We knew we had to wake up early because we only had about 6 hours in Memphis, and then we had to drive to Eva, Alabama to stay with Mike's grandparents. We didn't really want to wake up early (what's new), but once the alarm rang we got up.
I had planned for us to visit two museums today: The National Civil Rights Museum ... and Graceland! It was going to be tough seeing both of these places in such a short time, but it was well worth it.
The National Civil Rights Museum is located at the site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. The Lorraine Hotel. I thought it was a really great museum, and it was very moving to see the actual balcony that MLK stood on when he was killed. The exterior of the hotel has been renovated, but looks exactly as it did in the 1960s. The entire street is permanently closed down right in front of the hotel, so as to allow visitors to walk around the front. A wreath hangs to commemorate his death in front of the room he stayed at.
The inside of the motel has been turned into the National Civil Rights Museum. Every visitor there starts their museum experience sitting in an auditorium watching a fairly recent documentary (2009) called The Witness. It is told by the last man who was with MLK the afternoon of his death. It was very moving; most people were crying by the end. After the documentary, we walked around various exhibits detailing the extent of racism in the U.S., how the Civil Rights Movement came to be, and various court decisions that changed the rights of African Americans. It still really struck me how different things were just about 50 years ago. That's not too long ago if you really think about it; our parents and grandparents were alive. And the racism in the South (and everywhere, really) was awful ... there were so many videos in that museum. One of the videos had a black man sitting at a diner that was for "whites only." There was a crowd gathered around him, the men were smoking cigarettes and putting them out on his head. They were laughing at him, and finally one of them threw him off the stool and onto the ground, then they started kicking him. That would be assault in this day and age! But back then, it didn't even seem like a big deal. Anyway, we kept walking and they even had a viewing area of the room that MLK was in before he went outside and was killed; it was really, really interesting.
Then we walked across the street to another part of this museum that was located inside the building that the alleged gunman had supposedly shot MLK from. There are a lot of conspiracy theories, and no one really knows who actually shot MLK, but we read a lot about the evidence and it gave the museum spectators a chance to draw their own conclusions. They also had a viewing area of the bathroom that the gunman may have shot from. It was spooky.
Mike's here!-
By the time we got through it all, it was 12 noon. We had planned to leave Memphis by 2 in order to make dinner time in Eva. We raced towards Graceland, paid for parking, and stood in line to get a ticket. Neither of us had really looked into visiting Elvis's home, so we were completely unprepared for the next couple of hours. After purchasing our tickets, we were directed to a shuttle-loading driveway, where we waited for almost an hour before they called our tour.... which meant we could finally step into the giant line. We then waited some more before we were united with our shuttle. It literally drove us across the street. We could have made the walk in under a minute. We were outfitted with some groovy eighties headphones and a very current digital audio player that would guide us through the estate. Elvis was awesome. The house has been kept exactly as it was when he passed, and I want it- green shag carpet ceiling and all.
Elvis bought the house at the age of 22, and moved his parents in right away. There was a stable and grounds for their many horses, a dozen go-karts, the sweetest basement ever, a racquetball court, and a couple of trophy rooms. The most surreal part of the tour was being led (by the audio guide) out of the last trophy room- "Now, head to your left into the Presley's meditation garden and burial site." They're all buried there. Elvis, both his parents, and his grandmother. Within view of the front driveway. They had a fountain, and one of those eternal flame get-ups right at the head of the semi-circular plot. We hopped back on the shuttle and found our way back to the car.
The drive took way less time than we had planned for, so although we left at 4 pm, we were still only an hour late. Dinner had already been made and eaten, but there were plenty of leftovers for us. My grandmother told us that she had graduated with Charlie Hodge, one of Elvis's right-hand men. Upon further investigation, I found that he was actually the guitarist in Elvis's band for seventeen years! We watched the Braves pull one out in extra innings, and then retired for the night. We flipped the TV on as we lay in bed, and a documentary of Elvis's touring was on, so we watched that. Thank you! Thank you very much!
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