Civil Rights, Beale Street, Ducks, and The Big Muddy - Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination at the Lorraine Motel. When we arrived today to tour the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, a stage was being set up in front of the motel, maybe for a commemoration tomorrow? We did not see an indication of what the event might be.

National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel.

The wreath indicates where Martin Luther King, Jr.
was standing when he was assassinated

After we traded our vouchers for tickets, we headed into the first set of exhibits before the movie. There was so much to read and absorb that we waited for two more cycles of people going into the movie before we finally went in.

The first exhibit hall details how and from where people were abducted to be sold into slavery. Most African Americans originally came from West Africa where they were scholars, mathematicians, craftspeople, architects, hunters, and farmers. Their empires grew rich trading gold, ivory, iron, and slaves.

In the 1400s, European explorers began arriving in West Africa. They joined the trade in slaves. European demand for slaves exploded after they colonized the Americas. Africans, with their agricultural skills and tolerance for tropical climates, became a prized commodity. Europeans were known to start conflicts between African rulers knowing that the victors in those battles would sell the prisoners of war into slavery.

This new type of war was solely for the purpose of selling people into bondage on the other side of the world where they would labor, without any rights, until they died. By 1820, nearly four Africans crossed the Atlantic for every European. It was a global system that brought Africans to the New World by the millions.

This is a staggering statistic!

Next, we were ushered into a large movie theater to watch the story of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. He went to Memphis after two sanitation truck workers were crushed to death in their truck. He wanted to help striking sanitation workers and, in the process, call attention to the greater injustice of the denial of human rights.

The museum is divided into chronological sections:

A culture of resistance: slavery in America 1619-1861.

The year they walked: Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-1956.

Exhibits on the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Standing up by sitting down: student sit-ins 1960.

Non-violent protests: iunch counter sit-ins.

Say it loud: black pride 1966-1975.

Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated non-violence. Black protestors were given classes in non-violent protest. Freedom Riders were activist volunteers who rode interstate buses throughout the South in 1961 to challenge the non-enforcement of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions ruling that segregated buses were unconstitutional. About 75% of the Freedom Riders were between 18-30 years old, 50% were black and a fourth of them were women.

It was May 14, 1961 (Mother's Day) that one of the famous bus attacks occurred. It was hard to read about the Freedom Riders and the ambush of the bus they were on in Anniston, Alabama. The bus tires were slashed which caused the bus to stop. A mob of about 50 attacked the bus with baseball bats, iron pipes, and brass knuckles, denting the sides of the bus and smashing the windows. The mob wanted the riders to get off the bus. They didn't. A man in the crowd decided to throw a bunch of burning rags through a broken bus window with most of the people still inside. Some managed to crawl out windows, others exited the front door, some needed to be pulled off the bus.  The bus was burning and soon the gas tanks exploded.

The Greyhound bus that was ambushed in
Anniston, Alabama.

A week later in Montgomery, Alabama, another bus was attacked by a mob of 300 at the Greyhound bus terminal. As soon as the riders stepped off the bus, white people came swarming at them carrying all kinds of weapons: baseball bats, wooden boards, chains, hoes, garden rakes, tire irons, and pipes. They beat the Freedom Riders, black and white alike. Many of the riders were college students, idealistic, non-violent, and willing to die to make the world a better place. Many others were beaten as well, including black bystanders, reporters, and Department of Justice official John Seigenthaler. The "chaos" continued for three hours.

There were also exhibits about other protests: "I Am A Man," and the "March on Washington (D.C.)." The March on Washington featured his famous "I Had a Dream" speech at the end of it. The "I Am A Man" march was in support of the sanitation workers in 1968.

We continued through the museum which eventually wends its way to the room of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr., was staying. We learn he was out on his balcony in the evening chatting with friends when the bullet hit him. He dropped to the ground and never said another word. This was a totally senseless killing. 

Room #306 where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
was staying before he was murdered.

Across the street from the Lorraine Motel is more of the museum. This section is dedicated to Dr. King's last days, how the shooting happened, the assassination trial, conspiracy theories about who killed him or had him killed, and the continuation of King's vision for a Poor People's Campaign.

The window from whence the fatal shot was fired.

Our day so far is very informative. Now we are going to do some exploration. We drove close to Beale Street and the Peabody Hotel, paid a parking meter for two hours, and took off on foot. First, we had to find lunch. There was an Aldo's Pizza Pies in downtown and it sounded good. We each had a slice of their Daily Special Pizza which ended up being very good. 

Beale Street was on our list, so we headed that direction. Beale Street was where the blues got their start with W. C. Handy. Here are some impressions of the Beale Street area.

Voted top ribs in Memphis.

I really wanted to see the beer-swilling goats at Silky O'Sullivan's bar, but according to a waiter PETA made them stop. We did not get to see the goats dive off the tower, either. I wonder if they only did that after swilling beer? LOL.

The diving tower.

One of the goats.

W. C. Handy was the Father of the Blues and there's a plaza dedicated to him on Beale Street. In the first photo below, you can sort of see the statue of W. C. Handy to the right of the guitar.

Guitar says, "All roads lead to Memphis."

I DO love Memphis!

Jerry Lee Lewis' restaurant.

Me showing how big the Beale Street gateway is.

Roof on the police station.

Memphis home of W. C. Handy.

From Beale Street, it was only a three block walk to the Peabody Hotel where I wanted to see the world-famous Peabody ducks do their walk from the fountain to the elevator. They take the elevator twice a day: once to come down from the roof and then at the end of the day to go back to their rooftop penthouse.

We learned that the Peabody ducks are wild ducks who spend three months at the hotel and they are released back into the wild and new ducks are brought in.

We were told to get there at least 35 minutes early. Since they were scheduled to go to the elevator at 5:00 p.m., we got there at 4:25 p.m. Seating in the bar to see the ducks was already full. I found a spot near the ducks' red-carpet walkway to the elevator.

The ducks in the lobby fountain.

The lovely lobby in the Peabody Hotel.

At 4:55, the Peabody Duckmaster announced that the ducks would be starting their "walk" shortly and he rolled out the red carpet. He named two girls honorary duckmasters and shortly thereafter the ducks climbed out of the fountain and walked to the elevator. I loved it. 

After the duck brigade parade, we went up to the Mezzanine and looked at the Peabody duck memorabilia in a small room. 

Elvis Presley history here.

The first Duckmaster.

Photo of the first Duckmaster.

Early on in the history of the Peabody Hotel, one of the chefs wanted to put duck on the menu. That was not to be!

No dead ducks at the Peabody.

Walking back to the truck, we passed a painted panther, an Elvis statue, and Lansky Brothers, "Clothier to the King."

Elvis sculpture.

While we had good weather, we wanted to do the two-mile roundtrip walk across the Mississippi River, AKA the Big Muddy, at the Big River Crossing. The walk was very enjoyable!

Big River Crossing Park

Entrance to biking/walking/jogging path over
the Mississippi River to West Memphis, Arkansas.

View of the Mississippi and downtown Memphis, TN.

Downtown Memphis, Tennessee.

We made it across to West Memphis, Arkansas.

We were supposed to camp at Tom Sawyer RV Park with a riverfront pull-through site where we could see the barges going by. It wasn't meant to be this trip because the Mississippi River flooded the campground. (It happens regularly.)

A train heading across the bridge.

And then a barge went under us.

We wrapped up our Memphis tour day with a visit to the top of the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid. Yes, we rode the free-standing elevator to the top to watch the sunset. We decided not to have dinner there. The views are worth the price of admission.

Downtown Memphis at sunset.

The Mighty Mississippi.

Steampunk fish hanging from the restaurant's
ceiling.

The Mississippi River Bridge lights up at night.

A beautiful sunset to cap off a pretty day.

Overlooking downtown Memphis and The Big Muddy.

It just keeps getting better!

Time to call it a day!

 A very busy day for us. We walked seven miles. It was a blast. Memphis has a lot to offer.

Graceland, Pink Palace, and the Pyramid, Part 2 - Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Continued from Part 1...

The Pink Palace Museum.

Upon entering the Pink Palace Museum, we received the promised free admission. Bob asked the lady at the front desk if there was a certain order in which we should see the museum. She told us not to miss the "Clyde Park Circus" show at 2:00 p.m. (the last show of the day). We had an hour to check out part of the museum while we waited. 

"The Pink Palace," as this estate is now known, has a rather unique history. In 1916, Charles Saunders created a self-service grocery store. Unlike country stores where you gave your order to a clerk who then pulled items off the shelf, at Mr. Saunders store you entered through a turnstile and wound your way through the aisles, choosing your own items. You then paid cash and carried your groceries out through the exit turnstile. He called the store Piggly Wiggly. It was the inspiration for modern-day supermarkets. In addition to his own stores, he issued franchises to hundreds of grocery retailers so they could operate their own Piggly Wiggly stores. 

He was doing very well and designed his own home. The construction on the home began in 1922. A man ahead of his time, his dream home would be self-sustaining with its own ice factory, electrical generators, a man-made lake with artificial waves, a private golf course, bowling alley, billiard room, indoor shooting gallery, and an indoor swimming pool. In addition, upstairs would be a combination of ballroom and movie theater. The exterior would be pink Georgia marble. He referred to his planned estate as the "showplace of the south."

As we all know, things don't always go according to plan. In November 1922, "Saunders announced a new issue of Piggly Wiggly stock on the New York Stock Exchange. On the same day, a New York state Piggly Wiggly franchise failed." All hell broke loose. 

"Wall Street speculators saw this failure as a chance to make money on a falling stock. They planned a maneuver known as a bear raid. Owned shares of stock are like cash in a bank. They can be loaned and traded by brokers like money in a savings account. In a bear raid, investors borrow shares of stock and sell them at the highest price possible. When the stock price falls, the short-seller buys back the same number of shares for less than they were sold. The raider then returns the shares to the lender and keeps the difference in price as a profit. However, when the lender calls for the stock to be returned, the short-seller must do so by the next afternoon regardless of the current price of the stock. Bear raids cause the cost of a stock to fall in the short run, but healthy companies generally rebound."

"When Saunders learned about the bear raid, he felt that the short-sellers were insulting him, his company, Memphis and the South. In retaliation, he tried to beat the raiders by cornering his own stock." 

Long story short, "Saunders borrowed millions of dollars, secretly drained Piggly Wiggly's resources and used his personal fortune to purchase stocks for the corner. Wall Street financiers warned him to stop, but Saunders succeeded in his corner. On March 20, 1923, he called for delivery of outstanding shares, trapping the bear raiders because he owned most of the shares they had borrowed. 

"The NYSE suspended trading on Piggly Wiggly stock and changed the rules giving the short-sellers five extra days to return the stock. The next day, Piggly Wiggly was permanently stricken from the NYSE. The extra days gave the raiders time to find every available share of stock and pay back Saunders. The broken corner left Saunders and Piggly Wiggly with all the stock and nowhere to sell it." 

Due to all of Saunders finagling and stock market gambling, in 1924 he went bankrupt and had to stop building his home. All that had been completed was the pink marble shell. 

"When developers bought the estate at auction, they planned to turn the land into an expensive and fashionable suburb. The palace came along with the lot. The new owners deeded the building to the City of Memphis in 1926, stipulating that it become...'a conservatory, art gallery, museum of art or natural history... used wholly and exclusively for public uses for the benefits of the Caucasian race.' The mansion opened to a segregated public in 1930 as a museum...In the 1960s, the museum finally opened its doors to everyone..." [NOTE: All text in quotes above came from historical signs in the Pink Palace.]

Exploring more rooms of the museum revealed lovely art pieces. Below, the piece of furniture is itself a work of art, and also contains other pieces of art inside of it.

Detailed close-up of the above piece of furniture.

Flashy fireplace surround/mantel.

In the upstairs lobby are "The Murals" by Burton Callicot. He titled the center panel, "The Coming of de Soto." The left panel is "Conflict with the Indians." On the right is "The Discovery of the Mississippi River."

"The Murals," by Burton Callicot.

We used up our hour and went to the display room for "Clyde Park Circus" for the 2:00 p.m. show. Clyde Park was eight the first time he went to a circus. As an adult, Park learned to carve wooden figures as a hobby. He created a three-ring circus under a 15' big top tent lit by tiny strings of working lights. He carved thousands of figures to go in it.

Three-ring circus.

The table that the circus sits on is 12' x 25'. 95% of the characters are animated using belts and pulleys fixed to a single 1/2 horsepower motor underneath the table. They put mirrors on the floor to let us see the underpinnings.

Mirrors on the floor to let people see
how it all works.

Midget, fan dancer, hula dancer.

Animal wagons.

The circus street parade makes a complete 60-foot circuit in three minutes. The scale of the circus is one inch to one foot. There are about 200 roustabouts, drivers, and performers. There are also roughly 40 horse-drawn wagons, 90 horses, and 45 menagerie animals. It's fun to see what all is in the tents and around the circus!

The Old Lady in the Shoe.

When the circus exhibit ended, we had a couple of hours to finish exploring the museum. We did it backward because we were on the second floor. The main exhibits started on the first floor with geology, dinosaurs, and then traveled forward in time. We were on the second floor so we saw dioramas, a log cabin, a history of transportation, health issues, and rooms decorated in period furniture.

True that.

Wedding dress, 1886.

Yellow Fever epidemics.

Confederate money.

The Wagonette, a forerunner of our bus systems.
See description below.

Public transportation.

The Gambler's Lady below is wearing an 1835, two-piece, sheer voile dress made out of cotton, "the white vegetable fleece." Cotton was denounced by the British flax trade because "its light weight would make women feel sensual." She is also wearing patterned cotton stockings which, in the 1830s, would be considered risque. Ladies were not supposed to show their legs or ankles.

The Gambler's Lady.

We made it downstairs to my favorite displays: rocks and geology. The artistic spheres below are beautiful!

Stone Spheres (see how they're made in the
description below.

Wavellite.

Azurite and malachite - from Arizona
(used to manufacture copper).

Pyrite (Fool's Gold) - from Spain
(used in manufacturing iron).

Selenite (fishtail) - from Mexico.

Quartz crystals -
from Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Very interesting what they found when
building a road bed from Corinth to
Tupelo, Mississippi  - fossils!

Fossils.

Lots of fossils!

A python skeleton which looks like art.

So, the Pink Palace Museum is well worth a visit. Allow at least three to four hours and make sure to see the Clyde Park Circus!

From the Pink Palace, we headed to the waterfront to get information from the Tennessee Visitor's Center. It's on the way to the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid. This place is a wealth of information!

Me and my friend, Elvis Presley.

Bob is hangin' with B.B. King.

Watch music to your heart's content.

Mosaic egg outside Visitor Center.

From the Visitor Center, we went to Bass Pro Shops' Pyramid. Wow! Check this out. It has a hotel in it, the world's tallest free-standing elevator, an observation area and restaurant at the top, 10 aquariums, a swamp, and Ducks Unlimited: Waterfowling Heritage Center.

Free-standing elevator.

The swamp, complete with real fish.

A spotted gar in one of the aquariums.

Interior of the pyramid.

Under-the-sea-themed bowling alley.

Bowling alley ball returns.

That concluded our day. All said we walked four miles today. Memphis continues to surprise us. We are discovering so much. 

That's plenty for one day. Thanks for sticking around to read this.