Square Books, Off the Square Books, and Square Books Jr. can all be found along, you guested it, the Square. We picked up a little bit of travel reading and report if any of our purchases turn out to be a good find!
Before leaving Oxford we went past the 'Rebel Barn', home to Honest Abe's BBQ, Hot Tamales, and most importantly, Doughnuts. It was 10AM, and we decided to make a U-turn, it was WELL worth it.
If you're going through Memphis, you have to stop at Graceland; you're just un-American if you don't. That said it was one of THE WORST tour experiences we've ever had (That is a lot considering that we have toured many locations AND Lindy's field of work and research is tourism). After being handed a ticket and not given any further instructions, we then stood in a line, herded like cattle, forced to take an idiotic picture, THEN had the camera lady yell at us when we couldn't move because the line was not progressing, AND this was all on a carport during MONSOON conditions. Here was our first view upon approaching the mansion:
Once inside, our mood improved. Graceland is very much like the Winchester Mystery Mansion (see Westward Round 1)... words cannot express and pictures cannot capture. But here are a few...
Bidding goodbye to the King, we made our way into downtown Memphis and sought out Beale Street. Home of the Blues and Rock and Roll, Beale Street is one big party. We put J.D. on the leash and set off. There was a Corvette Club having a cruise-in style street festival, but why anyone would want to look at that many C5 and C6 Vettes is beyond us... just go to your local Chevy dealer. Needless to say, we got board after the first handful and decided to hit the road and find some lunch.
One thing we were certain of wanting to do on this trip was eat some genuine Memphis BBQ. At the visitor center Lindy picked up a menu/brochure for Jim Neely Interstate Barbeque. According to the flier, they won People Magazine's Best Barbeque.....in 1989..... After a drive BACK across town, and not the nice part of town, we finally found it, and we're glad we did.
We wanted to get a good ways into Arkansas before calling it quits for the day, so a quick (30min) browse through the atlas, google maps, and the GPS, led us to Village Creek State Park. The gal at the park visitor center was closing up shop for the night, but told us to go ahead and grab a spot at the lower campground for the night, if we could find one. Apparently NEXT weekend is a local Bluegrass festival, but the locals have ALREADY descended upon the park in preparation. We did manage to find a nice site, however, and as a result enjoyed a variety of free entertainment from the groups that had already established their compounds, I mean camps. A few intrepid entrepreneurs even had a nice display of Bucket Lights for sale. When first arriving to camp, Lindy mistook these for an attempt to bear proof provisions. However, she was greatly taken by surprise once night fell and the campground was aglow via translucent industrial plastic.
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