Nashville, TN to Lafayette, LA

A-Nashville, TN; B-Decatur, AL; C-Tupalo, MS; D-Memphis, TN;
E-Vicksburg, MS; F-Lafayette, LA

Space and Rocket Center - Huntsville

Sunday we packed up once again and drove to Decatur, AL. On the way we spent a few hours at the Huntsville, AL Space and Rocket Center. There was lots of information on the space program – especially interesting because it almost all happened during our lifetime. There were actual size rockets and lots of interesting exhibits. But the real treat was the IMAX movie – ‘The Hubble Telescope’. The picture was great and the film showed the astronauts preparing for flight, the flight taking the Hubble into space, then the major repair trip last year. The film then showed some of the new galaxies and stars discovered thanks to the Hubble. It was just great. Then we took off and drove the 30 miles to Decatur, AL where we spent the night listening to a terrific rain and thunder storm. Fortunately by morning the weather had improved.

Elvis Presley birth home

Monday we drove to Tupelo where we spent the next couple of days. This is the birthplace of Elvis Presley – so of course we went by the house to get a picture. As we drove through downtown we saw about a dozen metal guitars placed on either side of the street to commemorate Elvis.

We also spent some time on the Natchez Trace – an old trail from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN used originally by animals and Indian tribes. It was later used by men who had floated their goods down the Mississippi River, sold the goods and lumber from their rafts, then walked or rode horses back to Nashville. There were also several Civil War battles that were fought along the Trace. There is sure a lot of history here in the south – so interesting.

Jamie L. Whitten Bridge over Tennessee River

Wednesday we woke up to a lovely day. We spent the day driving north on the Natchez Trace. We made lots of stops, took several forest walks, enjoyed the information on the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway that was built with several ship locks to connect the Gulf of Mexico to the Tennessee River. We crossed the long Jamie L. Whitten bridge (Whitten was the senator who worked tirelessly to get the waterway completed), then headed west to Corinth where there is an excellent Visitor’s Center discussing the Civil War battles at Corinth (an important railroad hub) and Shiloh. We were disappointed that our day was running short and we didn’t have time to make the 23 mile trip to the Shiloh battle sight.

St Jude Children's hospital

Studio where Elvis first recorded

Thursday we took off for the relatively short drive to Memphis, TN. The next morning we joined a city tour and we saw a lot of Memphis. We visited the St. Jude Children’s Hospital begun and supported for many years by Danny Thomas. In front of the hospital is a large Thomas Memorial building as well as the graves of Danny Thomas and his wife, Rose. We saw the Pyramid – once a performing arts and sports center, the bridge called by Mel Tillis ‘The Dolly Pardon Bridge’. The downtown visitor center has statues of the two most famous musicians of Memphis – Elvis Presley and BB King. We visited Sun Studio where Elvis began his recording career. We saw Victoria Street where there are some lovely old homes. We spent a half hour at the Peabody Hotel where at 11AM each day ducks walk from the roof, down the elevator, and along a red carpet to a fountain in the middle of the lobby. They’ve been performing this stunt for over 30 years. Apparently they swim in the fountain until 5PM when they march back to the elevator, and head to the roof for the night. There is a ‘Duck Master’ that leads the way and gives quite a talk about the history of the duck walk. We saw the Civil Rights Museum which was built next to the motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. There is a gal sitting near the museum who is protesting that the motel was closed and a Museum built – she felt the money would have been better spent helping the homeless. She has been at her location every day for 22 years, 288 days.

Memphis' Beale street

The morning tour let us off on Beale Street where lunch was provided at the Superior Restaurant – While eating barbeque pork or chicken sandwiches, baked beans, and cole slaw, we were entertained by a talented Blues guitarist/singer. We had an hour to walk the famous Beale Street before we were picked up for the trip to Graceland for a 2.5 hour visit.

The Graceland mansion is across the street from the rest of the exhibits. We were taken by shuttle bus to the mansion where we wore headsets that talked us through the tour of his home’s main floor, his recording studio, large trophy area, and Inspiration Garden - this also included the graves of Elvis and several family members. We were then shuttled back across the street where we could then go through the many other exhibits and dozens of Elvis gift shops. We went through his jet (the Lisa Marie) and his private plane; his car museum, his movie museum, etc., etc.. And the gift shops – associated with every venue – and expensive.

Balcony where MLK was shot

Friday we drove into town to visit the Civil Rights Museum. It is located next to the motel where Martin Luther King was shot. The introduction was a 32 minute film called ‘Witness’ that showed extensive information on King’s life and subsequent death as told by Rev. Kyle who was a good friend of King and was with him on the balcony when the shot rang out. The museum itself showed in detail the civil rights struggle of the blacks through the years – it was well done and took us about three and a half hours to complete. Being from Washington State, I was aware of the later years of the Civil Rights movement, but never felt very involved in it. However, here in the south civil rights issues are always near the surface. After visiting the main museum, we walked across the street to the boarding house where James Earl Ray supposedly shot MLK from the bathroom. There was quite a lot of information on his capture and the talk of a conspiracy theory. The museum was excellent.

From there we drove downtown where we went to the Cotton Museum which is located at what used to be the Memphis Cotton Exchange. Cotton is still a major crop here and of course slavery was so important to the cotton industry. There were lots of videos describing the workings of the exchange, how cotton is graded and harvested, the use of slaves in the early years of US cotton production. This also was a very interesting place.

 -From there we walked again to Beale Street where we had dinner at BB Kings restaurant – pork ribs and deep fried catfish – excellent food – and we listened to the in-house blues band while we ate - Great fun. We were sitting next to the window and watched folks in costumes parading down the street (tomorrow is Halloween).

Illinois Battle of Vicksburg Monument

On November 31 we headed south to Vicksburg, MS – we’re talking deep south here!!! There are lots of really old homes and historic places. Our first full day we spent almost the entire day at the Vicksburg National Historic Park. Here we learned about the battle of Vicksburg, a pivotal battle for the control of the Mississippi River creating the division of the Confederacy in two with the result being the inevitable defeat of the South. We watched an excellent movie, then bought a CD that narrated our 16 mile trip through the park. The park has over 1000 monuments, an ironclad (The Cairo) riverboat and museum, a large cemetery, and many of the original battlefields defined by markers in red and blue.

The next morning about 4AM we heard thunder, saw lightening, and listened to a gigantic rain storm. Most of the worst was over by 7:30AM, but rain continued off and on the rest of the day. So we needed to do inside things. We began at the Vicksburg Civil War Museum – best feature was a scale model of the battlefield. It was helpful to see it from the top and have a better perspective than we did on the battlefield itself.

From there we went to ‘The Corner Drug’ ( a small drug store with some antique pharmacy things). One of the most interesting things we found was a copy of a newspaper article that detailed the facts regarding problems with infections and disease among the soldiers during the Civil War. Many soldiers died of diarrhea, dysentery, or from infections of their wounds. It is hard to believe that more soldiers died (between during the Civil War than WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam war all together).

Then we headed to the Old Courthouse Museum. Here there was information about Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States, more information and artifacts from the Civil War, period clothing and furniture, etc. We were ‘museumed’ out, so it was back to the RV!

Driving the causeway across
 the Atchafalaya Swamp

November 3 we headed south in the continuing rain. We debated visiting New Orleans, LA, or Biloxi, MS, but instead headed further west to Lafayette, LA. This was a good choice for us – we had been introduced to the Acadian culture while in Nova Scotia, NB; and Louisiana is where many of the Acadians arrived when they were ‘kicked out’ of Nova Scotia. There is so much history about the Creoles, Cajuns, Acadians etc. We spent a day visiting the Acadian Cultural Center and an Acadian Village in south Lafayette (fortunately the weather has improved – cool, but sunny).

Great Egret

We woke up the next morning to a much cooler day as we headed out to Lake Martin where we went on a 2-hour swamp tour. We saw lots of egrets, blue herons, an owl, turtles, cormorants, a woodpecker, an eagle, an osprey – but no alligators. It was a cool and windy day so the gators just weren’t out and about.

From there we drove south to Avery Island – the original location of the McIlhenny Tabasco Company. The McIlhenny family has been making Tabasco for over 140 years. Most of the chilies are grown in South America. The process involves picking perfectly red peppers, grinding them up and salt (there is a huge salt mine on the island), then putting this mash in oak barrels where it remains for 3 years before roasted red peppers, spices, and vinegar are added and the bottling is done. We visited their country store where everything you could imagine was available with the Tabasco logo.

Tabasco Factory

We enjoyed our drive south to Avery Island as we drove through the middle of a sugarcane growing area. We saw one field being harvested with a huge harvester – a bit different than when people in developing countries have to hand cut the canes. We saw many trucks hauling the shredded canes to the factory for processing – the cane must be processed within 24 hours of being cut or the sugar loses its ability to crystallize.

The next day we headed south once again to St. Martinville where we visited another Acadian museum, the Evangeline Oak, a statue of Evangeline, and a bust of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who wrote the Evangeline poem – these are all along the quiet slow moving Bayou Teche.

Home on concrete blocks

Another interesting sight ( since many of the areas in southern Louisiana are nearly at water level) is that many homes are build above the ground. The houses that are about 2 feet off the ground sit on concrete blocks or bricks.

Tomorrow we head into Texas as our adventure of a lifetime winds down.