Memphis A.K.A. Civil Rights & BBQ Sauce.

I had never been to Memphis before. My fellow interns and I (minus Kalina who went home for the weekend and plus Andre, an in intern from the Mississippi Innocence Project, which fights for the freedom of people who have been wrongly incarcerated) heeded the words of Mr. Ben Guest (the boss man) and packed up and went to Memphis for a Saturday.

 

First stop? Ribs. Blues City Cafe on Beale Street was supposed to be top tier so we headed that way. In the end I felt they were good but didnt live up to all the hype around them. Next we looked around Beale Street, the most famous street in Memphis. Its a long strip of bars, restaurants, clubs, and shops that is closed off to cars. It looked interesting and we made a note to come back later. Onto the next stop and the main focus of our trip.

This is the Lorraine Motel, the motel that Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in. But wait... whats this?

The National Civil Rights Museum is built into the motel! The idea was surprising at first but makes a lot of sense. The museum was a comprehensive look into the struggle from the slave ships to the end of the Civil Rights Movement and into the future of civil rights. You walk though and see pictures, documents, and videos documenting the struggle. It is a great experience that I highly recommend. I even got my father a book from the gift shop. They directly banned the taking of pictures so I only took a couple.

I found the burnt carcass of the bus to be visually striking. The second, less clear picture is a look into room 306, the room Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was staying in before his assassination. The picture came out badly due to a glare off of the protective glass, but I figured it was still worth adding. The museum also has a second part across the street.

The window that James Earl Ray allegedly fired the shot that killed the unofficial leader of the Civil Rights Movement from. A powerful view. In this part of the museum system there is information about the detective work on, the actual mechanics of, the chase after, and the court case following the assassination. There is also information on and even some evidence pointing towards other theories on the assassination. They do not say for sure what happened, but leave it up to the museum goers to decide themselves. You have to go and see for yourself.

After we went to Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken for dinner. Below you can see the difference Beale Street at noon and in the evening when people are beginning to head there for the night.