07 Dec I Have a Dream
Leaving Florida, our next destination was Tennessee. We had been to Nashville several years back and are excited to get back. But before we could get there, we needed (and wanted) to stop in Alabama. After about 5 or 6 hours on the road (including all the stops these aging souls need to make) we have about hit our limit for the day. What’s great about that is that we can. For this moment in time for us, there isn’t an urgency to get back to a job, a house, an aging parent. So we can take our time. The only negative I see here is that between the two of us we have a lot of watches, some of them really cool. These said watches haven’t been finding their place very much on our wrists. Kinda feel bad about that. Okay not really 🙂
View from Christopher Robin at Praire Creek Campground
Dave has been quite the sleuth in finding really great campgrounds. Here in Alabama was no exception. A wonderful Army Corp of Engineers place called Praire Creek Campground in Lowndesboro, AL. Place was just so beautiful. After checking in and finding our first assigned site, we quickly found the camp host to see if we could move over. Nuts were hitting Christopher Robin yet again. Remember Beaufort NC. Dave tells the camp host, “We’d like to move sites as the chestnuts are falling like crazy at this site”. Camp host’s response to Dave “Boy….those are hickory nuts…”. We are excited to continue to learn as we travel. Now we know. Two sites over, the “hickory nuts” were not as aggressive and we settled in for a wonderful display of nature on our waterfront site. The egrets and herons flying over and floating in the Alabama River was so beautifully peaceful. Ahhh.
Morning spot for coffee
View never gets old
One of the shared experiences we both desire is to enjoy local, non chain, authentic food from wherever we may be. Montgomery Alabama didn’t disappoint. Literally fell upon this sweet spot called The Stockyard Grill. It is an actual stockyard, that auctions cattle, and makes some amazing prime rib for cray low prices. Weird combo for this Jersey girl, but just right in Alabama.
Honestly was sad to leave here. Watching birds fly over water beats watching the morning news any day in my book. So off we drove down the Selma to Montgomery Highway. Talk about history. If you’d like to read what I shared with Dave as we drove and talked about Martin Luther King, click here.
This was a longer day of travel for us. Moments of comic relief are always a welcome distraction. As I’m standing at the sink in the ladies room of yet another rest area, a woman comes out of the stall, stands in front of the mirror, looks at herself and says “Why? All I’m doing is sitting in a car” We both had a good laugh on that one.
What makes our next stop so interesting is that T.O. Fuller State Park in Memphis Tennessee, was the first state park open for African Americans east of the Mississippi River built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1938 in honor of Thomas Fuller, a prominent African American educator, pastor, civic leader and author. Sadly, immediately surrounding this beautiful place is a lot of obvious poverty. Really gives you pause to see how so many people life here in our country.
On our twenty-sixth day of travel (wow, still blows me away) we head out early to explore Memphis.
We arrived just in time to witness a famous daily event at the Peabody Hotel. As guests and just curious people like us gather around a fountain in the lobby of this regal hotel, a bellman escorts the ducks down from the “penthouse” of the hotel to the fountain every day at 11:00 am. There they stay being fed, doing lots of laps, having lots of photo ops, till at 5:00 pm when they are marched backup to the roof. The Peabody Duck March is internationally known. Until this day, I had never heard of this. But I am a fan and took a few photos myself.
Feathered friends taking laps around the Peabody Hotel fountain
Peabody Hotel
There is so much to do and see in this city. We made the most of our time here for sure. Beale street with so many blues bars and restaurants to pop in and out of (and yes you can walk around with your cocktail as you stroll, win for Dave!).
Gibson Guitar Factory
Blues Hall of Fame
Tours of the Gibson Guitar factory and the Blues Hall of Fame. Spent time at the Lorraine Motel, which is where MLK was assassinated and is now a museum honoring this great man. Profound. Then there is more food. BBQ! Central BBQ, a pretty well known place and The Bar-B-Q Shop, a treat that someone shared as a locals favorite. Amazing BBQ. Who knew BBQ Bologna was a thing?
MLK museum
Day two in Memphis finds us at Sun Studios to tour where Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johny Cash, and Carl Perkins became known as the The Million Dollar Quartet. Loved this tour!
Sun Studio Memphis TN
Sharing the mic with Elvis! Yup really
Lunch for “I can’t find the right words to describe how good this Spicy Fried Chicken and Chess Pie are” at Gus’s was well worth the wait.
Time to get my 10 year old back to the camper for our nice long drive to Kentucky. For a smile to end this post, 🙂 click here to watch Dave.
For Us, It’s Not Abad Day 🙂