Where were they going without even knowing the way

Back out of all this now too much for us,

Back in a time made simple by the loss

Of detail, burned, dissolved, and broken off

Like graveyard marble sculpture in the weather,

There is a house that is no more a house

Upon a farm that is no mare a farm

And in a town that is no more a town. 

The road there, if you'll let a guide direct you

Who only has at heart your getting lost,

May seem as if it should have been a quarry-

Great monolithic knees the former town

Long since gave up pretense of keeping covered.

-Robert Frost Directive

I don't remember anymore where the idea came from... I think I heard something on NPR that made me think about people relying on GPS and not knowing anymore how to read/use maps. So tangentially related to that idea I thought of going on a road trip where I had to take at least three highways and travel about two hours each time to end up... somewhere. Then once there I could look up what was in the area to explore. It would make me explore or learn about some place to which I never would have thought of going. 

Thursday a co-worker asked what we were doing this weekend and we said nothing because we were dog sitting my Mom's dog. He was surprised and responded that we are always going places. So after leaving the bar, when all the best decisions are made, we decided to try out this road trip idea. We already would have Gypsy Rover so we needed dog friendly locations anyway why would one more dog change things. 

One of the greatest things about Nashville is the amount of large interstate highways that circle it. We have so many starting points. This trip we started out by traveling south on I-65 towards Alabama. That would at least get us a good distance to start with. At the Alabama border we stopped to stretch and walk the dogs and see the Saturn 1B rocket that greets visitors to "Sweet Home Alabama."  I've already known about this for awhile and every time I pass by I stop and check it out because it is awesome. The rocket was developed in Huntsville, Alabama and 9 of the 12 rockets were used to support the Apollo and other missions.

As we approached exit 328 I saw a sign that it was Jesse Owens Memorial Parkway. Since we were close to two hours I asked Meg if she wanted to switch highways and she agreed. So we exited and turned right to travel west on the Jesse Owens Memorial Highway, Highway 36, which took us through the town of Hartselle, self titled "The City of Southern Hospitality." We drove through their downtown area which definitely looks like a great spot to walk around and enjoy the different small businesses that lined the road. It is the second largest city in Morgan county and dates its founding back to 1870 when the citizens moved a half mile to its current location so the Alabama Railroad could put a stop there. The town became official in 1873 when a post office was opened and the town was named for George Hartselle, one of the owners of the railroad. 

As I was trying to look up why it is called the "City of Southern Hospitality" I discovered that the town was the location of an infamous and still unsolved bank robbery. On the morning of March 15th (beware the Ides of March), 1926 possibly as many as 15 individuals robbed the bank of over $15,000 in gold and deposits. It was early in the morning when the robbers lined the wall with explosives and cut the town telephone lines to prevent people from calling for help. Several townspeople were taken hostage and one, a local dentist named Dr J.D. Johnston was injured. The whole event took over three hours and, despite the hard work of several different agencies, the robbery was never solved. 

Now for the most part the point of the trip is getting to a new destination so I wanted to keep random stops to a minimum but since we were on the Jesse Owens Memorial Highway I decided to stop at the Jesse Owens Museum and Memorial. James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was born in Alabama on September 12, 1913, and passed away in Arizona March 31, 1980. As a teenager he began to be noticed for his remarkable abilities in Track and Field; after high school he attended Ohio State University. In 1935 at Ann Arbor Michigan at the Big Ten Championships Owens achieved a feat that has been described by sports reporters as "the greatest 45 minutes ever in sports."  

At 3:15 Jesse ran the 100 yard dash in 9.4 seconds to tie the world record. 

At 3:25 in the long jump Jesse leaped 26-8 1/4 feet setting a world record that lasted for 25 years.

At 3:34 He ran the 220 yard dash in 20.3 seconds setting a new record.

At 4:00 Jesse ran the 220 low hurdles in 22.6 seconds breaking 23 seconds for the first time in the event.

A year later Jesse traveled to Germany to compete in the Olympics in Track and Field. He won the gold in long jump with a final jump of 26-5 1/2 feet, set an Olympic record for the 200 meter dash in 20.7 seconds, was part of the 4x100 relay team that set a world record of 39.8 seconds that would stand for 20 years, and his fourth gold medal was from the 100 meter dash. 

Jesse's feat at those Olympics is one of the greatest moments in sports because it is one of the times when a sporting event was more than just that event or game. At that moment in Germany with tension and the Nazi party rising Jesse's victories were victories against the Nazi ideal. Jesse's victories and story also highlighted the need for the Civil Rights movement in America. Jesse had had to work his way through college because as an African American he wasn't eligible for many of the scholarships that were offered. He came home to a parade honoring the US Olympic team's success and had to take a freight elevator at the back of the Waldorf because he wasn't allowed in the front door. In an interview Jesse said:

"When I came back to my native country, after all the stories about Hitler, I couldn't ride in the front of the bus, ... I had to go to the back door, I couldn't live where I wanted. I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President, either."

In 1976 President Ford awarded Jesse the Medal of Freedom and posthumously in 1990 President Bush awarded Jesse the Congressional Medal of Honor calling his victory in 1936, "an unrivaled athletic triumph, but more than that, a triumph for all humanity."

Beneath the statue was a plaque that read:

"Jesse Owens

Olympic Champion

1936

Athlete and humanitarian whose inspiration personifies the spirit and promise of America."

We left the memorial and drove past the Oakville Indian Mound a testament to over 14,000 years of human life before returning to 36 west. 

After we had been on 36 west for a little over 32 minutes the road ended, something I hadn't thought too much about. So we turned on to 33 South and considered 36 as yielding its remaining time to the new highway. We drove through the beautiful Bankhead National Forest. Technically 33 South yielded its last remaining time to 19th street in Jasper, Alabama, before we switched to 5 South, our third highway. 

5 South got a little dicey but somehow we stayed on it as it joined with 11 South, 20 West, and 59 South. And then each of those highways separated and we were alone on 5 South. And that is how we got to Brent, Alabama.

Brent was founded in 1898 along the Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Railroad line and was named for a Bibb county surveyor Brent H. Armstrong. On May 27th, 1973, a series of tornados wrecked havoc across the South including one F4 which destroyed most of the town. That tornado was on the ground for 139 miles making it the longest track by a tornado in Alabama. 

The trip was successful in my mind. I never would have traveled to Brent, Alabama, if not for this. At most it would have become a familiar name if I saw it enough times on a highway sign. I never would have known about the record setting tornado or the story of resilience of a town coming together to heal and rebuild. We also might have never taken a trip on the Jesse Owens Memorial Highway or know how close we were to his Memorial and Museum, and we never would have taken the beautiful scenic drive through the Bankhead National Forest. This is as close as I can piece together the actual path of our trip. 

Now that we had finished the trip and discovered the history of Brent I began to search out other attractions/breweries/restaurants in the area. I used the website Bring Fido to try and find some dog friendly locations and I found three: Black Warrior Brewing, Druid City Brewing, and Wilhagans restaurant. 

First we went to Black Warrior Brewing to try some of their brews. The brewery is so dog friendly that they had a water bowl for dogs and they make their own dog treats using their spent grain from the brewing process. We each bought a flight to try several of their beers and pick a growler to take home and a bag of treats for the pups. Here is my review on Yelp.

After leaving Black Warrior we went looking for something to eat and stopped at Wilhagans for their broccoli cheese bites which were amazing (disclaimer we ate some before I took the picture) and  really good burgers. We took the food with us to Druid City Brewing to eat. Meg ate her burger first while I held on to the dogs and she told me the burger was delicious and very flavorful. When we switched and I bit into the burger I exclaimed that she was right the burger was delicious and several people at Druid City saw the burger and asked us where it was from so hopefully they get some more business for it.

Druid City brewing is a small brewery and they had trivia starting so we ate quickly to make more room. Meg had a porter and I had their ale because I asked what was most popular. The beers were good and the place had a neat atmosphere including a record player behind the bar and records from which to choose.

Finally we had one last stop before we headed home and that was a McDonalds in Northport, AL. Now that may seem like a long way to go for McDonalds but Meg wanted to try the new shamrock Oreo McFlurry, which was delicious, and Ronal Reagan once ate at that McDonalds.

Not bad for a random road trip when we didn't know where we were going.

Walking in Memphis

A few years ago I had ordered product from Ikea to get delivered to my home however it ended up being more of a hassle than it was worth and I went to the delivery companies warehouse to pick it up. So this time when I needed some more shelving units from Ikea I placed an order online at their Memphis location with the plan to pick it up. I had a week off from work, literally the last week of the fiscal year and the last chance to use 2019 vacation time. So we scheduled Gypsy Rover's spay surgery and gave a week to watch her and make sure she healed. We had several plans of things to get done around the house including putting together bookshelves for collectible items that have still been boxed up since I moved.

Of course I wasn't going to just drive to Memphis and pick up the bookshelves. If I was going to lose a day I was going to make it worth it. I checked with the vet to make sure that we would be ok to take Gypsy on a trip. She loves the car and sleeps in it so that was good and I could pick her up and take her out of it so she didn't climb in. So with the vet's approval we aimed to take her out at the end of the week.

Now I knew that we would be limited by having Gypsy Rover with us so I only planned on hitting some outdoor sights so places like the famed Peabody Hotel and the Civil Rights Museum were immediately out of the question.








We had one stop before reaching Memphis and that was a giant praying mantis reading a book outside a library in Jackson, TN.











Next we went to the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park to see "Cancer... there's Hope". This statue is the work of Victor Salmones who considered it to be his finest. At the back of the labyrinth are five people who represent those suffering from cancer and their caregivers. The front three have left the labyrinth after successful treatment.

Cancer ...  there's Hope"

Near the Memphis Zoo is Veteran's Plaza which has several monuments in it dedicated to soldiers from Memphis and Shelby county who served in several different wars. Among them was a WWI Dough Boy made from melted down pennies collected by children. And a monument to the famed WWII bomber Memphis Belle and its crew.

The Memphis Belle monument was a plaque with an image of the Bomber and it's crew as well as a statue of Margaret Polk, the inspiration for the bomber's name, looking skyward.  Margaret had dated pilot Robert Morgan before his deployment and he named the plane after her. The Memphis Belle flew in 25 European Theater Missions between November 7, 1942 and May 19, 1943. 

Next we stopped by the Galloway Methodist Church where in December of 1954 Johnny Cash, Marshall Grant, and Luther Perkins performed together for the first time for a ladies social club. It was the start of a long career for Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Two.

Then we headed over to a shopping center to visit "Chimes Square". A bell tower had been converted by local artists into a giant wind chime and to keep with the Egyptian theme of Memphis the clapper looks like the eye of Horus. 

That got me wondering a bit about the history of the city and what the connection was to Egypt. The city was once home to the Chickasaw tribe who inhabited most of Western Tennessee. Like many other tribes in the early history of America they were forced to move westward into Arkansas through force and unfair treaties. 

On May 22, 1819 John Overton, James Winchester, and Andrew Jackson founded Memphis which became the westernmost city in TN. It's location along the bluffs of the Mighty Mississippi, often called the Nile of America, was why the name Memphis was chosen. Memphis had once been one of the most important cities in Ancient Egypt with a location along the powerful river both cities were primed to be centers of industry, commerce, and trade. 

However Memphis' position on the Mississippi also lead to several epidemics of yellow fever. During the 1878 epidemic the population of the city fell to 20,000 with estimates saying of those remaining 17,000 were ill. Those who remained were the poorest of the citizens who couldn't afford to leave and others who stayed to help take care of them. That sad history brought us to our next memorial in Martyr's park along the banks of the Mississippi. 

At this point we left the car at Martyr's Park to walk along the river front and visit a string of small parks. The walk gave us a good opportunity to continue working on leash walking with Gypsy as well as her excitement at seeing people. When she pulled on the leash we would stop walking until she came back to us and walked with the leash loose. When joggers or other park visitors passed by we had her sit and stay until they passed. 

The riverwalk was an obvious choice because we had the puppy so were limited to outdoor/dog friendly locations and in particular there was a statue I wanted to see because of the story behind it. On the afternoon of May 8th, 1925 river worker Tom Lee was on his 28 foot boat named Zev on the Mississippi. While on the river Tom witnessed a large boat capsize. He made multiple trips to the boat and shore to rescue the passengers and is credited with rescuing thirty two of the 72 passengers. One survivor, J. M. Wood, was quoted on a sign near the Beale Street Landing as saying "We all owe our lives to Tom Lee. That's all there is to it." The passengers of the boat had been members and family of the Engineers Club of Memphis and the organization showed its appreciation to Tom by purchasing a home for him and sending him a Christmas gift every year until he passed away. The city also gave Tom a job as a sanitation worker.

The city also erected an obelisk in honor of Tom in 1954. The base explains:

"Tom Lee with his boat Zev saved thirty-two lives when the steamer U.S. Norman sank about twenty miles below Memphis May 8, 1925. But he has a finer monument than this- an invisible one. A monument of kindliness, generosity, courage and bigness of heart. His good deed were scattered everywhere that day and into eternity."

However the heading on the obelisk, which may have seemed appropriate in 1954, today strikes the viewer as inappropriate. The monument refers to Tom Lee as "A very worthy negro." I know that whoever wrote the statement and added that did not do it to belittle or insult Tom Lee.  I think the beauty of the rest of the statement about the invisible monument- the 32 lives and all those they touch- being a testament to Tom had the best of intentions. But even the best of intentions can be misplaced. When asked about his actions Tom Lee was quoted as saying "I guess I didn't do any more than anyone else would have done in my place." I think Tom did more than a lot of other people would have done and I think that is what they were trying to say on the obelisk. They thought they were honoring Tom with that phrase but instead the statement is belittling, divisive, and unnecessary. And I believe the city also recognized that. They could remove the obelisk but instead they clearly marked it as erected in 1954 and commissioned a new monument to Tom. And the new monument is beautiful.

I think the new statue by David Alan Clark was unveiled in 2006 and is a fitting tribute to Tom Lee's heroism. I found the detail in the statue and the outstretched hands beautiful. 

The park also has several other historical plaques and markers celebrating some more of the riverside city's history. For example one historical marker honored a visit from James Audubon on December 1, 1820 on his way to New Orleans. He stopped and sketched several animals and birds and eventually would publish Birds in America. Another plaque honored James Alfred Hyter "Ol Man River". James served three years in the US Army and became a Memphis legend for his performances at the Memphis in May Sunset ceremony when for 20 years (1978-1997) he ended the ceremony by singing Ol Man River. One article I read said that he would sing encore after encore and one time sang six encores of the song. The plaque honors him for his musical performances that brought a "diverse people together in common celebration of life on the Mississippi River." Another historical information board showed the routes of the Trail of Tears and the forced removal of Native Americans from their homelands westward into Oklahoma. The board had a quote from a song expressing the pain of those who were forced to leave their lands:

"I have no more land. I am driven away from home, driven up the red waters, let us all go, let us all die together and somewhere upon the banks we will be there." -Sin-e-cha's Song.

Another mentioned the visit of Alexis De Tocqueville who stopped near Memphis during his visit to America in 1831-32. During his visit he observed and took notes for his book Democracy in America published in 1835. 

And then I reached the moment I had been looking forward to from the first time I had ever heard the song "Walking in Memphis". I had looked forward to walking in Memphis and specifically on the famous Beale Street. The plan was to walk up Beale street to Dyer's burgers, a Beale street eatery that has been in business since the early 1900s and eat our burgers and fries in Handy Park. 

We saw several famous landmark buildings as we approached the cobblestoned Beale street including the Orpheum Theater, Peabody Hotel, and BB Kings.

Again I knew I would need to come back sometime without Gypsy Rover so that we could go into the Peabody Hotel and see the Peabody Ducks, take a riverboat ride on the Mississippi, and maybe even visit one of the music spots to hear some amazing blues music that Memphis is famous for but I was not prepared for the surprise I got when we walked up to Beale street. Namely a sign that said no animals (or reptiles) allowed on Beale street. 

So Meg took Gypsy Rover over to the Fedex Forum and sat at some picnic benches while I walked over to Dyers to get lunch. Now the story behind Dyer's on Beale is that in 1912 Elmer Dyer opened his restaurant with his secret to the unique burgers served is the ageless cooking grease. The burgers and fries made today are cooked in the same oil that was used when Mr. Dyer first opened his shop. It is strained and cleaned but has never been changed.

The burgers came with mustard pickles and onions on them and as I waited at the counter for my take out I could see the cooks working hard cooking the fries and burgers in their famous oil. Then I walked the block over to the home of the Memphis Grizzlies.

We had been planning to walk around Memphis some more but after the surprise at Beale street we decided to walk back to the car and drive. On the way up we saw a historical marker for the "Clothier to the King" the plaque told the story of Bernard and Guy Lansky. Their shop was known for it's vibrant colored cloth. Bernard Lansky told the story of his first meeting Elvis:

"Bernard recalls looking up one day and seeing a young man looking at his windows. He walked up to greet him and told him, 'Come on in and let me show you around.' The young man said, 'I don't have any money, Mr. Lansky, but when I get rich, I'm going to buy you out.' Bernard told him, 'Don't buy me out, just buy from me.'"

We walked back to the car at Martyr's Park and drove to the Memphis pyramid. Originally the pyramid was supposed to be a sports arena and a set of three but only the first and largest was built. Today it is a giant Bass Pro Shop with a hotel, restaurant, and an observation deck. We couldn't fully explore  the observation deck again because of the puppy so again going up to the top will be something we do on a return trip. But it was very worth the visit to be able to practice some awesome sit stays from Gypsy Rover. 

Next up was another spot that we will have to return too, The Lorraine Motel where on April 4th, 1968 Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated by James Earl Ray while he stood on the balcony in front of room 306. Today the Lorraine is a Civil Rights Museum. A wreath marks the spot where King stood when he was hit by the bullet. 

Leaving the Lorraine we headed out to Ikea and the entire point of the trip. We pulled into the Memphis location and I parked in the fifteen minute loading zone. Once inside there was clear signage pointing to where the internet pick up area was. I had ID and my email with my order info ready. Behind the desk I saw several carts lined up with orders and immediately spotted my bookshelves. The employee behind the counter checked my name and info and got my order. I was out and had it loaded easily with in the fifteen minutes.

The only thing left to do was grab some dinner. Once I had decided we were going to Memphis I contacted several area breweries to see two things 1 if they were dog friendly and 2 if they sold growlers with their logo. High Cotton Brewing answered me almost immediately. They loved dogs and they were always welcome in the brewery and they had their own growlers. A bonus was that next door was a restaurant.

 It had been a long day for the puppy and the first time in almost a week that she had really been out so we got her set up with her dinner and some water and took off the cone so she could comfortably eat and relax. I also ordered a flight of their beers so that we could pick one for the growler to take home.

The Burger

The restaurant next door is called the Edge Alley. The menu was filled with delicious descriptions of fresh locally sourced ingredients.

Tennessee Ham Flatbread 

Ballet Cake

It was a hard choice but after tasting each of the beers we settled on the Razz Wheat to take home with us. It was a great brewery and a very satisfying dinner which set us up for a good drive home. The trip is easy Interstate 40 connects Nashville with Memphis. So I didn't even need a GPS for directions. Overall it was a long day and we were worn out when we got home but it was totally worth it to get the bookshelves and just have a nice relaxing day out.