Friday, May 9

65 degrees at 8 AM.   Had a hard rain last night and today is overcast but dry.  We decided to drive to the river this morning before leaving the park.  Very narrow road and lush vegetation  of trees, vines and ground coverings – almost jungle-like!  Saw several big deer, squirrels, chipmunks,  geese, a hummingbird and other birds.  Very uninhabited, natural area.  There was a boat launch at the river which was made of  rectangular pieces of concrete linked together.  They use this sometimes on the river banks to prevent erosion.

Came back through the park and stopped at the Shelby Forest General Store.  There were quite a few folks holding court on the front porch, friendly group.  We went inside and ordered breakfast – a ham biscuit, a fried egg sandwich, hashbrowns, coffee and orange juice (plus I picked up a real Moon Pie) – all for less than $8.50.  Note: they put mayonnaise on their egg sandwiches.

Love the decor!

Justin Timberlake is from a nearby town and apparently mentioned the cheeseburgers at this place which gave it a real shot in the arm, but we're too early for cheeseburgers. They have live music sometimes and Fridays are steak nights.   They have some general groceries, bait, lots of drinks, lots of disc golf discs (there is a course at the park),  pictures of local hunters and fishermen with their catches (one had a 92-lb catfish!) and, of course, the grill.  Opened in 1934.

We headed back to Memphis and parked at the Welcome Center on Riverside Drive again.  Looks like rain, so Greg carried an umbrella (which guaranteed we had no more rain) and we hopped on the trolley.  Travelled along the riverfront which has several nice parks, and then turned downtown.  We got off at Beale Street and wandered  a few blocks. 

Tons of neon signs which must look great at night.  Stopped in Schwann’s, a very old department store which has kept the look and items like hats, ice cream, toys, some clothing and all sorts of tshirts and tourist stuff.  Neat old building. BB King, Jerry Lee Lewis and others have clubs here. William Handy's home is now a museum.

Looked in a “everything musical” shop that featured musical toilet seats in the window (music themed, not ones that played music) Need one of these, Brett & Dave? Lots of restaurants and clubs many of which were receiving deliveries for the day.  There are musical notes on the sidewalks that feature names of musicians who’’ve played here – Otis Redding, BB King and a host of people we didn’t know.

From here we walked to the National Civil Rights Museum, which is located in the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. It is set up as a timeline which you walk through, beginning with the slave trade. It goes through slavery, sharecropping, the civil war and emancipation, reconstruction, jim crow laws,  lynching,  growing unrest, race riots,  Rosa Parks and other  civil rights spokesmen, voting rights, the march on Washington and other protests and marches and the ensuing battles with desegregation in schools.  An incredible amount of history which pauses at the assassination of MLK, but then continues.

early sit in at Woolworth's

Wreath marks the balcony where MLK was killed. Room 306.

As I overheard a guide telling a group of black middle school kids, this is not just black history, this is American History. and it is pretty grim.

There is another building,  from which the shot was fired, and this talks about the assassination , the investigation and arrest of James Earl Ray and assorted theories of  conspiracies, partners, etc.  Yet another building has a display of 20 women who made a difference in civil rights. 

A somber feeling, looking at so much ugliness and hate,  but hope too and progress, as shown by the election of President Barak O’bama..

After this, we went back to the trolley stop.

Inside the trolley

  We asked two gentlemen who were sitting nearby having coffee where they would recommend going for good barbq.  They suggested a place called Rendezvous, so we hopped back on the trolley and went to Union street and then walked the few blocks to this well established restaurant.   We  decided to share a whole rack of ribs and they were quite tasty, with a generous rub and then sauces on the table.  We enjoyed them, but prefer Texas mesquite barbeque – a matter of what you’re used to, I’m sure.

Scratch 'n sniff of the day:  No contest!  The wonderful smell of barbq when we walked in the door at Rendezvous!

We got the trolley again and went back to the Visitor’s Center to regroup.  Called Mom and Brett, Gwynne and Dave were there.  Talked with the folks at the Visitor’s center again  and then decided to stay at a Walmart tonight, across the river in Arkansas.  Greg bought a deli chicken and some cole slaw for dinner and we’ll save some chicken for another meal later…. 

Saturday, May 10

Woke fairly early, did a little catch up with reading and email, had cereal and bananas for breakfast and then headed back into Tennessee and north.  Passed the Menamee-Shelby Park and wound around some small roads to Fort Pillow State Park on the Mississippi.

This was a key defense position for the Confederates during the Civil War, protecting Memphis and the river.  Built in 1862, it was lost to the Union in 1864, then re-taken by the Confederates in what is sometimes dubbed the Fort Pillow Massacre. 

 

Still controversy, but basically

the Union troops were ½ white solders and ½ newly formed black units.  The Confederates overwhelmed the mostly untested Union forces and demanded surrender.  The Union officers refused and in the ensuing battle 2/3 of the black forces were killed along with some of the whites.  Some say the killing continued even after they asked to surrender and cited animosity toward the blacks, some of whom were southerners who had found freedom in the north - "local Yankees".  Grant had recently refused to exchange prisoners, which till then had been happening regularly in the early going, because the South often refused to treat blacks as prisoners of war, rather treating them as slaves. 

We watched a film about the fort and then drove some back roads to get to a trail to some rebuilt fortifications.

Union cannon looking outward. They were ineffective because of the hilly terrain and overwhelming number of Confederates.

 This whole trip we have seen nothing but flat land, until today.  The land where  Fort Pillow is located is very hilly,  and  lots of earthen fortifications added to the hills.  The Fort overlooked the Mississippi, but since then the river has changed course about a mile to the east, leaving Pillow Lake and some other bodies of water where the river used to be.  We have found this often the case, so there are many sizable lakes near the Mississippi.

From here, we wondered some small roads back into flat farmland and headed north again,  with a stop in Dyersville for a picnic lunch at their town square which has a Confederate Memorial and a neat courthouse from the early 1900's.

Near Tiptonville, we stopped at the boyhood home of Carl Perkins (of Blue Suede Shoes fame). 

 Next stop, Reelfoot Lake State Park.  Reelfoot Lake was formed in 1811-1812 by massive earthquakes, estimated at 8.5.

We decided to do a pontoon boat ride on the lake, offered by the park service.

Lots of Bald Cypress trees were in this area before the earthquakes, so the lake is littered with stumps and difficult to navigate.  It is a shallow lake, fed only by rainfall.  There were many fishermen and the size limit for bass was 15"! We saw herons, egrets, a beautiful yellow warbler, pelicans and more.  Also, this snake and tons of turtles.  If there was a log or post above water, most often there were one or more turtles (as many as would fit).

This osprey didn't like us getting too close to her nest.

This is called a yo-yo and is the lazy man's way to fish.  Lines are baited and hung and when something gets on the line it reels it up.  Then the fisherman collect their catch (usually catfish).

We looked at injured birds of prey that the park is rehabilitating, as well as their collection of snakes.  Checked out a nearby eagle’s nest which supposedly has eggs with mom and dad taking care,  but no one seemed to be home.  We went to the campground which was kind of buggy (mostly annoying gnats) and also very busy and decided to try another campground in the northern part of the park that had a total of 2 other campers and was practically bug-free yeah! 

It was next to a small airport but otherwise pretty quiet and isolated.  Nice bath house.

Greg cooked burgers on the grill for dinner tonight.  With carrots and ranch bens.  Yum.

Scratch 'n' Sniff of the day:  The rich, earthy smell of all those plants and water.