Day 45, August 1, 2016 Nashville TN to West Memphis AR

Waking up in Nashville we hit the road to drive to Memphis.  We had planned to go to Graceland, but the $40 price tag per person, plus $10 parking, dissuaded us.  We compromised by listening to some Elvis recordings on cd as we drove.  Sorry Graceland…you didn’t make the cut.

Instead to drove into the city to find lunch and go to another great site.  We hoped to find something local and we were in luck.  99¢ Soul Food Express restaurant was a block away from where we were going. We ordered fried chicken, greens, yams and corn bread. We could have had some catfish or some chitins or other organ meats, all of which we passed up. What we did eat was very Tasty!   And we were then full and ready for our afternoon. 

We had read that the National Civil Rights Museum at the Loraine Motel was a good one and planned about three hours there.  We should have been alerted to it being more impactful when we saw the banners hanging from the streetlight poles leading to the museum.  It turned out it was one of the finest museums we have been to, period.   Much of what we would soon see was not new to us, but the details and the manner of presentation made it one of the most powerful days of our trip.

This museum was built in the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968.  It incorporated parts of the old motel joining it with a modern museum that incorporated artifacts, video, interpretation signs, and interactive opportunities.

To our surprise, the museum did not start with Martin Luther King, Jr.  It began with a look at the history of slavery, looking back thousands of years, and then as it played out in the US.  It provided graphic information about the dependence of the economy on slavery, including businesses and individuals in the North.  There was a powerful graphic translating the value of slave labor to the production of tobacco, cotton, and sugar.  It made the clear connection of growing wealth of the whole United States to the labor of slaves working at little cost to their owners.  The number of slaves grew from about 1,000,000 in 1800 to nearly 4,000,00 in 1860. We were stunned to learn that in the United States, the capital invested in slaves exceed that for banks, factories, and railroads, combined.

We had learned in Nova Scotia about the “Black Loyalists,” former slaves who earned their freedom by fighting for the British in the American Revolutionary War.  They did not get the support they were promised.  We found that was true again for those who escaped slavery and enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War.  So many of them fought bravely but were often sent on suicidal missions because their lives were not as valued as the white soldiers.  Those that survived were not given the land they were promised.

During the reconstruction period after the Civil War was over, the former leadership of the white property owners of the South chafed at the restrictions imposed on them by the federal government.  When reconstruction was declared over in 1877, this group immediately moved to reassert its power.  A large majority of former slaves were without any property and were forced to work the land of others, often their former owners.  Known as share-croppers, they owed a big portion of any crops raised to the property owners. An 1875 Civil Rights law guaranteeing equal access to transportation and accommodations was stuck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.  In 1896 the Court ruled that “separate but equal” was constitutional.  Local and state laws were passed to enforce segregation.  Known as “Jim Crow” laws, they were enforced by the legal system and organized violence against the former slaves.  The most famous aspect of this violent approach was by the Klu Klux Klan.

The Klan was especially committed to keeping the former enslaved people from voting.  Uncounted lynchings took place to dissuade people from exercising the right as citizens to vote.  James Vardaman, the governor of Mississippi, in 1907, said “If necessary, every negro in the state will be lynched.  And it will be done to maintain white supremacy.”

The legal fights against this oppression continued, but with little success, until the landmark decision by the Supreme Court in 1954 that declared that separate cannot be equal.  We had learned more about this decision, Brown v Board of Education, when we had been in Topeka, KA earlier in our trip.  This decision led directly, but not quickly to changes being forced on communities in the South.  Our next stop will be Little Rock, Arkansas where, in 1957, the high school was forced to desegregate at the end of guns and bayonets of federal troops.  The famous artist Norman Rockwell memorialized the 1960 experience of then 6-year-old Ruby Bridges integrating an elementary school in Louisiana with the aid of US Marshalls.  The original of this painting is in this museum.

In 2012 we spent much of a day in Montgomery, Alabama.  There we had learned in more intimate details about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Freedom Riders.  Both of these events were well documented here in Memphis.  (Last summer, while at the Ford Museum in Greenfield, MI, we had been on the restored, actual bus where Rosa Parks had refused to give up her seat.)  Here was a similar bus plus a reproduction of the burned out bus where Freedom Riders had been attacked by a white mob in 1961 in Montgomery.

This led us directly to the exhibit on the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  Martin Luther King, Jr. was not the featured speaker that day.  The museum had recordings of the others speakers and performers on that day.  But, it was King’s “I have a dream” speech that is remembered.  It is interesting to note that he was only 34 years old when he gave that speech.  We watched the video of the speech and found we could nearly repeat the speech in unison with him.  

We had learned more about the tension between John F. Kennedy and King when we had visited the JFK Presidential Library. King wanted Kennedy to be a more active leader for civil rights and Kennedy was more reluctant.  JFK’s assassination just a few months after the March created a mood in the country that was much more open to supporting civil rights.  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was pushed by Lyndon Johnson and passed by the Congress.   The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was another huge step.

One of the aspects of visiting this museum that we very much appreciated was the mix of people who chose to be there.  We saw many families of different races with parents carefully interpreting to their children what was before them.  There were also many teens there, appearing to explore the museum on their own.  Older people were remembering first hand what they experienced at the time, younger people were interested and sometimes puzzled in trying to understand how some of these things could really have happened.  We experienced this as a very healthy sign for our country.

The museum presented a wide range of Black groups that arose during the 60s.  The major priorities for these groups was explored as well as where there was disagreements among them.  The evolution of groups was included that sometimes became reasons for groups to split.  The biggest was the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).  SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) eventually split into groups continuing to favor non-violence and those proposing more militancy.  The Black Panthers gained a strong following.  The Nation of Islam had been founded 30 years earlier but gained many converts during the 60s.

In the Spring of 1968, the Sanitation Workers of Memphis went on strike due to pay and working conditions.  The City of Memphis held fast to their position.  The strikers were determined to be recognized as men.  Martin Luther King was busy at the time planning the next March on Washington for that Summer.  But, he came to Memphis to support the strikers.  On a stormy night, he spoke to the strikers and their supporters.  With a background of rain and thunder, he delivered one of his most famous speeches that included these final lines: “I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!”

It turns out he was quite prophetic. The next day, King worked in his motel room at the Lorraine Motel.  In the early evening he stepped out of his room onto the balcony of the motel and talked casually with his associates.  He was struck by an assassin’s bullet and died there on the balcony.  His associates tried to guide others to where the shooter had been located but their leader was gone.  Dick had clear memories of hearing the news of the assassination and the pain he felt.  In many communities across the country the pain turned to anger and riots spread in many cities.

The big crescendo of the exhibits, took us to the restored hotel rooms where King and his associated stayed.  We could look out on the very balcony where he was shot and died.  The mood was somber and very quiet as we all filed silently by.  He was 39 years old when he was killed.

The Poor Peoples’ March on Washington did take place that summer.  There were many interesting displays about the march.  These had a personal interest for Dick since he was there.  He rode on a bus from Cincinnati with others who were joining in the march.  He was on the Mall in Washington to hear the speeches and performances, to see the hundreds of thousands of people gathered to peacefully demand that the country honor its obligations to all citizens to give them a chance for achieving the American Dream.

Although many people stopped at this point, we took advantage of the second part of the museum across the street.  This section focused in part on the investigation of who killed King.  A part of this museum complex was the portion of the building that had been a rooming house.  They had saved the room where James Earl Ray had stayed and the bathroom window from which he shot Dr. King.  It was strange to look out the window across to the motel. There was a lot of information about the investigation and various conspiracy theories.  We felt like they gave a fair portrayal of all that.

Then there were also some very moving exhibits encouraging us all to continue to do the work of working for freedom.  By the time we finished our nearly 5 hours there, we were so wrung out.  Outside, it was also nearly 100 degrees, and as we walked to our car, we decided it was hotel time.  No Memphis blues and jazz for us this trip. But what an amazing experience we had!

We crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas to our hotel where we asked about where we could get some good barbeque.  We were sent to Rays….a tiny little hole in the wall place, with really good homemade ribs and fixin’s.  We ate well, and settled in to reflect on our day.

Day 44 July 31, 2016 Cave City KY to Nashville TN

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We were up early and headed over to Mammoth Cave National Park.  We had reservations for a 8:45 Dome and Dips Cave tour, so wanted to see the visitor’s center before that.   A very well done visitor center with lots of good videos, hands-on exhibits, and lots of background about the World's largest cave system.  As of this month,  it is 405 miles in length, all over just a seven mile in width area.   The map shows its tunnels looking like a pile of spaghetti.  It was first explored by white people and opened for tours over 200 years ago.  There is evidence that the Native people used it long before then. At first, the cave was privately owned by a slave holder.  We discovered a sad truth that the first really proficient explorer and guide was an enslaved man, Stephen Bishop.  And they are still actively exploring and mapping out new sections all the time.

Our guide was a young ranger who did a fine job keeping the group together and sharing interesting facts and stories about the cave.  Although there was a big crowd of people, we made a point of staying right up at the front, so we heard all the best stories.  She was also great at answering our many questions.

Our tour of 110 people was one of moderate difficulty, including climbing nearly 500 steps up and down.   Some of it was a bit narrow, but no crawling was required.

Our tour was actually typical of most of Mammoth Cave.  Most of the cave is what is known as a “dry cave.”  This means there is not water flowing down through the ceilings of the passageways.  When water flowed in the cave, it flowed along passages in the form of underground rivers.  But, now we were high above the water table so nearly all of the cave was dry.  What we primarily saw were with flat ceilings, pits, and high domes, with passages coming out in many directions.

Although this tour did not focus as much on fancy rock formations, we did pass into a “wet cave” area shortly before we exited.  Here we saw examples of stalactites and stalagmites, plus columns and curtains.  These were quite lovely and more of what we had seen in other caves such as Carlsbad Caverns, Wind Cave, and Jewel Cave.  We both like caves and appreciate a good cave tour.   We took a lot of pictures…surprise!  But, because it was so dark down there, only a few came out okay.

After our tour, in lovely 58 degree cave temperatures, we came out into the heat and humidity which would be our lot for the next number of days.  Our eye glasses immediately fogged up as we tried to adjust to the 90 degree temperature and find our way to the bus to take us back to the visitor center (fogged glasses).

It was around a two-hour drive south on I-65 to get to Nashville, TN.  Dick had driven by Nashville several times, but had never stopped to see anything.  We had only one Sunday afternoon, so wanted to do our best to get a good taste of the city where so much music was born. Nashville known as “Music City.”  It is, in many ways, the capital of Country Music.

We had thought we would go visit the Grand Ole Opry and see an evening show.  However, Sunday it was dark, with nothing happening there.   We made a different choice and to the Ryman Auditorium, which opened in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle to give a rivalist preacher a permanent home. Unique to the times in the South, the church was open to everyone.  Even when the church could no longer support the building, in spite of Jim Crow laws, most future events were inclusive.  Upon the death of the man who raised the money for the building, Thomas Ryman, the building was renamed in his honor.

To keep the building open, it was frequently rented for other types of events.  The auditorium became known for its fine acoustics, sometimes called the Carnegie Hall of the South.  W.C. Fields, Will Rogers, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, Harry Houdini, and John Philip Sousa (among others) performed at the venue over the years.  Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft spoke at the Ryman.  Eleanor Roosevelt spoke there in 1938.

It was a big deal when the Grand Ole Opry moved there in 1943.  This show was being broadcast on radio each week.  Although not intended to be a stage show, increasingly, people wanted to attend these weekly events.  The show needed more space, eventually settling on the over 3000 seat Ryman.  Characters such as Minnie Pearl, Roy Acuff, and Hank Williams were regulars.  Blue grass music reached a broad audience for the first time through this show.  All the country music stars made sure they appeared on the Ryman stage.

When the Opry left for new custom facilities, the Ryman was left abandoned.  Facing demolition, a community group rose to protect their Ryman Auditorium.  They raised the money to purchase and renovate the Ryman.  Artists who love the old place rallied to support it’s saving.  Today, the building appears to be secure, lovingly restored, and the venue for a wide variety of events.  Of course, our tour fee contributed to the support of the building.  The interpretation was excellent in the auditorium and we both really enjoyed seeing, hearing and reading all about this amazing building and what happened there.

Following this, we walked a few blocks to another fine musical museum, this one dedicated to Johnny Cash.   We both were Cash fans, but were unaware of many of the things he had done during his long career.  Something that was really interesting was that he had recorded on reel-to-reel, vinyl records, 8 track, cassette tape, cd’s and mp3’s.  One of the exhibits allowed you to listen to him sing the same song in each of these formats.  Fascinating!  And we both found the best richest sound was on vinyl.  

The place was filled with fun artifacts, hand written lyrics to his songs, lots of videos, and interactive exhibits.  One section focused on all of the different performers who had recorded his music, from Hank Williams and the Staler Brothers to Leonard Nemoy and Miley Cirrus.    Over 150 different groups had recorded covers of “Ring of Fire” alone.  

There was also an interactive exhibit of the mixing of a recording prior to releasing a song.  We had earphones to hear the impact of raising and lowering the volume of the different tracks of a song.  Dick had worked sound boards at several churches so he especially had a good time mixing and remixing the songs.

And, as we expected, there were several sections with video of Cash performing.  Although Dick is not much of a country music fan, both of us enjoyed watching and listening to Cash sing his songs in concert.  We left this museum delighted with having found it.

We poke our heads a bit into some of the bars along the famous Broadway Avenue and hear lots of live music being played and spilling out in to the streets, but we were ready to stop for the day and so drove on to our hotel, filled up with music.

Day 43 July 30, 2016 Dayton OH to Cave City KY

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Hard to say goodbyes to John and Sajona after such a nice, but short stay…but we had to be off after breakfast.

We took a quick one hour ride south to the Cincinnati where we crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky.  The town of Newport faces Cincinnati across the river.  It had been quite a depressed area but a huge amount of money has been poured into it creating an entertainment and restaurant destination.  We made arrangements to meet our great-niece Caetey and to meet her new partner, Rob, for lunch. This whole area has quite a German immigrant history so our destination was the Haufbrauhaus Newport.  Although relatively new, it has gained a good reputation for serving great German food.  Patti especially enjoyed her schnitzel. 

But the highlight of our time together was such nice conversations, getting caught up with Caetey, who recently got a transferred within her company to Cincinnati, and to meet Rob.  We had a great time, and loved the chance to take a few pictures of this fun gathering.

Then, we had to be off on a 2 1/5 hour drive southwest in Kentucky.  It is known as the Blue Grass State and for its horses but we primarily saw lots of trees and productive looking farms.  The closest we got to horses was seeing the Churchill Downs signs as we drove through Louisville.

We were headed for the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site located near Hodgenville, KY.  We have been to a number of Lincoln sites, including his home in Springfield, IL and Ford Theater in Washington, DC.  We have such respect and appreciation for him.  One hundred years after Lincoln’s birth they built a big memorial at the site of the family farm.  Theodore Roosevelt was there to dedicate it.

The memorial is really quite a sight.  There are 56 steps up to it, one for each year of his life.  The formal, Greek inspired building was quite dramatic at the top of the rise.  Although there was a door in the front, we found it to be closed.  A sign directed us around to the back where there was a door that opened.

Inside, they placed what they thought was the original Lincoln cabin but it was later proven to have been constructed 30 or 40 years later.  They now refer to it as a Symbolic Birth Cabin. Oh well. Dick assumed that the real cabin would have not been at the top of the hill but would have been constructed in a more protected spot near the spring that was still flowing.  But the memorial looked better where they put it.  They weren’t so concerned with historical accuracy in 1909.

Although Lincoln’s father had purchased the land where Lincoln was born, a title dispute arose and the Lincoln family was forced to more in 1811.  No such thing as title insurance back then.  They then moved to the Knob Creek Place, about 15 miles away, where Lincoln’s father rented a small farm.  Here is where Lincoln had his first memories of his home, his chores, and helping in the fields.  The family lived here until there was another title dispute, this time for the owner of the property but all of the tenants were forced off the land.  Although he was born into poverty, it was reflective of the poor economic conditions of the area that his father was in the upper 20% of taxpayers in this area. But, the Lincoln family had to be on the move again, this time to Indiana. 

For a time after we left the two historic sites, we were on small two-lane highways passing many modern farms.  We reflected on how different farming has become when compared to what Lincoln and his family experienced.  Then we were back on I-65, driving south to Cave City, which is located just outside of Mammoth Cave National Park, our destination for tomorrow.

Day 42 July 29, 2016 Dayton OH

Patti spent a quiet morning doing laundry and catching up with Dick’s brother, John, and his wife, Sajona.  Dick took the chance to work on the many pictures that had backed up in the queue. Nice to have some down time.  John and Sajona's grandson, Christopher, came over  to continue working to complete some projects they had hired him to do around the house and yard before he leaves for college.   He worked hard, in spite of the fact that the weather was hot and humid and stormy!

Dick had a lovely lunch with Jeanne Weaver, his first wife and continuing good friend.  They spent some nice time together catching up on their lives and families.  It is always nice to be able to get together.  After he returned to John & Sajona's the rest of the afternoon was spent in quiet conversation.  Delightful!

In the evening, we were so pleased that all of the Dayton-area Weaver extended clan was able to gather for dinner at a local Italian restaurant.  We had a private room all to ourselves for the 12 of us.

The kids (our grand nephews and niece) are continuing to grow.  There was lots of good eating, and stories to share and we were all so glad to be able to spend this precious time together.  We appreciated in the midst of a very busy time for all for the adults, they made time to spend with us.

We came back to John’s house, and then Dick and John stayed up talking until the wee hours.

Day 41 July 27, 2016 Sagamore Hills OH to Bellbrook OH

We were headed to spend a couple of days with Dick’s brother and sister-in-law in Bellbrook, a suburb of Dayton.  This would be about a 250 mile day but first we wanted to explore more of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Yesterday we spent time in the southern part of the park and today we wanted to see more of the northern section.  Since this is an urban park, we were pleased to see that the National Park and the Cleveland Metropolitan Parks were working together.  The Bedford Reservation was along a tributary to the Cuyahoga River.  Driving along in this park was like being on a parkway far from civilization but it was deep within a metropolitan area of over 2 million people.

Just as we were talking about the very nature of this parkway, we came around a bend to see a doe and fawn grazing close to the road.  We watched them for a while until a car coming the other way got to close and they drifted into the woods.

We saw a sign for Bridal Veil Falls and had to stop to see it.  Knowing the more famous falls in Yosemite National Park by this name, we needed to see the Ohio version.  Access to the falls was using a beautiful set of steps and a nice path.  It was still early on this Sunday morning so there were only a few people, especially those walking their dogs.

The falls were typical of Ohio, water flowing over thin layers of rock, often slate, rather than a big cascade.  It did look more like a bridal veil than the bigger cascades.  It was a beautiful sight and very peaceful to be in this valley.

We were in such a good mood, we had to take a selfie of us using the timer on one of our cameras.  We were standing on the platform overlooking the waterfalls.  It was such a lovely moment together.

We returned to our car and made the short drive into the National Park to see the second Visitors’ Center.  This one was located along a section of the Ohio Erie Canal that had been restored.  Right next to the Visitors’ Center was a lock.  It reminded us of the locks we had seen up close in Ottawa.  It made us look for a red chair, but wrong country for that.

By now the morning was nearly gone and we needed to be back on the road.  We made the short drive to I-77 that would take us south about 40 miles to Canton.  The people of Canton had put together a museum celebrating the First Ladies of the Nation.  It had been designated a National Historic Site, partially operated by the National Park Service.  The displays had information about each of the first ladies, including a well-done video that highlighted each of them.  Sadly, no photos were allowed in this museum.

But, the museum was only a half-block from the home of William McKinley.  He was the 25^th President, serving six months into his second term when he was assassinated. (Teddy Roosevelt then became president).  The home had been in the family of his wife, Ida, but was the family home where they raised their family.  We were able to take a tour of this home.

Then it was time to be on the road again.  We had a two hour drive south to the central Ohio town of Delaware.  It was just outside of town that the Weaver family farm had been located.  Dick had spent many happy weeks there when growing up.  Sadly, the property is now a huge warehouse for the Kroger grocery chain.  But, our destination was the Oak Grove Cemetery in the southern part of Delaware.  This is where the Weaver family plot is.  Here Dick’s great grandparents, grandparents, and parents are buried.  We also went about 400 yards away where his mother’s parents are buried. We spent a short time at each site, remembering these cherished people and tidying up the plots.  It is always an emotional time to visit their graves.  And then it was time to get back on the road.

We arrived at John and Sajona’s home around 6:00 and the four of us went out for dinner.  It was so nice to be able to begin catching up on our lives and things we had all be doing.  The restaurant’s food was good but their air conditioner was so high, everyone in the restaurant was getting cold.  We had the sliding door near our table open to the outside where it was still quite warm but beginning to rain.

While we were at the restaurant, it began to rain really hard.  Then the sun came out while it was still raining and so we were treated to a beautiful double rainbow.  We took that as a very good sign for all of us.

Then back to their home where we watched the final night of the Democratic National convention and talked politics.    We all went to bed late.