Welcome to Mugphis

  Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Thursday, June 12, 2008

Another day, another early start.  Yeah, this is a very relaxing "holiday".  I need another one just to get over it!  Anyway, I set off to Memphis with some trepidation after hearing nothing but horror stories, mostly a little something like this 'oh yeah, I was mugged in Memphis, what you going there for?'  But, in the words of one other hosteler (mugged in St Louis - my next stop) 'sometimes you gotta just go'.  Yeah man!

Went straight to my hotel via a taxi so I could get rid of my bag which distinctly marks me out as a visitor.  My pale complexion is not so easily cast off!  Then I spent about two hours cowering in my room wondering why I needed to go out when really, I'd seen all of Memphis that I needed to! 

Civil Rights Museum

Finally plucked up the courage and hopped on one of the cute little trolleys they have that go in straight lines across the city.  So far, no muggings.  I went to the National Civil Rights Museum which is based in the Lorraine Motel.  This is the motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated.  It was a fascinating museum focusing mostly on civil rights in the first half of the twentieth century.  The most moving part was standing in the room King used during his visit, which has been recreated exactly as it was, and looking out onto the balcony where he was shot.  It seems so easily done, but it's still unbelievable that another human would.

Civil Rights Museum

The second half of the museum is across the road, where there's an exhibition on the supposed shooter.  I say supposed as there's some debate as to whether he did it, and whether he was working alone.  Again, they'd recreated the bathroom from where the shots were actually fired.

Perhaps it was the relief at surviving a whole two and a half hours on the streets of Mugphis without a robbing incident, but I felt the need for treats. So I had a whole carton of hagen-daaz in bed.  Oh yeah! 

Civil Rights Museum