Memphis

Roger here... It was our first morning at the Tom Sawyer Mississippi River RV Park.  I stumbled out of bed.  Brewing a pot of coffee was uppermost in my mind.  At that point I squinted at the view through our windshield, and lunged for the camera.  Sunrise over the muddy Mississippi --- not the view I expected.  Where is the muddy water?  It looks pink and purple to me.

The day before we departed Paducah, as I was planning our travel, it looked as if the Memphis area would be a logical place to stop for one night.  I was all set for a stay south of town in one of those easy-off, easy-on RV parks.  Before turning off the computer, on a whim, I decided to see if there were any places to stay in West Memphis, Arkansas.  I discovered that the Tom Sawyer RV Park was only a couple miles off the highway.  I had heard of it.  It might be fun to spend a little time on the river and a little time on Beale Street.  We ended up making reservations for three nights.  What luck we had in finding this place.

After the spectacular sunrise, we walked the dogs, gave them breakfast and treats, and drove for fifteen minutes to cross the river.  We entered the city and followed the river to the north.  I wanted to see the pyramid, so we drove there first.  There was not really anything to do there other than snap a picture.  However, by next summer it will be an operating Bass Pro Shop with all kinds of activities.  We will have to come back.

Our next destination was Beale Street, the home of the blues and ribs.  I wanted to experience both.  But first, we found a parking garage that was only a block away, snapped this picture, walked past Beale Street, to find the Peabody Hotel, two blocks away.

I wanted to see the ducks.  Yes, the ducks.  Every day since the 1930s a duck master, yes a duck master, marches five mallard ducks from the rooftop of the hotel into an elevator.  The elevator descends to the lobby level where the ducks waddle on a red carpet to an Italian marble fountain and pool in the middle of the lobby, where they stay until 5:00 p.m.  I kid you not.  No one could make up a story like this.  Much to Dianne's chagrin, we arrived twenty minutes early, but a crowd was already gathering and jockeying for the best position to view the spectacle.

Oh, the excitement!  The mood of the crowd was palpable.  The lady at the left looks like she is about to have an aneurism.  

Ten minutes prior to the march, the duck master moved to the fountain.  He spent some time extolling the truly impressive history of the Peabody Hotel and its famous patrons and guests:  presidents, Justin Timberlake, BB King, and of course Elvis.  Before strolling to the elevator to get the ducks, he let everyone know that the lobby of the Peabody Hotel is the official entrance to the Mississippi River Delta.  We watched the numbers on the elevator as it ascended to the rooftop.  A few minutes later the numbers descended.  Then....

What a hoot!  It really was kinda funny.  We followed the ducks down the red carpet to get a picture of them in their opulent daytime digs.

Here's a link if you'd like to read more about the Peabody Hotel Ducks and their history:
Peabody Hotel Ducks

Back to Beale Street...
Lunchtime is really not party time on Beale Street, but we could still get the flavor of the place.  Right?

Music blared into the street from the BB King Blues Club.  However, I am sure it was recorded and not live.  

I loved all the neon signs.  They were even impressive in full daylight.  Very cool.  

Love, Peace and Chicken Grease.

Dianne is not necessarily a fan of honky tonk places.  She really does not care for New Orleans, so she was a little underwhelmed at Memphis.  I  like it, as expected.  It would be fun to visit again with a group of friends at night.  (If only we could stay awake that long....D).

We were both hungry and it was lunchtime. For us it felt like mid-afternoon because of the recent daylight saving time change and crossing into the Central Time Zone.  It was lunchtime for us, but early for Memphis.  The live music was not playing at Alfred's, but we were hoping for some of the great food.  I was especially hoping for some Memphis ribs.

We were the only customers in the joint.  No ribs that early in the day.  I am not sure how Dianne picked the right minute to snap this picture.  I have a history of very bad photos at restaurants taken by family members.  My girls can all tell you about the infamous photo on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.  (And the hysterical laughter that ensued among the four females in the group -- D.)

Dianne was just a little too happy after she saw the picture of me that she had just snapped.  

Ok then.  I settled on barbecued pulled pork and a locally brewed Ghost River Golden Ale.  I rationalized that it was barbecued ribs, without the bones.  Now this is more like it.

The food was great and so was the beer.  Dianne had a Cajun catfish po-boy with sweet potato fries.  We both ate half our food and took the other half home for supper.

On the way back to the car we stopped at the A. Schwab general store.  Quite an interesting old place with lots of stuff, but nothing we could not live without.  Check out the toilet seats in the window display.  Too bad, we just bought a new one in Colorado.

Back at the RV Park.  Lots of time left in the day.  

We walked off a few calories on the campground trails behind Tom Sawyer's Treehouse.  The dogs were grateful for the hour-long hike.  The rest of the day was spent  watching and photographing the endless parade of barges on the river.  We took too many pictures.  Here are just a few.  

Two barges passing in front of us

Notice the Memphis Bridge and Pyramid above the tree line.

Turbulent wake from the tug boat

Barges at dusk...

Barges at night...

The barges run up and down the river all night long.  

After our full day yesterday, we woke up to cloudy skies and a full day of rain.  The first thing I noticed was that the river is not pink and purple.  It really is muddy brown.

BUT, this really is not too bad.  We can still watch the river traffic from our indoor recliners, and I have time to work on this post while I watch the Colts game that I taped.

The Colts still won, as the media reported.  

Tomorrow?  South to Jackson or Vicksburg, Mississippi.  It depends on how far I want to drive.

The pet picture of the day shows Dianne and the dogs on the hiking trail.

Natchez Trace - Day One

Hi all - Dianne here.  We left Summit Lake State Park a day early to enable us to drive down the Natchez Trace to New Orleans, rather than staying on the interstate highways.

 Sunday morning we left Summit Lake and traveled to just north of Nashville, Tennessee.    

Monday morning we set off down the Natchez Trace Parkway, which spans 440 miles, from just south of Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi.   We have our friends Harry and Bobbi to thank for encouraging us to take this route.   What a scenic, peaceful drive!  

 There was hardly ANY traffic, no stop lights, no semis, lovely scenery and short hikes.   I will let some of the photos speak for themselves.  

 A few of the highlights were the double-arch

 bridge,

 Merriwether 

(of Lewis & Clark fame) grave and monument, and best of all Jackson Falls.

  Roger has never met a rock in a creek he hasn't climbed on, and when he climbed on the rocks at the falls, he realized that the view we THOUGHT was the falls was only the lower section.   He quickly came back for the camera to photograph the upper section as it spilled like a water chute down to the lower falls.   Any man-made water feature could only dream of being as fabulous as this water fall.   It was a very steep, short hike to get to the falls, but well worth it.  

 We also stopped at several of the other turn-outs

 and took some photos of the interesting sites featured in each.  One of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was to take a short hike on a portion of the original Natchez Trace.  If you aren't familiar with what the Natchez Trace is, it is the route the "Kaintucks" and other pioneers from the fertile lands of the Ohio Valley would take after floating their crops down the rivers to Natchez.  Since the current was too strong to float back up north to their homes, they would dismantle the barges and sell the lumber, then set out for home on foot or horseback.  The Natchez Trace was the route taken by these pioneers for many years, and Indians and Buffalo before them.

After hiking for a while down the old trace portion, the surface turned from dirt and gravel to foot-tall grasses.  Roger suggested we turn back, but I wanted to push on, because I was really getting into the historical vibe of the old path.  (Roger made up one of his silly songs as I did this, the theme song from Daniel Boone as he substituted my name for Daniel's.)   

As usual, I should have listened to Roger and turned back, because once we were in the motorhome, we had to spend about 15 minutes pulling several ticks off the legs of  both dogs.  Since their fur is very light and short, it was easy to find all the little varmints and banish them back outdoors before they had a chance to dine on our dogs.

I must explain the little map photo.  When I was a young girl (probably 10 or younger), I cut this little map out of a small paperback book.  Every time I traveled to a new state I colored in that state with whatever I had with me at the time (usually just a ball point pen), usually as I crossed the state line.    

As you can see, this little almost-50-year-old scrap of paper was just missing three states prior to today, one of which was Mississippi.  I happily colored it in as we crossed into Mississippi on the Natchez Trace.  All that is left now is a trip to New England to take in Vermont and New Hampshire.  We have Maine taken care of from a day trip we took with Ambassadaire Travel Club several years ago, by plane.   I also need to make it to Alaska someday.  I don't even think Alaska was a state when I started coloring in this map!   Any 10-year-old kid who kept a map like this for almost 50 years was destined to full time in a motorhome in her golden years, don't you think?

We made it all the way to  Tupelo, Mississippi on day one.  Harry and Bobbi also recommended we stay at Trace State Park outside Tupelo.  Wow!!  What a beautiful place!  

 The last six photos are of the views from our camp site at Trace State Park. 

  It's a shame we are only here for one night. 

  We had a nice camp fire and called it a day.  

Check back soon for day two of our Natchez Trace adventure, our journey from Tupelo to Natchez and on into Louisiana.