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History of Memphis 
Memphis was founded in 1819 by John Overton, James Winchester, and Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson. The site atop the fourth Chickasaw bluff, they felt, was an ideal place for the city they envisioned. The location provided a certain amount of natural security: it had served as a fort for early French and Spanish explorers, and the high bluffs created a natural barrier against periodic flooding from the Mississippi River. The surrounding countryside was fertile enough to support a substantial agricultural economy, and Memphis's location nearly midway between New Orleans and the Ohio Valley would make it a valuable river port and trading center.
Favorite Activities in Tennessee
Professional whittler from Tennessee
• Whittling

• Talking about whittling

• Making fun of somebody who doesn't like whittling

• Looking for a better kind of wood for whittling

• Talking about which pocketknife is best for whittling

• Shopping for whittling paraphernalia

• Getting the pickup unstuck after getting more whittling wood

• Arguing about who's the best whittler in the county

• Avoiding bugs, snakes and alligators

• Watching whittling tips on TV

• Comparing knife cut scars

• Watching for the forest warden

• Welding parts back onto the pickup

• Talking about fixing up the house

• Talking about cleaning up the yard

• Talking about the Civil War

• Looking for spouse, who ran out of the house screaming, "No more whittling!  I can't take it anymore!"

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Sparky's Florida Trip Header, representative of things seen in Florida

Page 13
(By Sparky)

Memphis, TennesseeCircular stairs in Memphis Visitor Center

We got to Memphis, Tennessee on May 15, 2003, and stopped at the Visitor Center downtown on the waterfront.  The big feature there was to go across the street and take a Monorail to a place named Mud Island, which is just across part of the Mississippi River.

The Visitor Center had a reel cool set of circular stairs that went up and up and up, all the way to the roof, and me and Dexter was gonna go up it, but it would have took a lot of jumping on Dexter's back, then climbing up to the next step, then helping him climb up to get all the way up there, so we decided to go check out the monorail instead.  We couldn't get there, cuz the office for it was across the street, and the traffic was too busy fer us little guys to get across without getting smooshed or something like that.

So instead, we smelled something reel good cooking, so we hiked Drawing of a guy cooking barbeque stuffup the parking lot and riverfront sidewalk fer a few blocks and they was having some world Championship Barbeque Cooking Contest that they have there every year.  Well, we got so full eating all the different things those folks was cooking that we almost couldn't make it back to the van, but we did, then we was both thirsty all afternoon.  We also managed to bring back a couple of pieces of barbequed chicken fer the other guys that didn't go with us.

The old folks and Ty & Sniffy went on the Monorail to Mud Island, and they had a reel good time, and even got to see a Riverboat history museum there.  On Mud Island they also had a model of the Mississippi River that took up about a half mile or more and it showed how the river is reel crooked and goes all over the place.  Sniffy got to sit on a giant steam engine they had in the museum there, but they had an even bigger one that was running reel slow to show how a riverboat used to work, but it was reel dangerous so he didn't get his picture took on it.

Sparky's Memphis Photo Album
Monorail heading for Mud Island
Monorail to Mud Island
Other monorail car passing our car
Monorail car passing our car
Interior view of monorail car
Monorail car interior
Ty & Sniffy riding on the Monorail
Ty & Sniffy in monorail car
Sign for Mud Island
Sign for Mud Island 
Part of the model of the Mississippi River on Mud Island
Outdoor model of Mississippi River
Trolley car that runs around Memphis
Memphis Trolley Car
Steam engine in Mud Island Museum
Sniffy on little steam engine

You ken click below to find out more about Mud Island:

Mud Island Information  

After they all got back from Mud Island, they went and rode on the Memphis Trolley Car, and it went all around the downtown area and came back to the starting point again after about an hour, and they had a reel good time, but by then everybuddy was getting tired and cranky, so we took off fer West Memphis, which turns out to be in Arkansas.

You ken click below for more information about Memphis:

Memphis Visitors Center

To find out more about the Memphis Trolley, you ken also click below on their website:

Memphis Trolley Car Information 

West Memphis, Arkansas

West Memphis is jest across the river from the reel Memphis, so we checked into a motel there and rested fer a little while before it was time to eat dinner.Pickup full of something for everybuddy, plus some extras

We parked right next to a genuine Arkansas Pickup truck.  It was full of something fer everybuddy, and even a few things that they might not even want.  Be sure to click on that pitcher to make it get bigger so you ken try to count all the cool things that the feller has saved up.

The old folks went to a good looking restaurant next door to the motel, and asked to sit in the no-smoking section.  That's where the restaurant guy put them...in one of the 3 non-smoking tables, right in the middle of the restaurant where all the smoke collects before it settles down to the floor.  They told the guy, "GAK, it's too smoky in here, we'll see you around," and they left.

They wound up at a truck stop about 5 miles away, and were seated in the non-smoking section.  In Arkansas, we think that non smoking means, "No cigar smoking," cuz even the non-smoking sections of restaurants are pretty smoky.  Anyhow, they ate dinner and got out of there.

The next morning we checked out of the motel and ate breakfast at a popular fast food restaurant that serves breakfast, and it was smoky too.  But the worst thing was that a giant mosquito tried to attack Gloria.  You know, one of those mosquitoes that even scares guys with lots of tattoos to death.  Well, Gloria chased him off about 8 or 7 times and he kept trying to bite her.  Then he landed on Jim's shirt sleeve and Jim swatted him and he was smooshed jest that quick.  We decided that because that was such a big mosquito, the scorecard would count him as 4 mosquitoes!

We blasted off after breakfast, and headed fer home without seeing any more tourist stuff, cuz we were all tired and after 5 weeks on the road everybuddy jest wanted to get home, so we jest blasted through all kinds of reel cool tourist traps without even stopping.

Even the van wanted to get home, after 6,800 miles, and it got in for the 30,000 mile service at 31,268 miles.

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IS HERE!
THEY GOT US!!

SCORE CARD
as of May 4, 2003:
Mosquitoes, 15 bites
Old folks, 11 mosquitoes

As of May 5, 2003,
Mosquitoes, 17 bites
Old folks, 15 mosquitoes

As of May 6, 2003,
Mosquitoes, 17 bites
Old folks, 18 mosquitoes
We're Ahead!

As of May 8, 2003,
Mosquitoes, 17 bites
Old folks, 21 mosquitoes
We're Still Ahead!

As of May 11, 2003,
No mosquitoes seen.

As of May 15, 2003,
Still no mosquitoes seen.

May 16, 2003,
Jim smooshed a REEL BIG MOSQUITO during breakfast.
He counted fer 4 regular mosquitoes, so the score is:
Mosquitoes 17 bites
Old folks 25 mosquitoes
We're Way Ahead!

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Copyright (C) 2004 by James J. Meagher