We arrived in the city of rhythm and blues in the rain.
The ride through a good chunk of Arkansas was pleasant and looked exactly like the foothills in rural NC. But just after the hills, our weather luck ran out and it started to rain – all the way to Memphis.
Most significantly, we arrived in time for the duck parade at The Peabody Hotel. A surprisingly large crowd was on hand at 5 PM to watch the five Mallard Ducks line-up and, to the music of John Phillip Souza, march (waddle) out of their lobby fountain, into the elevator and to their penthouse home for the night.
After the duck experience, we met-up with my good friend Paula from J-school, and headed over to nearby Beale Street for great conversation, drinks and dinner at Itta Bena, upstairs at BB King’s Blues Club.
When we emerged, the rain had stopped! So we took advantage of the break for a quick night tour á la Paula, including a Graceland drive-by. Paula had sent plenty of advance history info to prep us, and filled our heads with an explosive amount of Memphis history, politics and behind-the-scenes stories.
In the morning, we just had to see the ducks return to their fountain at 11 AM!
Then, on to more serious history, we visited the Lorraine Hotel, now the National Civil Rights Museum, and the site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. This marks the final stop of the memorial portion of our multi-week adventure.
After touring the Mississippi riverfront again (in daylight and with no rain), we headed over to the Little Tea Shop, a popular downtown spot. Established in 1918, the Little Tea Shop is on The National Register of Historic Places, and is the oldest continually operating restaurant in Memphis. Current owner Suhair serves up good food at reasonable prices and the daily crowds of locals prove it.
Alas, we said goodbye to both good friend Paula and Memphis and headed east for our last stop, Nashville.
Interesting Note:
Friend Paula Casey is spearheading the effort to document Tennessee’s significant role in women’s right to vote. A key state in the Suffrage movement, Tennessee cast the final vote needed to grant woman in the U.S. the right to vote – the 19th Amendment.
In late October, a major monument to these persistent Tennessee women will be placed in downtown Nashville. For more details and/or to support the cause, check out: www.tnsuffragemonument.org and www.theperfect36.com
If you like miniature golf, fudge, frozen custard or T-shirt shops, you will be very happy in Branson. And, if it’s raining, don’t worry, you can go to the indoor water park, outlet mall, wax museum or Titanic experience. Oh yeah, did I mention buffets?
There are shows. You can find something at 10 AM, 2 PM, or 8 PM; mostly country-style jamborees and tribute shows of pretty much any group you want. So, if you are into that kind of thing, it will be heaven. The big name performers are rarely here. The show schedule is a bit confusing to master, because not every show is every day or time and most do change seasonally.
We are really just passing through, but felt we had to try a show and see what it was like. We went to the Dick Clark Theater and saw the Legends show. Apparently, this is the same show (with rotating “stars”) at other Legends theaters; for example in Vegas. We saw “Brooks & Dunn”, “Adele”, the “Blues Brothers”, “Michael Jackson” and “Elvis.” It was very entertaining and nicely staged; I thought the best voice was the woman portraying Adele. Michael looked good and sure could dance, too bad he couldn’t sing.
Ten miles south of Branson is the Big Cedar Lodge and Top of the Rock Golf Course. This is definitely the place to stay if you are in this area (there is a 2-night minimum). A beautiful lake-front resort, it seems to have everything: fishing, golf, horses, a beautiful miniature golf course, and they don’t fence in their ducks. For our golfing friends, the Top of the Rock recently hosted the Senior PGA Tour and looks really beautiful.
In any case, we are headed towards Memphis and, for many reasons, I now know why Missouri is compatible with the SEC Conference.
Viva Las Vegas.
Big Cedar Lodge Facilities.
The Big Cedar Lodge is a Bass Pro Shop resort.
Main Public Library.
In short, let me say we loved Kansas City. Even in the rain. I could live here (except would probably have to leave in the winter).
I have only a few lousy photos. We had some rain and I didn’t even take my camera out much of the time. Since we knew it was going to rain, we decided to take the “Fun Trolley” tour of the city. At a short 75 minutes, it was a good orientation and provided us a lot of interesting and colorful background. It also meant we started our day at, you guessed it – Union Train Station.
Union Station.
The Station is a wonderful example of what can be done to rehabilitate an older facility and reinvent its purpose to include facilities for children, like the Planetarium and movie theaters. We watched trains from a special bridge they have added, and found the model train display tucked away at the end of the building.
The Station is a great example of how two states worked together to raise the funding to get the job done. This city is split between two states and several counties, and still manages to present itself in a seamlessly livable fashion. I’m sure there must be interesting political battles, but they sure seemed to have reached frequent consensus. If there is a split personality, we didn’t see it.
I certainly did not know it was the City of Fountains, and has more fountains than any other city outside of Rome. I loved the green spaces, and the way so many neighborhoods highlighted their entrances with landscaping and statues on the corners. Speaking of the neighborhoods, they are absolutely beautiful, and have a huge variety of home styles that exist in harmony.
There is a lot of interesting history here, more than I realized. History is celebrated and nurtured. The latest project expected to be completed later this year is to re-install the original street cars with service from Union Station to the Missouri River. I won’t bore everyone with more historical background, but let me just say there is an awful lot of cement poured in this city. The old airport has runways that are more than 30 feet deep-you can draw your own conclusions.
This is a livable, walkable city, filled with many green spaces and nice people, enough professional sport teams to root for, and terrific BBQ – what more could you want.
Out here in the middle of Nebraska, you really are at the crossroads of America. Many historic trails crossed through here: the Oregon and California Trails, where several hundred thousand pioneers traveled west; the Mormon Trail, marking the trek to Utah; and the Pony Express. And then, there are the trains . . .
We started the day with a visit to the Union Pacific Museum and Depot Display in the center of North Platte. It was great fun to get to climb up on the humongous black Challenger Steam locomotive with its 6’ high wheels, and the more colorful, sleek #6922 bright yellow and blue Union Pacific diesel locomotive. This site was the original location of the famous North Platte WW II Canteen. The women of North Platte operated the Canteen, throughout more than four years of the war, providing up to 5,000 soldiers a day a brief respite and slice of home with fresh coffee, homemade treats and lively conversation. All food, supplies and volunteer time were provided by the local women and residents of Nebraska. It’s no wonder the WW II museum in New Orleans prominently used a train car from North Platte in their entrance hall exhibit!
Sadly, the original depot was torn down in 1972, and the current depot was moved in from nearby Hershey.
Note Buffalo Bill’s “cage”
These are also the former stomping grounds of Buffalo Bill Cody, and the launching pad of his famous Wild West show. The trains are located in Cody Park. Oddly, the bronze statue of Buffalo Bill is surrounded by Plexiglas, and then encased in a metal cage . . . . Likewise, the park’s duck pond is fenced with a chain-link, barbed wire-topped fence. So you can sit on the benches lining the pond, and feed the ducks from the machine provided – through the fence. Or you can cozy-up to Buffalo Bill’s cage for a photo-op.
With that done, we got back on a rural road and followed a 137 car (+ two engine) coal train eastbound.
Next stop, historic Gothenburg to see the site of the original Pony Express outpost. Moved from nearby private land, the former fur trading post was used as a station for the full 18-month run of the Pony Express from 1860-61. The telegraph put the Pony Express out of business. The Pony Express is so much a part of our American history, I never realized it was so short-lived.
Then, we were back on our own trail through Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri to Kansas City. First stop, dinner at a gas station – the iconic and famous Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que.
Just a few of the BBQ sauces for sale at Joe’s Kansas City BBQ
