Little Rock and Memphis

I had a miserable night in Arkansas. The downside to the east coast is that when it rains, it does it for hours at a time, unlike in the West. It started around 7:00pm and continued throughout the night and into the next morning. The Bungalow held her ground pretty well but there was some leakage and there was standing water. It was also very muggy and then a thunderstorm rolled through so needless to say I did not sleep well. I had to pack my tent up in the pouring rain and I walked into the Central High School National Historical site looking like a drowned rat. I changed in the bathroom and emerged a new person. This was the most moving place I have been to in my life (Gettysburg is probably second). Jess and I went to the Brown vs. Board of Education site last year in Topeka and it was a powerful exhibit. However, this place had videos, images and quotes scrolled on the walls of what people were going though back then. It is unfathomable to think that only 60 years ago this was going on and it makes you stop and think how far we’ve really come. We all like to look back and look with disgust on the ugly thoughts and words people had but it’s hard to imagine what you would have done in the same situation. Central is a beautiful high school that is still in use today and the Little Rock Nine have benches engraved with their names out front. I think that this is a site every American needs to go to. I drove out to Pugh’s mill which is most famous for being in the opening sequence of Gone With the Wind.
It is stunningly beautiful. It looks like one of those mills that puzzles are made out of. It was never a working mill, some guy just decided to build it from scratch to commemorate the history of Arkansas. It was quite picturesque. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the first green, rainy state I’ve come to but I am in love with Arkansas.
I decided to get a move on into Memphis. It is right on the border, just as you cross the Mississippi. I walked all over taking in the sights. It is not a very picturesque town but it has a gritty, bluesy feel to it which I guess is why it’s famous. I saw the Peabody Hotel which was quite lovely but I wasn’t there to see the duck walk. I also walked most of Beale Street. What I didn’t realize was that after all the clubs, Beale street turns into the ghetto with barb wire fences and vacant lots interspersed with industrial buildings.
I wanted to see the Sun Studio though so I walked down it. It really was not a very impressive building but it had impressive things happen there so I took a picture. I went to lunch at the Beale Street Café and had fried catfish, ribs, coleslaw, beans, texas toast and fries. It was delicious! I love Southern food. I had parked by Mud Island which is accessible by monorail but I didn’t want to pay $4 so I walked across the pedestrian bridge.
It was a free park and it had a scale model of the Mississippi river running through it complete with topography and detailed explanations with a history of the river. It was a really neat concept to help explain the “Mighty Mississippi”. After that it was getting late so I headed out to swing by Graceland. After hitting traffic, I didn’t realize they charge $10 for parking and so I tried to do a drive by photo but it’s gated and filled with trees and sits back from the road so you really can’t see anything. I don’t like Elvis that much anyway so I left and went to the Crystal Shrine Grotto located at a cemetery. It was amazing! It was a cave filled with huge sparkling stones and there were a few different religious figures and scenes scattered around. I was expecting a little stone hole in the wall and I felt weird taking pictures at a cemetery but it was so cool. It felt like a treasure cave. It was 5:00pm by this point and I had to get to Nashville which is over 3 hours away. Traffic wasn’t too bad and I cruised on down I-40. I decided to pull over and camp about 40 miles outside the city because I wanted to get stuff done before dark. I saw lightening bugs for the first time in a long while which I loved. My tent is a huge wet mess so hopefully she’ll get some time to dry out.