On to Dallas

From Little Rock we travelled to Hot Springs, Arkansas (where the water bubbling up in all the fountains really is 143 degrees). I toured one of the old turn-of-the-last-century tourist thermal bath houses, now a museum.

After an overnite at the Arlington Hotel, our tour continued on to Dallas and the Texas Book Depository, now the "Sixth Floor Museum," adjacent to Dealey Plaza and the "grassy knoll." This is where the assassination of President John F. Kennedy took place. The area still looks much like it does on the film clips we've seen so many times, only in person, it's all in living color.

There are two marks (like this: X) in the street where the President's car was when the bullets struck. I looked to the street, the grassy knoll, then to the 6th floor window where Lee Harvey Oswald had been. The knoll seems so close to the street and the building directly overlooks the street at the corner where the motorcade turned. We then went up to the museum. We were able to spend time at that infamous window and look down to the street and just imagine what Lee Harvey Oswald was seeing as the motorcade was proceding.

There is much to see there relating to the assassination. I was intrigued with seeing Jack Ruby's hat on display. It's quality, and looks just like new.

Here's a picture of the grassy knoll as it looks today.

This tragic event was a major turning point in American history. It was a defining moment for our generation. Being here was a very somber experience. 

Little Rock Nine

This had to be the highlight of our tour. We didn't expect to see much other than than the high school where nine African-American teens defied segregation in 1957 by attending Little Rock Central High. Turned out, this was one of our best stops.

The building remains spectacular. It was built in 1927 as the largest and most expensive to build high school of the times. I read that nearly 20,000 people showed up for the dedication ceremony.

LIttle Rock Central gained national fame once again in the late fifties. Nine students tested the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education that ordered the integration of public schools. When they attempted to enter the school, they met up with over 1,000 protesters. The scene was becoming so violent, the students were unable to attend classes. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus was not about to allow for integration, so President Eisenhower ordered 1200 men from the 101st Airborne stationed at Fort Campbell to provide escort for the nine students. He also federalized approximately 10,000 men from the Arkansas National Guard to prevent Governor Faubus from taking charge of them.

Here are the steps leading to the school entrance.

Even under escort, the students were jeeered and spit upon. Once in the school, they had even less protection. Although the military guards were present, they were unable to go into the classrooms, bathrooms, or lockerooms where the students continued to be taunted. Very few white students became their friends. I marvel at how brave the Little Rock Nine were to face racism head on for that entire school year.

The whole account was made even more poignant when we learned that our National Park Service guide at the school was Spirit Trickey, the daughter of one of the original students. She said I could post a picture of her. Here she is in front of the plaque honoring her Mom Minijean Brown Trickey. When someone in our group asked her what her Mom thought about her working here, she replied, "She says, 'It's awesome.'"

It was on November 9, 1999, that the Little Rock Nine received Congressional Gold Medals for their valor.

William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Museum and Library

At the museum we saw the Presidential limo and Secret Service exhibits on the ground floor. The second floor included displays of campaign memorabilia and a room size replica of the Cabinet Room. The third floor showed a little of what life was like in the White House, including what the Oval Office looked like during President Clinton's term. What I enjoyed the most was a peek into the Clintons' residence on the top floor and the Green Space on the roof level. It was a perfect day to take in the views all around.

Hey, there's Geo, looking quite thoughtful!

One of my fave photos ~ shows what my place setting would look like if I were invited to a State dinner at the WH. I can only dream...

Peabody ~ It's All About the Ducks

Our Little Rock hotel was The Peabody. The ducks are definitely worth a post.

The ducks have a penthouse apartment at the hotel. Each day at 5PM they take the elevator down to the lobby. Our C-SPAN man was there to capture the moment.

Hotel guests gather in the lobby to see the ducks take to the red carpet on their way to the pool.

Time for a swim at the fountain pool in the lobby before heading back up the elevator

to their penthouse apartment.

All that swimming works up an appetite. Time for dinner!

What a delightful duckie life!

"...going to Graceland"

What's a trip to Memphis without a stop at Graceland?

Gone is the row of little el cheapo souvenier shops across the street that I remembered from a previous visit to Memphis. In it's place is a visitor's center with the Chrome Grill Restaurant (where you can actually eat at a table within a convertible) and several more "upscale" souvenir shops.

This was my first time on an actual tour. I expected more over-the-top glitz. The rooms were rather small and all very 70's. We did not get into the upstairs living area. The first story level is maintained just as it had been when Elvis lived there.

Most impressive were the many, many gold records that were displayed on the walls along one very long hallway. Walking down that hallway, more than anywhere else, one can really sense Elvis's remarkable musical talent and achievement. We also saw some of the costumes he wore when he performed. I also liked seeing Priscilla's wedding gown.

There were a lot of "homey" touches, as well. There were personal photographs. And there was Lisa Marie's swing set. Here's a picture:

The self-guided tour ended at the monument, fountain, and Elvis's gravesite.

So I have officially been to Graceland. Elvis is another musical giant who died much too young...

Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Museum

This part of our tour was really gripping. For me it was like "immediate history." I remember the Civil Rights activism of the late fifties and especially the sixties. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated when I was in college, so I have a strong memory about that. I've read about the killing and I've seen accounts of it on TV. On this day, I was standing where it all took place.

What I didn't expect was the extent of the Civil Righs Museum on the property. There's a replica of a "whites only" lunch counter where sit-ins took place; there's a bus where you can sit and experience what it was like to take public transportation during segregation; there's the actual Freedom Riders' Greyhound bus that was bombed out ~ a blackened, twisted reminder of a not-so-distant past. There's even a life- size display of the garbage truck and workers and a description of the discrimination and danger of their work at that time. (The reason Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Memphis that fateful day was to lend his support to the garbage workers' strike.) 

The museum is located in what had been the Lorraine Motel. We went through the front entrance, then wound our way through the sights and sounds of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's, eventually ending up at the room Martin Luther King, Jr. had been staying. The room is behind glass and has been left just as it was that day. Looking acrosss the street, one can see the window in the building where the shot is said to have been fired. 

There had been discussion years ago of tearing down this building. Thankfully it still stands. This is sacred ground of the Civil Rights Movement. 

Shiloh National Military Park

My first reaction ~ this is a huge place! I expected to see a smaller battlefield.

This is where the Union forces and the Confederates clashed, one of the “turning points" in the Civil War ~ a turning point because this battle demonstrated that the war would be prolonged and bitter, neither side willing to yield.

In total there were more than 100,000 troops engaged in this two day battle on April 6 and 7, 1862. If any side “won,” it may have been the Union forces who held the field. The Union forces did not pursue the retreating Confederates.

The whole place now is a park with canons here and there, and monuments put up by different States to honor those who gave their lives. Even though this is now a peaceful place, I felt somewhat uneasy because I knew that wherever I walked, most likely I was standing on ground that was once bloodied by the fallen soldiers. It must’ve been a horrific scene with different kinds of ammo and shrapnel flying in all directions, deafening canon roars, smoke, yelling, confusion, and screams of the wounded. I read that Union General William T. Sherman, commenting on Shiloh, said that it was so horrendous that it “would have cured anybody of war.”

After the battle, many of the dead were buried in trenches. Years later pigs were rooting up the remains, so farmers requested that the federal government do something about this problem. So, in 1894, the Shiloh National Military Park was established. It was named after the Shiloh Methodist Chapel that had been in the area.

At the Visitors' Center we saw an informative film about the battle that dated back to 1957. Think about that! This very dated film, in itself, was very interesting.

I came away from Shiloh thinking about the passions, convictions, and the political impasse that led to so many to sacrifice so much, both sides in this Civil War believing they were fighting for liberty.

President Who?

I'll admit I knew very little about our eleventh President James K. Polk before we visited his home and gravesite.

The Polk portion of our tour began at the Tennessee state capitol grounds where he is buried. Quite an impressive location. Nearby is an equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson, also very impressive. Irises were in bloom, so it was especially pretty. I was distracted by the views, so I don't recall much of what our tour leader Richard Norton Smith was telling us at the time. I'll have to catch it on C-SPAN when it's broadcasted.

Our tour continued to the home where President Polk resided, about 95 miles away in Columbia, TN. Again, I was impressed ~ a comfortable home, ca 1816, federal-style architecture. There are over 1,000 personal objects here that belonged to the Polks. This truly seemed more like a home than a museum.

I liked seeing the inaugural gown of Sally Polk and a fan given to her, I think, by her husband, with images of the 11 presidents on it. Now that's a real gem of political memorabilia! Also fascinating is the daguerreotype of President Polk's Cabinet, the first ever image of the inside of the White House.

Polk's accomplishments? During his administration:
          * He kept his promise of running and being office for just one-term;
          * Three new States were added, so the U.S. extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific;
          * The very first U.S. postage stamp was issued;
          * Construction was begun on the Washington monument;
          * The custom of holding elections the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November
             was initiated.

From their portraits, the Polks seem to have been a handsome couple.Their time in the White House was very austere ~ no drinking, no singing, no dancing, and strict observance of the Sabbath. They had no children. Mrs. Polk outlived her husband by many years, and was most highly respected by all who knew her. She died in 1891.

Then it time to board our bus once again. We were going Shiloh.