day four: more mounds + museums
adventures
so it would seem that i’m really into archeological mounds now? who knew! when i left nashville on saturday, i took the long way to memphis and detoured over to pinson mounds state archeological area.
the largest mound, #9 and also known as saul’s mound, had a staircase and platform built on it. i always love a view and a change in perspective, but it felt a little odd to climb up on something pre-historic.
i was pretty smitten with the museum, built in the tradition of the mounds. friday and i explored the park before the museum was open, and didn’t see another soul in our explorations. it was cold and quiet.
an hour west of pinson, i visited the tina turner museum. the museum, set in her childhood blacks-only one-room schoolhouse, is part of the west tennessee delta heritage center. i was struck by the juxtaposition of her glamorous costumes housed in the humble flagg grove school building.
the earrings that tina turner wore in max mad, beyond thunderdome. i mean, DANG those are EARRINGS.
it was another hour into memphis, and before i went downtown, i drove past graceland, just to see the sight.
it was a complete and total shitshow.
this was as close as i cared to get. don’t get me wrong, i love a few elvis songs, maybe even a dozen. but wow. the commerce and traffic of this man’s legacy.
the lorainne motel, where dr. mlk, jr. was assasinated || the memphis sanitation strike of 1968 (NCRM)
when i finally made it downtown memphis, i was immediately struck with a connection to the city. unlike nashville (sorry, nashville—it may just have been bad timing), right off the bat i could feel the vibe, and i was into it. it was a saturday, and sunny, and folks were out and there was an energy in the air. friday and i were walking around town and came around a corner and i was stopped in my tracks. it was a feeling that i’d been there before, but i’ve not been to memphis. what it was, was what i was seeing. the lorainne motel. i’d seen it a hundred times before in images—the balcony where dr. martin luther king was shot.
the national civil rights museum of memphis is built around the lorainne motel, and is one of the most moving museum experiences i’ve felt. i learned more in one afternoon than i have in my lifetime. which is embarrassing—and motivating. living in detroit, i am often encountering local black history, but this place’s offerings are on the scale of our nation’s history, and its timelines, movements, and people came into focus for me. i had plans for the remainder of the afternoon, and they all went out the window. taking my time in that museum was one of the most important things i’ve done in a long while.
i want to go back again, and i want to take friends.
after my time spent at the civil rights museum, the dog and i went for a walk and discovered a WAY cool thing in memphis—big river crossing—a pedestrian bridge across the mississippi river. we walked to arkansas and back.
after what i already thought was a packed day, i realized i could still stop in to see the stax record museum, fri and i high-tailed it over to SOULSVILLE. i was just in time for a 20 minute movie on the history of stax records (with a little motown shout out thrown in!) and a self-guided tour of the museum.
my visit to stax, paired with my afternoon at the civil rights museum, really has me thinking deeply about american history. there’s a lot to think about, so i’m thankful i have many more miles to go on this road trip. the two thoughts i keep returning to, and i challenge you to as well, are—black history IS american history, and that black history and black culture ARE what make this country great.
logistics
hey—what happened to day three? boring admin tasks and more grumpiness—nothing too interesting. except! if you visit nashville, go to barista parlor in germantown. five stars on the aesthetics and coffee, plus, they play all vinyl all the time. lisielikey, as they say.
music—more mounds, more museum, more music. check the evolving road trip playlist for new additions.