Roadtrip Day 7: Boot Scootin Around Memphis

The first thing we did this morning (after taking Linus on a run) was hustle over to the Peabody Hotel to watch the duck march.  Every morning the ducks, who live in their own suite in the hotel, ride their very own elevator down to the lobby where they march across a red carpet and into the hotel’s fountain.  Cute!  The story of how the ducks became tradition at the hotel is rather amusing. Apparently the general manager of the hotel and his friend had gotten back from a hunting trip, and drunk on Jack Daniel’s they decided it would be funny to leave their live decoy ducks overnight in the fountain. Well, the next morning hotel guests loved the ducks so much that they became tradition and the Peabody has had them ever since!

The Peabody itself was magnificent.  It had this grand beveled wood ceiling with stained glass cutouts that was absolutely striking.  We arrived in the lobby at 10:45 and people were already lining up to see the ducks.  We secured a spot on the red carpet, Earl went to procure coffees and I awaited word from the Duckmaster (yes, that is his title) that the ceremony was about to begin.

After a brief introduction about the hotel and duck history, the Duckmaster fielded a few questions and then departed to fetch his feathered friends from their suite.

The Duckmaster

Here they come!

Ducks Marching to Souza's 'King Cotton March'

And there they go! Those little buggers were surprisingly speedy. More of a Duck Dash than Duck March.

Splashing around in the fountain, where they will remain until 5:00pm:

The Peabody Fountain

From the Peabody we stopped for pulled pork sandwiches for lunch and then headed to the Civil Rights Museum.

The National Civil Rights Museum

The Civil Rights Museum is located at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

The Balcony where Dr. Martin Luther King was shot

Touring the Civil Rights Museum has been the highlight of our trip thus far.  I found it fascinating, inspiring, and extremely interesting.  I could have spent all day there, slowly pouring over each and every exhibit.  My favorite displays were the burned out Freedom Riders bus and also the Memphis Sanitation Worker “I AM A MAN” strike Mock-up.  They were just so powerful.  During the tour, I found myself with a lump in my throat while sitting on the Rosa Park’s mock-up bus and listening to a broadcast of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and watching listening crowds roar at the Lincoln Memorial.  It almost seems that today, as Americans face yet a period of divisiveness and strife, it is particularly relevant to look back and examine the lessons of our past.  Perhaps because the current dire state facing our nation, the entire experience was extremely poignant.

The final exhibit in the main museum, room 306 where Dr. Martin Luther King was shot, was particularly chilling.  The room was untouched, exactly as he had left it in his final hours on that fateful day in April.  You could look across the street to the knoll where the shooters had crouched.  Doing so sent a rush of emotion through me, and I remained in somewhat of a hush for the rest of the afternoon.

Unfortunately, because we are traveling a corgi who needs fresh air and walks and exercise and attention, I had to speed through the final exhibits a bit faster than I would have liked.  We skipped the entire second half of the museum, which covers from 1970s-present.  The exhibits we saw did not cover many civil rights other than the struggles of African Americans.  I’m interested to know if womens’ rights and gay rights were covered in the second half.  I guess this leaves something to do for the next time I come back to Memphis.

Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend this tour to anyone passing through Memphis.  Whether or not your a history buff, an American, a minority or even an adult, it would be interesting and beneficial to all.

After the Civil Rights Museum we headed over to Interstate Barbecue for some noshing. Earl enjoyed the beef ribs and I scarfed the sampler platter, which gives you pork ribs, beef ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and a spicy sausage.  The pulled port was my favorite BY FAR.  It was great, although last night’s Blue’s City meal, IMO, has yet to be topped…even by this.

Earl's ribs

Then, perhaps moved by the civil rights museum, we decided that the spirit of Equality for All (!!!) entitled little buddy to a rib of his very own.

Just look at that tongue:

Ohplease, ohplease, ohplease, i'll be a good boy, i promise, ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease

DO WANT:

paydirt

Tomorrow we’re leaving Memphis and heading south to Mississippi.  As mentioned before, here the pace of our journey stays slow.  We have three days to amble about Ole Miss, leaving just enough time to make it to New Orleans to meet up with some friends for Halloween.