Our first activity today was to visit the National Civil Rights Museum. It was a fair walk to get there so we chose to take the bus after a couple of blocks. They have a $1 per ride bus that runs up and down the main street and passes the museum.
The Civil Rights Museum is a must see if you are ever in this part of the world. We both left pretty much shaking our heads in disbelief after seeing, reading and listening to the stories and facts about slavery, racism and the struggle for rights. No matter how much you think you know, you don't really know much. You start out at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968. It's quite chilling to stand where the crowd was, where the sniper was and where MLK was when it all happened.
This is the approximate view from where the shot was fired. The building is across from the museum and is preserved along with a great deal of evidence from the case.
The museum, which is in a new building attached to the hotel, starts off with a movie and extensive displays about slavery and how it proliferated because of its importance to the economy of the country. Again, you think you know a fair bit from school and reading and other media, but you don't. Some of the facts are incredible.
And then you move into the Civil War years and the Emancipation Proclamation. Many people think that was the end of slavery, but it wasn't. The displays continue on through the decades where racism persisted and blacks continued to be mistreated and attacked on many different fronts. There is a lot of archival tv footage showing what happened during the civil rights protests during the late 50s and 60s. I was aware of a lot of the major events but there was so much that went on that was behind the scenes that was shocking.
There are quite a few displays showing recreations of famous or infamous civil rights flashpoints. This is Rosa Parks sitting on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
I think you get the idea that this was a very powerful visit for both of us. We would easily go back and do it again.
When we left with just enough time to make our river cruise, the pouring rain had come back. Some of the ceilings in the museum were actually leaking and the streets looked like this:
After a quick lunch, we made it to our paddlewheeler for a cruise on the Mississippi River. We had a great guide who told us a lot of history of the river and Memphis. It wasn't raining but the sky was grey and threatening, not making for great photos. Mostly, we listened to the stories as the scenery passed by.
This is interesting because it shows some of the levees that protect the city from floods.
These are the bridges that connect Tennessee to Arkansas. We might be taking one of them tomorrow as cutting through Arkansas seems to be the quickest route back to Kentucky.
We passed a number of large barges carrying coal, grain and unknown things. This one was larger than most because it was going downstream.
You'd think we'd be done by now but no! We had the shuttle guy drop us at the Memphis Rock 'N Soul Museum. It was a self guided place where you learned about the history of rock and roll, soul and the blues from this part of the states. They touched on the segregation and race issues as they related to the music but it wasn't as powerful as the Civil Rights presentations. There was more on how music served to bring the races together in many ways.
A short while later we were walking on Beale Street and decided to have a beer and listen to some blues at BB King's place. There was a great band playing and we stayed for a set before heading off to find some non bar food.
Last, but not least on this long day, we went back to the Kooky Canuk restaurant because we had told the owner yesterday that we'd be back for lunch. Due to spending extra time at the Civil Rights Museum, we didn't do that so we felt we should go for dinner. He was very glad to see us and gave us some extra sides to go with our blackend and fried catfish. It was all really good but way too much. We have a doggy bag for the ride tomorrow. You have to love the "Canadian" theme in the place. I know we all have lots of stuffed animals in our homes! As with everyone we've met here, the people were very friendly and we had a great time along with the excellent meal!
We enjoyed watching the sun go down over the Mississippi from our roof top patio. I would highly recommend this hotel if you're in Memphis!
We're off to Padukah, Kentucky tomorrow. I'm told that this is the Quilt Capital of the World. And there are at least four quilt stores! I'll be dropping Marilyn off and going on a photo expedition or something. I need to look up what else is in or around Padukah!
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