Tuesday, April 21 — on the road from New Orleans to Memphis

Today was another whole day on the road.

After a quick breakfast with Zach, we said our goodbyes and found our way back to Interstate 10 and then to Interstate 55, headed North into Mississippi.

At one point, when we were still in Louisiana, we left the highway to buy gas. On the side road, we saw a man selling vegetables. Marie Therese and Anne Marie bought a tomato and a cucumber and a basket of strawberries. I bought a bag of boiled peanuts.

None of us had ever had boiled peanuts before. The shells were still soaking wet. 

We all agree that we prefer our peanuts roasted. 

We enjoyed our picnic lunch at a rest area in Mississippi.

The highway in Mississippi has high dense walls of trees on either side. We desperately needed to get off the highway to see something of Mississippi. 

So, for about half an hour, we drove along a 2-lane road that runs parallel to the fast-moving interstate.

What did we see?  Road signs:

PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD!

READY FOR THE RAPTURE?

Around 6:00 we finally got to our hotel on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee. We were charmed by the azaleas near the door.

We checked into the hotel and quickly got back in the car. We were eager to see the Mississippi River here in Memphis, and to check out the famous music scene.

Alas, we got a bit lost on our way into the city, and that turned out to be a good thing! We found ourselves in a very poor area of the city, many abandoned businesses, empty storefronts. This is a part of Memphis that tourists do not see. We will not forget that this, too, is part of the reality of Memphis.

Finally, we got to the Mississippi River, just as the sun was about to set.

We left our car here and walked to Beale Street, which was full of lights and color and people!

And music!  And noise!

Like the French Quarter in New Orleans, all the people on Beale Street are tourists.

We had dinner at King's Palace Cafe, where we all tasted their gumbo. It was fine!