Bluff City

Currently In: Memphis, TN
Next Up: Bull Shoals, AR; Branson and Van Buren, MO; Quincy, IL and finally Downers Grove, IL!

Although Johnny and I have both been to Memphis before (when we were much younger), we took a quick detour on our way north to explore parts of the city we hadn't seen before.
One new attraction is the giant pyramid as you cross the DeSoto Bridge into Memphis from Arkansas.  It's a Bass Pro Shop!

This is their flagship store and the inside proved it - it's huge!  We took the elevator (blue thing on the left) up to the top.

Here was the day's lunch spot.  Quite a view.

We walked around outside to get some good views of the city and the Mississippi. The high ground that separates the city from the river is known as the bluff - hence the nickname.  It was a cloudy day!

That's a fish tank in the middle of the restaurant.

Earlier that day we toured the National Civil Rights Museum.  The museum is located at the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

There is a memorial on the balcony where he died.

Given that we were there during Spring Break, the museum was extremely crowded.  I was impressed that so many people want to better understand this part of our American history.  But the number of people prevented me from getting photos.  The museum was very well done, much like this exhibit representing the bus strike begun by Rosa Parks in Montgomery.

This sculpture, Movement to Overcome, was installed for the museum opening in 1991 and suggests the slow upward climb of the civil rights movement by millions of people.

Across the street we were able to see the window on the top story of this boarding house where James Earl Ray shot MLK.  We went inside to view a number of exhibits on the investigation and apprehension of Ray.

The whole experience was very moving.