Murray & Memphis

You know how the Internet will have these leader stories about "Ten best cities/beaches/states...etc"?  Well, a couple of years back I saw this article and it was Rand McNally's survey of "most friendly" and it had Murray, Kentucky listed.  I always have to look up on the map where these cities are located.  I saw that Murray was near Land Between the Lakes.  Having driven through the area many times (as I mentioned in yesterday's blog), I had the urge to explore more.  So our hotel was in Murray last night.  The front desk clerks, restaurant staff, donut shop staff were all friendly!  It was a nice town, but I don't want to move there.  If you know my wanderlust, you know that IS what I searching for....the next place to live!

From Murray, we drove to Memphis, Tennessee and found three barns within 100 yards of each other.  Bingo!  :)

What do you think of Memphis?  Elvis & Graceland, Peabody Hotel ducks, Martin Luther King's death place, Beale Street, Mississippi River....it's got a lot!  I had only been in Memphis before as my flight flew here and flew out.  I remember flying in seeing all the places with pools in the backyard.  

Today, we are downtown right across the street from the mighty Mississippi.  

Hubby did some research and found that on the site of ML King's death at the Lorraine Motel was a National Civil Rights Museum.  Sounded interesting and it was!  We have seen a lot of museums in our lives and on this trip and this one was amazing.  Please make sure to add this to your "things to do" list.  

The Lorraine Motel and replica caddies.  Wreath is hung on balcony right where ML King was shot and killed.

Inside the videos, displays were great.  Here is real bus from that era and a statue of Rosa Parks sitting where she "wasn't supposed to be sitting (in the white section of the bus).

Even better was the bus driver's expression and then they had an audio of him telling her...."You have to move, you can't sit there.  You're going to get arrested!"

Due to "no flash" I took another photo close-up of his face.

The Civil Rights activists were not just in the South.  St. Paul, Minnesota was the site of a protest in the Woolworth store where two blacks sat at the fountain counter reserved for whites only.  They picked St. Paul to pressure Woolworth into changing their policies and practices.  Here's another display of the counter with life-size statues.

Here's a example of propaganda put out to encourage blacks to travel with a particular company -  "Vacation & Recreation Without Humiliation."  

Remember reading about the 1963 March on Washington, where ML King made his famous "I have a dream..." speech?  While we were reading this display.....

.....hubby says, "My dad was at that march."  Really?  I don't recall hearing that story before.  Hubby's father was a staunch Democrat and a strong supporter of the Democratic Party on Long Island, New York.  
Here they have a full-size tanker truck signifying the sanitation strike in Memphis which brought ML King to town in April, 1968.  On the tank, they are showing a video...so many different ways the museum got you to look and listen. 

The museum was not just dedicated to ML King, but soooo many people that fought for civil rights for all people.  It was jam packed with information.   You turn the corner and come upon another display and another....but this really freaked me out.  

This is the balcony that ML King walked out onto his death.  There is glass so you can't walk out.  If you look to the right of the sliding doors frame in right of photo....the second story of that building has two large windows and a smaller window.  That smaller window is where James Earl Ray placed his gun to kill ML King.  In that building is more of this museum and they have the bath room still the same and blocked off from access.  

Great museum!

Then it was on to Graceland....the other King of Memphis.   I had no desire to tour the place, but I wanted to get a picture.  "Someone" has planted all types of trees in the front yard, so all I could get was this fleeting image of the house...not even sure if it's THE place.  

Checked into our hotel and went to the Mud Island River Park and Museum across the street.  This museum told a lot of history of the river and the riverboats, etc.  Here's the riverboat captain's "office."

Outside they have the Mississippi River running through five acres of the park showing all the twists and turns during its course from the Lake in Minnesota to Gulf of Mexico delta.  

Right now, hubby is resting-his-eyes...guess in preparation for exploring Beale Street tonight with their blues clubs and restaurants.

Did we see the Peabody ducks make their walk?  No.  Hubby vetoed it and since I vetoed Mammouth Cave yesterday.... we're OK!