There's No Hope

We left EZ Daze RV park somewhat reluctantly this morning. The park is among the top five of any that we have stayed in this summer, with excellent amenities, wide roads, and generally an easy place to stay.  To say nothing of Jazzy's Coffee down the street! Wish we could be there Saturday night when the music starts.

Within a half hour we had left Mississippi, passed through Tennessee, and jumped into Arkansas on our way to Hope, AR, for the night. Two hundred and forty miles and three hundred and sixty dollars later, we were driving through the parking lot of the local Walmart.  The three hundred was for fuel since we hadn't filled up for a week and needed about ninety gallons. We had passed Little Rock, and changed Interstates there, and settled in on I30 for the afternoon.

The Hope Walmart is the smallest Super Wally I've ever seen. The parking lot is jammed with cars, and trucks (and rv's) are limited in where they can go.  In fact, the north entrance to the parking lot is guarded with iron bars across the road limiting vehicles to a 10' height. Oops! We gingerly drove around the back of the store, through the freight docks, and out the east side where we had noticed several trucks parked. Several indeed. Walmart had installed ten or a dozen angled parking spots for trucks, similar to those you see in a rest area, but they were only about twelve feet wide, and they were all filled with big rigs. So we got ourselves out of the parking lot and back on the interstate, heading west into the unknown…..

Thirty miles down the road we crossed the Texas State Line in the town of TexArkana! Well lo and behold, the wonderful people of Texas have chosen to build a magnificent Welcome Center just off the freeway, with great wide parking spaces and an air-conditioned building with all manner of information about the state. We went into the building and I knew we were ok when the first thing I heard was
"How Ya'll?". The nicest people greeted us and told us that we were allowed to stay in any Texas rest stop for 24 hours, and insisted that we park on a service road away from the truck lanes and partially protected from the freeway noise. An offer of a water hookup soon followed, along with the info that the restrooms were open 24 hours!

So here we are in Texarkana, two hundred and sixty four miles from yesterday, in a beautiful semi-private campground all to ourselves!!

Local law enforcement has cruised our area twice this evening, so we either have a sense of comfort that they're keeping an eye out for our safety, or that this is a heavy crime area, and they're waitin' for the perps to pop out.  Not sure which way to go on that one…..

The CBS affiliant here is out of Shreveport, LA, and claims to service the entire Arklatex region.  I don't know just how far south of here Shreveport is, but they have been updating us on weather all evening. Some clouds rolled in just before sunset.

And the news is talking about a series of T-storms rolling through after midnight, with a possibility of two inches of rain by morning.  Here we go again…..

A big Thank You to the great state of Texas for the great rest stop, and the friendly service.  We'll be out of here well before our twenty four hours is up, and we'll always remember the day we ran out of Hope, but were rescued by Texas!

Don't Tell My Doctor...

The weather has turned warm and humid. "Finally!" they tell me, because the summer has been very mild. We did the shower and dry and dry and dry thing, and then went to Jazzy's for a cup to go.  Donna had a half Sweet Tea and half Lemonade to cool down while we drove north into Memphis.

Our destination was the Peabody Hotel, with it's world famous Duck Revue. Every morning at eleven, a flock of ducks that live on the roof of the multi-story hotel take the elevator down to the lobby and jump into the fountain, there to frolic all day long.  Well, until five pm, anyway, when they reverse the procedure.  We arrived about a half hour before the morning stroll, and the lobby was already full.  We were lucky to score a couple of chairs in the back corner near the bar.

As expected, we weren't able to see the waddle from the elevator to the fountain, but did get to see them after the ducks were in the fountain!

That small black square in the fountain is where the food is placed  for the day.  After the ducks enter the fountain, a uniformed bellman brings their food on a silver tray with a silver cover, places the food on each of two "plates" with a silver scoop, then places the scoop on the now empty tray, covers it, and marches off. And this has been the daily routine since the '30's!

We took off for Beale Street after the duck performance, but on the way out of the Peabody, we stopped at the restroom, where imprinted paper towels with the texture of bath towels waited for guests use.

And stopped to check out the menu at one of the restaurants in the Hotel:

Just two blocks from the Peabody, Beale Street in Memphis is a jumping, loud, home of the Blues kinda place.  For three blocks, on both sides of the street (which is closed to vehicular traffic), bars, honky tonks and restaurants are pressed in side by side. BB King, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis all started their careers in the smoky bars of Beale Street.

Just behind one of the last of the "big name" clubs, the Jerry Lee Lewis honky tonk,

Is a small, rather inconspicuous club:

With a tiny little shotgun house behind that.

WC Handy is universally known as the "Father of the Blues", and in this house, and in the neighboring club he wrote many of the songs that started a musical movement.

Leaving Beale Street and the panhandlers, we headed for the Mississippi River and the Memphis Riverwalk.

Back up to Main Street, which parallels the River, and runs through the heart of Memphis, we walked through several very nice parks and another pedestrian zone.

We saw the "Pyramid", a former arena for sports and special events in the Pinch District, which is Memphis' first commercial neighborhood. The Pyramid is being converted by Bass Pro Shops into a 220,000 square foot wonderland, with a zip line, indoor gunnery range, hotel and indoor and outdoor elevators to the observation deck.

We also learned that Memphis was the location of the first self-service grocery store in the nation, Piggly Wiggly!

Back in the Peabody after a seven mile walk, we were determined to get a good seat for the duck ramble at five.  The mezzanine seemed to be a perfect place, so we took up residence there while our feet recovered!

We were just in time for the red carpet!

And, after a brief introduction to the history of the ducks, the show began!

That's the Duckmaster in the red jacket, followed by his "assistant", chosen from the audience, with their duck guiding canes.  The canes weren't needed, as the ducks zipped to the elevator and their penthouse residence! There were only four ducks today, because the fifth duck, a hen, was being treated for a condition that prevented her from laying her eggs, and she was very, very uncomfortable. Normally, five ducks make the daily pilgrimage.

Just across the street from the Peabody, and down an alley,

and just past the intersection with General Washburn's Escape Alley, is one of the most impressive BBQ joints in the city, The Rendezvous! The address in on Second Street, but you can't get there from Second Street, you have to go 'round the back to the alley, walk down stairs to the basement, and….enjoy!

Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous has been in business for decades. Charlie isn't with us anymore, but his family continues the tradition of honest, dry-rub bar-b-que. Donna and I have eaten here on past trips, and were looking forward to completing our day in Memphis at the Rendezvous. It's an eclectic affair, with all manner of stuff on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Most of the place looks like it would do good with a thorough cleaning, but hey, we're not here to eat the memorabilia! We had already scoped out our choices: Gramma's Greek Salad, and two small slabs of ribs.  This is the part that my doctors need to skip over…..

Beans, cole slaw, and to-die-for potato salad completed the meal.  Oh yeah, we did bring a few bones home! We got a peek into one of three smokers that were chuckling to themselves in the back room. Each smoker contained a minimum of 25 full slabs of ribs, with another smoker devoted to pork shoulders and brisket! No wonder it smelled so good outside!

After dinner, our walk back to the parking garage took us, once again, by the Peabody Hotel, where a Princess' carriage was waiting to take guests on a leisurely tour of the area.

If It's Wednesday, This Must Be Miss-ipi

Two Hundred and thirty eight miles southwest of Nashville via I40 and I55 finds Nessie in Southaven, Mississippi, just south of Memphis, TN.  Our goal is to visit downtown Memphis for a day or so before moving on west. I40 out of Nashville is a great highway through some of Tennessee's most beautiful rolling hills. Past the village of Bucksnort, know for the Bucksnort Trout Ranch; running just south of Grinder's Switch, known far and wide for the vineyard and winery named for the town.  We climbed out of the Cumberland River watershed and then fell down into the Duck River watershed where we chose not to stop at Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch and Restaurant…..

Up and out of the Duck River valley and down into the Buffalo River valley took us past the northern end of the Natchez Trace at the Natchez Trace State Park.  A few miles southwest took us into the Jackson, TN, area, and the Parkers Crossroads Civil War Battlefield.  We didn't have the time to stop, but this area is also on the list for another visit!

East of Memphis, we turned south onto I55 toward Jackson, MS, and just over the state line we bailed off the interstate and found the EZ Daze RV Park.  A beautiful park with concrete pads to park on and grass areas for a nice, cool "lawn". The weather had turned cloudy with a chance of showers.

The temperature was in the mid seventies this afternoon, with a little more humidity than was comfortable for us West Coast residents, but it was a great change from the cool weather we had last week.  We drove a couple of blocks into Southaven to have a look around and found Jazzy's, a unique coffee place with the added attraction of having live jazz on Saturday nights.  We met and talked to the co-owner and her 19 month old daughter. The shop was very quiet at 3:30 on a Wednesday afternoon, so we had a great "conversation" with the little girl, Caitlin, who spent some serious time collecting to-go coffee cups and filling them with small rocks. The shop owner was very nice, and told us of some interesting places to visit in the area.  They don't roast their own coffee at Jazzy's, but order custom blends. Donna ordered iced coffee and it was smooth and mellow.  I had a hot drink called "King Coffee", which was probably the best cup of coffee I've had in years. Maybe it was the sweetener and whipped cream that made it…..

My compliments to the coffee shop owner and her husband for making a go of their own business.  Her husband has a full time job in Memphis, and looks after the store in the early morning and late evening, while she takes care of the majority of the day. Wow! And taking care of a little one as well! It's the American Way.

Our hour and a half conversation with the shop owner convinced me that I need to buy a Rosetta Stone language course made for the South. When we got to Louisville, KY, the other day, we heard that the correct pronunciation is Loo-a-vul. We got that straight, and then we were introduced to Memphis, which is Mem-fus.  I had trouble  programming the address of the EZ Daze RV Park this morning, because the website listed the address as We Ross Parkway, and the GPS didn't know where that was.  Turns out the correct address in W.E. Ross Parkway; who would've known?  I called the park office to verify the address, and got specific directions as to which exit to take and such.  I was writing down the instructions, and wrote "charts" Street.  Turns out the correct name is "church" St! We're definitely in the south here, and while I love the soft, melodious tones of the language, but I have some homework to do in the translation area! Ya gotta love the Honey's and Ma'am and Sirs, though! Finally the grey hair is worth something!

Entry DENIED!

We left Goodlettsville this morning with the intent to visit the Tennessee State Capitol. An overnight thunderstorm was still in full swing when we got up this morning, and for awhile the downpour was about 3.9" per hour according to the news channel before it temporarily went off the air.  Everything settled down about 10, so we went for it, hoping that the weather would favor us.

The State Capitol is only about 20 minutes south of our "campground" via I65, so Gus hardly got warmed up and we were there.  Finding a parking spot took another 20 minutes, and it was at a state park two blocks and 100' lower in elevation from the Capitol. We thought that a nice walk would be ok, so we opened the car doors to be greeted by a 30 mph breeze.  Donna instantly lost all the effort she had put into fixing her hair this morning, and her mood matched the "wind-do". Well, it's already undone, so we started walking toward the Capitol, only to be greeted by a 142 step set of stairs.

We reached a nice landing, and a view of the city to the north, then turned and saw a 98 step set of stairs leading to the Capitol Building!

Finally we were at the level of the Capitol, and strolled the grounds.  We visited the gravesite of President Polk.

And a statue depicting President Andrew Jackson during the Battle of New Orleans.

Around the building we went, searching for the entry.  We came upon another statue of President Andrew Johnson.

Finally, a sign directed us to the North Entrance.  North? I don't even know what day it is, how am I supposed to know my directions in Tennessee? Oh yeah, the sun….

The approach to the Capitol was pretty impressive, and we were looking forward to our tour!

Unfortunately, the state police in Tennessee take their job of protecting the seat of government very seriously, and denied us entry unless we had two photo ID's and went through a metal detector. We've had to go through metal detectors before, but never with this type of security. In fact, of the Capitol buildings that we've visited, only two have even had a security presence, and only one has required a metal detector.

Today, Donna had left her ID in the car, and we weren't about to walk all those steps again just for that.  With a quick glance at the building lobby, we exited the building.  Maybe next time, maybe not.  It didn't appear all that impressive from the lobby in any case.  We waved good-by as we walked down the steps to the car.

At loose ends, we decided to eat lunch while we reviewed our options.  Tennessee is well in the South, and as such has a lot of Civil War history, so we decided to visit a minor battle site a few miles away.  Called the Battle of Hartsville, it took place on December 7, 1862, and was a solid victory for the Confederacy.

The battle was noted in the Tennessee Trails information, and we saw that there is a self guided car tour of the battle site. When we got to Hartsville, however, we couldn't find out where the battle took place. After an hour of driving around looking for something exciting, we stopped at the Chamber of Commerce (closed), then at the Trousdale County Courthouse (open with court in session).  The County Clerk told us that the Courthouse had been pressed into service as a hospital during the battle, and still shows some damage as a result, but is still in full use by the county! She was able to give us a brochure that detailed a drive with numbered markers identifying various significant battle events.

For example, this is the ford through the Cumberland River that was used by the Rebs to get some 1300 men and their artillery and equipment across in the dead of night. Consider that the river is only chest deep, but in December was ice cold with 4" of snow on the ground!

Col. John Hunt Morgan of the Army of Tennessee learned that the Federals had established a garrison at Hartsville. He sought approval for an attack from General Braxton Bragg, and after receiving that approval, he left Murfreesboro with a force of 2400 men, and a plan to slip across the Cumberland, attack, and return across the river to safety. Instead of the 1500 men that his scouts had estimated the Federal force to be, it was in reality almost 4000. With the element of surprise and excellent planning, Col Morgan succeeded beyond his expectations, capturing over 1800 Federals and killing or capturing 262, along with a large amount of much needed supplies.  He and his men and their prisoners were transported back across the river before reinforcements could arrive. (No boats, remember; this was jump in and go). From a different point of view, this is the ford that they used. The Battle of Hartsville was a huge morale booster for the South, and is considered to be the most successful cavalry battle of the war.

The village cemetery contains several graves of Confederate soldiers killed that day, along with a monument to the heroism of the Kentucky boys that fell.

One headstone caught our eye; a gentleman who was born in the 18th century! Talk about a connection to the past! The farther east we travel, the farther back in time we go. Cool!

This little town, with its little know story of heroism for a cause, keeps a quiet vigil over its own.