A little less conversation, a little more action please.
National Park Road Trip – Days 48 – 52 – Little Rock – Memphis – Jackson
I have traveled to very few places in the South, and as a result, haven’t seen much of where the Civil Rights Movement actually occurred. History books let you read about it, but actually SEEING them with your own eyes is a whole different experience all together. I think this is part of the reason I wasn’t much of a history buff in school. I would much rather see things in person than read about them in a book. To see things completes the story for me and makes the message more powerful. While planning this trip I had a long list of places (nowhere near National Parks) that I wanted to see in person. This will now be referred to as “The List”. Some of them happen to be National Monuments, but some of them are not.
On “The List” was Little Rock Central High School. The Brown v. Board of Education ruling made segregation in schools unconstitutional across the nation. After the ruling, the NAACP started registering black students in schools across the South, including Little Rock Central High School. Then Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, did not agree with desegregation and called in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the “Little Rock Nine” from attending school. The mayor of Little Rock asked for federal assistance from President Eisenhower who intervened by calling the US Army to federalize the Arkansas National Guard and escort the students into school. Although a win for the students and for the Civil Rights Movement, the Little Rock Nine were subjected to verbal and physical assaults during the entire school year. A domino effect of legislation, special referendums, votes, etc. occurred after the Governor’s continued support for segregation forced the closure of all four public high schools in Little Rock, preventing both black and white students to attend. He attempted to open the schools as private facilities, but was denied, eventually losing favor due to his stand against desegregation. Needless to say, to see this National Monument in person, knowing all that happened on the soil and in the hallowed halls, was moving. A must stop for those traveling through Little Rock.
We traveled from Little Rock to Memphis so I could go to 2 other places I had on “The List”. The first was the National Civil Rights Museum and the second is Graceland, or Grrrace-lund, as the people of Memphis refer to it as. G spent a great deal of time in Memphis for work just after we moved to Portland. I had always wanted to visit these two spots when he was there, but the timing wasn’t right or the weather wasn’t right so I never ended up going. G doesn’t have a whole lot of love for Memphis so this was my one opportunity to see the sites.
Freeway sign in Tennessee!
The National Civil Rights Museum is located at the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. The museum itself is amazing, and although sad, the setting couldn’t be better. The exhibits are thought provoking, tactile, visual, colorful, and educational. There is SO MUCH information, in fact, that you could easily spend all day here, and possibly even more than one, if you read every single board and watch every single news piece. And you would be enthralled, trust me. It’s that good.
The entire museum leads you up ever so slightly, so slight that you don’t even notice it, until you get to the last few rooms and realize you’ve climbed an entire flight of stairs. Near the end there is a huge room that shows Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech on the March on Washington. Tears rolled down my cheeks while watching this speech in its entirety. No matter how many times you see or hear this, it’s never enough.
One of the very last exhibits you see is the black sanitary public works employees strike. While viewing this exhibit, you can hear in the background (and then see) the very last speech Martin Luther King delivered in Memphis, titled “I’ve been to the Mountaintop”. While the speech is looming in the air, you round a corner and view the room and the balcony where he spent his last moments before being shot by James Earl Ray. A solemn tribute to an outstanding force of nature who helped shape the history and future of our country for the better, because he believed in change.
Not to get political here, but I participated in the Women’s March in my hometown, and someone I know called what I did, “lowbrow”. Lowbrow. LOWBROW! Makes me so angry every time I think of what that person said. People have marched for what they believe in since the beginning of time. And those people infected change. Real. Change. Perhaps more people need to brush up on their history at the National Civil Rights Museum so they can see what people do when they want to see change in the world around them.
After taking a spin around downtown Memphis, we headed over to Graceland RV Resort. It’s located directly next to the Graceland complex so we got to do the tour as soon as we got the trailer settled. What a difference from our two earlier stops! I’m not an Elvis fan, so most of the stuff they have on display (cars, planes, etc.) does not interest me. However, I love seeing historic or iconic homes preserved in time. It’s funny, the home was a lot smaller than I had envisioned, though the property itself is huge. The rooms lived up to their reputation as loud and showy, but I was prepared for much worse. The grounds are beautiful and the audio tour really helped to tell the story of Graceland and those that lived and visited there. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear that Lisa Marie Presley still uses the home, on occasion, and recently had Thanksgiving Dinner there with her family.
After the tour, we walked back down Heartbreak Lane, took a left at Love Me Tender Boulevard and left again at Jail House Rock Road to get back to our camp site. We got back just in time to catch our dogs red handed in the middle of devouring an entire loaf of bread. I think they were taking a page out of Elvis’s book and trying to make themselves Peanut Butter, Banana, and Bacon Sandwiches. We cleaned up that mess, got all the food into our tow vehicle, and enjoyed a glass of wine before being whisked away via pink limo over to Marlowe’s. The service is free and they pick you up right at your site. We met some of G’s work buddies there for dinner, and while the food wasn’t anything to tell you about, we thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with some familiar faces.
Guilty doggies.
Marlowe's pink limo.
The following day, we made our way to New Orleans, making a stop in Jackson because it was another thing on “The List”. We stopped at Pig and Pint in the Fondren area of Jackson. Fondren is a cute little area that, dare I say, reminded me a bit of our neighborhood in Portland. There are a lot of restaurants, cute shops, and historic homes and buildings. The Pig and Pint opened in 2014 in a building that at one time or another used to be a gas station, laundry mat, and also a farmer’s market. We walked up and saw a huge tour bus and all the tables packed. We were a little worried, but forged ahead. Huge tour busses aren’t really our thing, but we only waited about 60 seconds before getting our order in. I was so flustered that it took so little time that I didn’t really look at the menu thoroughly. We ordered a mixed taco plate, the pork belly corndogs, and two beers. Looking back, I am so annoyed with myself that we didn’t order their award winning ribs, but I loved Jackson so much that it’s giving me a reason to go back and visit one of these days. Everything was fantastic, the service was even better, and the doggies were allowed outside. A+ for Pig and Pint!
Close up of those awesome pork belly corn dogs.
We capped off our delicious meal by walking over to Brent’s Soda Fountain for two milkshakes, thanks to a recommendation from G’s work friend. While G went inside for our shakes, I waited outside with the dogs. I felt like I met everyone in the neighborhood, including the postman, as they parked in the parking lot, stopped at Brent’s, or went to grab something at the grocery store. They asked me about my dogs, where we were from, said hello with a warm smile, and had nothing but kind words for a stranger. A simple reminder of what the world should be like; friendly, inviting, accepting, open. Oh, and also serve baller milkshakes and bbq.
Brent's Soda Fountain
