On The Road to Rt. 66 - Kirkwood, MO to Tulsa, OK

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Day 2 along the Mother Road began with a stop at the Rt. 66 State Park in Eureka, Missouri. This 419 acre park along the Meramec River has several inviting trails, but we were more interested in the Visitor Center Museum, filled with Rt. 66 memorabilia!

The rolling hills of the Show Me State are quite scenic, varying from vast greenery to the many Rt. 66 roadside attractions.

In Springfield Missouri, we came across a giant paper cup! Actually, it’s part of the architecture of the building that housed the Solo Cup Company.  This particular plant closed in 2011 - the building is still vacant.

Dale’s Barber Shop in Joplin, Missouri originated in 1929 as a Shamrock gas station; it was converted into a barber shop in 1962 until the owner retired in 2004.

 

As we approached the Kansas state line we stopped for a quick pic at the Hogs and Hot Rods Saloon. Back in the day, Kansas used to be a dry state, making this 1925 state line honkey tonk a popular destination!

 

Kansas has the shortest stretch of Rt. 66 of all the states - only 13 miles - but we found plenty to see!  The Eisler Brothers Old Riverton Store is a throwback to the general store days of yesteryear - complete with pink flamingos on the lawn! 

The Rainbow Arch Bridge, built in 1926, is on the national Register of Historic Places, and you can still drive over it!

Entering Oklahoma, Rt. 66 takes us through Quapaw, once a booming mining town as depicted in one of the many Quapaw murals.

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In Miami (pronounced my-am-uh, from the Native American tribe) we see the Coleman Theater. Built in 1929 in the Spanish Revival style, it was a vaudeville and movie palace.  It remains open to this day.

 

After traveling over 425 miles today through 3 states, we’re ready to hit the hay in Tulsa OK!  Tomorrow we’ll hit the half-way mark on the way to Amarillo TX!

On The Road To Relaxation

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Is it just me, or do you find it difficult to relax?  Sometimes I feel like there's so much to do that I'll never catch up, so why bother trying to find some R & R?!  This past weekend I was bound and determined to find a way to relax - so we packed up the family, dogs included, and drove to Wisconsin.  What I discovered, is my work, when channeled properly, IS my form of relaxation!

On The Road to the Jewish Deep South - Memphis 4-3-11

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The last day of our tour was packed with an emotional wallop.  We visited the National Civil Rights Museum at The Lorraine Motel in Memphis.  This was the site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968.  To say that this exhibition was powerful would be an understatement. Never before have I been moved to tears by a museum exhibit.

No photography is allowed inside the museum; I will do my best to bring these images to life for you. The permanent exhibit chronicles the American civil rights movement over 400 years - from the early slave revolts to the present day recipients of National and International Freedom Awards.

There are quotes - from Frederick Douglass in 1852, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress," to President Bill Clinton, "Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless."

You can learn how the NAACP was founded in 1910, and how the landmark decision in Brown v. The Board of Education in 1954 ended legalized segregation.

You can sit on a bus next to Mrs. Rosa Parks and understand more about the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955; or you can sit at the Woolworth's lunch counter with several African American college students, who staged a sit-in protest after being denied service in 1960 in Greensboro North Carolina.

**Chicago connection:  There is a section on the aftermath of the brutal murder of 14 year old Emmett Till in 1954.  There is a section on Dr. King's work in Chicago during the mid 1960's, addressing racial problems in the urban north, and the beginnings of the Poor People's Campaign.

Undoubtedly, the most compelling part of the exhibit is about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  His powerful "I Have a Dream" speech has even more meaning in this setting.  You feel the emotion from the marches, the protests, and a replica of a jail cell where Dr. King wrote The Letter from Birmingham Jail on the only means available - tissue paper.

As you make your way to the end of the exhibit you find yourself in a time warp, staring at rooms 306 and 307, just as they were in 1968.  Dr. King was standing on the balcony of room 306 when he was assassinated.  The building accross the street was an old boarding house; it is now an expansion of the museum.  Inside you can see the bedroom used by James Earl Ray, and the bathroom where the fatal shot was fired.  The bathroom window is left open several inches, just as it was when police found it in April 1968.  Chilling.

Several days after Dr. King's death, a wreath was placed on the railing in front of room 306.  One has been there ever since.