I was looking for a song that reflected the fact that we haven’t had a chance to do any washing for quite a while … “Yesterday’s socks”, “Yesterday’s underwear” … it looks like nobody has ever written anything like that.
Maybe the movie “Groundhog day” has a theme song. I’ll have to check.
Fortunately we did get a chance to put on a load at our AirBnB host’s place today … so we will have some clean clothes to wear tomorrow.
Speaking of washing, I am wearing a short-sleeved tee shirt today in recognition of the fact that we started the day in Memphis TN at 16°C … I don’t believe that I’ve worn this shirt previously so I’m certain it hasn’t been washed … yet somehow it has shrunk.
Maybe that’s got more to do with fried chicken, and less to do with washing 🙁
Also speaking of yesterday, I completely forgot to give the travel update. Yesterday we travelled from Nashville, down through Franklin (the Battle of Franklin, remember?) and then on to Memphis. That was approximately 220mi or 350km.
You don’t need to be a genius to work out the significance of today’s song … we have been in Memphis downtown all day walking around and seeing the sights.
Compared to Nashville, Memphis is very quiet. Hardly anybody around and lots of places are closed. I think it might be a Monday thing.
We fired up The Don II, asked Jolene to take us to downtown, and before you could say “In 5km, be in the second lane from the right and bear right onto the Little Rock exit onto I-34 and then turn left onto Front St” we were here!
The Don II hadn’t even reached his optimal cruising speed of 80mph before we arrived in downtown.
I’ve actually been wondering how many hours I need to do at those speeds before I qualify for a pilot’s license. I’ll have to check that too.
We got into downtown at about 10am and started a self-guided tour of the city.
It’s unbelievable and heartbreaking (actually it’s unbelievably heartbreaking) to see how many homeless people there are in the city. Nashvillle was bad but Memphis seems worse.
In Nashville they hold up little cardboard signs that either try a direct approach (“homeless and hungry”) or a humorous approach (“aliens stole my family”). In Memphis they are much more direct, coming straight up to you and asking for money. I think we have been approached probably a half dozen times.
We parked The Don II in a parking garage for the princely sum of $8.00 and started walking.
You will notice that MBW is wearing a coat and scarf. While it is warmer than it has been, there is a cold wind blowing off the river. And it rained.
On our walk we came to the Peabody Hotel – site of the world famous Peabody ducks. Fortuitously it was almost 11.00am by this time and just about the time for them to make their appearance.
The ducks come down from their penthouse at 11.00am each morning and walk the red carpet from the elevator to the fountain, then go back again at 5.00pm each afternoon.
It doesn’t seem like a big deal to me, but hundreds of people turn up each day to see it.
They must be American racing ducks because this is all that MBW was able to capture.
It is a stunning building, over 100 years old.
It was also an excellent opportunity to use the rest rooms … you should never let that opportunity go by. I’m pleased to report that the Peabody Hotel rest rooms were very swish indeed!
Following all of that duck excitement, we continued our walk and found the duck walk of fame …
There is also some beautiful street art around Memphis.
We continued our walk and stopped for a look at the mighty Mississippi River.
We then went on to the Civil Rights museum and spent a very sobering couple of hours looking at America’s history of slavery, and the civil rights fight to overcome it.
The museum display told the story through to Dr Martin Luther King’s rise to prominence and his assassination in 1968 at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis TN.
Considering that I was born in 1962, it is heartbreaking to think that African-Americans were still fighting for equality and basic human rights during my lifetime.
The Lorraine Hotel has now been preserved as the site of the Civil Rights museum, and kept with the look and feel from the day when MLK was shot.
The wreath in the picture above shows the room outside where Dr ML King was standing when he was shot.
The museum then continued across the road to where it is believed that the fatal shot was fired.
We went for a walk down Beale Street – once again very different to Nashville, but I’m sure it fires up at night.
And then we found him. The King.
Elvis isn’t dead – he’s still in Memphis!
Tonight we went to see an old Christmas movie – “It’s a wonderful life” starring James Stewart – at the Orpheum Theatre in town.
The Orpheum Theatre was built in 1890 and was designed as an opera house.
It burned down in 1923 and it was rebuilt in 1927 at a cost of $1.6M. It has a seating capacity of 2,800 and has a Wurlitzer organ.
Famous performers like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington have performed here.
It didn’t survive the Great Depression and was sold in 1940 for $75,000. Sometime after that, it was converted to host movies and live shows.
This blog may be a lot of things, but you can’t say it’s not informative.
The movie night tonight is run to provide support for the homeless, with entry costing 2 or 3 cans of non-perishable food … or $5 each for those of us with no easy access to a supermarket.
There must have been 1,200 people in the theatre tonight.
The walk back to the car was very different to what we had experienced in Nashville. Nashville was crowded, noisy, and vibrant.
Memphis was very quiet and subdued.
Tomorrow (Tuesday 10 December) promises to be an interesting day … -3°C To +4°C … and snow.
Might be time to look out those thermals.
We got home tonight to find that our AirBnB host – Rachel – had folded all of our washing and put it in our room 🙂
Here is today’s song for your enjoyment: Walking in Memphis (Marc Cohn).
Ciao
#G&KTAKEUSA2019