Memphis to Mississippi....aka The Vacation Blues

So we've been back in our hometown on the MS. gulf coast since last Friday. It has been a year since Katrina and this place still looks like a war zone. The people have changed. I'm not placing blame, I'm just making a statement. The people and places of my childhood are forever gone or changed. My maw maws house where I grew up has not been touched by my biological father since the day of the hurricane. Now it is beyond repair with holes in the ceilings and floors. Black mold has taken over the once beautiful knotty pine, tongue and groove paneling. My uncle told me that my father refuses to sign a right of entry which would have allowed the city to bull doze the house and remove it at no cost. My father lives in a FEMA trailer and drinks his life away. He has some grand illusion that somehow he will return the house to its once condition that it was in when my maw maw and paw paw were still alive. Anyway, enough of that....

I think my wife and I have decided to move to Bartlett TN when we retire next year. We loved the neighborhoods we drove through while we were there. Bartlett seems to be a city nicer than where we live in TX now. It's close enough to Memphis that we can be in the city within 30 minutes, but far enough away that the crime is not there. I just have to make the decision to follow through with it. We are already established in TX and I love working at the music store. I have a year to make a decision.

So anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Memphis. We visited Beale St, Sun Records (where Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins recorded). We visited Graceland and we visited The Lorrianne Motel where Dr. MLK was assassinated. While at the Lorraine, I met a lady across the street who has been protesting what the Civil Rights Museum has become.

This incredible lady's name is Jacqueline Smith. She has been outside protesting the Civil Rights Museum since the day she was physically thrown out of the Lorraine over 14 yrs ago. Her belief's are extremely different than those of the money making people that run the museum. Although she is technically homeless, Miss Jackie was one of the nicest and smartest people I have ever met. From this time forward I will have a link to her web site over in my links area. Please take a second and click here to visit her web page.

Well...I wanted to post some pics of me being a tourist in Memphis, but Blogger has other ideas I guess. I'll try again later.