After spending four weeks at what we think of paradise at Grayton Beach State Park on the Florida Panhandle, we began a very indirect and long drive home to Denver via stops in Memphis, Tulsa, the Grand Canyon and some of the spectacular national parks in Utah. Our first stop was two nights in Memphis, a city we hadn't been to for a good ten years or so. Then we toured some of the engrossing historical sights including the National Civil Rights Museum at the former Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King's 1968 assassination. We'd also played tourist at Graceland of course!
This time, we headed to Shelby Farms Park, a 4,500 acre park with more than 40 miles of trails and dozens of lakes. The largest ground silo in North America was located here in what has become the park - it was so immense that trucks and tractors drove straight through it easily. If you have a chance, I recommend you spend time at the huge park that has something for everyone!
I wonder if the tree fell naturally or how it came to be leaning in the water.
She 'read' the quilts in the first line from left to right: The Monkey Wrench turns the Wagon Wheel toward Canada on a Bear's Paw to the Crossroads! The first quilt on the second line was a Log's Cabin because the slaves were to build that once they'd arrived at the crossroads. Don't forget to click on the photo to see it in greater detail.
The guide spoke so eloquently about the tremendous hardships the slaves encountered when they were brought to ports in Ghana and other West African countries before being transported like this in ships as part of the Trans Atlantic slave trade. Steven and I had already been very tentatively planning a trip to several countries in Africa in 2021 but, as a result of our visit to the underground railroad museum, we hope also to visit the Door of No Return in Elmina, Ghana, which was where the slaves had their last glimpse of Africa.
This time, we headed to Shelby Farms Park, a 4,500 acre park with more than 40 miles of trails and dozens of lakes. The largest ground silo in North America was located here in what has become the park - it was so immense that trucks and tractors drove straight through it easily. If you have a chance, I recommend you spend time at the huge park that has something for everyone!
We've seen lots of bamboo forests in Asia but we sure never expected to see such a large grove of bamboo trees in Memphis!
The park had a really exciting looking ropes course called Go Ape! We only saw, though, a couple of people on one of the two zip lines traversing the lake and none on the much higher elements.
Ouch - sure glad we didn't step on these inadvertently!
Shelby Farms Park has a rich history as the former site of the county's Penal Farm. To control wind erosion, inmates planted pine trees around what is now called Pine Lake. I wonder if the prisoners ever lived long enough to appreciate the beautiful pine forest they helped create.
We've hiked on a lot of trails in a lot of places all over the world but don't remember spotting these knobbly trip hazards before. I can't remember if they were rocks or tree roots.
We didn't realize the trail around the lake was also an equestrian one until we eyed this marker!
On the far side of the lake was far more of the treetop adventure course! It looked pretty darn exciting, don't you think?
Steven with his 'pal' in the Visitors' Center!
We couldn't return to Memphis without again strolling down Beale St., known as The Home of the Blues. Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters and B.B. King introduced the world to the Memphis blues.
This place on the corner had been B.B. King's hangout.
To my delight, Beale St. was chock a block full of BBQ restaurants on every block. We were hungry, I especially love BBQ so we looked at all the menus. I just happened to take a photo of this joint across the street - wouldn't you know it that we ended up eating there after looking at about a dozen other places! My pulled pork and fries were scrumptious and far better than any BBQ we've eaten locally.
Kitschy souvenirs, voodoo potions and vintage clothes were all the rage at A. Schwab Dry Goods Store that had been in operation at the same location since 1876. I am so lucky that Steven actually really enjoys window shopping and popping in and out of old time stores as we were both in our element.
Signs in the sidewalk honored some of the country's great musicians.
During the Jim Crow segregation era, African Americans could only sit in the front rows for movies at their own theaters. The 1911 Daisy Theater on Beale St. was one of the small movie houses that catered to African Americans; it hosted the 1929 red carpet premiere of St. Louis Blues.
Look carefully at the lamppost!
Steven standing by Jerry Lee Lewis's plaque:
The one and only Elvis had his own monument a block away because he'd recorded many songs at Sun Records on Beale St.
After a very satisfying lunch we made our way to the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum which opened in 1994 on the Burkle Estate. Jacob Burkle, a German immigrant, was among those in the antislavery movement who risked their lives and reputations by harboring escaping African slaves as they made their way to the North and freedom.
The modest home, located near the banks of the Mississippi River, provided refuge for runaway slaves on their desperate and dangerous flight from the oppression of the South.
The museum's captivating guide brought the era's history alive through her riveting tales of how the slaves communicated directions through signs and very specific quilt designs that slave masters were unaware of.
She 'read' the quilts in the first line from left to right: The Monkey Wrench turns the Wagon Wheel toward Canada on a Bear's Paw to the Crossroads! The first quilt on the second line was a Log's Cabin because the slaves were to build that once they'd arrived at the crossroads. Don't forget to click on the photo to see it in greater detail.
One of the rooms was full of New World instruments built by slaves from 1687 to the mid 1800s.
Although the Dixon Gardens would soon close, we raced over on the off chance we could still enter its highly regarded museum. We really appreciated that the admission fees were waived as we wouldn't have much time to explore the museum.
The William and Elizabeth Paxton Gallery had some very striking paintings.
Isn't this Fluted Dress absolutely marvelous that Karen Lamonte created after learning a glass-blowing techniques while on a Fulbright Scholarship in the Czech Republic? Although she has experimented with various subject matter including clouds, marionettes and mirrors, "much of Lamonte's work has revolved on her interest in using clothing as a metaphor for identity and human presence."
Steven fell in love with this room, with its supremely comfortable chairs and lovely paintings by artists such as Pissarro, one of the elder statesmen of French Impressionism, Corot and Monet, respectively below.
Other rooms had paintings by Gaugin and Cezanne respectively.
In the former home's dining room, Steven was struck by Chagall's paintings.
I can't remember the last time we'd ever been in a 'museum' that didn't feel like one at all. Except for a few of the galleries, it just felt like we'd been invited in someone's drop-dead gorgeous home with first-rate art on the walls to wander around wherever we wanted with no guards or visible security. What a novelty!
An exquisite ivory piece:
Because we were in such a rush when we entered Dixon Gardens, we hadn't taken the time to admire The Three Shades by Rodin just outside the entrance.
Though we'd ostensibly come to the Dixon Gardens for its gardens, we'd been delighted with its marvelous museum that any city would be proud to lay claim to. We have just one Little Free Library in our neighborhood and have only come across a handful in our travels, so it was neat seeing the one as we walked toward the gardens.
The statue of the Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres, was the centerpiece of one of the gardens.
The Terrace Walk was a lovely escape from the sultry summer weather in Memphis.
We couldn't help but smile when we came across the brightly colored Smooth Egg and Bow by Jeff Koons, one of the icons of American contemporary art who first emerged on the New York art scene in the early 1980s. As part of his 1994-2014 Celebration series, Koons conceived a series of works inspired by everyday American celebrations. I read that "The idea of an Easter egg, reimagined on a massive scale with industrial materials referred to religious celebrations, fertility and, through its reflective surface, allowed viewers to look at their current selves while contemplating childhood memories."
The sights we'd seen in Mobile while on our three-day hiatus from the beach hadn't wowed us at all. By contrast, I felt we just touched the surface of what an interesting city Memphis is even though we'd been there a long time before. I could easily see our returning to Memphis in a couple of years as there was so much more to explore, including more of its Heritage Trail. I hope I have piqued your interest, too, just in case you also have an opportunity to meander through Memphis!
Next post: Playing tourists in Tulsa, Oklahoma!
Posted on August 19th, 2019, on the record-setting hottest day here in Denver.
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