Memphis City Tour

Today we toured Memphis where we got to see some of the downtown area and the Mississippi River as well as a glimpse of Mud Island. It is not really an island but instead a small peninsula crated when the river was diverted in 1960. Today it houses a museum, resturants and an amphitheater. It is accessible by monorail, by foot or by ferry.

We drove by Victorian Village, a street where in the mid 19th century a few wealthy lawyers, bankers and cottom giants etc. built victorian style homes. The homes have been maintained or restored to their original glory and some of them offer public tours.



We made a stop at the famous Beale Street named birthplace of the Blues and Rock and Roll. It has many bars, resturants and of course Schwab, a 120 year old general store.


We drove passed the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assinated on April 4 1968. It has been kept exactly the same as it was when he was assinated and is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum. A wreath hangs on the motel's second floor balcony where Martin Luther King was standing when a single bullet claimed his life.

We passed by the Pyramid Arena ahich has been a focal point of the city's skyline since 1991. The arena, guarded by Ramses a 20 foot statue which stands outside, is 32 stories high, holds 21000 people and has a stainless steel exterior. Sadly it is being used less and less but plans are underway to breathe new life into the Pyramid.

We were treated to a special performance by the Peabody Ducks. The story goes that the owners of the Peabody Hotel went duck hunting using live decoys for the hunt. After the hunt was over and being pretty full of Tennessee Whiskey the "Boys" thought it would be pretty funny to put the "live decoy ducks" in the hotel fountain which was in the lobby. The hotel patrons were so thrilled whth the spectacle and so began a tradition of having ducks in the lobby fountain. At 11:00 AM each day the ducks are brought by elevator from their penthouse suite in the hotel to the lobby fountain where they spend their day and then at 5:00 PM they get out of the fountain and march along the red carpet to the elevator which again takes them to their penthouse suite. The ducks "work" 7 days a week but after 3 months they are able to retire and do what ducks do for the remainder of their lives.

Bristol Caverns

Founded in 1863 by Samuel Sesler who was digging a cellar the caverns had been used for many years before by the natives as an escape route and as a means of fresh water and to keep food items cool. After its discovery it continued to be used as a means of fresh water and for keeping things cool but was also used by the mayor of the town to hold council meetings in. It seems its constant temperature...apporximately 70 celcus and the outstanding accoustics made the chambers excellent for this purpose. It was said that whatever was said in the room could be heard by the mayor.
The river which helped form the caverns now flows some 180 feet below the surface.

The amazing stalactites attached to the roof of the caverns extend in some areas to meet the stalagmite which form upward from the cavern floor. The caverns are continually forming more stalactites and stalagmites from the constant dripping of ground water through the roof of the caverns. It takes approximately 150 years for a statactite to grow half of an inch.




This tour was so worth the small sum of $9.00 and time-wise the approximately 45 minutes that it took. It was very informative and a joy for the eyes.

No I didn't go into this small space...I stayed on the designated path and kept an eye out for the bats that the tour guide was kind? enough to point out to us.

Peggy's Cove to Bristol Tennessee

After a brief stop and a too short but very nice visit with Shane and Sharon we rushed to have a quick visit with Van and Wanda in Shediac, New Brunswick. We are starting to panic now as the campgrounds have been closing around us and it is getting harder and harder to find a place to stay. From there we headed west to Wookstock where we were to cross the border into the USA. We encountered no line ups or long waits so either we lucked out or that is a good place to cross. We will try that route again if we are crossing from New Brunswick.
Oh no, I know it has been a long day....did we make a wrong turn someplace????
No we aren't far enough south yet!
After camping here and there along the way we have arrived at Lakeview RV Park in Bristol Tennessee. It is a great campground with mostly good internet and clean level sites overlooking a lake.


We are also in the home of the Bristol Motor Speedway known as the "The World's Fastest Quarter Mile". The speedway was constructed in 1960 and held its first NASCAR race on July 30 1961. Bristol Motor Speedway boasts the distinct quality of extraordinary steep banking (36 degreees which after resurfacing is reported to have been dropped to 27 degrees. Still pretty steep!) It also has two pit roads and ampitheater-like seating. The seating is such that I don't think there is a bad seat in the house. It is the largest sporting arena in America holding 165,000 spectators.




We also saw the famous quarter mile drag strip nicknamed Thunder Valley where many of the fastest cars have strutted their stuff. There is a sand pit at the end of the strip to help stop the cars at the end of the drag and if that fails there are back up rubber fences. The seating in this venu is also fantastic and it would be hard to have a "bad seat".

Peggy's Cove

We are once more in Glen Margret near Peggy's Cove and camped at Wayside Camping. I am once again amazed by the beauty of the place and the fantastic view. This is what we see when we look out our front window!


Just up the road from where we are staying was this fantastic house / museum. Although the museum was closed the building was a true work of art. How many hours must have gone into this pain job.

Peggy's Cove is supposedly one of the most photographed places in Canada and I was snapping just like the rest of the gang. This picturesque village was supposed to have gotten its name from a young girl who got shipwrecked on the rocks while on route to Halifax. From then onward the villagers began referring to her as Peggy of the cove.
While the boats are harboured safely in the calm cove the sea displayed its strength and fury just outside the protected cove






You see many signs warning people to stay off the rocks but as you can see the signs often go ignored. It is no wonder there have been several deaths due to carelessness.