~~~ Memphis to Hot Springs ~~~

We are moving on to our next adventure... I love Memphis and will miss it a lot especially the barges but I am ready for the next adventure which is "HOT SPRINGS". We will be staying at Crystal Springs Corp of Engineer Park in Crystal Springs, Ar.

We started out today at the crack of dawn. Today's trip is about 329 miles & it is the farthest we have driven on this journey. We really like to get to where we are going as early in the day as we can. That way we have time to set up Tassie & then relax sitting outside with our cocktails, checking out the park.

The interstate was pretty busy with a ton of traffic (cars & semi's)

We have always noticed there seems to be a lot Semi's on I40...

We finally turned off onto I30 at Little Rock, Ar.

and headed south down towards Hot Springs...

Until we came to our exit 111 US hwy 70...

this road was a nice country drive with lots of trees and rolling hills.

We finally made it to our campground around 1:30. We have been here before and it is somewhat a nice park... Not the best I have visited but adequate enough. Some sites are not real level. Very busy this weekend. I think a lot of people are trying to get in there last hurrah before school starts... Crystal Springs COE Park is west of Hot Springs via HWY 270, located on Lake Ouachita. The lake extends approximately 30 miles and has a water surface of 40,000 acres. Visitors enjoy fishing, skiing, scuba diving, boating, and other water activities. Bald Eagles are an attraction for the visitors during the winter. The campground consists of 74 sites, 52 have water and electric hookups (50 Amp). Other amenities include a dump station, fish cleaning station, hot showers, boat ramp, playground, and a swim beach

Until Later

~~~ What Can I Say ~~~

Elmwood Cemetery

We love to visit cemeteries where ever we travel... Sometimes they are full of old headstones and ornate ones... Some extravagant and some simple... Sometimes they are full of historic information and sometimes just really old headstones you can barely read. We have visited many cemeteries across this country of ours and the Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis has been added to our list. Elmwood Cemetery is one of the most beautiful historic cemeteries in the South. Established in 1852 as a rural garden cemetery, it has 80 acres of rolling grounds, flowering dogwoods, crepe myrtles, Magnolia trees, ancient towering trees, and impressive memorials among winding paths and lanes. Elmwood Cemetery, the Office Cottage, and the Entry Bridge are all on the National Register of Historic Places.

When you arrive there you can purchase (for a small fee) a CD which takes you through the cemetery and narrates the headstones and significant ares. There is an area where 1400 people who died from the yellow plague are buried, then an area where Confederate and a few Union soldiers are buried, A Chinese section, and even a section of people who donated their bodies to research and science.

The one impressive monuments that we always see in old cemeteries are tree trunks with Ivy climbing up them. They were scattered all through this cemetery. Now I have seen these before but I didn't know that it symbolized something. The Ivy signifies - Immortality, Friendship, Faithfulness and because it is an evergreen that clings while climbing, it signifies the need for protection. Since it grows quickly, it also symbolizes regeneration, sensuality and revelry. ... Tree trunk signifies - Brevity of life ... A life cut short.

We took over 200 pictures. It was hard to choose which ones to share with you... Please enjoy the pictures of Elmwood Cemetery

After we left the cemetery we headed over into old Memphis to see an area they called Victorian Village ... Originally in it's hey day it was called Millionaires Row...I was pretty excited about seeing these huge homes but when we got there I was a little disappointed that the homes were in such bad shape. They are magnificent homes but in need of a lot of work... I later found out that the city has cut the budget for the homes... Here are a few pictures

The Harsson-Goyer-Lee House (ca. 1841) was once the home of riverboat owner James Lee. This striking eclectic-style Victorian had been unused for years,

Woodruff-Fontaine House is a beautiful French Victorian mansion which was built in 1870 along "Millionaires Row" & was the home to two prominent Memphis families.

The Massey House (ca. 1847), was built for

Benjamin A. Massey, an early Memphis lawyer.

The Mallory - Neely house was built in 1852, the 25-room home contains stenciled and hand painted ceilings, parquet flooring, and stained-glass windows purchased at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The Mallory-Neely House is the only historic property in Memphis to retain most of its original furnishings. Once opened to tour it is now closed to budget cuts.

I hope you enjoyed some more of the sites you can see when visiting Memphis

We have move on to Hot Springs, Ar and will have more pictures soon!

Until Later

~~~ Foodie Friday in Memphis ~~~

Thanks Gollum for hosting Foodie Friday... Go on over to Designs by Gollum and check out the rest of the great bloggers who have participated in this fun event...

Ok after we visited Elmwood Cemetery and the Victorian Village (that post to follow) we were starving. We decided cautiously to go visit Neely's BBQ because it is just down the street from the homes. As you may or may not know the Neely's have there own cooking show on the Food Network. Discovered by Paula Deen's sons when they had there travel food show and promoted by Paula Deen herself... they ended up with their cooking show. So they must be great RIGHT? Well when we were visiting Nashville with Norm & Chris we stopped in their restaurant for dinner one day. None of is were impressed and were all so disappointed. We all said that we would never go back to any of their restaurants again. Never is such a HUGE word and Ralph & I decided to visit the original Neely's BBQ in Memphis. Another chance would be granted. Thank goodness because it was one of the best meals we have had here. OK, OK, they have all been great meals at the great restaurants that we visited... So Neely's I take back my bad review... Your place in Memphis is awesome, food was excellent and our server David was the best!!!

We have arrived and Alyssah is already heading for the door

The inside was kind of dark & cozy... but David our server was like a ray of sunshine

Poppy, Memaw & Alyssah patiently waiting for our food

On the left is what Poppy had - Pulled Pork, BBQ Beans& Fries

I had Rib Tips, French Fires and the BEST Cole Slaw I have ever had

Our adventurist Alyssah has Chicken Tenders

After we ate Alyssah was suppose to get Ice Cream... They were out of the ice cream and felt so bad they brought us a huge piece of Mama Neely's "Sock It To Me Cake" for free... YUM!
It was filled with Brown Sugar, Cinnamon & Pecans... and served hot

All was so yummy... Please give them a try if you're near the area.

Until Later

~~~ A day in Memphis ~~~

We got up early and decided to go into Memphis and visit the city for the day... When we arrived there we decided to take the trolley around the city instead of driving our car. It was a lot easier this way. We choose to park our car at the visitor center by River Park. There are so many things to see & do... I took hundreds of pictures for you to see but when I wanted to add them I realized that there was a lot. So I put them into a slide show for you to enjoy the sites of the city... At the end of our day when we were heading back to the car they were having a concert over at Mud Island with Pat Benatar & Blondie being the performers... We could sit right there on a bench across the river and hear the music just fine.

A great ending to a wonderful day...

We are so thankful to the Food Network for putting on so many shows about places to eat around the country... Being people who are always on the go around the country we find it fun to try and visit as many of these places that we can. Our favorite show is Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives with Guy Fieri. We have a list of about 5 restaurants to go to in Memphis but sadly we will not be able to visit them all... However we will give it a good try:

Leonards BBQ is the first one we visited... Now you can order off the menu but there is a BBQ buffet which has all of his best dishes on it including Baby Back Ribs, Pulled Pork, White fish, BBQ'd Beef, Chicken Wings and much more... The food was delish and we enjoyed everything about this restaurant... The staff was friendly, the food was good and the price was reasonable... Guy did not let us down... Here are a few pictures we took while dinning at Leonard's

Entrance to Leonard's BBQ

Inside the restaurant are Grand Daughters Hannah & Alyssah

Inside of Buffet areas... They are set up in 2 rooms...

one with the all the meats & the other one with the sides

We sat in the back dining area... very casual

Were are a couple of our dinner plates... and all you can eat BBQ YUMO!

Well we sure had a ton of fun and I really hope you enjoyed the pictures...

Come to Memphis it is a great city to visit!

Until Later