Captain_Oblivious
DIS Dad #257, Galactic Salad Dodger
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
Chapter 6: The One With American Icons
Having survived our night in the Demilitarized Zone, we packed up the van once more, had our bland hotel breakfast and drove back into downtown Atlanta. It was a rainy morning, but not bad enough that it was going to prevent us from doing anything. We headed into the southeastern side of town and found our way to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site (now designated a National Historical Park as of January 2018).
This park was originally established in1980 to preserve the places that were crucial to Dr. King’s growth and development as a leader of the American Civil Rights movement—namely, his boyhood home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where both Dr. King and his father served as pastors.
We didn’t have a lot of time to spend here as we still had over a 6-hour drive facing us later in the day, so we tried to hit the highlights in an hour or two. Still, I thought it was important enough to make sure we got in a visit. Dr. King’s boyhood home requires advance reservations to tour, and I was worried about time, so we skipped that part. And honestly, if you’ve seen one house tour, you’ve seen them all. We concentrated on the visitor center exhibits first. The most striking exhibit was called Freedom Road, meant to symbolize those who marched with Dr. King for freedom and equal rights. It brought to mind the famous marches from Selma to Montomery, Alabama, in support of equal voting rights for African-Americans.
There were several displays of photos and videos in chronological order, displaying highlights of Dr. King’s fight for civil rights. There was also an excellent 20-minute film that did a great job of summarizing his achievements as well as his philosophy of non-violent protest.
Just down the street from the visitor center was the original Ebenezer Baptist Church. We took a quick peek inside. This was his home church, and the pulpit from where he honed his message for several years.
Next to the church is the King Center, part of the historic district. We took a quick stroll there to see the crypt where Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, were laid to rest.
Nearby was a garden and a small memorial called The Eternal Flame, symbolizing the ongoing effort to fight for equality for the oppressed.
I found the site to be extremely worthy of a visit. Dr. King was certainly one of the greatest American heroes of the 20th century, and both his life and achievements deserve to be celebrated. Both the exhibits and film were very educational and well-done. And it’s certainly more fun for the kids to get a history lesson on the road, rather than a droning classroom lecture.
We hit the road again in late morning and headed west on I-20. After a little while, we added a new state to our count.
Let me just spare you any speculation now—you’ll be disappointed with our time in Alabama. I had originally planned on visiting the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. Typically for us, anything having to do with space travel, NASA, and rockets is a no-brainer. However, while I’m sure it’s a great place to visit, our plan eventually evolved to include the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (which my girls had never seen). At that point, given the cost of admission to both sites, it didn’t make much sense to visit both and cover roughly the same material. So we decided to keep KSC on the agenda and bypass Huntsville.
And that left…not a whole lot. Our path didn’t really take us past any noteworthy destinations that I could find. Still our rule for visiting a state says that our feet must touch the ground of the state in question. So, we accomplished this by…
…wait for it…
…I feel like I’m going to have to apologize to Alabama…
…stopping at a McDonald’s to use the bathroom and make PB&J sandwiches in the parking lot. We were so cruel we didn’t even get French fries to munch on. I’m sorry, kids. And sorry, Alabama.
But don’t feel too bad—at least you weren’t Oklahoma (foreshadowing alert).
We moved on to I-22 near Birmingham, and a couple of hours later we added our second new state of the trip.
To preserve everyone’s sanity, we found a place to get out and wander a bit just north of Tupelo, MS. Here there was a visitor center for the historic Natchez Trace Parkway.
The Natchez Trace Parkway was an old trade route covering 444 miles between Natchez, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee. It was used originally by Native Americans and then settlers and traders later on. It’s now a National Parkway and scenic route, maintained by the National Park Service (similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway) that generally follows the path of the old trade route. Construction on the road originally began in 1939. However, due to funding issues, all of the gaps in the route were not completed until 2005.
Of the 444 miles of parkway available for public travel, we drove two. Then we stopped at the visitor center and celebrated the chance to get out of the minivan and stretch our legs.
The visitor center was fairly small, but they did have a film about the parkway and its history. We felt bad for the park ranger when she offered to show it to us and agreed to sit in. The lights dimmed and some soft Muzak started to play along with some images of rustling leaves and the sounds of birds chirping while the narrator took a deep dive into Native American trade routes and…
…huh. I guess the movie’s over. Well, I’m sure there was something educational in there. And the theater was air-conditioned. Exploding helicopters would have been especially welcome here, though.
Nobody wanted to get back in the van quite yet, so we asked the ranger about hiking trails. There was a trailhead about a quarter-mile away, so we made our way over there and just decided to wander the trail for a bit. There was no real destination in mind, and we didn’t have time to go miles out of our way, so it was just an excuse to stretch our legs. And for Julie to take portraits of our kids in the woods. They know the drill by now and are always so cooperative.
Well, enough of that nonsense. Let’s get back on the road.
A little while later, we were getting close to the Tennessee border and the city of Memphis. Given that it was a) dinner time and b) we were near Memphis, there was really only one choice. Memphis ranks up there with Kansas City and Texas as one of the regions of the U.S. well-known for its barbecue, so there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to try some. We stopped at a restaurant we’d seen on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives just south of the border in Horn Lake, MS—the Memphis Barbecue Company.
There are many BBQ joints in the area, and I’m sure a lot of them are terrific. This one is noteworthy because it’s run by a female Pitmaster, Melissa Cookston, who has won several awards and holds her own against any competition. Also, they had fried cheese fritters.
We made sure we got an order of those fritters—basically fried balls of cheese served with honey-mustard sauce. A little different, but really good!
In case you weren’t sure if this restaurant was actively trying to kill us, they also served us some fried pork rinds to snack on.
Sarah was feeling especially hungry, so she went all out and ordered a sandwich called the “Memphis Peacemaker”—a double-decker sandwich featuring both brisket and pulled pork. The waitress remarked that she’d seen grown men fail to finish that sandwich.
Well, you just don’t stoke my daughter’s competitive fire like that. I mean, just look at her! You can see the vicious animal lurking within, just ready to go into Beast Mode and pounce. The sandwich never had a chance.
I went with my customary brisket and pulled pork and favorite vegetables. It was all excellent, but the brisket was the winner here.
So good! An excellent meal, and yet another deserving winner of the Drooling Homer Award for Excellence in Unpretentious Dining.
Some words of wisdom were scattered around the restaurant, and I felt like this was some of the best advice to anyone, ever. I’ve seen Julie’s in action, believe me.
We rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and got back on the road for the last leg of the drive. We briefly crossed back into Tennessee on our way around Memphis.
And then we were soon on I-40 west, crossing the Mississippi River into the state of Arkansas. Our third new state of the day.
After another hour of driving, we reached the town of Forrest City, where we bedded down for the night. We’d chosen to stay at the Holiday Inn Express here, and you know the reason why: because cinnamon rolls. We’d covered approximately 430 miles that day—I’d say we’d earned a treat.
Coming Up Next: I’ve said in the past that every National Park site is worthy of a visit and has something to offer. Well, here’s one to test that theory. After that, I force my family to do hard labor.
Having survived our night in the Demilitarized Zone, we packed up the van once more, had our bland hotel breakfast and drove back into downtown Atlanta. It was a rainy morning, but not bad enough that it was going to prevent us from doing anything. We headed into the southeastern side of town and found our way to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site (now designated a National Historical Park as of January 2018).
This park was originally established in1980 to preserve the places that were crucial to Dr. King’s growth and development as a leader of the American Civil Rights movement—namely, his boyhood home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where both Dr. King and his father served as pastors.
We didn’t have a lot of time to spend here as we still had over a 6-hour drive facing us later in the day, so we tried to hit the highlights in an hour or two. Still, I thought it was important enough to make sure we got in a visit. Dr. King’s boyhood home requires advance reservations to tour, and I was worried about time, so we skipped that part. And honestly, if you’ve seen one house tour, you’ve seen them all. We concentrated on the visitor center exhibits first. The most striking exhibit was called Freedom Road, meant to symbolize those who marched with Dr. King for freedom and equal rights. It brought to mind the famous marches from Selma to Montomery, Alabama, in support of equal voting rights for African-Americans.
There were several displays of photos and videos in chronological order, displaying highlights of Dr. King’s fight for civil rights. There was also an excellent 20-minute film that did a great job of summarizing his achievements as well as his philosophy of non-violent protest.
Just down the street from the visitor center was the original Ebenezer Baptist Church. We took a quick peek inside. This was his home church, and the pulpit from where he honed his message for several years.
Next to the church is the King Center, part of the historic district. We took a quick stroll there to see the crypt where Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, were laid to rest.
Nearby was a garden and a small memorial called The Eternal Flame, symbolizing the ongoing effort to fight for equality for the oppressed.
I found the site to be extremely worthy of a visit. Dr. King was certainly one of the greatest American heroes of the 20th century, and both his life and achievements deserve to be celebrated. Both the exhibits and film were very educational and well-done. And it’s certainly more fun for the kids to get a history lesson on the road, rather than a droning classroom lecture.
We hit the road again in late morning and headed west on I-20. After a little while, we added a new state to our count.
Let me just spare you any speculation now—you’ll be disappointed with our time in Alabama. I had originally planned on visiting the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. Typically for us, anything having to do with space travel, NASA, and rockets is a no-brainer. However, while I’m sure it’s a great place to visit, our plan eventually evolved to include the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (which my girls had never seen). At that point, given the cost of admission to both sites, it didn’t make much sense to visit both and cover roughly the same material. So we decided to keep KSC on the agenda and bypass Huntsville.
And that left…not a whole lot. Our path didn’t really take us past any noteworthy destinations that I could find. Still our rule for visiting a state says that our feet must touch the ground of the state in question. So, we accomplished this by…
…wait for it…
…I feel like I’m going to have to apologize to Alabama…
…stopping at a McDonald’s to use the bathroom and make PB&J sandwiches in the parking lot. We were so cruel we didn’t even get French fries to munch on. I’m sorry, kids. And sorry, Alabama.
But don’t feel too bad—at least you weren’t Oklahoma (foreshadowing alert).
We moved on to I-22 near Birmingham, and a couple of hours later we added our second new state of the trip.
To preserve everyone’s sanity, we found a place to get out and wander a bit just north of Tupelo, MS. Here there was a visitor center for the historic Natchez Trace Parkway.
The Natchez Trace Parkway was an old trade route covering 444 miles between Natchez, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee. It was used originally by Native Americans and then settlers and traders later on. It’s now a National Parkway and scenic route, maintained by the National Park Service (similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway) that generally follows the path of the old trade route. Construction on the road originally began in 1939. However, due to funding issues, all of the gaps in the route were not completed until 2005.
Of the 444 miles of parkway available for public travel, we drove two. Then we stopped at the visitor center and celebrated the chance to get out of the minivan and stretch our legs.
The visitor center was fairly small, but they did have a film about the parkway and its history. We felt bad for the park ranger when she offered to show it to us and agreed to sit in. The lights dimmed and some soft Muzak started to play along with some images of rustling leaves and the sounds of birds chirping while the narrator took a deep dive into Native American trade routes and…
…huh. I guess the movie’s over. Well, I’m sure there was something educational in there. And the theater was air-conditioned. Exploding helicopters would have been especially welcome here, though.
Nobody wanted to get back in the van quite yet, so we asked the ranger about hiking trails. There was a trailhead about a quarter-mile away, so we made our way over there and just decided to wander the trail for a bit. There was no real destination in mind, and we didn’t have time to go miles out of our way, so it was just an excuse to stretch our legs. And for Julie to take portraits of our kids in the woods. They know the drill by now and are always so cooperative.
Well, enough of that nonsense. Let’s get back on the road.
A little while later, we were getting close to the Tennessee border and the city of Memphis. Given that it was a) dinner time and b) we were near Memphis, there was really only one choice. Memphis ranks up there with Kansas City and Texas as one of the regions of the U.S. well-known for its barbecue, so there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to try some. We stopped at a restaurant we’d seen on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives just south of the border in Horn Lake, MS—the Memphis Barbecue Company.
There are many BBQ joints in the area, and I’m sure a lot of them are terrific. This one is noteworthy because it’s run by a female Pitmaster, Melissa Cookston, who has won several awards and holds her own against any competition. Also, they had fried cheese fritters.
We made sure we got an order of those fritters—basically fried balls of cheese served with honey-mustard sauce. A little different, but really good!
In case you weren’t sure if this restaurant was actively trying to kill us, they also served us some fried pork rinds to snack on.
Sarah was feeling especially hungry, so she went all out and ordered a sandwich called the “Memphis Peacemaker”—a double-decker sandwich featuring both brisket and pulled pork. The waitress remarked that she’d seen grown men fail to finish that sandwich.
Well, you just don’t stoke my daughter’s competitive fire like that. I mean, just look at her! You can see the vicious animal lurking within, just ready to go into Beast Mode and pounce. The sandwich never had a chance.
I went with my customary brisket and pulled pork and favorite vegetables. It was all excellent, but the brisket was the winner here.
So good! An excellent meal, and yet another deserving winner of the Drooling Homer Award for Excellence in Unpretentious Dining.
Some words of wisdom were scattered around the restaurant, and I felt like this was some of the best advice to anyone, ever. I’ve seen Julie’s in action, believe me.
We rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and got back on the road for the last leg of the drive. We briefly crossed back into Tennessee on our way around Memphis.
And then we were soon on I-40 west, crossing the Mississippi River into the state of Arkansas. Our third new state of the day.
After another hour of driving, we reached the town of Forrest City, where we bedded down for the night. We’d chosen to stay at the Holiday Inn Express here, and you know the reason why: because cinnamon rolls. We’d covered approximately 430 miles that day—I’d say we’d earned a treat.
Coming Up Next: I’ve said in the past that every National Park site is worthy of a visit and has something to offer. Well, here’s one to test that theory. After that, I force my family to do hard labor.
100% agree.
Of course you did!
aboard! Hope you enjoy the ride!
Credit Julie, obviously. She hung back and took a few of those. This one caught my eye the most.
This kid.
