LandCruise episode 4: Eureka Springs to Franklin

Spent a day at the Clinton Museum in Little Rock, AR – so much information and well presented. Learning about history through their eyes by seeing ALL of the Presidential museums would be a great idea. FDR is high on our list.

The quilt above entitled “Women’s Work” was designed and quilted by Lea McComas. It is one of 18 quilts displayed to bring to life the exhibit: Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes, Women’s Rights.

One to Tennessee, and of course you can’t do Memphis without a trip to Graceland! Hard to believe Elvis achieved all that he did in just over 20 years (first recording at age 21 and died at age 42). Still miss him and listened to “If I Can Dream” all the way to Nashville.

We also paid a visit to the Civil Rights Museum housed in the famous Lorraine Motel. Walking through history, standing near the spot that Martin Luther King was assassinated, watching speeches by King and listening to recordings of life stories told by a variety of people – every American should take the time to visit this powerful place. A placard near the museum reads “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”

Duck march at the Peabody Hotel! In the 1930’s Frank Schutt, the General Manager of the hotel, and a friend, Chip Barwick returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. Having a little too much Tennessee Jack Daniel’s, they put some of their live duck decoys into the atrium fountain. The rest is history, and “the ducks” have been marching every day at 5 pm for over 60 years.

Beale Street has changed drastically over the years, but remains a must do in Memphis. We ran into a kind gentleman carrying a instrument-looking suitcase and asked where he would be playing. He said “At the Blue’s City Cafe”. Turns out he was a local icon- Earl “The Pearl”, playing at this location for over 50 years. At 86 he continued to deliver!

Nashville was our next stop, including a concert by Jason Isbell at the Ryman. The Ryman Theatre was originally opened in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle. It later became the first home of Grand Old Opry from 1943-1970. It is now an intimate concert theatre in the heart of Nashville. This city reminds us of Austin, TX – filled with music and having incredible growing pains. We enjoyed a short visit with Johnny and Sue Barber in nearby Franklin, TN and even got a little taste of his very special “-shine” before we left.

A latte at Starbuck’s and time to catch up on email was our plan. Little did we know that the parking lot – and the ONE HOUR sign tucked away in the back corner of the lot , was not our friend. Luckily, Nat accidentally walked out in time to stop Mike (super nice guy) from fully towing Discovery away! Let’s just say – we will be EXTRA careful with parking lots from now on. Mike said he “just can’t do this job anymore” as he is asked to tow 250 cars from this lot weekly. “It’s gotten to be a money maker, and I didn’t get into this business to hurt people, but to help them. I’m done,” he said with disgust.

Not to get confusing but the next stop was Franklin, NC and a visit with our friends Glenn and Valentina. No trip to Franklin would be complete without a visit to a waterfall (hint: there are lot of them! North Carolina is known to have the most waterfalls of any state).

Photos cannot do justice to the great scenic overlook at Clingman’s dome. On this clear day you can see all the way to the highest peak east of the Mississippi, Mt. Mitchell. The Great Smokey National Park is overwhelmingly beautiful and has a huge stand of old growth trees (one of the largest stands of old growth in the country). For a wonderful history that explains how some of this came to be, take time to read “The Last Castle” (thanks Audrey!!! What a great read!)

Sorry we are so sporadic with posting, but you may be happy to know – wifi is not available in some parts of this country….it is actually quite lovely!!! Cheers!!