Day 56 - November 23, 2024

Today we said goodbye to Hilton Head Island. Just a quick note on Hilton Head. It’s a special place. Completely different from Myrtle Beach. Both are on the Atlantic Ocean but that is where the similarities end.

Myrtle Beach is a playground in more ways than one. It is ocean and beaches, yes, but it is also very commercial. High rise resorts, shows, mini-golf, night life and action. Hilton Head is the opposite. The island is basically a forest of pines and oaks with roads and residential districts. I didn’t see a building over four stories. And there are no overhead streetlights. With the trees and no overhead lights, it is very dark when driving at night. Next, there are no advertising signs. No billboards, no sandwich boards. There are only small, ground level, permanent signs in front of businesses and that is it. It makes for a completely different atmosphere. Love it.

So, today we drove from Hilton Head, South Carolina across Georgia to Montgomery, Alabama. Plains, Georgia, the home of the 39th President, Jimmy Carter, was only a 30-minute detour for us so we decided to have a look. The town seems stuck in the past. When Verna bought a small item, the credit card was done on dial-up! The entire town is a museum featuring the former President. The high school, the boyhood farm, churches, even his brother’s gas station is a museum. We also got a few shots along the way in some other small towns. Georgia looks just like I expected. Some old, some new, lots of agriculture. Tonight, we are in Prattville, AL. Tomorrow, we are off to Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Day 57 - November 24, 2024

I have stayed in all kinds of places, all over North America and the UK. I think this might be the coolest of them all. Not the most luxurious or with the most amenities, but the coolest. More on that later.

Today we traveled from Montgomery, Alabama to Vicksburg, Mississippi. The landscape is more treed than I had expected. We drove through a couple small towns that were in a very bad way. Obviously very poor and almost gone. However, there are plenty of very nice places too.

Vicksburg is an old city with incredible history.  It was occupied by Confederate forces in the Civil War but in 1863 the Union laid siege to the city. It took 40 days but eventually the Confederates, out of food and ammunition, surrendered.  The Inn we are staying at was built in 1840 as was a mansion with many high-profile visitors. (We are doing a tour tomorrow where we will learn more). During the siege, it was hit by Union cannon fire and there is a cannonball under the floorboards and one stuck in a wall. The Cedar Grove Inn has been restored, keeping it as original as possible. It is gorgeous. And haunted (apparently). The floorboards and stairs creak, the floors are not level, but it is stunning! We even had a terrific dinner in the restaurant, prepared by a world-renowned chef. I had Blackened Catfish (a first for me).

We also took a little drive around the old part of the city and some of the old buildings are simply beautiful.  The Coca-Cola building (see photo) is where the first bottle of Coke was produced. The Vicksburg Hotel is in the process of being restored.

Day 58 - November 25, 2024 (Bonus Post)

I thought I would do a little bonus post on the Inn at Cedar Grove in Vicksburg. Most hotels offer a “free” breakfast which is a buffet style with and assortment of breakfast foods. Most are average at best. The first photo here is our breakfast this morning. Bacon, eggs, cinnamon bun, cereal with yogurt and fruit.

Then we took the tour of the building and learned some history. It was built in 1840 by a very rich southern man (John Alexander Klein, a slave owner) who married a northern girl (at 16) in 1842. They went to Europe to purchase furnishing for their new home. Most of what you see in these photos was brought from Europe and is over 180 years old. The marble for the fireplace was brought from Italy. The light fixtures are gas fired (except one has been converted to electricity), the ornate mirrors and wall trim is all original. There was a piece of furniture that they did not realize was a “safe” until a year ago when they figured out the small front door opened revealing the combination dial. Inside was the silver goblets. There are several cannonballs stuck in walls and in the floor from being shelled during the Siege of Vicksburg in May of 1863. The books in the library are originals. The circular staircase leads to the basement which served as a morgue during the siege. Finally, the big four poster bed is in the master bedroom.  During the Union occupation, General Ulysses S. Grant, future President slept in that bed. Obviously, the mattress has been changed many times, but the bed is original. We slept in the room next door (with an adjoining door.) When the war ended, life resumed for the Kleins. They had 10 children, six of which survived to adulthood. The senior Klein built homes (mansions) on the estate for all of the children, some of which will be seen later in my regular post for the day.

Day 58 - November 25, 2024

Today we left Vicksburg and headed to Little Rock, Arkansas. Before we left Vicksburg, we drove around a took a few photos of some of the mansions. The one with the interior shots was used as a hospital during the Civil War. I also took a shot of one of the brick streets (most of them are bricks and the bricks were made by slaves), and one of a much poorer street.

Then we drove through a corner of Louisiana into Arkansas. At our stop just inside the border, we watched a pair of Great Egrets seemingly, fighting. It’s not mating season, so I don’t know what that was all about. Anyway, I got a few decent shots of them in the air.

Day 59 - November 26, 2024

Perceptions are often wrong, and mine were wrong about Arkansas. The drive from Vicksburg, Mississippi, through Louisiana, into Arkansas to Little Rock was quite pretty. Lots of very poor areas but lots of wealth too.

Little Rock is beautiful. I like to see capitol buildings and the one in Little Rock is gorgeous. It was not busy, so we were treated to a wonderful tour by our guide, Jenny. Another perception, that Arkansas is very poor was dashed. The state constitution does not allow them to borrow money.  They have a $12 billion dollar slush fund that earned over $380 million last year, over and above what the tax system brought in. On our tour, we were taken to the Treasury where we got to hold $600,000. The vault door alone weighs 22,000 pounds. We saw both chambers, artwork, mountains of marble and woodwork.

Next, we headed out to see the “Junction Bridge”. A “Lift-Span” bridge uses a unique system of lifting both ends of a bridge to allow a ship to pass underneath. There were a couple young girls practicing ballet on the bridge which made for some interesting shots. Then, the GPS sent us down a road that was under construction, so our detour led to another “Lift-Span” bridge and the President William J. Clinton Library. We didn’t go in but got more shots of a cool bridge and some “modern” architecture.

Then off to Memphis, Tennessee. We arrived just before sunset and got some shots in the Welcome Center, of an enormous Bass Pro Shops (to be visited later), and an incredible sunset over the Mississippi River. Check out those sunset shots. “The Mississippi on Fire”. Then, of course we went to a BBQ restaurant in a back alley in Memphis. That’s what you do here, right?

Too many photos today but sometimes the photographer goes a little crazy.

Day 60 - November 27, 2024

Elvis! …has left the building. Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley is both over and underwhelming at the same time. It is beautiful. However, the mansion itself is not as large as one would expect. It is decorated in 1960s and 1970s décor, so it is a tad (OK, more than a tad) garish. But at the same time, it depicts the era. The grounds and outbuildings are large and beautiful. The other displays are amazing. The cars (have a look, he had expensive tastes), the planes (with the 24-carat gold plated sink), the outfits, and the tributes from music’s biggest names all add to a wonderful experience. But he was (and is) the King of Rock and Roll. In the words of John Lennon, “Before Elvis there was nothing.”, and “Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn’t been Elvis, there wouldn’t have been the Beatles.”.

I the late afternoon we headed to Sun Studios for a tour. Quite interesting. Started by a radio DJ, there have been dozens of stars, past and present to have recorded here. Elvis was the biggest but, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, BB King, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, and many others. Interestingly, Sun Studio and Sun Records founder was not initially impressed by Elvis. In fact, he turned him down but his “secretary’ (she was far more than that and was the first person to record Elvis), Marion Keisker, convinced Sam to give Elvis another shot. Good plan!

Day 61 - November 28, 2024

Memphis, you did not disappoint. Again, I have too many photos but… Memphis is a city of two worlds. We are staying downtown and there is a lot of poverty and homelessness. On the other hand, within a few blocks there is crazy wealth. I have tried to show a tiny slice of these two worlds. Some of the mansions are incredible.

We drove by the Sun Studios again and got an exterior shot. Then off to the National Civil Rights Museum. It was closed (Thanksgiving) but it is attached to the Lorraine Motel. This is where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Just a few blocks away we saw the Orpheum Theatre. The sidewalk in front of the theatre is inlaid with the names of the stars that have been on its stage. Lots and lots of very big names from the past and present.

After that we went to Beale Street where the Blues got its beginnings. We walked a few blocks before heading to …wait for it… Bass Pro Shops.

Bass Pro Shops has built a huge pyramid overlooking the Mississippi River. We took the elevator up (28 floors) to watch the sunset over the river and have dinner at the top. Sunset was OK, but not great. But the views made up for it. Then we went down the river and got a couple shots of the bridge lit up. Lastly, I walked Beale Street at night to get the night shots. It’s an interesting feeling to be walking along, carrying high end camera gear on a tripod (no hiding anything) with other tourists, but also the homeless and other “street activity” going on all around.

Verna and I have now seen and walked 6th Street in Austin Texas and Beale Street in Memphis. I asked Verna her thoughts on the two and she gave some insightful comments. She said Austin seemed safer. Also, more fun. But Beale is prettier and tells more of a story with the names in the sidewalks and the metal signs telling the stories of the artists, the locations and the lives of the past. Yes, Memphis, you did not disappoint.