Uncle Lou’s, of course, had been featured on the TV show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, in the episode Where the Locals Eat. Apparently everything they cooked, they cooked to order. They were scheduled to close at 8pm, and I think they were overwhelmed by us and the other pair of customers in the restaurant – so much that they decided to lock the doors early! This made no difference to me as it became one of my very favorites of all of the diners I have so far visited. We got the fried chicken (both the Homestyle and the Sweet and Spicy Love varieties), with side items fried dill pickles and corn nuggets. It was all delectable, but the Sweet and Spicy Love sauce (which had been named by Guy Fieri right on the show) was the most incredible of all.

DD&D #5: Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken in Memphis, Tennessee

Chicken and other good eats. Can you tell which one is the Sweet and Spicy Love?

This was quite the feast

After dinner, we checked into the Knights Inn motel and amazingly enough ended back up in one of the same rooms in which we had stayed three days earlier. We didn’t swim on this night, nor take a midnight adventure to a BBQ joint. We just rested with our fresh sunburns in order to get an early start the next morning.

Our first stop of the day was at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. It is a privately owned museum that had been built around the Lorraine Motel on Mulberry Street where Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated on April 4, 1968. The complex included the restored motel as well as the building across the street from where it has been determined that James Earl Ray fired the fatal shots. The museum itself is built on the same property and displays an absolutely fabulous history of Civil Rights in America, kicking off with an in-depth examination of the King murder in a film called The Witness. Once you find yourself in the area where the Martin Luther King museum begins, you realize that you are now actually inside the motel. So the point in history where his killing would happen corresponds to you standing right next to his motel room and the balcony where he stood when he was shot.

One portion of the Lorraine Hotel, with the old-style neon signs

The Motel portion of the museum was under some construction

A wreath placed on the balcony at the spot where Martin Luther King was shot and killed has been perpetually in place since the day of his murder

Jamie outside the motel, with representative cars mirroring what was sitting there on that fateful day in 1968

Outside the terrific National Civil Rights Museum – as the rain began to fall

The museum was dead serious about not taking pictures in the museum with signs every ten feet with warnings that you will be ejected if you even attempt it – so I didn’t. So I’m afraid you’ll just have to visit it to see the great, informative displays. After we went through the museum, we went through the building where the shots came from. There was a lot of info about James Earl Ray, as well as other theories as to whom may have performed the killing. In an amazing twist, Martin Luther King’s family supported Ray’s efforts for a re-trial and publicly stated that they didn’t believe that he had anything to do with the murder. I did sneak one photo of the bathroom which had been restored to the way it was found on the day of the murder. Ray – or whomever – supposedly fired the shots from this boarding house bathroom window.

The former boarding house from where the shots were fired. The second story window partially obscurred by the tree was the room in question.

The shared bathroom in the boarding house is reputed to be from where the shots were fired.

After finding a parking garage, lunch that afternoon was at The Little Tea Shop. Yep, you guessed it. It had been featured on DD&D in the episode American Classics. I ordered the soup of the day and the Lacy Special, which included chicken breast between corn sticks topped with gravy, served with rice and carrots. Because Jamie and I were actually going to eat a second lunch this day, we split this one – but still wound up full. The Little Tea Shop is only open on weekdays from 11-2, and it was incredibly busy. In fact, I almost thought that our waiter wasn’t going to be able to take our picture, so we took pics of each other. Eventually, he came back and snapped one of us – once our food was almost gone.

Jamie and one of the homemade cornbread sticks

Ready to devour another fine meal

The waiter takes a second and quickly snaps a picture for us

DD&D #6: The Little Tea Shop in Memphis, Tennessee

Next up on the Memphis agenda was a visit to one more records studio, this one the famous Stax Records. Similar to the Sun Studios, this studio (although much larger) had fallen into disrepair and had to be completely restored to get it back to its original form. The studio area was cool to see and they combined it with a dynamic museum of relics and memorabilia from the great recording artists that had worked at the studios. The opening move really got my heart pumping to the beat of the R&B and Soul tunes that had been recorded right there. Again, no photos were permitted unfortunately. Before we left, I purchased an autographed copy of the newest Huey Lewis CD Soulsville, which is a tribute to the artists and music of Stax Records.

The Stax Records Studios

The historical marker outside the studios

The highlight piece in the museum: the Hammond Organ used in the recording of Green Onions by Booker T. and the MGs., which is sitting in the area where the song was actually recorded.

As a young boy, I had a 45RPM record called What the World Needs Now is Love by Tom Clay, and within that record were representative recordings of the assassinations of John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. One of the clips featured part of the end of his “I’ve Been To the Mountaintop” speech. I played this record over and over again as a kid. This very speech had been delivered in Memphis, and ended up being King’s last speech before he was murdered the next day. Knowing this, I took the opportunity to visit the Mason Temple from where this speech was delivered. The temple wasn’t open at the time, but it gave me chills to stand outside of it, and then listen to the Tom Clay song in my car.

Outside the Mason Temple, from where Martin Luther King gave his final speech

After checking out the Mason Temple, as un-hungry as Jamie and I were, we headed over to Alcenia’s for our second lunch. This had been featured on the DD&D episode Traditional Dishes. Alcenia’s motto was “Feeding the heart, the head, and the stomach.” And they did that just fine. We ordered up some Fried Catfish and Fried Green Tomatoes that came with corn and green beans. Just for fun, we ordered the Ghetto-Aid – which is like Kool-Aid with five times the sugar. This is my estimate only. Unlike the The Little Tea Shop, this place was absolutely empty the entire time we were here. We attempted to play the jukebox, but only got out one song before it apparently broke. Appropriately enough it was Green Onions. Although we shared our food again, needless to say, we were quite full by the time we left the establishment.

Jamie fiddles with the jukebox at Alcenia’s

Some crazy-good home cookin’

Under the portrait of Alcenia herself. Her daughter was cooking that day and her granddaughter was our waitress. No hugs from Alcenia today.

DD&D #7: Alcenia’s in Memphis, Tennessee

It was around 3:30 when we departed Memphis. About an hour north of Memphis, is a small town called Henning. My friend Dean Garrett had recommended that I visit a location found here, they boyhood home of Alex Haley, the author of Roots. I concurred; it was well worth the visit. It was on the front porch of this home that Haley’s grandmother would regale him with stories of his ancestors that would ultimately inspired him to write the famous novel that would become a TV mini-series in 1977.

We took our photographs outside in the front yard where Haley is now buried and then attempted to go inside. The door was locked and no one answered when we knocked. Upon closer inspection, it seems that there was a giant visitors center (which we hadn’t seen from the road in front of the house). It too, however was closed. So I phoned the number and the tour guide answered from inside the house. It was like a bad horror movie. Turns out she was in the middle of the tour, so we joined up with them inside the house. Anyway, it all worked out.

Outside the Alex Haley boyhood home

Alex Haley’s grave in the front yard of his boyhood home

Playing piano in the family parlor

The Haley kitchen. This was our last photo before Jamie was scolded.

After the house tour, we checked out the museum in the visitors center, as well as the documentary on mini-series that can be found on the Roots DVD.  I told our tour guide about my encounter with Levar Burton from the year before, although I didn’t tell her what I really thought of him. Although the museum was supposed to close at 5pm, they let us stay inside until nearly 5:30. Once again, no photos were allowed in the house or museum, but due to my blissful ‘unawareness’ we were able to capture some images. See…this would have been a boring posting if I didn’t bend the rules a little bit.

Alex Haley’s chair from the set of Roots – located in the visitor center and museum

On the Haley front porch, where Alex first heard the tales of his ancestors from his Grandmother. The roots of Roots…

It was about a three hour and very peaceful drive (despite some bridge nervousness) from Henning to Columbia, Tennessee. We checked into the Days Inn upon arrival around 8:30 that night, finding the desk clerk lounging in the lobby, watching TV. This joint had ice. We got it in the lobby and took it to our room so that we could enjoy cold drinks with our lime chips and nacho and ranch dip courtesy Jamie. We looked at the pool and kicked an electrical box, but didn’t swim.

This would be our last night in a motel, as we’d be starting the next day in Columbia and sadly begin our trek back home.

Our Tennessee road trip will conclude in the next posting…

Personally, I think that Bill Clinton was and is a good man who left the country better than he found it. He continues to do a great deal of charitable work as an active ex-President. I am still holding out hope that one day I will get to meet our nation’s 42nd United States President, but until that day comes, I’ll have to happy with visiting some of the key sites to the life of Bill Clinton.

Monday, July 4, 2011 - Bill Clinton birthplace – As an admirer of President Clinton, it was apropos for me to be visiting the town of Clinton’s birth in Hope, Arkansas, on Independence Day. My girlfriend Jamie and I rolled into town that morning and hit all of the Clinton sites relevant to his early life. One of the most unusual was the site of his birth. Born William Jefferson Blythe on August 19, 1946, Clinton was only the second President to have been born in a hospital. Unfortunately, of the now-four hospitals claiming a Presidential birth, this is the only one no longer standing.

I had done internet research for several years trying find out whether there was a marker on the location of the actual birthplace, but didn’t come across a photo of it until right before trip. Turns out that the site of the Julia Chester Hospital where he was born now has the Brazzel Oakrest Funeral Home sitting on it. Fortunately, there is a plaque under an American flag noting the location’s importance to history – but oddly, the plaque does not face the road, but the funeral home.

Overview of the former location of the Julia Chester Hospital. The plaque is located under the flag.

The plaque and me

Bricks that were part of the original structure can be found at the site of Bill Clinton’s second boyhood home.

Physically, this is all that it left of the Julia Chester Hospital. The bricks in this monument were taken from there. This is sitting in the front yard of Bill Clinton’s second home.

Monday, July 4, 2011 - Bill Clinton’s First Boyhood Home – Sadly, the biological father of William Jefferson Blythe was killed in a car accident before his son was born. Therefore, his mother moved back into the home of her parents, and eventually left young Bill to live with them while she was working in New Orleans. Although for years, this location in Hope, Arkansas, was touted as the Bill Clinton birthplace, he was actually born in a local hospital (see notes above).

Less than three months before our arrival, President Bill Clinton himself was onsite to dedicate the birthplace home to the National Park Service.

Displays in the visitor center of the Birthplace Home

The side of the former Clinton home. The opening at the top wasn’t an escape hatch; it was where a box fan could be placed during the summer.

On the front porch of the house

Young Bill would live in this home for the first four years of his life, before his mother Virginia married Roger Clinton (hence the last name of Bill Clinton). Even after the new family moved to another house in Hope, young Bill would often come back and visit his Grandparents in this home on South Hervey Street. This was the house that he himself always considered ‘his childhood home’.

We had a nice tour of the house, which had been decorated and restored to resemble the time period when Bill Clinton was a child. Bill’s mother Virginia actually helped to point out where things were located within the home. There were no areas off-limits and photos were welcome, so I got plenty in all of the rooms of the home.

Bill had his crib in the master bedroom where he stayed with his mother as an infant

Bill Clinton’s room as he got older. His grandparents bought him the desk so he could work on ‘becoming President’.

One of little Billy Blythe’s children’s books

The household lounge

In the Clinton living room. Bill’s Mom helped them get the decor right.

Monday, July 4, 2011 - Bill Clinton’s Second Boyhood Home – Once Bill Clinton’s mother re-married, she and her husband Roger moved along with Bill into another house in Hope, Arkansas. This one was not currently open to the public, and was actually occupied by a local handicapped man. The agreement with the city is that he will keep the house up and in turn they let him live in it. With this understanding in mind, it is perfectly permissible to go up to the porch of the house for photos. There are even handouts there highlighting the other locations in Hope.

The Clinton’s lived in this home from 1950 – 1953, at which time they re-located to Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Because of noise from the highway traffic, filming for this interview was moved from the Birthplace Home to the second boyhood home

The second boyhood home in Hope

Monday, July 4, 2011 - Other Bill Clinton Sites in Hope, Arkansas – It was a holiday as Jamie and I made our way around Hope, Arkansas, so there didn’t appear to be much going on. We did, however, find a couple of other interesting sites that related to the life of President Bill Clinton. The first was the Brookwood Elementary School, where young Bill attended first grade. The school was still open for business, but was closed at the time for summer vacation.

I looked all over town to find this sign!

Brookwood Elementary, clearly proud of their heritage

In the local Hope Cemetery known as Rose Hill are the graves of Bill Clinton’s parents William Jefferson Blythe and Virginia Clinton Kelley. We made a quick visit here to check out the graves, which are located inside a small fenced-in area (that is quite easy to scale), and pay our respects.

The easily scalable fence surrounded the graves of Bill Clinton’s parents and grandparents

The graves of Clinton’s parents

Tuesday, July 5, 2011 – Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock, Arkansas – Bill Clinton had served an interrupted term as Governor of the State of Arkansas from 1979-81 (as the 40th Governor), and from 1983-92 (as the 42nd). Clinton’s was the 7th family to occupy the mansion since it opened in 1950. There were several remnants of the Clintons’ occupancy, including a library of books that were donated by the President.

The Governor’s Mansion. We had to be buzzed in like real important folk.

Little Rock or bust! This Clinton tribute may be found in the front yard of the mansion near the front gate.

Great seal rug in the foyer

Photo of Clinton and other Governors of Arkansas taken in the living room

The same living room. Note the funny painting.

Library of books that were collected by Bill Clinton during his twelve years of living in the Governor’s Mansion

During Governor Mike Huckabee’s administration, extensive additions were made to the mansion, placing the outdoor balcony (from which Bill Clinton first announced that his running mate would be Al Gore), on the inside of an extended ballroom area.

This once-outdoors balcony is now enclosed in the new addition of the mansion. From here, Bill Clinton announced for the first time that his running mate would be Al Gore.

Gubernatorial portrait of Bill Clinton in the new addition to the mansion

I had arranged a semi-private tour of the residence, and it was fun to check out the indoors and grounds of this historic location.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011 – The William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park – It pains me to say it, but out of the seven Presidential Libraries that I have visited to date, this one was by far the weakest. It was the architecture and layout that bothered me the most. Instead of having a distinct flow of displays like a museum should, this one was almost like a wide-open warehouse, with small glass displays of various chapters in the Clinton administration. Very little information was given about Clinton’s life before or after the Presidency.

Visiting my 7th Presidential Library

And worst of all was that the revolving exhibit that was stationed there for the summer was devoted to Elvis Presley – which I had a hard time relating to anything in the political or Presidential realm. There was a display of Elvis relics (some from the collection of Bill Clinton himself) and a photographic display called “Elvis at 21″.

The Elvis display signs were unfortunately prominent outside the museum

Jamie and I had a nice lunch in the museum restaurant (which was simply called Forty Two) before we started our tour. Although not under any tremendous time contraints, we were only in the museum for an hour and fifteen minutes – and that included the 15-minute film showing, as well as a viewing of Bill Clinton’s incredibly funny skit of The Final Days, in which he feigned boredom as his administration wound down. This was actually the highpoint of the visit. About the only thing in this museum that was in line with the others was a reproduction of the Oval Office, built to re-create the office at the time that Bill Clinton resided there.

The Cadillac Fleetwood Presidential Limosuine – built in 1993 and used by Bill Clinton during his administration

Amongst the displays in the Clinton Presidential Library. The binders were a miniscule portion of the Presidential papers stored in the Library.

The Clinton Oval Office reproduction

Presidential China

The abandoned Rock Island Railroad Bridge over the Arkansas River, as seen from the Bill Clinton Library

I desperately wanted the Library to be better, but it just simply wasn’t. And if there wasn’t enough to complain about inside, the gift shop was located in a building separate from the Library itself – one that a free shuttle (ie. golf cart) would drive you too. If it weren’t for the magnet I needed, I wouldn’t have even gone there. Sorry, Bubba… great President, crummy museum.

Continue to the next President… (under construction)

Return to Monday 2011  in Arkansas… (under construction)

Return to Tuesday 2011 in Arkansas… (under construction)

The drive to Memphis, Tennessee, was roughly three hours long. Jamie napped for some of the trip (as I promised she would be able to do) and I listened to the tunes of Vampire Weekend, Hard-Fi, and eventually as we neared Memphis, Elvis Presley. It was around 10:30am when we reached the Beale Street area. We quickly found the Hard Rock Cafe, but since they wouldn’t be opening until 11:00, we walked over to the Memphis Rock ‘N Soul Museum.

The museum, which was run by the Smithsonian, gave a broad overview of the history of soul music from its earliest days to the rise of local record studios and the urban influences of Beale Street. It started out with an entertaining movie before we moved into the exhibits that included costumes, instruments, jukeboxes, and other memorabilia. As always, we didn’t really have enough time to soak in everything, much less listen to the portable audio guide, but I think we got a pretty good feel of it.

The Memphis Rock ‘N Soul Museum

Jamie, listening to the museum narration, stops to check out a jukebox

Beating on Ike Turner’s first piano

A fun array of Beatles memorabilia

After we finished at the museum, we went back over to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. Since we were trying to get in as many of our Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives as we could, we decided to split a Hickory BBQ Bacon Burger, knowing that we’d probably be eating twice later on that day. This visit to the Hard Rock was also special in that it was my 40th Hard Rock overall, and I told the waitress so. On behalf of the manager, she brought me a free ice cream sundae.

My tenth and final Hard Rock of 2011, ninth new Hard Rock of the year, and 40th total

Enjoying the last Hickory BBQ Bacon Burger of the year

Claiming my free ice cream sundae, courtesy of the Hard Rock Cafe in honor of visiting my 40th Hard Rock

Hats and sunglasses worn by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in the movie The Blues Brothers

This Hard Rock Cafe also claimed to have the second largest collection of Elvis memorabilia in the world. The first, they noted, was Graceland. The certainly had some nice pieces, but let’s just say that there is clearly a giant gap between the biggest and second-biggest collection of Elvis things.

The denim jacket that Elvis Presley wore in the film Jailhouse Rock

Jamie shows off her version of Elvis’ hip shaking dance move in front of one of his stage suits from around 1972

We then walked back to the Rock ‘N Soul Museum where Jamie and I waited for the free shuttle service that would take us to our next two destinations. This was a rather cool feature of downtown Memphis – a shuttle loop that traveled between the Rock ‘N Soul Museum, Graceland, and Sun Studio. Since it was run by Sun Studio, the only catch was that you had to get off for an hour at that stop – which was not a problem since we fully intended to see it anyway.

But our first stop on the shuttle was Graceland. They dropped us off at the visitor center and we purchased our tickets for the basic house tour (bypassing Elvis’ private jet and car collection) and then waited the long wait of nearly an hour for a different shuttle to take us over to the Graceland property. We finally entered through the front door of Graceland at about 2pm.

On the stoop of Graceland

Getting ready to enter through the front door

For those of you who may have been living under a rock, Graceland was the home of Elvis Presley from 1957 until his death in 1977. In fact, he died in the upstairs bathroom of the mansion. I had seen Graceland once before - in 2003 – but wanted to see it again and get some better photos. Jamie had never seen it before and I think she found the experience rather fascinating.

There are many common things that you will hear about Graceland: that it is smaller than one would think, that it is closer to the road than one would think, and that you don’t have to be an Elvis fan to enjoy it. There are really no words to describe Elvis’ decorating choices, which although especially garish today, were the cutting edge of hip in the 1960′s and 70′s. Rooms like The Jungle Room, the billiards room, the media room, and the racquetball court (now re-designed as a museum) will leave you speechless. And incidentally, the portable headset that guides you around the room is timed amazingly well to move everyone in a continuous loop at roughly the same pace.

Elvis’ fancy shmancy living room

Painting of Elvis at the foot of the stairs. Upstairs was Elvis’ bedroom and bathroom where he was found dead on August 16, 1977. The area, which has not been changed since the day of his death, is off limits to visitors.

Yes, I actually got yelled at for touching this sign in Elvis’ bar area

Outside of the mansion is Elvis’ father Vernon’s office, the swimming pool, the former racquetball court, a giant museum of Elvis mementos and memorabilia, and the final resting places of Elvis and his parents and grandmother. There is also a cenotaph commemorating Elvis’ twin brother Jesse who died in childbirth. Overall, it’s most definitely a place that everyone should visit at least once.

The back of Graceland

In the museum building with tons and tons of gold records

Jamie with a poster for Double Trouble – not to be confused with the TV series of the same name starring the Sagal twins

It was all I could do to keep Jamie from jumping into Elvis’ pool

The lounge area of the racquetball building was where Elvis spent much of his last morning alive, playing songs on the piano. Note two familiar intruders in the mirror.

The racquetball court has been modified to include more museum pieces

Cenotaph for Elvis’ stillborn twin brother Jesse

Overview of the burial sites

Elvis and me

Farewell to Graceland. Thank you, thank you very much.

The tour had lasted roughly 45 minutes before we caught our shuttle back to the visitor center and then jumped on our Sun Studio shuttle in the nick of time to finish up this leg of the Memphis tour. Of all three of our museum visits that day, I think the Sun Studio was the most pleasant surprise. Ironically, it was also the one with the least number of bells and whistles. It was just what it was and remains to this day: a recording studio, a dank, dusty, run-down recording studio. But it is only in this condition because it has never really been renovated, so just about everything you see inside of it is original.

The fabulous Sun Studio

Enjoying a Dr. Pepper in the adjoining bar, which is now part of the Sun Studio gift shop

We also had a very enthusiastic young tour guide, who told us the history of the Sun Studio and its founder Sam Phillips in the museum portion of the studios, and then continued in the studio itself. She punctuated much of the Sun Studio story by playing snippets of famous recordings that had taken place here. She also told the story of the day that Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins all jammed together in the studio. They were quickly dubbed “The Million Dollar Quartet.” And in a most unprecedented move, they allowed us to hold and pose with one of the original microphones that had been used by all of the performers who had recorded there.

In the museum area were original autographs of the Million Dollar Quartet

The original high school diploma of Elvis Presley

This is it. This is where the famous Million Dollar Quartet photo was taken. Notice the wall tiles, unchanged since the picture was taken on December 4, 1956.

Jamie was excited to pose with a drum set that was brought to the studios by U2 in 1987 when they recorded portions of their Rattle and Hum album, and then left here for fans to enjoy

With one of the four microphones that were used in the heyday of Sun Studio. This was left by Sun founder Sam Phillips for the fans to be able to touch. Incidentally, the black X on the floor under Jamie was where Elvis made his very first recording.

Our shuttle departed Sun Studio around 4:30 and took us back to the Beale Street area. We walked up and down the street (which is closed to traffic), contemplating a hot dog but not giving into the temptation. Jamie bought a t-shirt in one of the gift shops. When we finished browsing the area, we headed out for dinner at Leonard’s Pit Barbecue, our first of two restaurants of the day featured on the TV show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. This one was a tasty barbecue joint that had been in Memphis since 1922, and was featured on the episode The Memphis Barbecue Tour. Jamie and I split a Big Leonard pork shoulder sandwich and a half-slab of ribs. It was mighty good.

Hanging out on Beale Street

DD&D #3: Leonard’s Pit Barbecue in Memphis, Tennessee

Barbecue overload at Leonard’s

The barrage of activity was nearly complete for the day. We located our lodgings for the night at the Knights Inn Airport motel, a fine establishment with a very nice pool – but again, no ice (the desk clerk confirmed that the machines were broke). It had rained a bit while we were eating at Leonard’s but by the time we got to our motel, it had stopped and we hightailed it for the pool. We had a nice swim as the sun fell and we attempted to make conversation with a gentleman in the pool, who hailed from Honduras and could barely speak English. It was only our weak knowledge of the Spanish language that got us by, although the man was quite adept at American heavy metal bands and insinuating that I had a girlfriend on the side in Guatemala.

Issues with ice…once again

We took a brief nap after our swim and then decided to attempt one more of our DD&Ds before crashing for the night. Marlowe’s was another BBQ establishment that had been featured on the exact same episode, The Memphis Barbecue Tour. This one was more of an adventure and proved to be one of my favorite stories of the trip.

Marlowe’s had a cool service that they offered to vacationers staying in the Graceland area. They would send pink Cadillac cars to pick you up. We, however, were not in that vicinity and by the time we were ready to head there at 11pm, the service was over. I was very surprised when I called Marlowe’s and they told me that they would be open until 3am.

When we arrived, we found the parking lot to be totally packed, not a parking space to be found. I drove around the building, only to find that a parked car was blocking my exit from the alleyway on the side of the restaurant. Then another car tried to go through the same way as me, so I was locked between them. They had to back out, and then I had to do the same. Eventually I squeezed my car into a space shared with a trash dumpster. This was a lot of work. And why on earth was this place so crowded at 11:30 at night?

We soon found out. When Jamie and I attempted to enter, we were stopped by an incredibly large black man who offered to frisk me. I declined. Then a waitress came outside and asked if we wanted to eat here. Turns out that this was Karaoke night and there wasn’t a table to be found in the whole establishment. She did however offer to get us some food for carry-out. So we went inside, the only white faces in a sea of nice black folks (save for a cardboard cut-out of Elvis), and waited for them to prepare our order.

DD&D #4: Marlowe’s Ribs & Restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee

Jamie waits patiently for our food at Marlowe’s

Guy Fieri, what have you gotten us into?

Ready to head back to the motel, barbecue in hand, we stop to bid farewell to our friend the bouncer

After all the chaos of the packed parking lot, the bouncer, the booming rap karaoke, and the lack of seats, I must say that Marlowe’s had some of the best barbecue I had ever tasted. We brought it back to our rooms, ate it along with some corn fritters and sautéed burgundy mushrooms, and watched part of Funny Farm on my laptop. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Truly there’s not much better than some tangy midnight barbecue

We had packed so much into this weekend that it already felt as if we had been gone for a week. But there was a lot more to see and do on our road trip.

The trip will continue in Arkansas…

Greeting Smokey just outside the Grand Canyon park

Initially, we drove right past the place, but the antsiness I began to feel signaled that I didn’t want to regret not stopping at this place – this Bedrock City – that looked pretty doggone cool from the outside. It was, simply, a playground adorned with characters from the classic TV series The Flintstones. It was cheesy, cheap, and pretty much falling into shambles - but that’s what made it fun. To me, it represented the classic days of the typical 1970′s tourist trap even more than it represented Fred and Barney themselves.

Yabba Dabba Doo!

There was no way that we were going to bypass breakfast at Fred’s Diner

Breakfast in Bedrock. Bob’s hand was nearly scalded on his burger, so he opted to pose with a french fry.

Still, at first we were only going to have breakfast in the Fred’s Diner portion of the place. But whilst browsing the giant gift store, I noticed that there was even more outside the building. This is where the actual Bedrock City was located, so I began working on Bob to allow us to go in and play for a while. The results were as follows in the pictorial essay below.

The beautiful Bedrock Arizona landscape

Fred allowed me sit in his car for one picture

Peddling pre-historic meat

Part of the entrance fee included the opportunity to feed Rocky the Snake, which I happily did

On top of the dinosaur slide. I felt like the king of Bedrock…

…until I scratched up my hand after going down the slide

Making time with Wilma while Fred was away

Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad…

Feeding weeds to a goatasaurus – which pretty much resembled a regular old goat

We left Bedrock City at about 11:40, making a brief stop at the Planes of Fame Air Museum. We only browsed the gift shop and opted not to pay the admission fee to actually enter the museum. It was about a three-hour drive to finally get to Phoenix and we arrived at the Arizona State Capitol at 3pm.

Construction of the capitol began in 1898, partly to demonstrate the nation was ready to accept Arizona as its 48th and final state on the mainland. Expansions were made in 1918 and 1938, but in 1960 the State Legislature began to move out of the building and into two surrounding buildings, followed by the Governor in 1974 into a newly constructed addition to the building, the State Capitol Executive Tower.

The mainland’s last State Capitol. This was my first one of the year – 17th total.

The 1974 addition to the Capitol, which was really its own separate building, connected by a hallway in the rear of each building

Where the State Senate now meets, if they can get through the picketers

The House of Representatives and a man who clearly believed in his message

The ‘old’ Capitol was then restored back to its original appearance and opened as a museum. Rooms that we visited during out tour included the offices of the Governor, the Mine Inspector, and the Livestock Sanitary Board. Methinks the latter two offices no longer exist.  

The great seal of the state of Arizona on the rotunda floor

The old Governor’s office in the original building

With the painting of George W.P. Hunt, Arizona’s first Governor. There was a replica of this man behind the Governor’s desk in the office.

Our tour guide shows off a flag that was waved by Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders

The so-called six flags of Arizona: Spain, Mexico, New Mexico territory, Arizona territory, the State of Arizona, and American flag with its 48th star added to indicate their induction into the Union

At the head of the old House Chamber

One of the other cool things that was located in the Capitol was a tribute to the USS Arizona – the battleship named in  honor of the 48th state’s admission into the Union, and was later was sunk during  the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Artifacts included some items that were removed from the ship prior to the sinking, some recovered after, and a giant piece of the ship itself.

With a piece of the USS Arizona

A life ring from the USS Arizona launch boat

Before we left, Bob and I made an effort to either meet the current Governor Jan Brewer or to get a photo in her office in the Executive Tower. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to accomplish either, so settled for a photo in the reception area.

This very mean looking person would not allow us to enter the office of the Governor

We left the State Capitol at 4:30, discovering that it was now 96 degrees outside. This was a far cry from the temperature of 35 that we had experienced just five days earlier at Zion National Park. We had an appointment to meet up with Bob’s friend Bryan at 7pm, so we had some time to kill in the local cemeteries.

At the tiny burial grounds of the Episcopal Christ Church of the Ascension in Paradise Valley, Arizona, were housed the ashes of five-term U.S. Senator and Republican nomination for President in 1964, Barry Goldwater. Bob and I also visited the Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery back in Phoenix where legendary gossip columnist Walter Winchell is interred. Bob continued his quest for Medal of Honor recipients by visiting Oscar Palmer Austin and Robert Cox. In between the two grave visits, I found a stereotypical cactus with which to get a picture.

At the grave of Senator Barry Goldwater

A trip to Arizona wouldn’t be complete without finding a cactus to my liking. Incidentally, this is someone’s front yard.

The grave of gossip columnist Walter Winchell

We got into downtown Phoenix and maneuvered our way to a parking garage, ignoring where the GPS told us to go, in order to get to my 7th all-new Hard Rock Cafe of the year – making it my 36th overall. Here we met Bob’s former student Bryan, who had graduated in the class of 1988. The four of us had a nice dinner and I got my favorite dish, the Hickory BBQ Bacon Burger. After browsing the memorabilia, we departed in search of a motel (also scouting a notable TV location that I will discuss in the next posting).

Hard Rock Cafe #36, my fifth new Hard Rock of the year

Entering Hard Rock Phoenix, lest you be confused about where I’m at

Chowing down with Bob and his friend and former studen Bryan

The final piece of evidence that this is in fact the Phoenix Hard Rock

Gold Records for the Beatles’ singles Can’t Buy Me Love and A Hard Day’s Night and a John Lennon worn jacket

Tommy Shaw used this Fender Stratocaster on Styx’ Kilroy Was Here tour

It wasn’t all that easy to find one that we liked in a safe part of town, so we ended up at the Best Western Airport Inn which was a bit further out of the city than where we started searching. We’d have just a couple more things to see before arriving back in California for the conclusion of the road trip.

The Utah/Arizona road trip will continue…

And there was more, too – as you will see. But for starters, Dean and I checked out of our motel in Metropolis at about 8:15am and headed directly into the Paducah, Kentucky. In the unassuming Mount Kenton Cemetery was buried Alben Barkley, who had served as the 35th Vice President of the United States under Harry S. Truman from 1949-1953.

Dean and I had a bit of trouble initially locating the grave (although the state historical sign outside the cemetery was easily found). I even gave my friend and co-worker Misty a call to see if she could direct me. In one of those incredibly small-world scenarios, her Grandparents are buried directly behind the late Vice President. After calling my Dad to lend a hand as well, we finally located the grave – right where it belonged on the street that Misty couldn’t remember: Barkley.

The historical marker outside the cemetery

Overview of the Barkley family plot

Me and VP # 35 – Alben Barkley

At the grave of my friend Misty’s parents, noting their proximity to the Vice President

We left the cemetery at 9am, and 90 minutes later, we had arrived at our second destination, Fairview, Kentucky, and the birthplace of Jefferson Davis. Although I didn’t include Davis in my ‘normal’ Presidential postings, I certainly did want to include him in my bucket list of Presidential birth places and graves. My visit to his grave can be seen here, and below you will see the birthplace marker.

Arrival at the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site. They’re proud of it, but they don’t quite tout it like they do “Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.”

It’s quite interesting that the only President of the Confederate States of America (who was governing half of the country from February 18, 1861 – May 5, 1865, when the office was abolished), could have such a giant memorial, which in many ways resembled the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. But while the Davis Monument stands 351 feet, the Washington Monument towers over it at 555 feet. Although strongly supported, the Davis Monument construction was halted during World War 1 due to building material rationing, and wasn’t completed until 1924.

The state historical marker

The visitor’s center and museum

With a Jefferson Davis statue and a secretary was owned by U.S. Senator George Edmund Badger and represents one that Davis may have owned while studying at Transylvania University in Lexington

Dean and I decided to go ahead and pay the admission price of going up to the top of the Monument, which fortunately had an elevator. While we waited for the next trip, we browsed the small museum located in the visitors center and gift shop. I bought candy sticks.

The insanely giant Jefferson Davis Monument

Getting ready to enter the Monument and go to the top

The view of me from the top

The view of Dean from the top

The view of the bottom from the top

The real location of the birthplace wasn’t actually on the site of the Monument, nor the gift shop, nor on the ground that were owned by the park. The actual house sat where the neighboring Bethel Baptist Church is now located. Naturally, I got a picture there as well.

The actual location of the Davis cabin where young Jefferson was born

The next leg of our drive was about four hours, stopping along the way for lunch at a gas station convenience store. I opted for chips and cherry sour balls. When we got just northeast of Louisville, we made our final stop in the little town of Crestwood.

Here was located the Mount Tabor Methodist Church and its accompanying graveyard. Buried within the unassuming little cemetery was D.W. Griffith, the pioneer film director who had brought us such classic silent films at Intolerance, The Birth of a Nation, and Broken Blossoms. Dean was particularly excited to see this grave, which he had no idea was here. I only knew because my friend Bob had told me this once before.

State marker outside of the cemetery honoring D.W. Griffith

The grave of D.W. Griffith

We left Crestwood at about 4:30 (having lost the hour that we had previously gained), and hightailed it for home. Considering the horrendous traffic jam as we entered Cincinnati and the fact that I had to detour around 275 East, we made pretty good time and I was dropping Dean off at his car at around 6:15. From there I headed over to Jamie’s parents to partake in their cookout…and see the giant tent that she and her Mom had put up in the backyard.

Little did I know of course that I would be the one doing the grilling. This was all good as I enjoy some good summertime burger flipping. Knowing how much I love it, her Mom had also bought some ultra thick salmon steaks. Grilling these was a completely new concept for me, but in the end, they wound up quite tasty. We ate outside at the picnic table and then afterward I built a small fire in their fire pit, so for dessert we enjoyed s’mores. As Jamie might say, “I’ll eat it, and then I’ll eat it again.”

Jamie works on chopping firewood. Just out of camera range: my foot.

Sunday evening s’mores following my Super-adventures

It was a great way to cap off a very cool weekend getaway.

June 2011 will continue…

Return to the beginning of the road trip here…