We travelled on to Lafayette after the buffet breakfast. We arrived at the hotel, La Quinta North, which proved to be the noisiest hotel on our tour but in fairness we had no problem sleeping.
Having checked in we sent a text to Joe Montgomery, the US import in the year after Joe Barber, and he called back agreeing to meet up with us that evening.
During the afternoon we took a ride to the Acadian Centre where we learnt about the development of the Cajun population of the area. There were several houses of various periods transplanted into a small town and all of it right next to a creek which made for some excellent photos.
It was an interesting afternoon with several enthusiasts acting out roles in the houses:
There was a fiddler - creepy guy but our phone went and we were able to flee to take the call – thanks Joe.
There was a gardener – very interesting many of the local plants and vegetables originated in Spain.
There was a wood carver – no conversation and he had barely started on his next project so basically a man with a knife and a lump of wood.
Then there was a black lady doing basketwork – she was so amusing, she told us she came from a large family and decided early that she wasn’t having many kids, as she put it “I had two and that was enough but then another sneaked home and we quit at three!”
Julia and I tried to pull ourselves across the creek on the raft bridge; you are supposed to walk yourself along a fixed rope. We were exhausted when we were only six feet from the dock so we backed up and landed ourselves back where we started.
When we got back to the hotel we brewed up and slowly got organised for the evening. We were expecting to drive as Joe said his truck had too much stuff in it so we waited in front of the hotel with our car. Actually Joe and his wife, Marquita, turned up in her truck and she drove us to the restaurant. We ate at Copelands Restaurant and we enjoyed a really nice evening. Although Joe Barber seemed exactly the same as I remembered him Joe Montgomery had changed, he was much less a basketballer and much more a business man. They are a lovely couple and we found conversation easy. We had a photo-call outside the restaurant and they dropped us back at the hotel having made us promise to stay with them next time we were in the South.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Deep South Tour - Fall 2011 - Day 10
After breakfast we set off hoping that Natchez would redeem itself, and, in due course, it did. We set off back along the Natchez Trace Parkway for a very short distance before turning off into Melrose house, as Natchez dodged most of the Civil war there remain several notable antebellum houses which my learned partner tells me means pre-civil war. Melrose is in many ways the most notable of them; it was built by a successful lawyer John T McMurran.
During the 1830s, Mr. McMurran’s law practice prospered. He and his wife, Mary Louisa, who came from a much wealthier family than her husband, began construction on their estate, Melrose, in 1841. The family moved into the magnificent Greek-revival style home early in 1849. By the mid-1850s, John owned or held interest in five plantations, which included over 9,600 acres of land and 325 slaves.
Melrose is a mansion that is said to reflect "perfection" in its Greek Revival design. The 80-acre estate is now part of Natchez National Historical Park and is open to the public by guided tours, which we took advantage of on this occasion. The house is furnished for the period just before the Civil War. Melrose was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974 despite this date we were told that the house was operating as an upscale bed & breakfast until 1990 and some of the furnishings had never left the house in all that time.
We were shown round the house by an enthusiastic female ranger and we noted the Punka, a fan like device to keep flies off the food, positioned over the dinner table. The downstairs floor coverings were oil cloth which looked like carpet but were painted by hand and were thus easier to clean than carpet. Ironically they are covered by identical carpet to preserve them from our modern shoes, areas are left uncarpeted to allow us to view but never touch the oil cloth and we are expected to accept that the floor is entirely covered but you have to wonder.
Outside of the house there are several outbuildings including the two storied kitchen and dairy buildings, octagonal cistern houses, a smoke house, a privy, slave quarters, a barn and a carriage house. In the hierarchy of slavery the House slaves lived in the upper floor of the kitchen and dairy while the Field slaves had a series of sheds close to the stables. These Field slaves tended the grounds of the estate and it was generally accepted that their lot was significantly harder than the House slaves but nothing like as tough as slaves on the plantations. If a slave misbehaved they could be demoted down the pecking order but that was the sort of reaction you might expect from the most benign of owners, flogging, or branding were also available as a disciplinary option.
In the slave quarters there is a display of various documents relating to slavery, one story relates to the abuse both sexual and physical of a young female slave by a neighbour, with all the good intentions of Mary Lousia and like minded members of the community the best solution they could engineer was to buy the unfortunate girl when her owner had tired of her.
I took a photo of an entry in Mary L’s diary which I will type out in its entirety as it illustrates the best and worst of the paternal Southern view of slavery. She writes:
“We were preparing for the wedding of two of our young servants – two we have reared and trained in the family – the children of old and favourite servants. They were married last Thursday, in our presence, and behaved extremely well with perfect dignity and propriety. They then retired and passed the evening with some invited friends, and had a fine supper, as happy and merry a company as one would wish to see. Would Mrs. Stowe could have viewed the scene, perhaps it might have changed some of her erroneous opinions.”
The above needs no additional comment from me. Along, with the easy observation that the stable block was better appointed than the slave quarters, this brought home the reality of slavery.
As we left Melrose we observed our first Spanish Moss hanging from the trees which is another abiding image of the holiday.
As we returned to the NTP we spotted a sign for Duncan Park Tennis Center and followed its directions. Duncan Park is large and the tennis area is well sited and greets you as you enter the park. There are eight floodlit courts some viewing areas and a pro shop. In the pro shop, not unexpectedly, I met the pro, Henry Hawk Harris. Since we are of a similar vintage we were soon chatting and had I been there longer we would have played. He told me that since many of his players come across the state line from Arkansas and there is a new tennis centre opening there the Natchez response is to build him another 12 courts when previously they had balked at adding four more. I now have an open invitation to play there but I cannot imagine taking him up on it.
We headed on to Natchez and found the self-guided walking tour, the Natchez Trail, which was interesting. We knew from Melrose House that there was another National Historic Home that of William Johnson.
Known as the “barber” of Natchez, William Johnson began his life as a slave. His freedom at age eleven followed that of his mother Amy and his sister Adelia. After working as an apprentice to his brother –in-law James Miller, Johnson bought the barber shop in 1830 for three hundred dollars and taught the trade to free black boys. It was shortly after he established a barber shop in downtown Natchez that he began to keep a diary. The diary was a mainstay in Johnson’s life until his death in 1851.
In 1851 a boundary dispute with his neighbor Baylor Winn found the two men in court. Although, the judge ruled in Johnson’s favor, Winn was not satisfied. Winn, also a free black ambushed Johnson returning from his farm and shot him. Johnson lived long enough to name Winn as the guilty party. Through strange circumstances, Winn was never convicted of the killing. Winn and his defense argued that he was actually white and not a free person of color because of his Indian ancestry in Virginia. Therefore, the “mulatto” boy who accompanied Johnson on that fateful day could not testify against Winn. Mississippi law allowed for blacks to testify against whites in civil cases, but not in criminal cases. Two hung juries could not decide if he was white or black, so Johnson’s Killer walked free.
Although a black man, at the time of his death, Johnson’s owned sixteen slaves. He writes openly in his diary about his slaves and his trial and tribulations of being a slave owner. William Johnson’s diary encapsulates sixteen years of his life. From 1835-1851, Johnson filled fourteen leather bound volumes with diary entries. Today, his diary is an important resource for the study of free blacks, African –American History and American History in general. It is also an important part of his legacy and what sets William Johnson apart from other free blacks during the time period.
Johnson’s house on State Street in downtown Natchez continued to be owned by the family until they sold it to the Ellicott Hill Preservation Society in 1976. The house was then donated to the city who in turn donated to the National Park Service in 1990. After an extensive restoration process, the National Park Service opened the house as a museum detailing William Johnson’s life in 2005.
Our reading of the information in the house yielded another observation; it seemed that most of the freed slaves mentioned were the products of unions between the owner and a female slave, thus creating either embarrassment for the master or some feeling of responsibility for their offspring, either which may have lead them to get their embarrassment/responsibility out of the picture by setting them up away from the situation.
We finished our tour at the Pig Out Inn where I had a “pulled pork” sandwich while Julia had an ice-cream. Later I again refused the supper at the hotel so while Julia had a portion of it I ate the remainder of the previous day’s pizza.
After that we drove back into Natchez and I took far too many shots of the sun going down behind the bridge over the Mississippi – some of which turned out ok. We then stopped off at the tennis club as Hawk had told us that there was a veterans’ session on, there was play but the standard was nothing special.
During the 1830s, Mr. McMurran’s law practice prospered. He and his wife, Mary Louisa, who came from a much wealthier family than her husband, began construction on their estate, Melrose, in 1841. The family moved into the magnificent Greek-revival style home early in 1849. By the mid-1850s, John owned or held interest in five plantations, which included over 9,600 acres of land and 325 slaves.
Melrose is a mansion that is said to reflect "perfection" in its Greek Revival design. The 80-acre estate is now part of Natchez National Historical Park and is open to the public by guided tours, which we took advantage of on this occasion. The house is furnished for the period just before the Civil War. Melrose was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974 despite this date we were told that the house was operating as an upscale bed & breakfast until 1990 and some of the furnishings had never left the house in all that time.
We were shown round the house by an enthusiastic female ranger and we noted the Punka, a fan like device to keep flies off the food, positioned over the dinner table. The downstairs floor coverings were oil cloth which looked like carpet but were painted by hand and were thus easier to clean than carpet. Ironically they are covered by identical carpet to preserve them from our modern shoes, areas are left uncarpeted to allow us to view but never touch the oil cloth and we are expected to accept that the floor is entirely covered but you have to wonder.
Outside of the house there are several outbuildings including the two storied kitchen and dairy buildings, octagonal cistern houses, a smoke house, a privy, slave quarters, a barn and a carriage house. In the hierarchy of slavery the House slaves lived in the upper floor of the kitchen and dairy while the Field slaves had a series of sheds close to the stables. These Field slaves tended the grounds of the estate and it was generally accepted that their lot was significantly harder than the House slaves but nothing like as tough as slaves on the plantations. If a slave misbehaved they could be demoted down the pecking order but that was the sort of reaction you might expect from the most benign of owners, flogging, or branding were also available as a disciplinary option.
In the slave quarters there is a display of various documents relating to slavery, one story relates to the abuse both sexual and physical of a young female slave by a neighbour, with all the good intentions of Mary Lousia and like minded members of the community the best solution they could engineer was to buy the unfortunate girl when her owner had tired of her.
I took a photo of an entry in Mary L’s diary which I will type out in its entirety as it illustrates the best and worst of the paternal Southern view of slavery. She writes:
“We were preparing for the wedding of two of our young servants – two we have reared and trained in the family – the children of old and favourite servants. They were married last Thursday, in our presence, and behaved extremely well with perfect dignity and propriety. They then retired and passed the evening with some invited friends, and had a fine supper, as happy and merry a company as one would wish to see. Would Mrs. Stowe could have viewed the scene, perhaps it might have changed some of her erroneous opinions.”
The above needs no additional comment from me. Along, with the easy observation that the stable block was better appointed than the slave quarters, this brought home the reality of slavery.
As we left Melrose we observed our first Spanish Moss hanging from the trees which is another abiding image of the holiday.
As we returned to the NTP we spotted a sign for Duncan Park Tennis Center and followed its directions. Duncan Park is large and the tennis area is well sited and greets you as you enter the park. There are eight floodlit courts some viewing areas and a pro shop. In the pro shop, not unexpectedly, I met the pro, Henry Hawk Harris. Since we are of a similar vintage we were soon chatting and had I been there longer we would have played. He told me that since many of his players come across the state line from Arkansas and there is a new tennis centre opening there the Natchez response is to build him another 12 courts when previously they had balked at adding four more. I now have an open invitation to play there but I cannot imagine taking him up on it.
We headed on to Natchez and found the self-guided walking tour, the Natchez Trail, which was interesting. We knew from Melrose House that there was another National Historic Home that of William Johnson.
Known as the “barber” of Natchez, William Johnson began his life as a slave. His freedom at age eleven followed that of his mother Amy and his sister Adelia. After working as an apprentice to his brother –in-law James Miller, Johnson bought the barber shop in 1830 for three hundred dollars and taught the trade to free black boys. It was shortly after he established a barber shop in downtown Natchez that he began to keep a diary. The diary was a mainstay in Johnson’s life until his death in 1851.
In 1851 a boundary dispute with his neighbor Baylor Winn found the two men in court. Although, the judge ruled in Johnson’s favor, Winn was not satisfied. Winn, also a free black ambushed Johnson returning from his farm and shot him. Johnson lived long enough to name Winn as the guilty party. Through strange circumstances, Winn was never convicted of the killing. Winn and his defense argued that he was actually white and not a free person of color because of his Indian ancestry in Virginia. Therefore, the “mulatto” boy who accompanied Johnson on that fateful day could not testify against Winn. Mississippi law allowed for blacks to testify against whites in civil cases, but not in criminal cases. Two hung juries could not decide if he was white or black, so Johnson’s Killer walked free.
Although a black man, at the time of his death, Johnson’s owned sixteen slaves. He writes openly in his diary about his slaves and his trial and tribulations of being a slave owner. William Johnson’s diary encapsulates sixteen years of his life. From 1835-1851, Johnson filled fourteen leather bound volumes with diary entries. Today, his diary is an important resource for the study of free blacks, African –American History and American History in general. It is also an important part of his legacy and what sets William Johnson apart from other free blacks during the time period.
Johnson’s house on State Street in downtown Natchez continued to be owned by the family until they sold it to the Ellicott Hill Preservation Society in 1976. The house was then donated to the city who in turn donated to the National Park Service in 1990. After an extensive restoration process, the National Park Service opened the house as a museum detailing William Johnson’s life in 2005.
Our reading of the information in the house yielded another observation; it seemed that most of the freed slaves mentioned were the products of unions between the owner and a female slave, thus creating either embarrassment for the master or some feeling of responsibility for their offspring, either which may have lead them to get their embarrassment/responsibility out of the picture by setting them up away from the situation.
We finished our tour at the Pig Out Inn where I had a “pulled pork” sandwich while Julia had an ice-cream. Later I again refused the supper at the hotel so while Julia had a portion of it I ate the remainder of the previous day’s pizza.
After that we drove back into Natchez and I took far too many shots of the sun going down behind the bridge over the Mississippi – some of which turned out ok. We then stopped off at the tennis club as Hawk had told us that there was a veterans’ session on, there was play but the standard was nothing special.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Deep South US Tour - Fall 2011 - Day 9
Jackson was one of our shortest stops after breakfast we headed on for Natchez knowing that we intended to break our journey at Vicksburg.
The basics of Vicksburg are:
In May and June of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. This was the culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war. With the loss of Pemberton’s army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading ultimately to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies.
Dates - May 18 - July 4, 1863
Union Commander - Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Commander - John C. Pemberton
Forces Engaged - 77,000 Union v 33,000 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 10,142 Union v 9,091 Confederate
Result - Union Victory
We arrived at the Vicksburg National Military Park by lunch time. By the time we got to Natchez we had traveled the other two sides of a rectangle than we would have if we had taken the route given by our computer. It must have been a similar distance overall but perhaps on slower roads.
The Mississippi River was important in the Civil War because whoever controlled the river controlled the nation, and Vicksburg built atop a 300-foot-high bluff overlooking a bend in the river, occupied perhaps the most strategic location. President Abraham Lincoln called Vicksburg "the key" and believed that "the war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket."
The defenders were very well dug in and had the advantage of the higher ground. The strength of the defense meant that Grant settled in for a siege during which the town of Vicksburg suffered from the regular shelling and starvation as supplies were cut off from them. The rebels capitulated on July the 4th and this has meant that the date, Independence Day, was never celebrated in the area until 1945.
We watched a video presentation in the visitors’ centre which made clear how the events had progressed and from there we drove round the marked route of the battlefield tour with a better idea of what we were seeing.
The battlefield tour is impressive, at all the numbered stops we found the markers that we had grown accustomed to, field artillery to indicate the positions of batteries and many monuments to troops from both sides. Notable amongst the monuments is one to African American troops, mainly freed slaves, fighting on the Union side. The level of prejudice against blacks even amongst the Northern population was such that initially black troops were only given supporting duties away from the front line. At Vicksburg they struck a blow for their respect when such a group were attacked by greater numbers of a Confederate raiding party and drove them off using their discharged rifles as clubs. On occasions where Northern troops in the front line were overrun by Southern forces the white soldiers were captured and the black troops were killed.
About halfway round the tour we had a great view of the Mississippi from the defenders position atop the cliffs and here we saw a unique exhibit. The Ironclad Gunboat Cairo, which was sunk by a mine, though confusingly at the time such mines were called torpedoes, in December 1862, has been raised from the riverbed where the mud and silt had preserved it remarkably.
By studying contemporary documents and maps, Edwin C. Bearss, Historian at Vicksburg National Military Park, was able to plot the approximate site of the wreck. With the help of a pocket compass and iron bar probes, Bearss and two companions, Don Jacks and Warren Grabau, set out to discover the grave of the Cairo in 1956. The three searchers were reasonably convinced they had found the Cairo, but three years lapsed before divers brought up armored port covers to positively confirm the find. A heavy accumulation of silt, swift current, and the ever-muddy river deterred the divers as they explored the gunboat. Local enthusiasm and interest began to grow in 1960 with the recovery of the pilothouse, an 8-inch smoothbore cannon, its white oak carriage and other artifacts well preserved by the Yazoo mud. With financial support from the State of Mississippi, the Warren County Board of Supervisors and funds raised locally, efforts to salvage the gunboat began in earnest.
Hopes of lifting the ironclad and her cargo of artifacts intact were crushed in October of 1964 when the three inch cables being used to lift the Cairo cut deeply into its wooden hull. It then became a question of saving as much of the vessel as possible. A decision was made to cut the Cairo into three sections. By the end of December the battered remains were put on barges and towed to Vicksburg. In the summer of 1965 the barges carrying the Cairo were towed to Ingalls Shipyard on the Gulf Coast in Pascagula, Mississippi. There the armor was removed, cleaned and stored. The two engines were taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. Sections of the hull were braced internally and a sprinkler system was operated continually to keep the white oak structural timbers from warping and checking.
In 1972, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation authorizing the National Park Service to accept title to the Cairo and restore the gunboat for display in Vicksburg National Military Park. Delays in funding the project halted progress until June of 1977, when the vessel was transported to the park and partially reconstructed on a concrete foundation near the Vicksburg National Cemetery. The recovery of artifacts from the Cairo revealed a treasure trove of weapons, munitions, naval stores and personal gear of the sailors who served on board. The gunboat and its artifacts can now be seen along the tour road at the U.S.S. Cairo Museum.
Those reconstructing the ship have struck an elegant balance between rebuilding it and leaving it a skeleton, they have only added new structure where it is vital to convey the design and purpose of the ship.
It must have been 3.00pm when we left the VNMP and continued on to Natchez. The final part of the trip being on the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is a 444-mile drive through exceptional scenery and 10000 years of North American history. We travelled much less than 400 miles on it but it was pleasant to drive at 50mph with few cars in sight and no pressure on our time. As we drove we noticed a round object by the edge of the road, slowing down we saw it was an armadillo about the size of a softball, it was walking briskly alongside the road and as we progressed we saw quite a few more.
We successfully checked into the Bays Inn of Natchez which along with a free buffet breakfast it advertised a free dinner from 5.30pm. Our timing was great we had time to settle into our room and wander back to the foyer to check out dinner. Unfortunately for me the one pot, first come, first served, meal was Chili Con Carne which I dislike so Julia had a small portion and I ate some cornbread. On these holidays we rarely bother with lunch often waiting until we reach that day’s hotel to have a mug of tea and some cookies before we go out to eat properly in the evening.
This night we drove into Natchez but to all intents and purposes, apart from the casino, it was shut. We navigated back to the hotel and ate at Pizza hut across the road from the motel. It was noisy and not great but any port in a storm.
One of our friends had recommended editing a day from Natchez and, had we done so, we would have set off in the morning with no good feelings about the place.
The basics of Vicksburg are:
In May and June of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. This was the culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war. With the loss of Pemberton’s army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading ultimately to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies.
Dates - May 18 - July 4, 1863
Union Commander - Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Commander - John C. Pemberton
Forces Engaged - 77,000 Union v 33,000 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 10,142 Union v 9,091 Confederate
Result - Union Victory
We arrived at the Vicksburg National Military Park by lunch time. By the time we got to Natchez we had traveled the other two sides of a rectangle than we would have if we had taken the route given by our computer. It must have been a similar distance overall but perhaps on slower roads.
The Mississippi River was important in the Civil War because whoever controlled the river controlled the nation, and Vicksburg built atop a 300-foot-high bluff overlooking a bend in the river, occupied perhaps the most strategic location. President Abraham Lincoln called Vicksburg "the key" and believed that "the war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket."
The defenders were very well dug in and had the advantage of the higher ground. The strength of the defense meant that Grant settled in for a siege during which the town of Vicksburg suffered from the regular shelling and starvation as supplies were cut off from them. The rebels capitulated on July the 4th and this has meant that the date, Independence Day, was never celebrated in the area until 1945.
We watched a video presentation in the visitors’ centre which made clear how the events had progressed and from there we drove round the marked route of the battlefield tour with a better idea of what we were seeing.
The battlefield tour is impressive, at all the numbered stops we found the markers that we had grown accustomed to, field artillery to indicate the positions of batteries and many monuments to troops from both sides. Notable amongst the monuments is one to African American troops, mainly freed slaves, fighting on the Union side. The level of prejudice against blacks even amongst the Northern population was such that initially black troops were only given supporting duties away from the front line. At Vicksburg they struck a blow for their respect when such a group were attacked by greater numbers of a Confederate raiding party and drove them off using their discharged rifles as clubs. On occasions where Northern troops in the front line were overrun by Southern forces the white soldiers were captured and the black troops were killed.
About halfway round the tour we had a great view of the Mississippi from the defenders position atop the cliffs and here we saw a unique exhibit. The Ironclad Gunboat Cairo, which was sunk by a mine, though confusingly at the time such mines were called torpedoes, in December 1862, has been raised from the riverbed where the mud and silt had preserved it remarkably.
By studying contemporary documents and maps, Edwin C. Bearss, Historian at Vicksburg National Military Park, was able to plot the approximate site of the wreck. With the help of a pocket compass and iron bar probes, Bearss and two companions, Don Jacks and Warren Grabau, set out to discover the grave of the Cairo in 1956. The three searchers were reasonably convinced they had found the Cairo, but three years lapsed before divers brought up armored port covers to positively confirm the find. A heavy accumulation of silt, swift current, and the ever-muddy river deterred the divers as they explored the gunboat. Local enthusiasm and interest began to grow in 1960 with the recovery of the pilothouse, an 8-inch smoothbore cannon, its white oak carriage and other artifacts well preserved by the Yazoo mud. With financial support from the State of Mississippi, the Warren County Board of Supervisors and funds raised locally, efforts to salvage the gunboat began in earnest.
Hopes of lifting the ironclad and her cargo of artifacts intact were crushed in October of 1964 when the three inch cables being used to lift the Cairo cut deeply into its wooden hull. It then became a question of saving as much of the vessel as possible. A decision was made to cut the Cairo into three sections. By the end of December the battered remains were put on barges and towed to Vicksburg. In the summer of 1965 the barges carrying the Cairo were towed to Ingalls Shipyard on the Gulf Coast in Pascagula, Mississippi. There the armor was removed, cleaned and stored. The two engines were taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. Sections of the hull were braced internally and a sprinkler system was operated continually to keep the white oak structural timbers from warping and checking.
In 1972, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation authorizing the National Park Service to accept title to the Cairo and restore the gunboat for display in Vicksburg National Military Park. Delays in funding the project halted progress until June of 1977, when the vessel was transported to the park and partially reconstructed on a concrete foundation near the Vicksburg National Cemetery. The recovery of artifacts from the Cairo revealed a treasure trove of weapons, munitions, naval stores and personal gear of the sailors who served on board. The gunboat and its artifacts can now be seen along the tour road at the U.S.S. Cairo Museum.
Those reconstructing the ship have struck an elegant balance between rebuilding it and leaving it a skeleton, they have only added new structure where it is vital to convey the design and purpose of the ship.
It must have been 3.00pm when we left the VNMP and continued on to Natchez. The final part of the trip being on the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is a 444-mile drive through exceptional scenery and 10000 years of North American history. We travelled much less than 400 miles on it but it was pleasant to drive at 50mph with few cars in sight and no pressure on our time. As we drove we noticed a round object by the edge of the road, slowing down we saw it was an armadillo about the size of a softball, it was walking briskly alongside the road and as we progressed we saw quite a few more.
We successfully checked into the Bays Inn of Natchez which along with a free buffet breakfast it advertised a free dinner from 5.30pm. Our timing was great we had time to settle into our room and wander back to the foyer to check out dinner. Unfortunately for me the one pot, first come, first served, meal was Chili Con Carne which I dislike so Julia had a small portion and I ate some cornbread. On these holidays we rarely bother with lunch often waiting until we reach that day’s hotel to have a mug of tea and some cookies before we go out to eat properly in the evening.
This night we drove into Natchez but to all intents and purposes, apart from the casino, it was shut. We navigated back to the hotel and ate at Pizza hut across the road from the motel. It was noisy and not great but any port in a storm.
One of our friends had recommended editing a day from Natchez and, had we done so, we would have set off in the morning with no good feelings about the place.
Monday, 28 November 2011
Deep South Tour - Fall 2011 - Day 8
Day 8
Again we refused the hotel breakfast and set off to find Sun Studios before traveling on to Jackson. Having parked at our objective quite close to the Lorraine Motel we found that the studio tours and the building opened at 10.00am. We walked up the street less than a block to find a bar open which would serve us with breakfast. We repeated our order from the previous day but this time we had a considerable wait for our food to come. Initially in a window seat we moved to sit at the bar to get out of the draught.
The owner was coming and going between the bar and the backroom and kept apologizing for the delay – we got the distinct impression the whole place was better suited to the evening! While we chatted to the manager at the bar he asked what we had seen so far and we mentioned Jack Daniels and noted that he had a dispenser of Jack & Honey opposite where we were sitting. I asked what that entailed; he said exactly what it sounds like and drew us off a tot to try, just past 10.00 in the morning. It was sweet and smooth but pretty strong. The food when it came was good and we returned to Sun studios. Julia’s research had led her to the belief that the tour was free but we had to pay over $12 and sign up for the 11.30am tour.
As we waited for our tour we chatted with a lady whose partner, a scot, was on the 10.30 tour, she had decided against it as she had done the tour before and had worked there as a studio musician.
From our tour guide, Phoenix, a musician trying to break into the business, we learnt that Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Reputedly the first rock-and-roll single, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats' "Rocket 88" was recorded there in 1951 with song composer Ike Turner on keyboards, leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll. Blues and R&B artists like Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Little Milton, B.B. King, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, and Rosco Gordon recorded there in the early 1950s.
Rock-and-roll, country music, and rockabilly artists, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, Warren Smith, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded there throughout the mid to late 1950s until the studio outgrew its Union Avenue location. Sam Phillips opened the larger Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio, better known as Phillips Recording, in 1959 to take the place of the older facility.
In 1969, Sam Phillips sold the label to Shelby Singleton, and there was no recording-related or label-related activity again in the building until the September 1985 Class of '55 recording sessions with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash.
In 1987, the original building housing the Sun Records label and Memphis Recording Service was reopened by Gary Hardy as "Sun Studio," a recording label and tourist attraction that has attracted many notable artists, such as U2, Def Leppard, and Ringo Starr.
Phoenix played us samples of the music that grew up there and he made the point that Elvis had to work very hard to convince Phillips that he had talent; the owners dream was to promote the rougher voice of Howlin’ Wolf.
When we had finished upstairs we took the place of the previous tour downstairs in the recording studio part of the building. The fact that it is still the iconic site that it is comes about by pure luck; by the mid 1960s, Phillips had lost interest in recording and had instead branched out into radio. He opened several radio stations, beginning in the late 1950s, and Sun lost its reputation as an innovative recording studio. In 1968, Sun released its last record. In 1969, Mercury Records label producer Shelby Singleton purchased the Sun label from Phillips. Singleton moved the firm to Nashville, and sold the building to a plumbing company, who eventually sold it to an auto parts store, despite all of this the soundproofing was never removed from the walls and ceiling so it was a simple process to restore the studio fittings in 1987. The amusing thing is that the tours and gift shop are so popular the recordings take place mainly at night.
Phillips is held up as an example of poor business practice because he sold Elvis before he became huge but Phoenix contended that the sale to RCA was a good deal at the time. As Phillips saw his label expand massively due to the success of Presley's records, Radio stations and record stores all over the South were eager to play his records, and Phillips realized Sun was not large enough to break him nationally. In February 1955, Phillips met with Colonel Tom Parker, a man as famous for his hustling skills as his managerial skills. Parker persuaded Phillips that Presley needed a national record label to help him further his career, and after several more months Phillips agreed to sell Presley's contract for a $35,000 buy out fee. At the time, $35,000 was an unheard of amount of money for a recording artist's contract, especially one who had yet to prove himself on the national stage.
Although Presley didn't want to leave Sun, Phillips sold his contract because he needed the money to settle debts and pay off costs of a copyright-infringement suit. Phillips, however, insisted that he only offered Presley's contract for $35,000 because he believed it would put off any other record label from purchasing it. Regardless, Presley signed a record contract with RCA Victor in November 1955, and left Sun. Phillips used some of the money to further advance the careers of his other artists, by now featuring Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison.
We enjoyed our tour and soon set off for Jackson, it was a long ride in damp conditions and when we reached the hotel, La Quinta Inn, we settled there rather than exploring the area.
That evening we walked across the interstate over a bridge and settled into Chilis for their generous meal for two for $20. I also scored by ordering a beer and getting two as it was the early evening offer. I suspect that this offer was being well used by a large group of guys eating and watching a football game because strong opinions were being expressed on every play – it really enhanced the atmosphere.
Again we refused the hotel breakfast and set off to find Sun Studios before traveling on to Jackson. Having parked at our objective quite close to the Lorraine Motel we found that the studio tours and the building opened at 10.00am. We walked up the street less than a block to find a bar open which would serve us with breakfast. We repeated our order from the previous day but this time we had a considerable wait for our food to come. Initially in a window seat we moved to sit at the bar to get out of the draught.
The owner was coming and going between the bar and the backroom and kept apologizing for the delay – we got the distinct impression the whole place was better suited to the evening! While we chatted to the manager at the bar he asked what we had seen so far and we mentioned Jack Daniels and noted that he had a dispenser of Jack & Honey opposite where we were sitting. I asked what that entailed; he said exactly what it sounds like and drew us off a tot to try, just past 10.00 in the morning. It was sweet and smooth but pretty strong. The food when it came was good and we returned to Sun studios. Julia’s research had led her to the belief that the tour was free but we had to pay over $12 and sign up for the 11.30am tour.
As we waited for our tour we chatted with a lady whose partner, a scot, was on the 10.30 tour, she had decided against it as she had done the tour before and had worked there as a studio musician.
From our tour guide, Phoenix, a musician trying to break into the business, we learnt that Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Reputedly the first rock-and-roll single, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats' "Rocket 88" was recorded there in 1951 with song composer Ike Turner on keyboards, leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll. Blues and R&B artists like Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Little Milton, B.B. King, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, and Rosco Gordon recorded there in the early 1950s.
Rock-and-roll, country music, and rockabilly artists, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, Warren Smith, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded there throughout the mid to late 1950s until the studio outgrew its Union Avenue location. Sam Phillips opened the larger Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio, better known as Phillips Recording, in 1959 to take the place of the older facility.
In 1969, Sam Phillips sold the label to Shelby Singleton, and there was no recording-related or label-related activity again in the building until the September 1985 Class of '55 recording sessions with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash.
In 1987, the original building housing the Sun Records label and Memphis Recording Service was reopened by Gary Hardy as "Sun Studio," a recording label and tourist attraction that has attracted many notable artists, such as U2, Def Leppard, and Ringo Starr.
Phoenix played us samples of the music that grew up there and he made the point that Elvis had to work very hard to convince Phillips that he had talent; the owners dream was to promote the rougher voice of Howlin’ Wolf.
When we had finished upstairs we took the place of the previous tour downstairs in the recording studio part of the building. The fact that it is still the iconic site that it is comes about by pure luck; by the mid 1960s, Phillips had lost interest in recording and had instead branched out into radio. He opened several radio stations, beginning in the late 1950s, and Sun lost its reputation as an innovative recording studio. In 1968, Sun released its last record. In 1969, Mercury Records label producer Shelby Singleton purchased the Sun label from Phillips. Singleton moved the firm to Nashville, and sold the building to a plumbing company, who eventually sold it to an auto parts store, despite all of this the soundproofing was never removed from the walls and ceiling so it was a simple process to restore the studio fittings in 1987. The amusing thing is that the tours and gift shop are so popular the recordings take place mainly at night.
Phillips is held up as an example of poor business practice because he sold Elvis before he became huge but Phoenix contended that the sale to RCA was a good deal at the time. As Phillips saw his label expand massively due to the success of Presley's records, Radio stations and record stores all over the South were eager to play his records, and Phillips realized Sun was not large enough to break him nationally. In February 1955, Phillips met with Colonel Tom Parker, a man as famous for his hustling skills as his managerial skills. Parker persuaded Phillips that Presley needed a national record label to help him further his career, and after several more months Phillips agreed to sell Presley's contract for a $35,000 buy out fee. At the time, $35,000 was an unheard of amount of money for a recording artist's contract, especially one who had yet to prove himself on the national stage.
Although Presley didn't want to leave Sun, Phillips sold his contract because he needed the money to settle debts and pay off costs of a copyright-infringement suit. Phillips, however, insisted that he only offered Presley's contract for $35,000 because he believed it would put off any other record label from purchasing it. Regardless, Presley signed a record contract with RCA Victor in November 1955, and left Sun. Phillips used some of the money to further advance the careers of his other artists, by now featuring Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison.
We enjoyed our tour and soon set off for Jackson, it was a long ride in damp conditions and when we reached the hotel, La Quinta Inn, we settled there rather than exploring the area.
That evening we walked across the interstate over a bridge and settled into Chilis for their generous meal for two for $20. I also scored by ordering a beer and getting two as it was the early evening offer. I suspect that this offer was being well used by a large group of guys eating and watching a football game because strong opinions were being expressed on every play – it really enhanced the atmosphere.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Deep South - Fall 2011 - Day 7 - Memphis
The following day we were based in Memphis and had two of the most popular visits to do, even at this point without benefit of hindsight, we were keener on one than the other. We SatNaved out of the hotel to Graceland. The hotel breakfast was not complimentary so we set off without eating and right after paying $10 to park in the Graceland car park we walked next door to a great diner. Julia had a “short stack” of pancakes and I had bacon and fried eggs “over easy”. Great food and great value. Annoyingly another customer was also going to visit Graceland and the staff were quite happy fort him to leave his car on their parking lot while he did so!
While we were eating a party of four arrived, both men heavily tattooed with Aryan symbols and they ordered big breakfasts – I hope the black lady cooking their meals either didn’t see their ink or exercised some restraint in what she added to their food.
Heading back next door into the ticket sales we opted for Platinum tours at $35 each, this gave us self guided tours of the house and grounds, his car collection, his private planes and other bits and pieces. We then stood in line for the shuttle bus; we managed to be immediately followed by a mother, daughter and two rowdy sons. We were issued with our tour headsets. Two shuttles came and went and the third took us and the annoying boys over the road into the grounds. Julia and I are not great Elvis fans so it is fair to say that the “must see” attraction of Graceland left us a bit cool. We entered the house and were led by the commentary round the ground floor and basement. Inside the house we could use non-flash photography and outside we were free to take unlimited pictures. The furnishings were clearly cutting edge for their time, expensive but on the flashy side. The lounge was the most normal room with a white three piece suit and coffee table but next to it was a music room with a grand piano. Mirrors were not in short supply wherever you looked. We, like many of Elvis’ actual guests, were not allowed upstairs. The dinning room was set out with the best service and looked like a plantation home rather than of its real period. We passed a kitchen but apart from it looking like one we updated at home there was nothing notable about it. From his Jungle room, furnished with African artifacts and fitted carpet on the floor and ceiling, we went downstairs to his TV room, where based on something he had read about a president, he watched three sets simultaneously, Next came the pool room, one of the endearing things I noted was that as a group Elvis and his associates were always playing or competing with each other.
After the house the tour seemed to me to be more about the records and films rather than the man but there were two or three interesting glimpses, in the garage block there was an improvised shooting gallery complete with a man shaped target pinned to some sizable chunks of wood, railway sleepers? Typical of the cult status of Elvis his discarded brass, cartridge cases, were displayed with reverence. He had also enjoyed playing Racquetball so in 1975 he built a court in the grounds of the house; it was state of the art including a weight training area, jacuzzi, the full size court with a viewing gallery and luxury sitting area. Sadly, from my point of view, only the seating area survived, the court area was now another gallery of his record successes.
Leaving this area we arrived at the Meditation Garden. Elvis who died at the estate on August 16, 1977, his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother, are buried there. A memorial gravestone for Presley's twin brother, Jesse Garon, who died at birth, is also at the site. We didn’t linger here and we soon rejoined the shuttle bus which returned us to the other side of the road,
We checked out the collection of Elvis’ cars without a great deal of enthusiasm but it was much more interesting to get aboard his private planes. It brings home the real wealth of someone who owns a jet airliner and a smaller plane for more intimate journeys.
By now we had overdosed on Elvis and set off to find the National Museum of Civil Rights placed with a deft touch at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated.
The SatNav again took us accurately to the area but there was something going on and the parking lot was closed and several streets blocked off. We worried for a bit that the museum was also closed but we were able to park a few blocks away and walk back.
Approaching the Lorraine Motel you could easily fool yourself into thinking it is open for business but entering takes you into the most thought provoking series of displays which I defy anyone to pass through without shedding a tear.
Before dealing with our museum experience here is a piece of research about the motel/museum’s history.
The first hotel on the site was the 16 room Windsor Hotel built on the northern side of the complex around 1925 which was renamed the Marquette Hotel. Walter Bailey purchased it in 1945 and renamed it for his wife Loree and the song Sweet Lorraine. During segregation it was an upscale accommodation that catered to a black clientele. He added a second floor and then drive up access for more rooms on the south side of the complex converting the name from Lorraine Hotel to Lorraine Motel. Its guests included musicians going to Stax Records including Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin, Ethel Waters, Otis Redding, The Staple Singers and Wilson Pickett.
Following the assassination of King, Bailey left Room 306 outside of which King was assassinated and the adjoining room 307 unoccupied as a memorial to King. Bailey's wife Loree, who suffered a stroke hours after the assassination, died five days later. He converted the other motel rooms to single room occupancy.
Bailey worked with Chuck Scruggs, program director of WDIA and attorney D'Army Bailey, to raise funds to "Save the Lorraine" in the newly formed Martin Luther King Memorial Foundation and bought the motel on the Shelby County Courthouse steps for $144,000 following foreclosure in December 1982. It changed its name to Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation in 1984. The Lorraine closed as a motel on March 2, 1988 when sheriff's deputies forcibly evicted the last holdout tenant, Jacqueline Smith, in preparation for an $8.8 million overhaul. Bailey died in July 1988. Smithsonian Institution curator Benjamin Lawless created a design for saving historical aspects. The Nashville, Tennessee firm McKissack and McKissack, which claims to be the oldest minority owned architect firm in the United States, was tapped to design a modern museum on grounds of the motel that were not directly related to the assassination.
The museum was dedicated on July 4, 1991 and officially opened to the public on Sept. 28, 1991.
In 1999 the Foundation acquired the Young and Morrow Building and its associated vacant lot on a hill on the west side of Mulberry. A tunnel was built under the lot connecting it with the motel. The Foundation became the custodian of the police and evidence files associated with the assassination including the rifle and fatal bullet which are on display in a 12,800 sq. foot exhibit in the building which opened Sept. 28, 2002.
Once inside the museum we were made really welcome, the staff seemed to care deeply that we should get the best out of the experience and the free commentary headset was brilliant although if you only followed its instructions you would be a little rushed through the displays. The connecting route through the building was brilliantly designed and the experiences differed from hands-on to video. There is far too much to list and the rule against photography inside means that I have no easy reminders of the exhibits but perhaps that makes one concentrate on what you are experiencing. I saw with horror photos of black men being lynched in front of large crowds. I sat on a bus next to Rosa Parkes as she was ordered to go to the back, the irony being if I had got on that bus she would normally have given up her seat to me. I saw a Woolworth’s food counter being peacefully occupied by black students, trained how to take a beating without fighting back. I passed a burnt out Greyhound bus used by the freedom riders. I walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. I saw Martin Luther King’s cell in Birmingham Jail. I experienced the triumph of the March on Washington and with some foreboding I heard MLK’s words: Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.From there you arrive at his motel room, left untouched because even then people recognised the history in that moment, and looking out you see the wreath on the balcony – it is a very powerful moment.
In our case we realised that the museum was half an hour from closing and we went downstairs, the staff urged us to go across the road to the Young and Morrow Building at 422 Main Street on the west side of Mulberry up a small hill across the street from the motel which was the site where James Earl Ray initially confessed (and later recanted) to shooting King from a second story bathroom window as well as the Canipe’s Amusement Store at 418 Main Street next door to the rooming house where the alleged murder weapon with Ray's fingerprints was found. Included on the grounds is the brushy lot that stood between the rooming house and the motel where a differing theory says the fatal shot came from a different weapon at ground level in a conspiracy involving Loyd Jowers who operated Jim's Grill which opened onto the lot.
Here we had little enough time to take in all the exhibits but we saw the bathroom window from which James Earl Ray probably fired and, in another claim to fame, we saw the actual assassination weapon, the only one ever released by the FBI after any of the famous assassinations.
As the museum closed we left with very deep thoughts, the deepest of which is, and always will be, would I have had the courage to stand up and be counted?
The area was crowded because of the River Arts Fest and, despite our sombre mood, it was a vibrant and tuneful wander as we took a roundabout route to the parked car.
Back at the hotel we decided to walk to the TGIF restaurant we had seen from the shuttle the previous night, we set off and needed to return to the hotel after five or so blocks because neither of us had picked up any money. We made it on the second attempt and we had a great meal at a very reasonable price before getting a relatively early night in anticipation of another 200 mile plus journey to Jackson the next day.
While we were eating a party of four arrived, both men heavily tattooed with Aryan symbols and they ordered big breakfasts – I hope the black lady cooking their meals either didn’t see their ink or exercised some restraint in what she added to their food.
Heading back next door into the ticket sales we opted for Platinum tours at $35 each, this gave us self guided tours of the house and grounds, his car collection, his private planes and other bits and pieces. We then stood in line for the shuttle bus; we managed to be immediately followed by a mother, daughter and two rowdy sons. We were issued with our tour headsets. Two shuttles came and went and the third took us and the annoying boys over the road into the grounds. Julia and I are not great Elvis fans so it is fair to say that the “must see” attraction of Graceland left us a bit cool. We entered the house and were led by the commentary round the ground floor and basement. Inside the house we could use non-flash photography and outside we were free to take unlimited pictures. The furnishings were clearly cutting edge for their time, expensive but on the flashy side. The lounge was the most normal room with a white three piece suit and coffee table but next to it was a music room with a grand piano. Mirrors were not in short supply wherever you looked. We, like many of Elvis’ actual guests, were not allowed upstairs. The dinning room was set out with the best service and looked like a plantation home rather than of its real period. We passed a kitchen but apart from it looking like one we updated at home there was nothing notable about it. From his Jungle room, furnished with African artifacts and fitted carpet on the floor and ceiling, we went downstairs to his TV room, where based on something he had read about a president, he watched three sets simultaneously, Next came the pool room, one of the endearing things I noted was that as a group Elvis and his associates were always playing or competing with each other.
After the house the tour seemed to me to be more about the records and films rather than the man but there were two or three interesting glimpses, in the garage block there was an improvised shooting gallery complete with a man shaped target pinned to some sizable chunks of wood, railway sleepers? Typical of the cult status of Elvis his discarded brass, cartridge cases, were displayed with reverence. He had also enjoyed playing Racquetball so in 1975 he built a court in the grounds of the house; it was state of the art including a weight training area, jacuzzi, the full size court with a viewing gallery and luxury sitting area. Sadly, from my point of view, only the seating area survived, the court area was now another gallery of his record successes.
Leaving this area we arrived at the Meditation Garden. Elvis who died at the estate on August 16, 1977, his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother, are buried there. A memorial gravestone for Presley's twin brother, Jesse Garon, who died at birth, is also at the site. We didn’t linger here and we soon rejoined the shuttle bus which returned us to the other side of the road,
We checked out the collection of Elvis’ cars without a great deal of enthusiasm but it was much more interesting to get aboard his private planes. It brings home the real wealth of someone who owns a jet airliner and a smaller plane for more intimate journeys.
By now we had overdosed on Elvis and set off to find the National Museum of Civil Rights placed with a deft touch at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated.
The SatNav again took us accurately to the area but there was something going on and the parking lot was closed and several streets blocked off. We worried for a bit that the museum was also closed but we were able to park a few blocks away and walk back.
Approaching the Lorraine Motel you could easily fool yourself into thinking it is open for business but entering takes you into the most thought provoking series of displays which I defy anyone to pass through without shedding a tear.
Before dealing with our museum experience here is a piece of research about the motel/museum’s history.
The first hotel on the site was the 16 room Windsor Hotel built on the northern side of the complex around 1925 which was renamed the Marquette Hotel. Walter Bailey purchased it in 1945 and renamed it for his wife Loree and the song Sweet Lorraine. During segregation it was an upscale accommodation that catered to a black clientele. He added a second floor and then drive up access for more rooms on the south side of the complex converting the name from Lorraine Hotel to Lorraine Motel. Its guests included musicians going to Stax Records including Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin, Ethel Waters, Otis Redding, The Staple Singers and Wilson Pickett.
Following the assassination of King, Bailey left Room 306 outside of which King was assassinated and the adjoining room 307 unoccupied as a memorial to King. Bailey's wife Loree, who suffered a stroke hours after the assassination, died five days later. He converted the other motel rooms to single room occupancy.
Bailey worked with Chuck Scruggs, program director of WDIA and attorney D'Army Bailey, to raise funds to "Save the Lorraine" in the newly formed Martin Luther King Memorial Foundation and bought the motel on the Shelby County Courthouse steps for $144,000 following foreclosure in December 1982. It changed its name to Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundation in 1984. The Lorraine closed as a motel on March 2, 1988 when sheriff's deputies forcibly evicted the last holdout tenant, Jacqueline Smith, in preparation for an $8.8 million overhaul. Bailey died in July 1988. Smithsonian Institution curator Benjamin Lawless created a design for saving historical aspects. The Nashville, Tennessee firm McKissack and McKissack, which claims to be the oldest minority owned architect firm in the United States, was tapped to design a modern museum on grounds of the motel that were not directly related to the assassination.
The museum was dedicated on July 4, 1991 and officially opened to the public on Sept. 28, 1991.
In 1999 the Foundation acquired the Young and Morrow Building and its associated vacant lot on a hill on the west side of Mulberry. A tunnel was built under the lot connecting it with the motel. The Foundation became the custodian of the police and evidence files associated with the assassination including the rifle and fatal bullet which are on display in a 12,800 sq. foot exhibit in the building which opened Sept. 28, 2002.
Once inside the museum we were made really welcome, the staff seemed to care deeply that we should get the best out of the experience and the free commentary headset was brilliant although if you only followed its instructions you would be a little rushed through the displays. The connecting route through the building was brilliantly designed and the experiences differed from hands-on to video. There is far too much to list and the rule against photography inside means that I have no easy reminders of the exhibits but perhaps that makes one concentrate on what you are experiencing. I saw with horror photos of black men being lynched in front of large crowds. I sat on a bus next to Rosa Parkes as she was ordered to go to the back, the irony being if I had got on that bus she would normally have given up her seat to me. I saw a Woolworth’s food counter being peacefully occupied by black students, trained how to take a beating without fighting back. I passed a burnt out Greyhound bus used by the freedom riders. I walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. I saw Martin Luther King’s cell in Birmingham Jail. I experienced the triumph of the March on Washington and with some foreboding I heard MLK’s words: Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.From there you arrive at his motel room, left untouched because even then people recognised the history in that moment, and looking out you see the wreath on the balcony – it is a very powerful moment.
In our case we realised that the museum was half an hour from closing and we went downstairs, the staff urged us to go across the road to the Young and Morrow Building at 422 Main Street on the west side of Mulberry up a small hill across the street from the motel which was the site where James Earl Ray initially confessed (and later recanted) to shooting King from a second story bathroom window as well as the Canipe’s Amusement Store at 418 Main Street next door to the rooming house where the alleged murder weapon with Ray's fingerprints was found. Included on the grounds is the brushy lot that stood between the rooming house and the motel where a differing theory says the fatal shot came from a different weapon at ground level in a conspiracy involving Loyd Jowers who operated Jim's Grill which opened onto the lot.
Here we had little enough time to take in all the exhibits but we saw the bathroom window from which James Earl Ray probably fired and, in another claim to fame, we saw the actual assassination weapon, the only one ever released by the FBI after any of the famous assassinations.
As the museum closed we left with very deep thoughts, the deepest of which is, and always will be, would I have had the courage to stand up and be counted?
The area was crowded because of the River Arts Fest and, despite our sombre mood, it was a vibrant and tuneful wander as we took a roundabout route to the parked car.
Back at the hotel we decided to walk to the TGIF restaurant we had seen from the shuttle the previous night, we set off and needed to return to the hotel after five or so blocks because neither of us had picked up any money. We made it on the second attempt and we had a great meal at a very reasonable price before getting a relatively early night in anticipation of another 200 mile plus journey to Jackson the next day.
Friday, 25 November 2011
Deep South - Fall 2011 - Day 6
Nashville was only a one night stop; we had removed a night there from our plan in order to fit in basketball matches on the Saturday before we set off. We knew that this would make seeing much of Nashville a problem particularly when we knew the journey on was over 200 miles.
Our best solution was a bus tour in the morning before moving on, we chose as we have done before Gray Line Buses and this time it turned out to be a tram type bus where I was able to take my photos through an open window rather than through glass. Before we bought our ticket at the riverside terminus we had to find somewhere to park. We located a parking lot which was pay and display but since firstly the ticket machine refused to work and secondly no other vehicles were displaying any tickets we decided to take a chance on leaving the car there without doing either.
The strange thing with the Hop On Hop Off system is that the drivers who commentate as they drive have little or no incentive to check passengers have a ticket as they are paid to drive and their tips add to their income so the more passengers the more chance of a tip.
From the terminus we were directed to the start of the circuit where there were people also buying tickets, since we had ours already we got straight onto the bus, without showing anything to the driver. We set off when the bus was full and soon learned that the bus driver/guide by day was a musician by night. He was very informative and he must have been quite successful as a musician because he seemed to have played in pretty much every venue he mentioned on the tour. As we were enjoying his commentary and also we needed to be on the road again as soon as possible we didn’t take advantage of the HOHO option but had we done so it would have been at the Centenary Park where there was a brilliant time line covering the history of the city.
As a taster of Nashville the bus ride was great; we got a personal buzz when we passed the Red Rooster and our driver told us what a great venue it was but there again he complimented the food and that was a step too far in our opinion.
Returning to the start we left the bus, tipped the driver, and took away our unchecked tickets. The car was fine, not decorated by a parking ticket and we set off for Memphis via the Shiloh Battle Site National park. This was only a short detour from our direct route and well worth it.
Even before entering the visitors centre we happened on a school party being shown how to load and fire a Civil War musket – being American kids I bet half of them already knew more than enough about shooting but it was interesting to us. The young lady dressed in Confederate Grey fired three rounds and even such a small volley of fire made us realise just how the noise and smoke would have made the battles a hell on earth. We were told later at a similar demonstration it was difficult for inexperienced soldiers to know if their gun had fired properly in the heat of battle; a fact illustrated by the recorded finding of muskets with up to ten loads of undischarged gun powder down their barrel. These were weapons that remained intact to be discovered later there must have been more in that state that finally ignited the powder and blew up the gun and gunner.
The battle takes its name from the Shiloh chapel which was pretty central to the action and on the Shiloh National Military Park there is a battle trail of some 30 miles that we drove in the car and followed on the free map which we were given in the visitor centre.
As I decided earlier I will give the bare facts in the format I have used earlier but this time they cannot stand alone!
Dates - April 6 - 7, 1862
Union Commander - Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Commander - Albert Sydney Johnston & P. G. T. Beauregard
Forces Engaged - 65,085 Union v 44,968 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 13,047 Union v 10,669 Confederate
Result - Union Victory
This battle was a game of two halves, on the first day the Southern forces swept the Northern armies before them and took lots of ground however the following day the Union pushed the Confederates back to their starting points and beyond.
To quote official sources:
Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornets Nest.” Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburg Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many casualties, he retired from the field and headed back to Corinth. On the 8th, Grant sent Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, with two brigades, and Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood, with his division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the Rebel rearguard, commanded by Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fallen Timbers. Forrest’s aggressive tactics influenced the Union troops to return to Pittsburg Landing. Grant’s mastery of the Confederate forces continued; he had beaten them once again. The Confederates continued to fall back until launching their mid-August offensive.
Shiloh is one of the nation's oldest and best preserved battlefield parks. In the late 1890s, returning veterans used more than 150 monuments, 200 cannon, and 650 historic tablets to "suitable mark" the 4,000 acre site.
As we travelled the battlefield trail we encountered similar signs to those at Chickamauga red on white for the Confederate forces and white on blue for the Union, but this time there were rectangular signs for the first day and lozenge shape for the second. In many places the same regiments appeared on both days but in retreat once and moving forward the other – it was a superb illustration of the futility of war.
We moved on to Memphis and arrived safely at the Crowne Plaza Memphis Downtown, a much more up-market hotel than most of the others. It had all the usual advantages of a better class establishment; we had to pay for parking and breakfast!
As with most days when Julia had driven we preferred not to drive for our evening meal but we were able to catch the hotel shuttle to Beale Street; this is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately 1.8 miles. It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of the blues. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are major tourist attractions in Memphis. Festivals and outdoor concerts periodically bring large crowds to the street and its surrounding areas. Though given an exemption by the state of Tennessee to keep clubs open until 5 a.m., there is now an effort to reduce the hours to a 3 am closing time.
We enjoyed a stroll up and down and settled on a jazz playing bar where the choice was to sit right next to the live band or at the bar – we opted for the bar.
The meal was fine and we washed it down with a couple of beers, the barman was great company and we enjoyed his conversation. As Julia had gone to the restroom he was creating a cocktail which was a major work of art, on the point of finishing it he cracked the glass and had to start over. Commenting on his run of bad luck he leaned over to me and said, “If it rained whores mine would be a lesbian!” When I get my next bad call or get beaten by a lucky netcord I’ll perhaps think of him and smile.
Shortly after midnight but long before 3.00am we called the shuttle and he dropped us and other back at the hotel, we chatted to a Harley Davison couple on the ride back and discovered that there were no cheap rooms available in Memphis but they nor the driver had any idea why it was so busy.
Our best solution was a bus tour in the morning before moving on, we chose as we have done before Gray Line Buses and this time it turned out to be a tram type bus where I was able to take my photos through an open window rather than through glass. Before we bought our ticket at the riverside terminus we had to find somewhere to park. We located a parking lot which was pay and display but since firstly the ticket machine refused to work and secondly no other vehicles were displaying any tickets we decided to take a chance on leaving the car there without doing either.
The strange thing with the Hop On Hop Off system is that the drivers who commentate as they drive have little or no incentive to check passengers have a ticket as they are paid to drive and their tips add to their income so the more passengers the more chance of a tip.
From the terminus we were directed to the start of the circuit where there were people also buying tickets, since we had ours already we got straight onto the bus, without showing anything to the driver. We set off when the bus was full and soon learned that the bus driver/guide by day was a musician by night. He was very informative and he must have been quite successful as a musician because he seemed to have played in pretty much every venue he mentioned on the tour. As we were enjoying his commentary and also we needed to be on the road again as soon as possible we didn’t take advantage of the HOHO option but had we done so it would have been at the Centenary Park where there was a brilliant time line covering the history of the city.
As a taster of Nashville the bus ride was great; we got a personal buzz when we passed the Red Rooster and our driver told us what a great venue it was but there again he complimented the food and that was a step too far in our opinion.
Returning to the start we left the bus, tipped the driver, and took away our unchecked tickets. The car was fine, not decorated by a parking ticket and we set off for Memphis via the Shiloh Battle Site National park. This was only a short detour from our direct route and well worth it.
Even before entering the visitors centre we happened on a school party being shown how to load and fire a Civil War musket – being American kids I bet half of them already knew more than enough about shooting but it was interesting to us. The young lady dressed in Confederate Grey fired three rounds and even such a small volley of fire made us realise just how the noise and smoke would have made the battles a hell on earth. We were told later at a similar demonstration it was difficult for inexperienced soldiers to know if their gun had fired properly in the heat of battle; a fact illustrated by the recorded finding of muskets with up to ten loads of undischarged gun powder down their barrel. These were weapons that remained intact to be discovered later there must have been more in that state that finally ignited the powder and blew up the gun and gunner.
The battle takes its name from the Shiloh chapel which was pretty central to the action and on the Shiloh National Military Park there is a battle trail of some 30 miles that we drove in the car and followed on the free map which we were given in the visitor centre.
As I decided earlier I will give the bare facts in the format I have used earlier but this time they cannot stand alone!
Dates - April 6 - 7, 1862
Union Commander - Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Commander - Albert Sydney Johnston & P. G. T. Beauregard
Forces Engaged - 65,085 Union v 44,968 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 13,047 Union v 10,669 Confederate
Result - Union Victory
This battle was a game of two halves, on the first day the Southern forces swept the Northern armies before them and took lots of ground however the following day the Union pushed the Confederates back to their starting points and beyond.
To quote official sources:
Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornets Nest.” Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburg Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many casualties, he retired from the field and headed back to Corinth. On the 8th, Grant sent Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, with two brigades, and Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood, with his division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the Rebel rearguard, commanded by Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fallen Timbers. Forrest’s aggressive tactics influenced the Union troops to return to Pittsburg Landing. Grant’s mastery of the Confederate forces continued; he had beaten them once again. The Confederates continued to fall back until launching their mid-August offensive.
Shiloh is one of the nation's oldest and best preserved battlefield parks. In the late 1890s, returning veterans used more than 150 monuments, 200 cannon, and 650 historic tablets to "suitable mark" the 4,000 acre site.
As we travelled the battlefield trail we encountered similar signs to those at Chickamauga red on white for the Confederate forces and white on blue for the Union, but this time there were rectangular signs for the first day and lozenge shape for the second. In many places the same regiments appeared on both days but in retreat once and moving forward the other – it was a superb illustration of the futility of war.
We moved on to Memphis and arrived safely at the Crowne Plaza Memphis Downtown, a much more up-market hotel than most of the others. It had all the usual advantages of a better class establishment; we had to pay for parking and breakfast!
As with most days when Julia had driven we preferred not to drive for our evening meal but we were able to catch the hotel shuttle to Beale Street; this is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately 1.8 miles. It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of the blues. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are major tourist attractions in Memphis. Festivals and outdoor concerts periodically bring large crowds to the street and its surrounding areas. Though given an exemption by the state of Tennessee to keep clubs open until 5 a.m., there is now an effort to reduce the hours to a 3 am closing time.
We enjoyed a stroll up and down and settled on a jazz playing bar where the choice was to sit right next to the live band or at the bar – we opted for the bar.
The meal was fine and we washed it down with a couple of beers, the barman was great company and we enjoyed his conversation. As Julia had gone to the restroom he was creating a cocktail which was a major work of art, on the point of finishing it he cracked the glass and had to start over. Commenting on his run of bad luck he leaned over to me and said, “If it rained whores mine would be a lesbian!” When I get my next bad call or get beaten by a lucky netcord I’ll perhaps think of him and smile.
Shortly after midnight but long before 3.00am we called the shuttle and he dropped us and other back at the hotel, we chatted to a Harley Davison couple on the ride back and discovered that there were no cheap rooms available in Memphis but they nor the driver had any idea why it was so busy.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Deep South - Fall 2011 - Day 5
We knew this was to be a long day so we had an early breakfast and moved on from the hotel. The breakfast had a buffet option in the Garden restaurant again but we both opted for a cooked choice, Julia had a stack of pancakes while I had the Conductor’s Choice, three fried eggs on a bacon and hash brown base – it proved a very good start to the day. Incidentally we took our tea bags down to breakfast and the waiter was happy to provide mugs of boiling water to get our start of the day fix of caffeine in tea form.
Next we headed to the Incline Railway up Lookout Mountain; we parked and caught a train up the mountainside at about 10.00. We sat facing down the slope and crossed with the other car at the halfway point, the only stretch of double track. As we ascended there was an excellent commentary which covered the “Battle above the Clouds” where the Union forces fought up the almost impossible slopes to dislodge the Confederates who were dug in at the summit. This was an important part of the raising of the siege of Chattanooga by the Southern troops after their victory at Chickamauga.
On reaching the top of Lookout Mountain the views were tremendous and we took some good pictures before walking some 200 yards to the Battles for Chattanooga Information Centre, here at a very reasonable price we watched a presentation involving video, a large relief model and thousands of pinpoint lights, which explained everything that happened from before the Chickamauga battle up to the Union driving the Confederates away from Chattanooga. It was an amazingly effective teaching tool.
To summarize the battles which combined under the name of Chattanooga:
Dates - November 23 - 25, 1863
Union Commander - Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Commander - Braxton Bragg
Forces Engaged - 56,359 Union v 44,010 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 5,815 Union v 6,670 Confederate
Result - Union Victory
We took a return ride down the mountain and set off for Nashville some 150 miles away but further for us as we had it in mind to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg TN.
We made good time and reached the visitor centre and registered for a guided tour, we did not sign up for the interpreter which may have been offered and certainly we needed. Our guide spoke English with the heaviest southern drawl that either of us can ever remember. Julia claimed not to understand anything while I kept thinking I had got on the right wavelength for short bursts before losing it again. I’m sure she was excellent and in fact very funny but that’s only by judging the reaction of others in our tour. Even before the tour we had noted that amongst the cars and trucks in the parking lot there were several campervans and some strange equipment on trailers, one of the few things I understood from our guide was that the annual BBQ competition was due to take place over the next weekend. With this in mind she asked everyone if they were “competing or eating?” She was judging but since some of the competitors were from Australia I doubt they ever worked out if they won or not.
The tour was interesting, what we understood of it, and here are some facts which I recall:
1) All Jack Daniels sold anywhere is distilled at this one site.
2) Jack Daniels was a very small guy
3) Nobody knows why his label is marked “No 7”
4) He died of an infection in his foot caused by him kicking his safe in frustration.
The most notable fact of all is that Lynchburg is in a dry county so we could not sample the drink and only recently had the firm been allowed to sell their products at the distillery on the understanding they were sold as souvenirs.
We later bought a bottle of Green Label as a present for an English friend who would not have seen it as it only sells in 44 of the United States to date.
We traveled on to Nashville and found the hotel, Best Western Downtown Music Row, by about 17.00, there was no restaurant in the hotel and we didn’t want to get into the car again so while Julia chilled out after her driving I scouted the neighbourhood. Within easy walking distance I found two pubs that served food, the second of which was the Red Rooster and this got my vote as there was a live group on.
We were agreed and the Red Rooster was indeed an experience, the food was passable and the atmosphere was unique in our experience. The audience was very varied and there were several women with children who were looked after by almost anyone there and just as we thought we had identified a lady as the partner of one of the singers that singer would leave the stage and completely ignore the lady. On a regular basis new people would come into the bar and clearly they were celebrities at this level but of course we had no chance to recognise them. The group of four musicians on the stage was not a group, they were four solo singers and they each delivered a song in turn and sort of supported each other if they could be bothered. After two songs each they were applauded off the stage and almost at once replaced by another four soloists, we saw two changes before needing to sleep.
Next we headed to the Incline Railway up Lookout Mountain; we parked and caught a train up the mountainside at about 10.00. We sat facing down the slope and crossed with the other car at the halfway point, the only stretch of double track. As we ascended there was an excellent commentary which covered the “Battle above the Clouds” where the Union forces fought up the almost impossible slopes to dislodge the Confederates who were dug in at the summit. This was an important part of the raising of the siege of Chattanooga by the Southern troops after their victory at Chickamauga.
On reaching the top of Lookout Mountain the views were tremendous and we took some good pictures before walking some 200 yards to the Battles for Chattanooga Information Centre, here at a very reasonable price we watched a presentation involving video, a large relief model and thousands of pinpoint lights, which explained everything that happened from before the Chickamauga battle up to the Union driving the Confederates away from Chattanooga. It was an amazingly effective teaching tool.
To summarize the battles which combined under the name of Chattanooga:
Dates - November 23 - 25, 1863
Union Commander - Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Commander - Braxton Bragg
Forces Engaged - 56,359 Union v 44,010 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 5,815 Union v 6,670 Confederate
Result - Union Victory
We took a return ride down the mountain and set off for Nashville some 150 miles away but further for us as we had it in mind to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg TN.
We made good time and reached the visitor centre and registered for a guided tour, we did not sign up for the interpreter which may have been offered and certainly we needed. Our guide spoke English with the heaviest southern drawl that either of us can ever remember. Julia claimed not to understand anything while I kept thinking I had got on the right wavelength for short bursts before losing it again. I’m sure she was excellent and in fact very funny but that’s only by judging the reaction of others in our tour. Even before the tour we had noted that amongst the cars and trucks in the parking lot there were several campervans and some strange equipment on trailers, one of the few things I understood from our guide was that the annual BBQ competition was due to take place over the next weekend. With this in mind she asked everyone if they were “competing or eating?” She was judging but since some of the competitors were from Australia I doubt they ever worked out if they won or not.
The tour was interesting, what we understood of it, and here are some facts which I recall:
1) All Jack Daniels sold anywhere is distilled at this one site.
2) Jack Daniels was a very small guy
3) Nobody knows why his label is marked “No 7”
4) He died of an infection in his foot caused by him kicking his safe in frustration.
The most notable fact of all is that Lynchburg is in a dry county so we could not sample the drink and only recently had the firm been allowed to sell their products at the distillery on the understanding they were sold as souvenirs.
We later bought a bottle of Green Label as a present for an English friend who would not have seen it as it only sells in 44 of the United States to date.
We traveled on to Nashville and found the hotel, Best Western Downtown Music Row, by about 17.00, there was no restaurant in the hotel and we didn’t want to get into the car again so while Julia chilled out after her driving I scouted the neighbourhood. Within easy walking distance I found two pubs that served food, the second of which was the Red Rooster and this got my vote as there was a live group on.
We were agreed and the Red Rooster was indeed an experience, the food was passable and the atmosphere was unique in our experience. The audience was very varied and there were several women with children who were looked after by almost anyone there and just as we thought we had identified a lady as the partner of one of the singers that singer would leave the stage and completely ignore the lady. On a regular basis new people would come into the bar and clearly they were celebrities at this level but of course we had no chance to recognise them. The group of four musicians on the stage was not a group, they were four solo singers and they each delivered a song in turn and sort of supported each other if they could be bothered. After two songs each they were applauded off the stage and almost at once replaced by another four soloists, we saw two changes before needing to sleep.
Deep South - Fall 2011 - Day 4
Joe met us over breakfast and he assured us that we had made the right decision regarding his match the previous evening. It had been a long journey to and from the game and during the game both before and at halftime there had been almost an hour of testimony as it is a religiously based team that he plays for. He was tired and it would have been a poor preparation for us travelling on to Chattanooga this day. Joe warned us that the weather was expected to deteriorate during the day and that we were likely to travel through rain. It was great catching up with him but all too soon he had to leave us to go into work.
We decided that we would heed Joe’s weather advice and get on the road to Chattanooga as soon as possible, this decision sacrificed our chance to experience the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway in order to clear the bad weather.
As it happened it rained quire hard for most of the 220 mile trip, Julia handled the conditions well and despite being a bit noisy the Ford we had selected never let us down. Strangely we ran out of the rain just as we were reaching the edge of Chattanooga, we then reset the SatNav for the first of our on route visits, the Chickamauga Battle Information Centre. It was a slightly bizarre experience when we were told that we had “reached our destination” in a car park of a law firm right next to the highway. We never solved this part of the puzzle but as we drove around the side streets we came upon the signs which would soon become very familiar to us, white rectangular signs printed in red show Confederate troop placements at vital times in the battle, while similar signs with white writing on blue show the Union troop placements. The first sign we stopped to read was red and gave us the position of troops led by Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest – look him up! He was a military genius who was hugely successful commanding his cavalry against the Northern forces in the Civil War but his infamy comes from his founding of the Klu Klux Klan – film buffs will remember that Forrest Gump was named after him as he explained “And anyway, that's how I got my name, Forrest Gump. Mama said the Forrest part was to remind me that sometimes we all do things that, well, just don't make no sense.” More of that great philosopher later.
So after some dozen signs and three statues we were thinking that there should have been a little more but we got back onto the highway and almost at once spotted a sign sending us off to the right for the 6th Calvary Museum. We took this option hoping it might be linked to the Battle of Chickamauga in some way.
We pulled into a car park next to an attack helicopter on a stand, similar to the Airfix kits I used to make but instead of 1-72 scale this was 1 – 1! We were the only visitors and the curator/volunteer was the most attentive of hosts.
To quote from their website:
The 6th U.S. Cavalry was organized in Pittsburgh, PA in 1861, fighting in the Civil War with notable success at Williamsburg in 1862 and during the Battle of Gettysburg at Fairfield. The 6th received 16 battle streamers for their efforts with three 6th cavalrymen receiving the Medal of Honor.
Following the Civil War, the 6th fought the Indian Wars adding ten battle streamers to their Regimental Standard with 46 Medals of Honor given for individual bravery. 6th Cavalryman Lt. Charles Gatewood convinced Geronimo to surrender and return to the reservation, ending a year of murder and terror on the plains.
The Spanish-American War of 1898, saw the 6th Cavalry side-by-side with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders as they won the war in Cuba. The 6th continued on with service in the Boxer Rebellion, Philippines, Mexican Punitive Exhibition, and Yellowstone National Park.
World War I saw little action for the 6th as the Armistice was signed as the regiment was preparing for front line combat. Upon returning to the U.S., the 6th was permanently stationed at The Post at Fort Oglethorpe (1919 – 1942). During this period the Regiment became a “spit and polish” outfit. Competitive polo, military horse tournaments, team sports competition, parades and troop reviews were a way of life at the Post as were the many social activities that brought Chattanooga residents south to North Georgia. The training year annually closed with marches or maneuvers to Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.
In 1933, the 6th furnished officers and men to organize and instruct the newly formed Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which saw the civilians paid more than the soldiers.
In 1938, the 6th formed the guard for FDR’s visit to Gainesville, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
While stationed at Fort Oglethorpe the 6th experimented with the merger of horse and mechanization, field tested the Bantam Car (later to be known as the Jeep) and motorcycle. The use of horses was over and when called for duty in WWII, the 6th Cavalry (Mechanized) landed in Northern Ireland without any horses.
The 6th entered World War II assigned to Patton’s Third Army doing reconnaissance and landed at Utah Beach at D-Day+33. The 6th earned the Presidential Unit Citation for its part in the Battle of the Bulge 1944-1945. At war’s end in Europe, the 6th Cavalry Group had participated in 281 days of continuous and victorious combat. Five battle streamers were awarded for their service in World War II.
Following World War II, the Post at Fort Oglethorpe was determined to be too small for military use, with the buildings and property sold through sealed bid by the War Assets Department to private citizens. The City of Fort Oglethorpe was officially incorporated in 1949, the first new town in Georgia in 25 years.
The Regiment remained in Europe where it patrolled 172 miles of rugged mountain country along the German-Czech border. Also assisting in the reconstruction of Germany and helping at orphanages and schools.
The Bavarian Government was so thankful for the Regiment’s help that it presented a beautiful silver plaque embossed with the Shield of Bavaria. This gift is on display at the museum and is the only known official recognition given an American unit by a German State.
We noticed from the displays that the 6th had set off on D-Day from Weymouth which is a link to my sister and their family who traditionally holiday there; hopefully we will get a chance to see what traces of the US forces remain there some time in the future.
I was allowed to sit in a Willy’s Jeep and politely refused to climb into a M47 Patton Tank, with my unreliable knee I might have struggled to re-emerge!
Our guide clarified where the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park / Chickamauga Battlefield actually was, just to bring home the shadow the Civil War still casts today he told us his Great, Great Grandfather and his son, or father, had lived only 30 miles from the museum and eventually fought for the Confederacy at Chickamauga, the older one was captured by the Union forces and was later traded as a prisoner of war for a mule. I knew that at times prisoners were released having given their word not to continue fighting and there were POW exchanges but I assumed up to then it was men for men!
We made our way to the Battlefield Visitor Centre and were very impressed. In all our travels this was the clearest display of the Civil War timeline. We spend quite a long time inside the visitor centre, after all every sign must be read and understood! Thus we only had limited time to drive round the huge battlefield itself.
The visitor centres are run by the US National Parks Department and the Rangers who man these centres are incredibly knowledgeable but not always equally tactful. I saw a man of about my vintage telling the Ranger behind the information desk that he had traced a relative of his to a certain unit which took part in this particular battle, the Ranger visibly deflated his visitor, when he announced that the unit in question had run away at the first shot! Did it need saying?
Our first impression, reinforced many times on the tour, was the huge number of artillery pieces which have been gathered up on these sites to illustrate their history – I’m convinced the South could re-arm at a primitive level just by re-drilling these guns!
Since we visited several battle sites I feel I should minimize the accounts of them because there are many better sources than me to consult if the reader is interested. On that basis the bare bones of Chickamauga are:
Dates - September 18 - 20, 1863
Union Commander - William S. Rosecrans
Confederate Commanders - Braxton Bragg & James Longstreet
Forces Engaged - 60,000 Union v 65,000 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 16,170 Union v 18,454 Confederate
Result - Confederate Victory
As we observed many times the area of the battles were large and very often the winning side should/might have pushed home their advantage but failed to do so for various reasons not least the simple human necessities of eating and sleeping, Buford on this occasion wanted to pursue the Northern forces, “keepin’ on the skeer” as he called it but he was overruled by his Commander Bragg.
We clicked the SatNav back to the, don’t laugh, Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel and we were soon in the hugely impressive lobby, clearly it was an old railway concourse which the hotel had kept to a very high standard of décor.
The rest of our hotel experience did not quite live up to the lobby. We were in Building Two a very standard square built block with no working elevator and a major dirty water leak in the corridor outside our room. I guess railways tend to run through the less affluent areas of a town and certainly our surroundings did not encourage us to seek the evening meal out of the hotel. We elected to eat in the Garden Restaurant having discovered that the Buffet Car option was not available during the week.
Mentioning the Buffet Car pushes me towards explaining how the hotel is set out, the reception area is the railway station and the best rooms are in old style parked trains which are on either side of three platforms which again are probably the authentic ones from the working station in the past. With hind-sight we should perhaps have specified one of these rooms and paid the difference for a more memorable experience.
Our dinner in the restaurant was good if a little more expensive than elsewhere, we opted for the buffet and we were well satisfied when we retired to the bar for a night-cap.
We decided that we would heed Joe’s weather advice and get on the road to Chattanooga as soon as possible, this decision sacrificed our chance to experience the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway in order to clear the bad weather.
As it happened it rained quire hard for most of the 220 mile trip, Julia handled the conditions well and despite being a bit noisy the Ford we had selected never let us down. Strangely we ran out of the rain just as we were reaching the edge of Chattanooga, we then reset the SatNav for the first of our on route visits, the Chickamauga Battle Information Centre. It was a slightly bizarre experience when we were told that we had “reached our destination” in a car park of a law firm right next to the highway. We never solved this part of the puzzle but as we drove around the side streets we came upon the signs which would soon become very familiar to us, white rectangular signs printed in red show Confederate troop placements at vital times in the battle, while similar signs with white writing on blue show the Union troop placements. The first sign we stopped to read was red and gave us the position of troops led by Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest – look him up! He was a military genius who was hugely successful commanding his cavalry against the Northern forces in the Civil War but his infamy comes from his founding of the Klu Klux Klan – film buffs will remember that Forrest Gump was named after him as he explained “And anyway, that's how I got my name, Forrest Gump. Mama said the Forrest part was to remind me that sometimes we all do things that, well, just don't make no sense.” More of that great philosopher later.
So after some dozen signs and three statues we were thinking that there should have been a little more but we got back onto the highway and almost at once spotted a sign sending us off to the right for the 6th Calvary Museum. We took this option hoping it might be linked to the Battle of Chickamauga in some way.
We pulled into a car park next to an attack helicopter on a stand, similar to the Airfix kits I used to make but instead of 1-72 scale this was 1 – 1! We were the only visitors and the curator/volunteer was the most attentive of hosts.
To quote from their website:
The 6th U.S. Cavalry was organized in Pittsburgh, PA in 1861, fighting in the Civil War with notable success at Williamsburg in 1862 and during the Battle of Gettysburg at Fairfield. The 6th received 16 battle streamers for their efforts with three 6th cavalrymen receiving the Medal of Honor.
Following the Civil War, the 6th fought the Indian Wars adding ten battle streamers to their Regimental Standard with 46 Medals of Honor given for individual bravery. 6th Cavalryman Lt. Charles Gatewood convinced Geronimo to surrender and return to the reservation, ending a year of murder and terror on the plains.
The Spanish-American War of 1898, saw the 6th Cavalry side-by-side with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders as they won the war in Cuba. The 6th continued on with service in the Boxer Rebellion, Philippines, Mexican Punitive Exhibition, and Yellowstone National Park.
World War I saw little action for the 6th as the Armistice was signed as the regiment was preparing for front line combat. Upon returning to the U.S., the 6th was permanently stationed at The Post at Fort Oglethorpe (1919 – 1942). During this period the Regiment became a “spit and polish” outfit. Competitive polo, military horse tournaments, team sports competition, parades and troop reviews were a way of life at the Post as were the many social activities that brought Chattanooga residents south to North Georgia. The training year annually closed with marches or maneuvers to Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.
In 1933, the 6th furnished officers and men to organize and instruct the newly formed Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which saw the civilians paid more than the soldiers.
In 1938, the 6th formed the guard for FDR’s visit to Gainesville, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
While stationed at Fort Oglethorpe the 6th experimented with the merger of horse and mechanization, field tested the Bantam Car (later to be known as the Jeep) and motorcycle. The use of horses was over and when called for duty in WWII, the 6th Cavalry (Mechanized) landed in Northern Ireland without any horses.
The 6th entered World War II assigned to Patton’s Third Army doing reconnaissance and landed at Utah Beach at D-Day+33. The 6th earned the Presidential Unit Citation for its part in the Battle of the Bulge 1944-1945. At war’s end in Europe, the 6th Cavalry Group had participated in 281 days of continuous and victorious combat. Five battle streamers were awarded for their service in World War II.
Following World War II, the Post at Fort Oglethorpe was determined to be too small for military use, with the buildings and property sold through sealed bid by the War Assets Department to private citizens. The City of Fort Oglethorpe was officially incorporated in 1949, the first new town in Georgia in 25 years.
The Regiment remained in Europe where it patrolled 172 miles of rugged mountain country along the German-Czech border. Also assisting in the reconstruction of Germany and helping at orphanages and schools.
The Bavarian Government was so thankful for the Regiment’s help that it presented a beautiful silver plaque embossed with the Shield of Bavaria. This gift is on display at the museum and is the only known official recognition given an American unit by a German State.
We noticed from the displays that the 6th had set off on D-Day from Weymouth which is a link to my sister and their family who traditionally holiday there; hopefully we will get a chance to see what traces of the US forces remain there some time in the future.
I was allowed to sit in a Willy’s Jeep and politely refused to climb into a M47 Patton Tank, with my unreliable knee I might have struggled to re-emerge!
Our guide clarified where the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park / Chickamauga Battlefield actually was, just to bring home the shadow the Civil War still casts today he told us his Great, Great Grandfather and his son, or father, had lived only 30 miles from the museum and eventually fought for the Confederacy at Chickamauga, the older one was captured by the Union forces and was later traded as a prisoner of war for a mule. I knew that at times prisoners were released having given their word not to continue fighting and there were POW exchanges but I assumed up to then it was men for men!
We made our way to the Battlefield Visitor Centre and were very impressed. In all our travels this was the clearest display of the Civil War timeline. We spend quite a long time inside the visitor centre, after all every sign must be read and understood! Thus we only had limited time to drive round the huge battlefield itself.
The visitor centres are run by the US National Parks Department and the Rangers who man these centres are incredibly knowledgeable but not always equally tactful. I saw a man of about my vintage telling the Ranger behind the information desk that he had traced a relative of his to a certain unit which took part in this particular battle, the Ranger visibly deflated his visitor, when he announced that the unit in question had run away at the first shot! Did it need saying?
Our first impression, reinforced many times on the tour, was the huge number of artillery pieces which have been gathered up on these sites to illustrate their history – I’m convinced the South could re-arm at a primitive level just by re-drilling these guns!
Since we visited several battle sites I feel I should minimize the accounts of them because there are many better sources than me to consult if the reader is interested. On that basis the bare bones of Chickamauga are:
Dates - September 18 - 20, 1863
Union Commander - William S. Rosecrans
Confederate Commanders - Braxton Bragg & James Longstreet
Forces Engaged - 60,000 Union v 65,000 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 16,170 Union v 18,454 Confederate
Result - Confederate Victory
As we observed many times the area of the battles were large and very often the winning side should/might have pushed home their advantage but failed to do so for various reasons not least the simple human necessities of eating and sleeping, Buford on this occasion wanted to pursue the Northern forces, “keepin’ on the skeer” as he called it but he was overruled by his Commander Bragg.
We clicked the SatNav back to the, don’t laugh, Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel and we were soon in the hugely impressive lobby, clearly it was an old railway concourse which the hotel had kept to a very high standard of décor.
The rest of our hotel experience did not quite live up to the lobby. We were in Building Two a very standard square built block with no working elevator and a major dirty water leak in the corridor outside our room. I guess railways tend to run through the less affluent areas of a town and certainly our surroundings did not encourage us to seek the evening meal out of the hotel. We elected to eat in the Garden Restaurant having discovered that the Buffet Car option was not available during the week.
Mentioning the Buffet Car pushes me towards explaining how the hotel is set out, the reception area is the railway station and the best rooms are in old style parked trains which are on either side of three platforms which again are probably the authentic ones from the working station in the past. With hind-sight we should perhaps have specified one of these rooms and paid the difference for a more memorable experience.
Our dinner in the restaurant was good if a little more expensive than elsewhere, we opted for the buffet and we were well satisfied when we retired to the bar for a night-cap.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Deep South Tour - Fall 2011 - Day 3
We had breakfast at the hotel and bought tickets for the Biltmore Estate at reception. The ticket would allow us to come and go as we pleased so we were hoping to meet up with Joe for lunch having reluctantly decided not to travel to his basketball game in the evening as it was two hours away. Unfortunately work swallowed him up and we were unable to catch up.
We found our way easily to the Biltmore Estate and having a ticket already allowed us to overtake those who still had to buy them, incidentally we found the $60 each excessive but hoped it might repay Joe’s opinion.
To quote Wikipedia:
Biltmore House is a Châteauesque-styled mansion near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at 135,000 square feet (12,500 m2) and featuring 250 rooms. Still owned by one of Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age, and of significant gardens in the Garden à la française and English Landscape garden styles in the United States. In 2007, it was ranked eighth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.
Perhaps we English are spoilt in terms of history and the historic but it was hard to marvel at a house new enough to have been built with electricity. The basic self-guided tour was enough to get the feel of the house and family. We struggled to take seriously a very modern oil painting of the family which managed to make them look like the cast of Dallas. We were disappointed to have completed the tour and emerged again in front of the house without having appeared on the balcony above us which would have given amazing views. Hoping that we had missed a sign, unlikely as Julia reads everything on such a tour, we went back in and asked. The people on the balcony had invested in the Architects Tour a mere $30 extra! I was also unimpressed by the no photography in the house rule. I can not be surprised that the Vanderbilts remain wealthy.
The gardens and grounds are indeed impressive but we did find it strange that everywhere we walked to there were cars passing close by or even driving through. I thought this was merely a reflection of the American aversion to walking but it became clear when we returned to our car to leave the estate via the winery and village. We found ourselves following a route that took us through the centre of the gardens.
We took a break in the Biltmore village and Julia indulged in the wine-tasting, she seemed to score some points with the sommelier by preferring something which was not white and as sweet as syrup. She enjoyed the Red Zinfandel from their own vineyard and I thought it would be nice to have a bottle but not being as rich as the Vanderbilts the pricing put us off.
From Biltmore we headed into downtown Asheville, by now it was about 3.30, it was an enjoyable stroll through very varied buildings. Not for the last time on our trip we observed that some of the most historic buildings had been saved by economic depression, nobody being able to afford their replacement until people decided they were worth saving in their own right.
It amused me that although the Civil War pretty much bypassed Asheville it had its share of monuments but all I saw were dedicated to Confederate heroes who were of course on the losing side, I noted that some of these had been erected as late as 1938. I recall one monument was dedicated to a Confederate Soldier named Zebulon Baird Vance quite a name to inspire greatness. Amongst such monuments there are much newer artworks and it made for an interesting tour. When we had covered most of the town on foot we saw an open tram which was doing a tour - better research might have seen us riding that tram.
Even though it was mid-afternoon there were several buskers playing and a few human statues but our personal favourite was a guy who busked on his guitar while painted totally white, a strange combination of the two techniques.
We couldn’t risk another set of clothes so we back-tracked to the hotel and later ate out at the Chilis that we had spotted earlier. A shared starter and two mains for $20 cannot be complained about, we returned to the hotel content, full and dry. A much better day.
We found our way easily to the Biltmore Estate and having a ticket already allowed us to overtake those who still had to buy them, incidentally we found the $60 each excessive but hoped it might repay Joe’s opinion.
To quote Wikipedia:
Biltmore House is a Châteauesque-styled mansion near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at 135,000 square feet (12,500 m2) and featuring 250 rooms. Still owned by one of Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age, and of significant gardens in the Garden à la française and English Landscape garden styles in the United States. In 2007, it was ranked eighth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.
Perhaps we English are spoilt in terms of history and the historic but it was hard to marvel at a house new enough to have been built with electricity. The basic self-guided tour was enough to get the feel of the house and family. We struggled to take seriously a very modern oil painting of the family which managed to make them look like the cast of Dallas. We were disappointed to have completed the tour and emerged again in front of the house without having appeared on the balcony above us which would have given amazing views. Hoping that we had missed a sign, unlikely as Julia reads everything on such a tour, we went back in and asked. The people on the balcony had invested in the Architects Tour a mere $30 extra! I was also unimpressed by the no photography in the house rule. I can not be surprised that the Vanderbilts remain wealthy.
The gardens and grounds are indeed impressive but we did find it strange that everywhere we walked to there were cars passing close by or even driving through. I thought this was merely a reflection of the American aversion to walking but it became clear when we returned to our car to leave the estate via the winery and village. We found ourselves following a route that took us through the centre of the gardens.
We took a break in the Biltmore village and Julia indulged in the wine-tasting, she seemed to score some points with the sommelier by preferring something which was not white and as sweet as syrup. She enjoyed the Red Zinfandel from their own vineyard and I thought it would be nice to have a bottle but not being as rich as the Vanderbilts the pricing put us off.
From Biltmore we headed into downtown Asheville, by now it was about 3.30, it was an enjoyable stroll through very varied buildings. Not for the last time on our trip we observed that some of the most historic buildings had been saved by economic depression, nobody being able to afford their replacement until people decided they were worth saving in their own right.
It amused me that although the Civil War pretty much bypassed Asheville it had its share of monuments but all I saw were dedicated to Confederate heroes who were of course on the losing side, I noted that some of these had been erected as late as 1938. I recall one monument was dedicated to a Confederate Soldier named Zebulon Baird Vance quite a name to inspire greatness. Amongst such monuments there are much newer artworks and it made for an interesting tour. When we had covered most of the town on foot we saw an open tram which was doing a tour - better research might have seen us riding that tram.
Even though it was mid-afternoon there were several buskers playing and a few human statues but our personal favourite was a guy who busked on his guitar while painted totally white, a strange combination of the two techniques.
We couldn’t risk another set of clothes so we back-tracked to the hotel and later ate out at the Chilis that we had spotted earlier. A shared starter and two mains for $20 cannot be complained about, we returned to the hotel content, full and dry. A much better day.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Deep South Tour Fall 2011 - Day 2
Day2
We woke after a good nights sleep at the Days Inn Downtown in Atlanta and headed down for breakfast which was included in our stay. There was nothing special about the buffet breakfast but it gave us the easiest start to the day when we had already decided to move on to Asheville as soon as possible as we were going to spend a few days in Atlanta at the end of the tour.
While we sat in a window seat eating breakfast a guy who obviously lived on the street sat himself down outside the hotel. We were not surprised when one of the hotel staff went out to him but instead of sending him away she took him some breakfast. We noted that as he finished and moved off he was careful to clear up all his rubbish. It was another example of the friendliness we were due to encounter all over the south.
I took a few pictures of the hotel and surrounds while I was reloading the car and we set off for Asheville, North Carolina by about 10.00.
We travelled through some of South Carolina and were intrigued by the frequent signs advertising “Home Boiled Peanuts”. I’m a peanut fan but we didn’t stop to buy and the signs disappeared as soon as we entered North Carolina.
We checked into the Ramada Inn at River Ridge in Asheville by 1300, which was a pleasing hotel/motel and as we were to find was common we had two beds of at least British double proportions. We were due to stay two nights so we needed to unpack and set up our luggage to make life easier on our tour. We put all the tea making equipment into a small sports bag that came over in the hold luggage along with books and snacks. My backpack contains the cameras, video and still, the laptop and the holiday file. Then we make sure there are enough clothes in one of our two big bags so that the other can remain in the trunk of the car. It was around this time that we realised that we had a phone problem, my UK mobile is basic and doesn’t do transatlantic, Julia’s is capable of it but we had brought the wrong charging lead and it was flat so no help. The US mobile we had bought in a previous visit had no credit on it.
We had included Asheville on the extension of the basic tour for two reasons, firstly to tick off another State and secondly to catch up with Joe Barber who stayed with us while playing for Derby Trailblazers in the 2006/07 season. We thought he had always lived in Asheville so we wondered if we would see him and his family. We had been in contact via Facebook and had his number so after a few failed attempts to ring him from the room with the help of reception Julia managed to tell him we had arrived. He works coordinating sport in the Asheville area based at the YMCA but he makes his own hours so he was able to come over and visit with us in the hotel.
He heartily recommended a visit to Biltmore House which would take up most of the following day and he was emphatic that we should eat in the Downtown area of Asheville as it is at its most cosmopolitan in the evening. Disappointingly he was unable to join us that evening as he was working then at training with his basketball team. We agreed to meet up the next day after a meeting he had in the morning and he then had to go back to work but he lead us to a Bestbuy where we were able to put some AT&T credit on to our US phone although we ended up with another number as the previous one had expired.
We spotted a Chilis restaurant as we headed back to the hotel and stored its location as they are a super-safe option for cheap but enjoyable eating. We also stopped at the local Walmart to pick up milk, which sadly is only sold in bulk, a quart being the smallest measure, cookies and chips.
I think we may have napped in the afternoon before heading into Asheville to explore and eat. Joe had recommended the Tupelo Honey Café and I’m sure it would have been good but we decided not to queue outside as there was quite a long line. Instead we chose the Jack of the Woods Pubic House, it was welcoming and we were soon settled towards the back of the bar with a beer each and our food ordered. It was apparently quiz-night and a very “studenty” group was gathering in our area. Two girls became three couples, three couples became five, we had long since given up the spare chairs at our table and their loud, young, the world belongs to us attitude would have driven us to leave as soon as we finished our food. Sadly this was not acceptable to fate and the arrival of couple six moved us very quickly, girl six on the pretext of kissing all the gathered team, turned gracefully and knocked Julia’s half full beer over her plate of food and into her lap! She, G6, was very apologetic and paid for her damage, a new meal was served to Julia on another table but we saw the group annex our previous table and chairs faster than Hitler invading Poland!
The quiz started while we finished our meal and I have to admit we would have fared very badly if we had entered, perhaps the questions were too American based but we knew very few answers. It was not a great night!
We woke after a good nights sleep at the Days Inn Downtown in Atlanta and headed down for breakfast which was included in our stay. There was nothing special about the buffet breakfast but it gave us the easiest start to the day when we had already decided to move on to Asheville as soon as possible as we were going to spend a few days in Atlanta at the end of the tour.
While we sat in a window seat eating breakfast a guy who obviously lived on the street sat himself down outside the hotel. We were not surprised when one of the hotel staff went out to him but instead of sending him away she took him some breakfast. We noted that as he finished and moved off he was careful to clear up all his rubbish. It was another example of the friendliness we were due to encounter all over the south.
I took a few pictures of the hotel and surrounds while I was reloading the car and we set off for Asheville, North Carolina by about 10.00.
We travelled through some of South Carolina and were intrigued by the frequent signs advertising “Home Boiled Peanuts”. I’m a peanut fan but we didn’t stop to buy and the signs disappeared as soon as we entered North Carolina.
We checked into the Ramada Inn at River Ridge in Asheville by 1300, which was a pleasing hotel/motel and as we were to find was common we had two beds of at least British double proportions. We were due to stay two nights so we needed to unpack and set up our luggage to make life easier on our tour. We put all the tea making equipment into a small sports bag that came over in the hold luggage along with books and snacks. My backpack contains the cameras, video and still, the laptop and the holiday file. Then we make sure there are enough clothes in one of our two big bags so that the other can remain in the trunk of the car. It was around this time that we realised that we had a phone problem, my UK mobile is basic and doesn’t do transatlantic, Julia’s is capable of it but we had brought the wrong charging lead and it was flat so no help. The US mobile we had bought in a previous visit had no credit on it.
We had included Asheville on the extension of the basic tour for two reasons, firstly to tick off another State and secondly to catch up with Joe Barber who stayed with us while playing for Derby Trailblazers in the 2006/07 season. We thought he had always lived in Asheville so we wondered if we would see him and his family. We had been in contact via Facebook and had his number so after a few failed attempts to ring him from the room with the help of reception Julia managed to tell him we had arrived. He works coordinating sport in the Asheville area based at the YMCA but he makes his own hours so he was able to come over and visit with us in the hotel.
He heartily recommended a visit to Biltmore House which would take up most of the following day and he was emphatic that we should eat in the Downtown area of Asheville as it is at its most cosmopolitan in the evening. Disappointingly he was unable to join us that evening as he was working then at training with his basketball team. We agreed to meet up the next day after a meeting he had in the morning and he then had to go back to work but he lead us to a Bestbuy where we were able to put some AT&T credit on to our US phone although we ended up with another number as the previous one had expired.
We spotted a Chilis restaurant as we headed back to the hotel and stored its location as they are a super-safe option for cheap but enjoyable eating. We also stopped at the local Walmart to pick up milk, which sadly is only sold in bulk, a quart being the smallest measure, cookies and chips.
I think we may have napped in the afternoon before heading into Asheville to explore and eat. Joe had recommended the Tupelo Honey Café and I’m sure it would have been good but we decided not to queue outside as there was quite a long line. Instead we chose the Jack of the Woods Pubic House, it was welcoming and we were soon settled towards the back of the bar with a beer each and our food ordered. It was apparently quiz-night and a very “studenty” group was gathering in our area. Two girls became three couples, three couples became five, we had long since given up the spare chairs at our table and their loud, young, the world belongs to us attitude would have driven us to leave as soon as we finished our food. Sadly this was not acceptable to fate and the arrival of couple six moved us very quickly, girl six on the pretext of kissing all the gathered team, turned gracefully and knocked Julia’s half full beer over her plate of food and into her lap! She, G6, was very apologetic and paid for her damage, a new meal was served to Julia on another table but we saw the group annex our previous table and chairs faster than Hitler invading Poland!
The quiz started while we finished our meal and I have to admit we would have fared very badly if we had entered, perhaps the questions were too American based but we knew very few answers. It was not a great night!
Deep South Tour - Fall 2011 - Day 1
I am returning to Blogging having recently enjoyed three weeks in the Southern States of America and realizing that I missed the mental exercise of writing.
We were in the Deep South from Sunday the 16th of October to Sunday the 6th of November.
Our route was Atlanta, Georgia to Asheville, North Carolina to Chattanooga, Tennessee to Nashville to Memphis to Jackson, Mississippi to Natchez to Lafayette, Louisiana to New Orleans to Montgomery, Alabama to Savannah GA to Charleston, South Carolina and finally back to Atlanta.
That’s seven states towards our ongoing quest to visit every state of the union and twelve towns/hotels. My Multimap research indicated that just from hotel to hotel the mileage would be 2480 with a travelling time of 38 hours but we knew that we would drive about on non-travelling days and we planned detours to see attractions enroute so the mileage was always going to exceed this estimate. We had twelve traveling days to cover the 2400plus miles so it was pretty much 200 miles per travelling day average.
Julia did an amazing amount of research prior to our trip and on the basis of her work she was granted naming rights to the tour, she came up with “Civil War, Civil Rights, Jazz and Blues”. Her title stood up well to the experience we shared.
Our vacation was planned for us by American Sky and despite a few quibbles here and there we can heartily recommend them, their basic tour was 14 days, we added to it and tweaked it without ever defeating them. Everything was correctly booked and we were expected by everyone on the itinerary.
We set off from Derby to London Heathrow on Sunday 16th of October; we flew out at 15.00 so we ensured that we allowed plenty of time by leaving home soon after 9.00 for the two and a half hour drive. One of the small frustrations was that we had already set the SatNav up for the USA so we navigated with older methods. With the haunting experience of having missed our flight on the way to New England last year we had also discussed with Purple Parking how, if we were running late, we could go direct to the airport and have them collect the car from there. Nothing of this sort was required, the journey went well and we were in the departure lounge with plenty of time to spare.
We travelled with British Airways this time, we have never looked to specify the airline but I have to say it matched up poorly to Virgin Atlantic, our carrier to Boston last year. Like every other flight we travel on, the plane was full and, however close to exactly 24 hours before flight time we check in, our seats are always in the last three rows. This flight we were placed behind a large party who were doing a Railroad tour similar to our fly drive in part. They had a travelling courier who knew some of the flight crew and it was interesting to hear that they described our plane as “tired” which it demonstrated by my seat refusing to lock in the upright position and the in-flight entertainment system having to be rebooted twice before we could enjoy a film.
I had a small instance of karma, not something I believe in but, when the young woman who had battered my ankles with her large carry-on case all the way down the aircraft was struck on the head by a henpecked man trying to force his equally large case into the already full locker above her head. He demonstrated the world’s most insincere apology despite her having received a pretty solid blow due to his ineptitude. We then enjoyed his wife taking over the job and redistributing other people’s luggage to lockers far and wide in order to reunite their baggage in one cozy location.
When I observe the English middle class of that type I try to feel some sympathy that they have fallen on hard times and now have to share with such common folk as us.
The time zones were on our side and it was only 1900 local time when we arrived in the mighty city which is Atlanta International Airport. We got through immigration and shortly after claimed our hold luggage only to have to pass through customs with it and surrender it again to a baggage carousel, I tried to explain that we had arrived and were not flying on but I was quickly corrected, this procedure was simply to get the bags across the airport and we found ourselves traveling on a monorail several stops to the main hub.
It has always been my intention to spend our first night in the USA as near to the airport as possible if we are collecting a hire car and moving on the following day. I am at a loss as to how I fail so thoroughly to convey this part of my plan to those involved in booking our accommodation. This time we found ourselves on another train dragging our wheeled bags and carrying our hand luggage, my back pack and Julia’s handbag, purse to our American friends. We passed through a stop labeled Airport Hotels but journeyed on to the Car Hire centre. I would have preferred to be checking into a hotel as we were claiming our hire car looking forward to a journey of twelve miles in the dark hoping that the SatNav had the USA correctly loaded and could pick up a signal before we were lost.
Our Dollar Car Hire voucher entitled us to a Compact car – we had upgraded from Economy – and we noted that we had Platinum insurance. We were amused therefore to be offered an insurance package which covered roadside assistance which we declined, if platinum was less than recommended what would they have called this package? Diamond Encrusted!
Having passed through the office side of the operation we followed signs to the garage, there we handed over some paperwork and were told to pick any car from the C aisle. We picked a Ford Focus, partly because we are considering swapping to one next year but we should have been prepared to check out some more cars before deciding. Just by opening the trunks we might have found one with no “lip” to lift the bags over and that would have made me less concerned about hurting my back with the lifting.
The SatNav was fine but it refused to accept that 300 Spring Street existed but a mixture of luck and good management saw us arrive by about 2140. At check-in we presented our voucher to the tired guy behind the desk, he was very welcoming and we warmed to each other when he asked how we were paying the 15$ for overnight parking and we told him that we were expecting the cost having read it on the internet. He was delighted with us agreeing that it appeared on their website as this was denied by most of his customers causing considerable aggravation. He was so pleased that he paid the charge himself.
The hotel served its purpose and we decided to get to bed rather than eat again.
We had just decided against unpacking to find our travel kettle to make tea and reluctantly settled for sharing a soda from the vending machine when the room phone rang. Our friend Sheila from New Orleans had tracked us down and was welcoming us to the states.
We were in the Deep South from Sunday the 16th of October to Sunday the 6th of November.
Our route was Atlanta, Georgia to Asheville, North Carolina to Chattanooga, Tennessee to Nashville to Memphis to Jackson, Mississippi to Natchez to Lafayette, Louisiana to New Orleans to Montgomery, Alabama to Savannah GA to Charleston, South Carolina and finally back to Atlanta.
That’s seven states towards our ongoing quest to visit every state of the union and twelve towns/hotels. My Multimap research indicated that just from hotel to hotel the mileage would be 2480 with a travelling time of 38 hours but we knew that we would drive about on non-travelling days and we planned detours to see attractions enroute so the mileage was always going to exceed this estimate. We had twelve traveling days to cover the 2400plus miles so it was pretty much 200 miles per travelling day average.
Julia did an amazing amount of research prior to our trip and on the basis of her work she was granted naming rights to the tour, she came up with “Civil War, Civil Rights, Jazz and Blues”. Her title stood up well to the experience we shared.
Our vacation was planned for us by American Sky and despite a few quibbles here and there we can heartily recommend them, their basic tour was 14 days, we added to it and tweaked it without ever defeating them. Everything was correctly booked and we were expected by everyone on the itinerary.
We set off from Derby to London Heathrow on Sunday 16th of October; we flew out at 15.00 so we ensured that we allowed plenty of time by leaving home soon after 9.00 for the two and a half hour drive. One of the small frustrations was that we had already set the SatNav up for the USA so we navigated with older methods. With the haunting experience of having missed our flight on the way to New England last year we had also discussed with Purple Parking how, if we were running late, we could go direct to the airport and have them collect the car from there. Nothing of this sort was required, the journey went well and we were in the departure lounge with plenty of time to spare.
We travelled with British Airways this time, we have never looked to specify the airline but I have to say it matched up poorly to Virgin Atlantic, our carrier to Boston last year. Like every other flight we travel on, the plane was full and, however close to exactly 24 hours before flight time we check in, our seats are always in the last three rows. This flight we were placed behind a large party who were doing a Railroad tour similar to our fly drive in part. They had a travelling courier who knew some of the flight crew and it was interesting to hear that they described our plane as “tired” which it demonstrated by my seat refusing to lock in the upright position and the in-flight entertainment system having to be rebooted twice before we could enjoy a film.
I had a small instance of karma, not something I believe in but, when the young woman who had battered my ankles with her large carry-on case all the way down the aircraft was struck on the head by a henpecked man trying to force his equally large case into the already full locker above her head. He demonstrated the world’s most insincere apology despite her having received a pretty solid blow due to his ineptitude. We then enjoyed his wife taking over the job and redistributing other people’s luggage to lockers far and wide in order to reunite their baggage in one cozy location.
When I observe the English middle class of that type I try to feel some sympathy that they have fallen on hard times and now have to share with such common folk as us.
The time zones were on our side and it was only 1900 local time when we arrived in the mighty city which is Atlanta International Airport. We got through immigration and shortly after claimed our hold luggage only to have to pass through customs with it and surrender it again to a baggage carousel, I tried to explain that we had arrived and were not flying on but I was quickly corrected, this procedure was simply to get the bags across the airport and we found ourselves traveling on a monorail several stops to the main hub.
It has always been my intention to spend our first night in the USA as near to the airport as possible if we are collecting a hire car and moving on the following day. I am at a loss as to how I fail so thoroughly to convey this part of my plan to those involved in booking our accommodation. This time we found ourselves on another train dragging our wheeled bags and carrying our hand luggage, my back pack and Julia’s handbag, purse to our American friends. We passed through a stop labeled Airport Hotels but journeyed on to the Car Hire centre. I would have preferred to be checking into a hotel as we were claiming our hire car looking forward to a journey of twelve miles in the dark hoping that the SatNav had the USA correctly loaded and could pick up a signal before we were lost.
Our Dollar Car Hire voucher entitled us to a Compact car – we had upgraded from Economy – and we noted that we had Platinum insurance. We were amused therefore to be offered an insurance package which covered roadside assistance which we declined, if platinum was less than recommended what would they have called this package? Diamond Encrusted!
Having passed through the office side of the operation we followed signs to the garage, there we handed over some paperwork and were told to pick any car from the C aisle. We picked a Ford Focus, partly because we are considering swapping to one next year but we should have been prepared to check out some more cars before deciding. Just by opening the trunks we might have found one with no “lip” to lift the bags over and that would have made me less concerned about hurting my back with the lifting.
The SatNav was fine but it refused to accept that 300 Spring Street existed but a mixture of luck and good management saw us arrive by about 2140. At check-in we presented our voucher to the tired guy behind the desk, he was very welcoming and we warmed to each other when he asked how we were paying the 15$ for overnight parking and we told him that we were expecting the cost having read it on the internet. He was delighted with us agreeing that it appeared on their website as this was denied by most of his customers causing considerable aggravation. He was so pleased that he paid the charge himself.
The hotel served its purpose and we decided to get to bed rather than eat again.
We had just decided against unpacking to find our travel kettle to make tea and reluctantly settled for sharing a soda from the vending machine when the room phone rang. Our friend Sheila from New Orleans had tracked us down and was welcoming us to the states.
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