Peabody ~ Memphis

After our tour of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum we drove to Memphis, Tennessee. 

We were staying at the fabulous Peabody ~ Memphis.  This 4 star hotel is truly amazing and is also home to the famous Peabody Ducks.  We arrived in the evening so watching the ducks would have to wait until in the morning.  From the moment we walked in that we were going to enjoy our stay.  The front desk clerk was friendly and very attentive and arranged to have our bags brought to our room. 

I of course loved the amenities of the hotel and the little touches that made it special.  The bed looked inviting and the room was spacious. 

Here's the view from our hotel room.  And I would agree perhaps the windows could have been cleaner. 

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Some more views from inside our hotel room.  There was a great walk-in closet with two robes inside, a vanity area and a writing table.  

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Of course one of my favorite things is the bathroom.  I absolutely LOVED the duck shaped soap!  How cute is that?

They even made the toilet paper look special.  I think I may order some stickers and buy some ribbon so that I can do this to our toilet paper at home. ;)  Seriously it just makes it look so fancy.

This amuses me!  I guess because it’s an older phone and it’s in the bathroom.  I thought it was awesome.

Everything just looked so fancy in the room. 

And a toast...
We offer a toast.  To the family and friends we love, to the businesses we pursue, and the hotels that are uniquely inspired – long live the destination.  May the place, the magic, the attention to detail, the love of all things beautiful, bring you great happiness on your journey.  And when you do travel, may it remind you that there’s never been a better time to celebrate the good things in life.  Salut!

Once the bellman brought up our bags we quickly put our things away, freshened up and then headed out to check out the night life on Beale Street.

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We walked around a bit and decided to eat at B.B. Kings place. 

It was dark inside and I didn’t really want to use the flash but here we are enjoying the night!

The food at B.B. Kings was good and the live music was even better.  It was so fun just enjoying the evening with my husband.

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Good times and more to come.

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Bill Clinton Presidential Library

Now all politics aside ~ because my blog ain't the place for that ~ while in Little Rock we toured the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum.  So I was doing some research on how Presidential Libraries came into being.  This is a little of what I found here:  National Archives - Presidential Libraries. 

The Office of Presidential Libraries administers a nationwide network of Presidential libraries beginning with the 31st President of the United States, Herbert Hoover. Currently, this includes:

• 13 Presidential Libraries
• Presidential Materials Staff
• Central Office Staff

These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making accessible the papers, records, and other historical materials of U.S. Presidents. Presidential Libraries and Museums are great treasures of our nation's history. They are important sources for historians and other researchers studying our presidents and our history. In addition to archiving and preserving presidential papers and objects, presidential libraries and museums bring history to millions of visitors from around the world.  

The William J. Clinton Presidential Center & Park is located at

1200 President Clinton Ave.

Little Rock, AR 72201

Tel. 501-374-4242

www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org

There were quite a few interesting things to see, more than we actually had time to see and if you are into political and/or presidential history it would definitely be a place you'd want to visit.

Oddly enough there was an Elvis exhibit also there. 

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M ready to hear what the people have to say.

 

The Oval Office

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An interesting light fixture

Pretty place setting

Like I said, there was a lot to look at.

We later learned that former President Clinton was actually in town and was going to attend a function at the Library that evening. 

They were setting up the red carpet so M and I took the opportunity to have our picture taken.

After touring the Library we caught the tram that takes you to where the souvenir/gift shop is and looked around all memorabilia. 

We enjoyed our visit but needed to get on the road to head to Memphis.

<3

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Cotham's & Little Rock Central High

Next stop after taking the tour, and I use the term loosely, was to head over to Cotham's, Home of the Hubcap, for lunch. 

We enjoy eating at various places as seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Man vs. Food.  We stopped at Cotham's only to find out after being seated that it wasn't the one that the show was taped at.  Oh well.  We were hungry and the restaurant had a good vibe to it so we stayed.

The waitress recommended the onion rings and the fried green tomatoes.  We tried both and found both to be okay.  The batter on the onion rings reminded me of fish batter and the batter on the fried green tomatoes was just a bit too salty for my tastes. 

 

They are famous for their Hubcap Burger and although it isn't technically the size of a hubcap it is large.

I spotted this piece of art on the wall. 

The burger was really good and our tummies were full so we headed off to another stop, Little Rock Central High.

Now I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge when it comes to current events can sometimes be sketchy.  Even more so when it comes to historical events.  So I absolutely had no idea what this was going to be about but figured it'd be worth looking into.

Little Rock Central High is listed on the National Parks Map.  From the National Parks website:

The Crisis at Central High

On the morning of September 23, 1957 nine African-American teenagers stood up to an angry crowd protesting integration in front of Little Rock's Central High as they entered the school for the first time. This event, broadcast around the world, made Little Rock the site of the first important test of the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision.

*** ***

It was really hot outside but we took the tour and I'm glad we did.  The outside of the high school is amazing to look at.

Listening to the Park Ranger share the history behind what happened made me appreciate the sacrifice that each one of those young people (and their families) had to make. 

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Part of the tour took place in the auditorium.

As we sat in the seats I noticed something underneath some of them.

Do you know what it is?  Well I didn't.  I asked one of the guides and they told us that it was a heater.  You learn something new every day.

The Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site is located at:

2120 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive  Little Rock, AR 72202  (Tel) 501-396-3000  Hours of operation, Daily 9am - 4:30pm.  Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. FREE admission.

After touring the school we headed outside to the park nearby.

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There is a visitor center just a short walk away from the school and it has some interesting exhibits to browse through.

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It was really pretty interesting and I'd encourage everyone to take the time to stop by and tour the historic site.

 

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Tennessee Trip - Monday cont.

We made it to Little Rock, Arkansas where we toured the Capitol.  We were looking for a place to park and so M drove up to the guard gate and said, "We're here to see the Governor".  The guard laughed with us (or was it at us?) but didn't let us pass.  Just directed us to the best place to park.

 

Now being a veteran of Capitol tours...well okay, I've been on two previously but still I was not prepared for the underwhelming feeling that overcame us both as we asked about the tour.  We were actually encouraged to take the self-guided tour, which we did although we did tag on to a passing tour for a bit.  There was one guy asking some deep political questions that the docent was obviously not prepared to answer so we bailed and just continued on our own. 

Lisa is in da HOUSE! haha!

As you can see above that's my "trying to look cute" pose.  I have all kinds of poses.  :)

They asked M to give an impromptu speech about the effects of the animal hair (specifically cat hair) on the home environment.  Many questions were thrown at him by the media but he took them all in stride.

 

Anyone know who this guy is? 

There was a post office there so of course I took a pic...or two.

And I had the opportunity to visit the bathroom while we were there.

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We had a fun time exploring and we can now say that we've visited the Arkansas State Capitol.

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And here's my obligatory view of the dome.  I take lots of pics like this.

To be cont...

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