began a Peabody tradition which was to become internationally famous.
In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus animal trainer, offered to help with delivering the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the now-famous Peabody Duck March. Mr. Pembroke became Peabody Duckmaster, serving in that capacity for 50 years until his retirement in 1991.
Nearly 90 years after the inaugural march, the ducks still visit the lobby fountain from 11am to 5pm each day.
The Assistant Duckmaster prepares the steps and red carpet for the Duck March.
Watch the ducks march!
This was a cute and yummy breakfast spot!
Continuing on with our "Civil Rights tour", if you will, we visited The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. The Lorraine Motel is where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. We just happened to visit on April 3; we were so glad, once we realized that the next day was the 54th anniversary, that we had not gone one day later. They were setting up event tents while we were there, and I'm sure the next day was crazy busy.
As it was The National Civil Rights Museum, it covered much more than the assassination of MLK Jr. All things Civil Rights related were covered, but here are just a few.
This bus, located in the museum, is evidence of the shocking story of what happened to the Freedom Riders in Alabama on May 14, 1961. The Freedom Rides of 1961 was a movement seeking to test a 1960 decision by the Supreme Court that segregation of interstate transportation facilities, including bus terminals, was unconstitutional. African American and White riders traveled to the Jim Crow South, where segregation had continued, despite the ruling.
The original group of 13 Freedom Riders -- seven African Americans and six Whites -- left Washington, D.C., on this Greyhound bus on May 4, 1961 bound for New Orleans, Louisiana.
On May 14, the Greyhound arrived in Anniston, Alabama. They were met by an angry mob of about 200 White people who surrounded the bus, causing the driver to continue past the bus station. The mob followed the bus in cars. When the bus' tires, which had been slashed, blew out, someone threw a firebomb into the bus. The Freedom Riders escaped the bus as it burst into flames, only to be brutally beaten by members of the angry mob.
The above scene depicts the Memphis sanitation workers strike of 1968. They were striking in protest against economic disparity and safety in the workplace, among other issues. The strike began in February 1968 and lasted just over two months.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. went to Memphis in support of the sanitation workers, giving a speech there on April 3. The very next day he was fatally shot while standing on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel.
Opened by Sam Phillips in 1950, Sun Studio is the self-proclaimed "Birthplace of Rock 'n Roll". Legends such as B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis were "discovered" here.
Sun Studio offers tours during the day but is still an active recording studio in the evenings. For $200/hour you can cut a record! We didn't do that, but we did take the 45-minute tour, and it was very interesting. The studio looks the same as it did in the 50's (or so we were told).
Legend has it that in 1953, an 18-year old Elvis Presley, (who was employed as a truck driver), walked into Sun Studios to make a delivery. Intrigued with the idea of music recording, he returned a few days later to record a song as a birthday gift for his mother. (The recording cost $3.98 + tax.) Sam Phillips' assistant, Marion Keisker, recorded Presley's song, as Phillips wasn't in at the time. Keisker thought Presley had potential, and she made a duplicate of Presley's recording to share with Phillips. Phillips was not impressed, but Keisker saw something in Presley and continued to pester Phillips about Presley's potential for some time. Phillips eventually did call Presley, and the rest is history!
For more about the Million Dollar Quartet, you can check out the link below.
. . . and just for fun!
Here I am in Arkansas, but Marty is in Tennessee!
We walked from Memphis, TN, over the Mississippi River, half way across the Big River Crossing Bridge; and that put us in Arkansas. The state line is midway across the Big River Crossing, which is a railroad bridge and a pedestrian/biking bridge. You can see Memphis behind us.
Probably the most popular thing to do in Memphis is visit Graceland. The mansion itself is not ostentatious, but the interior decor is wild! Elvis redecorated often, changing upholstery, carpet, paint, drapery, etc.
Elvis' custom-made living room sofa is 15' long; only 2/3 of it is visible in this photo.
The dining room was used by family for all holidays and special dinners.
Notice the three television sets in Elvis' TV room. He'd heard that President Lyndon Johnson watched three sets at once to keep up with the news on each of the three major networks. Apparently Elvis was trying to keep up with the Johnsons. More than likely, at least one of Elvis' sets was showing football.
Decorating the pool room was not an easy task. It took a crew of three about ten days to cut, piece, pleat and hang about 400 yards of cotton fabric to the walls and ceiling. A little overwhelming, don't you think?
Elvis called this room "the den", but when the home was opened to the public, it became known as "the jungle room". With a waterfall, Polynesian-style furniture and green shag carpeting on the floor and ceiling, you can see how it earned its current name.
The above photo is of an exterior wall at Wiseacre Brewing Company. This was probably the most colorful brewery we've ever seen. They spent quite a bundle on their decor!
The round windows above, some concave and some convex, look into the brewery operations. Very unique!
Beale street looks fun at night. I was there during the afternoon on Easter Sunday & again on Monday AM. It was a tad quieter at those times.
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