The Loosahatchie River

Transport to Mud Island

Jack & Betsy Rice (friends from our Navy days in Japan)

Farm land seen between Memphis and Selmer

TOM:

Day 29 – This route starts at 300 feet and ascends to 500 feet with many rolling hills in between from a low of 230 feet to a high of 550 feet.  The first part of the trip was along the bluffs area of Memphis overlooking the Mississippi River.  This is a very beautiful area of Memphis.  I stopped at the visitor center to fill my water bottles before starting the ride across Memphis.  The route was on Front St., N. Parkway Drive, and Highway 64.  It took about 20 to 25 miles to get out of Memphis.  After leaving Memphis, Highway 64 was new and very nice with wide shoulders for about 40 miles.  The last 34 miles were on the older part of 64 and did not have much of a shoulder or none at all.  There was a light wind today but since the road turned often, the wind sometimes favored the direction of travel and sometimes was against the direction of travel.  The average speed of 12.8 mph was faster than the previous day but it took 7 hours and 21 minutes to travel the 95 miles.  The first 20 miles were relatively flat.  The second 30 miles had moderate rolling hills, and for the last 44 miles the rolling hills became more frequent and steeper.  The scenery today was very nice with lots of green grass and trees.  There were smaller farms and more small cities and houses along the road than eastern Arkansas.  Yesterday was a rest day and was great.  I spent the morning resting and doing some computer work.  Starting in the mid-afternoon Lucille and I were given a tour of Memphis by Jack and Betsy Rice, our hosts for the two nights and a day.  We saw the duck walk at the Peabody Hotel, had appetizers at the Rendezvous, a walk down Beale Street, and ended with a great Italian Restaurant.  The rest day felt very good and the travel day was long but pleasing.

Lucille:

May 23 - Friday - Our Memphis and Braden experience was so nice.  Thursday was our day to relax.  It started with a yummy breakfast cooked for us by Jack.  Betsy and I took a 3-mile walk in the company of 3 neighborhood dogs who saw us and followed us all the way home.  We relaxed and enjoyed conversation with Jack and Betsy.  I learned so much about farming from Jack.  Later in the afternoon Jack and Betsy showed us around Memphis.  We stopped at the Peabody Hotel and had drinks while waiting for the amusing tourist attraction the hotel has.  There are some ducks that live in the "Duck Palace" on the roof of the hotel.  The duck master has the job of marching them to the elevator each morning and downstairs to the fountain in the grand lobby where they spend the day.  At precisely 5 pm, the duck master arrives, rolls out a red carpet, coaxes the ducks out of the pool, and they parade back to the elevator and go back to their home on the roof.  Our next stop was the Rendezvous for appetizers, and then we spent some time enjoying the music and sights of Beale Street.  We then had a wonderful dinner at Grisanti's.
Today we said our goodbyes after another of Jack's great breakfasts and headed back to our starting spot in Memphis.  Jack and Betsy helped us plan a good route out of the city and it all went very smoothly.  It was a long pretty drive today.  I stopped in Somerville, Betsy's hometown, and had fun walking around the square surrounding the courthouse and doing a bit of shopping. Betsy had to return to the office for a while, and although unplanned, we saw each other as I was wandering about the square and I got to see her office.  I stopped briefly in Bolivar and then drove on to our motel, the Super 8 in Selmer.  We ate at The Elms.

The duck master at the Peabody Hotel leading the ducks back to the Duck Palace

Walk down Beale Street

Day Twenty-Nine - 5/23/2003

Total Trip Distance: 2397.76

Memphis, TN to Selmer, TN 95 miles.  This route starts at 300 feet and ends at 500 feet with many rolling hills in between from a low of 230 feet to 550 feet.