Chapter Fourteen May 13, 2001 Sunday Memphis to Vicksburg, Mississippi (Mother's Day) We woke up in Memphis and would sleep 250 miles away in Vicksburg. We wanted to "see the sights" by noon, and be on our way south. We would spend the night at the Casino/Hotel we selected on our way through town on Day 3. It was Sunday, it was Mother's day, and it was a beautiful morning full of sunshine and blue skies. We caught a quick breakfast and were on our way. We headed to the Lorraine Motel, the site of the new "Civil Rights Museum" at the place where Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated in April 1968. It would be a chance to teach Jesse about that turbulent time in America's growing up. We had specifically phoned yesterday to make sure they would be open this morning. To our horror, we learned that Sunday hours would start at 1pm! Even though we specifically asked, we were totally misinformed. We easily could have switched this with our Graceland visit if we had known. Instead, we took these few outside pictures and drove off, telling Jesse the story as best we could. In a bizarre twist, we encountered a woman with a fairly visible "protest site" outside the civil rights museum. We took her literature and agreed to add her picture and link to our trip story. She STRONGLY holds an opinion that we disagree with (the beauty of America's human right to free speech), and has been protesting for over 13 years! She was a resident of the Lorraine Motel when it was subsidized low-income housing, and protested being "thrown out" (she now sleeps in a tent or the basement of the church behind her). She emphatically refers to the development of the museum as "honoring a murderer" and an insult to the peace loving King. She has fought for decades, tooth and nail, to have the monies for the education and public display of the museum instead routed to daily subsidies for the underprivileged of Memphis. She believes the motel should be a shelter for the poor and displaced of the community. She supports the concept of the Civil Rights Museum, just not on the site of the murder (she has obviously never been to the "grassy knoll" in Dallas or the "National Tragedy" site in Oklahoma City). She was oblivious to the fact that a typical suburban family would never have ventured anywhere near the Lorraine Motel site during its period as low-income subsidized housing, even though room 306 had become an informal "shrine" to the slain civil rights leader and his message of brotherhood. A formal, accessible, organized facility enabling King's message and history to be delivered and understood, is a first step in raising a new generation that is able and willing to fight head on against the injustices of racism. Like the decades ago nay-sayers fighting the funding of the scientific adventure of moon-missions (feed the hungry, educate the poor), progress must be made in the middle. Previous abuse of the notion that "a rising tide lifts all boats" (to justify favors for the wealthy) does not negate the base truth of that analogy. A method must be found to reach the VAST MAJORITY of honest and caring Americans, (not just the top nor just the bottom unique strata) in the current generation and the next, to find a way to finally implement King's vision of equal opportunity. A "Civil Rights Museum" at the Lorraine Motel seemed to us to be a good method. (Even if it didn't open on Mother's day until long after we had to be out of town). From the Lorraine Motel we headed down to Mud Island and the Mississippi river museum. The photo above shows the Memphis glass Pyramid sports arena juxtaposed with the nearby lower downtown. The museum had presentations on riverboats and commerce, history, geography and area people; all very interesting and informative. But outside was the reason for our visit. The fantastic 5-block long scale model replica of the entire Mississippi river from its northern source to the New Orleans delta is a must see. We could show Jesse our travel route for the next few days to Vicksburg and on to New Orleans. ' As we drove south from Memphis following the Mississippi river toward Vicksburg, our sights were rather sublime. Dave wanted a copy of the Popeye's sign offering "Crawfish Po' Boys" (dressed or not), even though his experience with one was less than thrilling. Jesse popped a gasket in Bobo, Mississippi, a code term used by him and his friends when playing internet team games. Dave made us stop and take a picture at the abandoned Douglas and Lomason factory in Cleveland, Mississippi. Dave had consulted to D&L years ago when the family run operation was an ongoing concern. Portions of the plant are now used for industrial storage and the office section had been converted into a "family fun zone" by local entrepreneurs. We headed off the highway so Dave could log another county for his collection but had to stop to take this picture of an abandoned (we think) house. The location was marvelous to the eye, but the light too strong to communicate the utter desolation of the location, mixed with Mississippi's heat, humidity and spectacular greenery (is that Kudzu?). We took this quick picture in Leland Mississippi of a small building redeveloped as Jim Henson's Kermit the Frog birthplace museum. The famed Muppet inventor was born nearby but grew up in Leland and is celebrated as a home time hero. Unfortunately, Kermit's "museum" was closed when we arrived in late afternoon on Mother's day. We finally arrived in Vicksburg just before sunset and had decided to stay at the Isle of Capri casino hotel and restaurant complex. As predicted, we got a good deal on the room and dinner, but pocketed the extra instead of depositing it in the slot machines. We had to sign up as a "frequent guest" to receive the discount room and dinner, and we selected the "upgrade room" with a balcony overlooking the Mississippi river. You can see the exhaustion in our faces as we watched a spectacular sunset (complete with Mississippi river barges) right off our balcony. After dinner, we headed off to bed. Original Web Upload May 2001 Last Update: September 15, 2002