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.
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| 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."
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.
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| The Burger |
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| Tennessee Ham Flatbread |
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| 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.
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