Facts and Figures

Just about Noon on Monday October 27, 2014 FREEDOM passed Mile 0 of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway. As of that day and time we had:


Traveled 3,886 Miles since casting off in Charleston, SC on April 16, 2014

Spent 80 Days underway

Run the engine for 544 Hours

Passed through 57 Locks

Motored through 17 States

Had lots of fun, met lots of great people, ate lots of Catfish

It's been a busy 6 months!

And there's more to come....

Memphis!

There's more to Memphis than memories of Elvis, so after our tour we headed downtown. After checking in, we asked the hotel concierge for his recommendations. As he was showing us the map of the area, a fellow guest spoke up and suggested we head over to the Peabody Hotel and grab a seat at the lobby bar.  We might have a bit of a wait ,he said , but that would give us the perfect vantage point for viewing the Peabody Ducks. The Peabody Hotel is not just one of the oldest and most elegant hotels in the mid-South, it is also home to 5 ducks ( one male, four females) who live in a palace on the roof and spend their days floating in the lobby fountain.

It seems that back in the 1930's the General Manager of the Peabody and his friend went hunting in Arkansas one weekend, Upon their return, and after sippin' some whiskey (to chase away the chill, no doubt) they decided to place some of their live duck decoys in the hotel fountain. The guests were thrilled and a tradition was born. The original 3 English "call ducks" were soon replaced with 5 North American Mallards. In the 40's a Bellman offered to c=bring the ducks to the fountain each day and tecah them the now famous Peabody Duck March.  He retired in 1991, but another DuckMaster oversees the ducks daily 11AM entrance and 5PM retreat.

So, we hustled down the street and snagged the last seat and standing spot at the bar -- a good hour before the Duck March was to begin. To our right was a couple from Philadelphia, and to our left was an American wife and her Australian husband who live in Sweden. We passed the time in conversation. Before long the DuckMaster appeared, told the story of the ducks and the march was on!

Then it was on to Rendezvous Barbecue, located in an alleyway near the Peabody,  for their famous ribs. ( They were good, but so far, after all the BBQ we have eaten in the south, nothing compares to HomeTeam BBQ in Charleston). Later we walked down Beale Street as music poured out of the bars,

According to to Rolling Stone:

The heart of music in Memphis -- and arguably of delta blues, jazz, R&B, and gospel as we know it - was born along this three block strip downtown. But its significance as an entertainment district stretches all the way back to the 1860's when the street (once known as Beale Avenue) became a popular pit stop for musicians, traders, and merchants. For blues fans however, W.C.Handy, now revered as the Father of the Blues, crafted the genre's definitive statements in the early 1900's thanks to singles like "Blues on Beale Street" and "Memphis Blues."

We found an open air venue we liked the sound of, sat down and enjoyed the McDaniel Band for an hour or so. The lead singer took a liking to me after I complimented his Hoya's shirt and he responded with a couple of table side serenades. At one point the band asked where everyone was from and we were surprised to learn that most of the audience was from Europe.

Our Hoya fan singer serenading a guest

The following morning we walked through downtown past a few building restoration projects to the National Civil Rights Museum located at the Lorraine Motel -- the site of Martin Luther King Jr's 1968 assassination. It is a comprehensive telling of the fight for civil rights since the earliest days of our nation. We watched numerous newsreels of students being pulled from lunch stool, MLK orating on the National Mall, small children being escorted into school buildings by federal marshalls. We stood in Dr, King's motel room and looked across the street at the boarding house window where James Earl Ray lay in wait. The voices of Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Walter Conkrite, and Presidents Kennedy and Johnson told the story via the evening news. Interactive, hands-on exhibits told the story through the voices of small town southern residents, Freedom Riders, those who sat at the counters, boycotted buses and marched on Washington.  At times it was overwhelming -- and yet inspirational.

When it faced with demolition, a local group raised funds to save the Lorraine Hotel and turn it into a museum

A wreath is hung outside of Dr, King's room

The inspiration for Brown vs Board of Education

The striking Memphis sanitation workers wore I am A Man placards

The view from the Lorraine Motel to the Ray's boarding house.
A balcony has been installed outside of the bathroom window where Ray waited to give the visitor  his perspective.
(the green girder marks the spot)

That afternoon we drove over the Mississippi on the I-55 bridge (known to Memphians as the "Old Bridge") to Arkansas and back across the I-40 bridge ( aka the "New Bridge", even though it is over 300 years old) just so we can say we have been to Arkansas -- The Natural State!  The next day we heard that the Dept. of Transportation wants to close the Old Bridge before its replacement is completed due to safety concerns. We were happy to hear this after we traveled over it.

All in all it was a great trip to Memphis --lots to see, do, hear and eat. A perfect Loop side trip adventure, and a nice break from the boat life........

Graceland

August 16, 1977. I was in a van, driving down the highway near Spokane, Washington with my brother Bill and a group of his co-workers. It was the summer before my senior year in college. Where were you? The day Elvis died?

By then Elvis was painted as a caricature of himself, deep in the throes of addiction, but still a force to be reckoned with and heading out on tour. What a voice, what a talent.  Silenced way too soon.

For the past 37 years I have watched the news reports of fans gathering at the gates of Graceland, Elvis' home and sanctuary, to remember the man. Now it was my turn.

Here are my photos -- taken on my phone, no flash allowed - sometimes blurry, but still revealing the a glimpse of the King......

The Living Room, complete with a 20' custom sofa. Love the peacock stained glass at the entrance to the Music Room (note the TV)

This is where his Mama lived until she passed and his aunt moved in. 

Mama sured loved purple -- and poodles.

What an elegant staircase. We weren't allowed on the second floor

The Dining Room - wet with Elvis' and Priscilla's wedding china

Elvis loved to watch TV. This is the Dining Room TV

Priscilla and Lisa Marie

The kitchen exactly as it was the day Elvis died.

The Jungle Room, Green shag carpet on floor and ceiling

The Den ( located in basement) When Elvis heard President Johnson watched all three network news programs at the same time, he decided he would too. Thus, three TVs.

The Bar in the Den

The Cap'n in the Game  Room. The wall and ceiling fabric was very soft ( yes, I touched it) and groovy. We toured the house using iPads, with narration by John Stamos - the perfect choice

I can't imagine how much fabric this required -- but the effect was fabulous. You would never know you were in the basement

The Jungle Room. One day Elvis bought the furniture in a local store

The room featured lots of animals, a water fall down the red wall and.....

Green shag carpet on the floor and ceiling

The horse pasture -- Elvis was an avid rider. Once he bought a horse, a saddle and a pick up for each of  17 friends

The Tour continued to a museum featuring all of  Elvis' Gold Records,

His Grammy

His military uniform

Priscilla's wedding dress ( looks like a nightie to me) They met when he was stationed in Germany. She was the General's daughter.

Then we went to his Racketball Court building where he had a sunken lounge looking at the court...  The morning of his death Elvis came to this building to spend time with some friends, play the piano and sing.

...which now displays more memorabilia

and costumes

with big belt buckles!

The tour ends in the meditation garden where Elvis is buried beside his mother and father

Tourists waiting to enter the house.

There is a newly opened archives building with all sorts of photos, and memorabilia. I enjoyed this article.

And yet another museum houses his impressive car collection.

I want one

More costumes from his Vegas years

On close examination, the fabric did not look very soft, but i guess it had to be durable for all that shakin' and gyratin'

The King as a toddler. Photogenic from the start.....

Catching Up

I can't believe it has been over two weeks since we entered the Mississippi. For the past month is has been our routine to have some intense days of travel followed by long marina stays.  We arrived at Green Turtle Bay near Grand River, Kentucky on September 24th  with the intention of staying  just 3 - 4 days when all of a sudden we were signing up for the weekly special. Our days were filled with a provisioning trip to Walmart in Benton, KY with fellow Loopers Jim and Connie, Michiganders who are looping aboard Patriot; a golf cart ride around town; time at the marina spa; Aqua Zumba class; boat chores; chatting with other Loopers on the dock and generally a lot of doing nothing. Our evenings were spent sharing "docktails"with Loopers; attending an evening of Civil War Letters and Music, performed at the local theatre; attending a Seafood Boil sponsored by the local yacht club during their annual regatta; and making the pilgrimage to Patti's Settlement -- a local restaurant known for it's 2" pork chop

It was delicious -- and served the Cap'n for dinner one night and both of us the next!

After leaving Green Turtle Bay  on October 1st we headed south towards the Land Between the Lakes -- the largest inland peninsula in the US. It was created in the 1930's by the Tennessee Valley Authority project that dammed the Tennessee River. It is bound by Lake Barkley to the east and Kentucky Lake to the west.  Homes, trailers and fishermen line the western shore, but there is nothing but vegetation on the LBL shore  The leaves were just beginning to turn color and it was spectacularly beautiful as we motored along the Kentucky/Tennessee border. The shoreline has changed a bit of late and we are seeing more cliffs, some hills, sandy beaches and southern pines. Morning fog wisping over the rivers has delayed our start once or twice as cool morning air has signaled the start of fall.

It seems that every day we are running along the border of two states: KY and TN, TN and MI. One night we anchored off of Civil War Fort Heiman in Cypress Creek, KY. At least I think we were anchored in KY -- might have been Tennessee -- the line goes right down the creek. In fact, at the marina up the creek a bit you can buy beer at the dock store but not in the restaurant because the state line goes right thru the marina: dry county on one side, wet on the next.

We have been treated to some great southern hospitality along the way. A few nights ago when we were docked at the Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN the owners treated our group of Looper boats to appetizers (fried catfish bites, hushpuppies, fried pickles) with our docktails and then fresh cinnamon buns and coffee the next morning served by dockhand Billy. We didn't want to leave!
A few nights later we stayed in Clifton, TN where the marina owner, proudly wearing her Ole Miss alumni shirt, served us homemade beef vegetable soup in china bowls to chase away the evening chill.

We had a few days without locks and so we lowered the dinghy and explored local coves near our anchorages. Ham loved the chance to run on the beaches and ride on the bow.

As I type, on Monday October 6 we are docked at Grand Harbor Marina on Pickwick Lake, TN, >this< close to the  Mississippi border.  We are in a covered dock so there is no satellite TV and XM radio , but we have a front row view of the passing tows. Tomorrow we head west, by car, to Memphis for a few days of music and BBQ, and a trip to Graceland,  We'll also be stopping at the Shiloh Civil War  Battlefield.

All through the past few weeks we have caught up with the Looper "pack"  most of whom took the Canadian route while we cruised the western Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. It's been fun to reunite with folks we haven't seen since Waterford, NY way back in June and to meet so many other others who have undertaken this great adventure.

Keep checking back for pictures for  pictures and more stories...Right now I need to get some rest because Elvis is waiting  for me in Memphis......

Our constant companions,,, the tows