A Story About Life and Living It

We decided to break up our final drive home with two more stops. First, we stopped by historic downtown Memphis. We took a look at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated. The motel has been added onto and is now the National Civil Rights Museum. We didn't get to go in.

The window on the second floor with the blinds open is to Dr. King's room. He was shot on the balcony just outside of that room.


We walked down the street from there to Beale Street, famous as the birthplace of the Blues music genre. B.B. King had his start there, as well as other well-known artists. We took in some of the music along the street.


The Memphis Grizzlies basketball arena is right by there and is decorated with large sports balls.


 We then headed out yet again and made our one final stop in Little Rock, Arkansas. Instead of going to the Williams J. Clinton Presidential Library (very tempting...) we went to the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. What a mouthful. This site, still an operating high school, was the school attended by the Little Rock Nine who were the first African-Americans to desegregate the school. They were barred from entering in 1957 by the governor of Arkansas who sent the National Guard to keep them out of the school, despite the US Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v Board of Education. President Eisenhower responded by sending the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army to escort the students into the school.


Today, the high school is still considered one of the best in the state. It's huge too.


There are nine benches outside of the school, one to commemorate each member of the Little Rock Nine.


After that short stop we really did head for home. Only a day later we found ourselves back in Austin. We were exhausted and ready to be home. More importantly, we had enjoyed some of America's quirks, history, people, and natural beauty. We are super grateful for the chance we had to go on this trip and see all that we did. We were especially grateful to see so many old friends and spend time with them.

Nothing to do now but go back to school and plan the next one!