Day 145 & 146 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

Monday September 29th is day 145 for Charlie and my summer adventure, but it is day 9 for the caravanners on the American Mountain Music caravan. We lined up back at the church, just the reverse of when we arrived. Today we caravanned from Mountain View AR to West Memphis AR. Again, along the way I give tidbits about the area.

The Batesville Motor Speedway is a 3/8-mile red clay oval racetrack. Racing modifieds, super stocks, hobbies, super stars and front-wheel drives on Friday nights in season from March until early October. The Batesville Motor Speedway helped launch the career of NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin.

Even the silos near the track are checkered!

Many of the stone houses were built in the early 1900’s. Cottages, bungalows, farmhouses and cabins dot the green hills in a hodgepodge based on eras and building styles. And among these styles are homes affectionately known as “Giraffe Houses.” This striking rock technique can be found in many rural areas of Arkansas, but the Ozark region seems to be the epicenter for frequent sightings. The specifics of “Ozark giraffe” building styles were rooted in rock masonry techniques taught during the Depression-era. The materials required for this type of architecture were cheap, and widely available all over the Ozark region. Sandstone was split into slabs and then mortared together. These various shades and shapes of stones, along with trademark wide mortar strips, created the “giraffe” pattern of these exteriors.

Oil Trough is located southwest of the White River, in a rich area of bottomlands known as the “Oil Trough Bottoms.” Above the bottoms is the Oil Trough Ridge, composed of black limestone. There are legends that the area was named for the wooden troughs used by hunters to store their bear oil. Some accounts indicate that the bear oil was placed in the troughs and then floated downstream as far as New Orleans, for use in cooking, cosmetics, hair dressing, and tanning leather.

Arkansas is the top rice producing state in the US. Rice is grown in 40 of Arkansas's 75 counties. Long grain brown rice is primarily grown here. In 2023, Arkansas accounted for 49% of the total US rice production and harvested more than 49% of the total acres planted in the US.

Arkansas ranks 3rd in the nation in cotton production—producing approximately 11% of the US cotton. Notice the remnants of the burned fields? The use of prescribed fire in Arkansas's cropland can be an important part of a crop management plan in row crops such as rice and wheat. Agricultural burning helps farmers remove crop residues left in the field after harvesting grains.

We arrived at Tom Sawyer Campground, right on the banks of the Mississippi. I'll tell you more about the campground and the Mississippi later. Memphis was founded in 1819 on land previously inhabited by Chickasaw Indians. It lies on the Chickasaw bluffs above the Mississippi River where the borders of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee meet. We had time to get set up and relax a bit, before our guided city tour. Memphis is the Home of the Blues. Those facts come alive on our city tour aboard the nation’s only music bus. Davey Ray, our guide, is a gigging band musician who plays and sings selections from the city’s rich musical heritage, while entertaining us with  history, and behind-the-scenes stories of your favorite Memphis personalities. We had Davey Ray the first time we enjoyed the musical bus in Memphis!

Along the way, we saw:

Stax Museum of American Soul, which was the original home of Stax Records. In 1957, Jim Stewart founded Satellite Records, with a loan and the support from his sister Estelle Axton, the duo relocated Satellite Records to Memphis in 1959, setting up shop in an old movie theater. From this partnership, Stax Records emerged and so did its name—combining the first two letters of Stewart and Axton. The establishment of this new company marked the beginning of a transformative journey in soul music. In Memphis, Stax Records quickly became a beacon of musical diversity, blending emerging rhythm and blues styles into a branded “Memphis Sound” of soul music that would evolve to captivate global audiences. With input from luminaries like Rufus Thomas, Stax earned a reputation as a haven for local talent. Also helping to define the label’s signature R&B sound, songwriters David Porter and Isaac Hayes scribed lyrics tailored to the Stax performers. On loan from distributor Atlantic Records, the livewire vocal duo Sam & Dave paired with Hayes and Porter with hits like “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Coming,” solidifying Stax’s place as a powerhouse of rhythm & blues music.

The Lorraine Motel was forever etched in America’s collective memory with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, but even before that fateful day, the property at 450 Mulberry Street had a fascinating history in its own right. Before it was the Lorraine, it was the Marquette Hotel that catered to black clientele in segregated Memphis. Built in 1925, the  Marquette Hotel was a typical Southern hotel accessible only to whites in its early history; it was renamed the Lorraine Motel after the second floor was added. In 1945 black businessman Walter Bailey purchased the hotel, which he re-christened the Lorraine after his wife Loree and the popular jazz song, “Sweet Lorraine.” The motel became a destination for blacks and appeared in the Negro Motorists Green Book or “Green Guide,” which identified establishments that welcomed black travelers when Jim Crow restrictions offered limited options for services and lodging.

By the end of World War II, the Lorraine had become one of the few black establishments, and one of the only hotels providing accommodations to African Americans. Early guests to the Lorraine included Cab Colloway, Count Basie, and other prominent jazz musicians, in addition to later celebrities such as Roy Campanella, Nat King Cole, and Aretha Franklin. Partly because of its historical importance to the black community of Memphis, Martin Luther King chose to stay at Lorraine during the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike. On April 4, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel, just a day after delivering his prophetic "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ.

There is a lady that lives across the street. Her name is Jacqueline Smith. Ms. Smith worked at the motel for $10 a day and also lived there for 11 years. She was its last resident. In 1988, she was evicted by order of the state of Tennessee. "You people are making a mistake," Smith said while sobbing. "If I can't live at The Lorraine, I'll camp out on the sidewalk out front." And she has held true to that promise (she carries a tattered copy of Dr. King's "A Testament of Hope”) while at the same time protesting across from the Lorraine, now part of the National Civil Rights Museum. She has lived there for 38 years and 249 days. 

Near the Civil Rights Museum are three murals. The first is titled "Memphis Upstanders." It was created by Nelson Gutierrez and Cedar Lorca Nordbye. The "Memphis Upstanders" represented in the mural embraced the challenge to speak out, stand up for others, and make decisions that have helped to create a more inclusive, just, and compassionate Memphis.

I took the second mural picture near the corner of Huling Ave and S Main St, near the Civil Rights museum. I could not find any information on it, but I found it captivating!

The third mural "I Am A Man" was created by artist, Marcellous Lovelace, in 2014. This piece is an homage to the Civil Rights Movement, based on the “I am a Man” march that took place on South Main. Lovelace modernizes history with bright colors and a graffiti-style.

Sun Studio is known worldwide as “The Birthplace of Rock’n’roll”. It is the discovery location of musical legends and genres of the 50’s from B.B. King and Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis; from Blues and Gospel to Country and Rock’n'roll. Today our goal is to spread the story of Memphis’ history and culture through the music that put Memphis on the map. Taylor told us stories of B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf and Ike Turner before Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, & Roy Orbison who were all drawn to the new Sun Sound.

The murals in this area are amazing too. The area is getting a bit depressed, but it is alive with art and color!

 

We drove past Beale Street. It played a pivotal role in branding Memphis as one of the most musically rich cities in the world, and was prominent in hosting some of the first black business owners in the south. In 1841, developer Robertson Topp named the street after a Mexican-American War hero, Edward Fitzgerald Beale. After the Civil War, Beale Street became a center for Black commerce and culture. It was home to many Black-owned businesses, including the first Black church in Memphis, the Beale Street Baptist Church.

Along the high bluffs of Memphis you will find "Cotton Row." Most of the buildings of Cotton Row were constructed to meet the needs of buying and selling cotton. The Row was designed to be utilitarian instead of elaborately decorative. For example, large doors were constructed on the ground floor so cotton bales could be moved in and out easily. In its prime, the Row was full of seed and hardware stores, farming supplies, and silo companies. Cotton Row Historic District is one of the National Register-listed districts recognized (and protected) by the City of Memphis as a local historic district.

Elvis Presley's early apartment in Memphis, Tennessee was at 328 Lauderdale Courts, a public housing complex located at 185 Winchester Street. The Presley family moved to Memphis in November 1948 and lived in rooming houses for almost a year before moving to Lauderdale Courts. The Presley family lived in the two-bedroom apartment from 1949 to 1953. When Elvis got a job and the money he made, pushed the family above the threshold of income to live there. Today, the apartment is available for overnight stays and includes a stack of Elvis movies in the living room and a 1950s refrigerator in the kitchen. Some say that guests are handed a parking pass with "Elvis's Guest" written on it when they check in.

Memphis is one of the birthplaces of blues music and is associated particularly with composer W.C. Handy, who immortalized the city’s Beale Street in one of his songs. B.B. King also occupies a central place in the history of the blues in Memphis. A blues festival is held annually in August, and other events throughout the year celebrate the city’s musical heritage. Memphis made a huge contribution to the development of soul music as well, with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, and Al Green being just a few of the significant soul artists who recorded in Memphis or called it home. Also located in the city is the Memphis Rock ’n’ Soul Museum, which was developed in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution.

We headed over to Overton Park. The Park was established in 1906 and was named for the co-founder of Memphis, John Overton. The park property was known as Lea's Woods when it was purchased by Memphis in 1901 for $110,000. Overton Park is truly in the middle of it all—an iconic public space that is woven throughout the fabric of Memphis life. Its 342 acres offer recreation, relaxation, culture, and nature.

The Overton Park Shell was established in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and designed by local architect Max Furbringer. From its inception, the Overton Park Shell has played a pivotal role in propelling Memphis into the spotlight as a blues epicenter and the birthplace of Rock 'n Roll. This historic venue witnessed the electrifying debut of a young Elvis Presley in 1954, where his groundbreaking performance opening for headliner Slim Whitman marked what many music historians call the very first rock and roll show, leaving an indelible mark on music history. 

In the years since, the Shell’s stage has welcomed an array of legends including Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Furry Lewis, Booker T. & the MGs, Isaac Hayes, Lisa Marie Presley, Mavis Staples, Sid Selvidge and many more. The Shell continues to be an essential milestone for local artists on their way to national recognition. Today, it is one of the only Depression-era bandshells still active, a true testament to Memphis' resilience.

We stopped at the Peabody Hotel, to see the ducks. How did the tradition of the ducks in The Peabody fountain begin? Back in the 1930s Frank Schutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had a little too much Tennessee sipping whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys in the beautiful Peabody fountain. Three small English call ducks were selected as "guinea pigs," and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic. This began the Peabody tradition.

In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus animal trainer, offered to help with delivering the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the now-famous Peabody Duck March. Mr. Pembroke became Peabody Duckmaster, serving in that capacity for 50 years until his retirement in 1991. For more than 90 years after the inaugural march, the ducks can be seen in the lobby fountain daily.

Bernard Lansky was the clothier to "the King." He still has a store front in The Peabody Hotel today.

Our musical bus took us to our dinner at Marlowe’s. Fletcher was our driver!

We enjoyed dinner at Marlowe's. Since 1974, they have been providing the best in Memphis hospitality and BBQ to locals and visitors from around the globe.

Missy always does an awesome job with our group. The meals are always delicious and plentiful! 

Darlene added another suiter to her list!!

Day 146 for us and it was day 10 for the caravanners, our tour is 2/3rds over on Tuesday September 29th in Memphis TN. A beautiful sunrise on the Mississippi.

Tom Sawyer's RV Park, located on the banks of the Mississippi River in West Memphis, Arkansas, was established as a thematic tribute to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and his iconic 1876 novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Built directly on the natural river bottomlands, the campground was designed to evoke the carefree, historic spirit of 19th-century life along the Mighty Mississippi.

The defining historical characteristic of the park is its precarious and intimate relationship with the Mississippi River. Because the campground sits directly on the "batture" (land between the river and the levee.) The park has historically experienced regular, severe flooding events when the Mississippi River crests. During high-water seasons, parts of the campground—including hookups and lower loops—regularly submerge under river water.

Because of the constant threat of water, the owners historically focused on keeping the environment completely natural rather than building permanent brick-and-mortar structures like a pool or a traditional clubhouse. Instead, they invested in heavy-duty concrete pull-thru sites and continuous grading to survive the river's toll. The hardworking owners historically clean, re-mow, and completely restore the property year after year as soon as floodwaters recede.

Barge traffic near Memphis has evolved from 19th-century steamboats and coal rafts into a modern diesel-powered towboat system operating out of the fourth-largest inland port in the US.  Before permanent rail bridges, trade and passenger travel relied heavily on river steamboats and transfer steamers like the SD Barlow, which docked directly at the muddy Memphis landings using temporary ramps.

The era of paddle wheelers gave way to screw-driven, diesel-powered towboats pushing rigid platforms of dozens of barges carrying bulk goods like grain, corn, soybeans, coal, petroleum products, iron, gravel, and construction materials.

Individual barges are lashed together into a large group called a "tow," which is pushed or guided by a powerful towboat. Dry cargo barges typically measure 195 feet long by 35 feet wide and haul about 1,500 to 1,750 short tons. A standard 15-barge or larger configuration can stretch over 1,200 feet and carry over 50,000 tons, matching the load of thousands of trucks or hundreds of rail cars. Barges use far less fuel per ton-mile than other transport methods, moving one ton of cargo over 514 miles on a single gallon of fuel.

Today is all Elvis, Elvis, Elvis, and Graceland all day!

You start your Graceland experience with a film that is a short overview of Elvis, the early years.

After that, you are given an iPad and headset and board a bus to the mansion. Elvis Presley's famed colonial revival–style mansion sits atop a small hill overlooking the rest of the expansive Graceland complex. The two parcels are separated by a now busy Route 51, aka Elvis Presley Blvd.

In early 1957, Presley gave his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley, a budget of $100,000 and asked them to find a property to purchase, with buffer space around it. At the time, Graceland was located in southern Shelby County, several miles south of Memphis's main urban area. Presley purchased Graceland on March 19, 1957, for a price of $102,500. 

Constructed at the top of a hill and surrounded by rolling pastures and a grove of oak trees, Graceland was designed by the Memphis architectural firm, Furbringer and Erhmanis. It's a two-story, five-bay residence in the Colonial Revival style, with a side-facing gable roof covered in asphalt shingles, a central two-story projecting portico, and two one-story wings on the north and south sides.

Your first stop inside Graceland Mansion is the foyer. In the foyer was often where special guests were received and shown to the living room, where they would await Elvis to greet them.

The dining room, the stairways, and his parent's bedroom are also viewed from this portion of the tour. 

Parts of decor you see in these rooms today span all of the Elvis eras at Graceland, but the look is primarily the late 1960s to early 1970s.

We walked through Elvis' kitchen to his downstairs area which includes the TV room and pool room. All the yellow in the TV room was bright and inviting. You just want to sit on one of those stools!

The pleated fabric walls in the pool room intrigue me every time I visit.

As we made our way back upstairs, you can see the famous Jungle Room with its green shagged carpets, Polynesian feel and exotically carved wood. This room was once the exterior access to the basement. In the 1960s, during one of Elvis' home improvement projects, it was added to the back of the house - first as a screened in porch and then closed in as a room a few years later. In 1974, Elvis redecorated with the current furnishings he stumbled upon at a Memphis furniture store. This room became a family favorite and Elvis liked it in part because it was reminiscent of Hawaii, where he enjoyed vacationing, filmmaking and performing.

After you leave the mansion, you can visit Vernon’s office. 

Attached to the office is the smoke house and a firing range!

We entered the building housing many archival pieces, including letters, checks, invoices, pictures, and more furniture pieces.

The final stop on our self-guided tour of Graceland is the Meditation Garden. This is where Elvis and members of his family have been laid to rest, including Lisa Marie. 

Millions of fans from around the world have come to Graceland to pay their respects to Elvis - the humanitarian, singing sensation, movie star and King of Rock 'n' Roll. 

          

My favorite part of the garden was the stained glass. One of the most beautiful and mysterious features of the Garden are the four nineteenth-century stained glass windows in the curved brick wall overlooking the graves. Moorish in nature and religious in their imagery, their meaning has been the source of much speculation over the years. It turns out that Mr. Grenadier obtained eight windows in Spain in the early 1960’s, each a different scene. He put four pieces in the Meditation Garden and, without any fanfare, put the other four pieces in his private home he built in 1965.

You board the bus back across the street and there is much, much more to see. You exit the bus into the Presley Motors Automobile Museum. Elvis loved cars and this display has some of his favorites. Highlight for me was his impressive Pink Cadillac.

One of my favorite exhibits is the hundreds, maybe thousands of jumpsuits! It is called “Dressed to Rock.” It is an in-depth exhibit exploring Elvis on-stage style from 1969-1977. Featuring stage wear, including jumpsuits, capes, belts, jewelry, original designer sketches. The floor-to-ceiling displays of fashion pieces reminded me of the Barbie wardrobes every young girl had to display Barbie’s clothes.

I know those of you that know me, would have guess that the military display would have been my favorite! Elvis served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960. In this exhibit, you can learn more about Elvis' service to his country as you walk through his induction and time spent in the service, including his time spent in Germany. Special artifacts include Elvis' Army fatigues, dress uniforms, army footlocker, suitcases and more. My question is, if he was not famous before he went in, would anyone have saved these items… in case he became famous later? I doubt it!

Elvis just had a few gold records!

My one piece of Elvis trivia… There were only 9 states that Elvis never played in. Can you name them?

Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Our evening included a road log review for our next day of travel. Of course we had dessert! Cookies that we got from Graceland with the meal vouchers for Betty & Larry. Thanks for sharing our friends!

Stay tuned for more #TwoLaneAdventures and #TheAdventuresContinue