MUD ISLAND PARK and MUSEUM – Memphis

If ever there were an attraction in Memphis that could be called “potentially awesome”, the Mud Island Park and Museum would be it. Located as far downtown as you can get, visitors can pay for parking at the edge of the Mississippi River and take the monorail or take the rarely used footpath.  Alternatively one can drive onto Mud Island and walk right over to the park and museum.

Mud Island Park:  Is open and free to the public.  This park offers beautiful views of the Mississippi River and massive scale model of the Mississippi River.  The model itself is heavy on the concrete, accompanying the model are small fountains and placards with information about the river.  Restrooms and over 15 different souvenir shops are provided.  Kids love the model as it is filled with water and is a great place to play in during the hot summer months.  Actually, this park and museum are open only in the summer.

Mud Island Museum:  Completed in the 1980’s and not updated since.  There are tons of artifacts displayed in a visually unappealing and drab fashion. Explanations are presented in a fat, loopy font reminiscent of the 1980’s.  The museum itself is dimly, lit not for ambience, rather, no one has taken the time to replace burnt out light bulbs.   My favorite part of the exhibit was a “cheerful” film called “Disasters on the River” that detailed tragedies brought on by the Mississippi River. Don’t get me wrong, with some updating; this museum has potential to be quite good.  The museum layout is slightly convoluted with long passage ways and dark corridors for, one can only imagine, dramatic effect.

 If one would compare the Mud Island Museum to the Tunica River Museum, I would have to vote for the newer, Tunica River Museum with its updated displays, large aquarium of native fishes, and a fantastic view of the river.  On a final note, this museum poses challenges for those with mobility issues.

Recommendation:  The AC works fine, so it has my vote on a hot summer day.

DIXON GALLERY and GARDENS- Memphis

The Dixon Gallery and Gardens are located deep in the suburban heart of East Memphis.  The property and the basis for this collection were started by the Dixons; folks who collected fine paintings like I collect refrigerator magnets. This museum is located in a house with additional galleries added over time.  The vibe of the museum reminds me of the Frick in New York, gracious, relaxed and homey.   Their collection is focused and consistent as most of the paintings stylistically are impressionistic.

As opposed to the Brooks Museum, that has a vast collection, the Dixon has a smaller collection, thus reserving the largest gallery for visiting exhibits. I have found that over the years, this can be a hit or miss proposition.  Years ago when my kids were small, I used to take them frequently to the Dixon for “museum training”.  I would walk them around the museum and as soon as they appeared board or misbehaved, I would remove them immediately.  Over time, they were able to remain for long periods in the museum without misbehaving.  Please note, this worked for two out of three of my kids.

The Dixon always seems to be having special events, such as pottery shows, so an annual membership is a good value and dropping in frequently is easy. An extra bonus that I have found is that a number of other museums will accept the Dixon membership card.

The Dixon is currently running a special exhibit through October 9, 2011 on Jean-Louis Forain.  Forain was a French impressionist painter and a poor man's Degas.  Like Degas, Forain painted dancers and French society but he also painted battles from WWI. This exhibit started in France, Memphis is its only U.S. destination probably because of the Dixon’s HUGE collection of Forains (twenty of them!).

Recommendation:  Great for art fans

BROOKS MUSEUM – Memphis

The Brooks Museum is located in Overton Park, the Memphis equivalent to New York’s Central Park.  Brooks is the largest and most comprehensive “art” museum in Memphis.  “Free day” is on Wednesday, but no worries, the crowds are nothing like “free day” at the zoo so, you can safely go on Wednesdays without fear of being trampled.

Stylistically, this museum has some type of art for everyone ranging from neo-classical Roman sculpture, impressionist, Greek pottery; to stuff so modern you can’t even tell what it is. There is a room of traditional Christian religious art, a room with African primitives and a room with beautifully crafted leather book bindings which defiantly belong in a museum because now we all get our paperbacks from Amazon and are transitioning to Kindles. Antique home furnishings and decorative arts are scattered about intermittently for good measure.



I never knew that I grew up in an art museum but a new acquisition is a couch covered in plastic; just like home! Let’s face it, art is all around us. Please note that you can take pictures at Brooks but “no flash photography”. One of my favorite aspects of art museums is the traveling installations that change quarterly.  These guest appearances are always a surprise, sometimes being exquisite and other times mundane.   The quality of traveling exhibits has steadily gone downhill as budgets have been cut.

Recommendation:  Absolutely, for art enthusiasts

MEMORIAL PARK-Memphis

I want to thank all of my faithful readers for tuning in and sending me comments.  Interestingly, one of my most popular blog entries featured Elmwood Cemetery.  I assumed that it was because it was one of my more obscure and morbid attractions but, fans sent me comments that they have been to Elmwood and love it there. So as everyone seems to like cemeteries, I decided to visit Memorial Park.  Memorial Park was once out in the country but is now conveniently located in my backyard.  Many years ago, friends of mine had professional family portraits taken there because of its beautiful setting.

While Elmwood is a cemetery with in-your-face crypts and tombstones, Memorial Park is much more understated.  Nearly all of the grave markers are flat against the ground, really sanitizing the graveyard experience and also allows for easy lawn care.  Memorial Park is a super upscale resting place; garbage cans are camouflaged in plastic tree- trunk containers.   

While we were there on a Sunday afternoon, a hotel van drove up with some tourists.  The driver said that it was “the best tourist attraction in town”.  Although it is not advertized, there are some notable entertainers buried in Memorial Park.  Isaac Hayes and a member of the Bar-Keys chose this East Memphis location over Elmwood, which is closer to Stax.  Charlie Rich is also buried in Memorial Park. It appears to shake out like this; if a celebrity wants people to visit his/her grave they choose Elmwood, if they want to rest in peace, they choose Memorial Park. 

Memorial Park is on the National Register of Historical Places.  This is because the park’s founder commissioned the Crystal Shrine Grotto.  The inside of this structure resembles a cave with stalactites and crystals hanging from the ceiling.  The “cave” is kept at the constitutionally mandated 60* for all caves in the USA.  The displays in the cave artfully depict different events in Jesus’ life.

For those new to the area, beware, taking a shortcut from Poplar to Yates through the cemetery property will not save you any time.

Recommendation:  Memorial Park is ok for a stroll in the park, but Elmwood reigns as the supreme cemetery experience.       

DANNY THOMAS PAVILION- Memphis

St. Jude Hospital and ALSAC are located in north downtown Memphis.  As you approach St. Jude on the northern loop of the expressway, you may be asking yourself “Is that the Dome of the Rock?”  The campus is fully gated and is insulated from the surrounding slums.

The Danny Thomas Pavilion keeps the hours of a 7/11.  When we went on a Sunday afternoon there were three other visitors.  

When Danny Thomas was a young upstart struggling to break into show business, he prayed to the patron saint of lost causes, St. Jude.  After attaining a measure of success, Danny did not forget his promise and built St. Jude Hospital in Memphis.  It is a bit murky, but appears that randomly, Cardinal Samuel Strich, of Chicago, who confirmed Danny, was from Memphis and suggested putting the hospital here.  Danny knew that this was going to be an expensive project.  To help his funding problem, Danny who was of Lebanese decent turned to his fellow Americans of Arabic heritage, thus ALSAC was born.

Although Danny was a Christian, the building looks like a mosque.  The Pavilion is broken into four sections; Danny the entertainer, Danny’s career mementos, history of St. Jude and history of ALSAC.

Danny Thomas fans will be thrilled as the Pavilion is chock full of memorabilia and awards from his career thus freeing up his home for more decorative items.  The family generously supplied three of his Emmys and his
Congressional Medal of Honor. There is also a computer mounted on a wall where fans can watch reruns of “Make Room for Daddy” 

As far as I was concerned, the two sections devoted to Danny were fine, let’s face it not much has changed. However, the sections devoted to ALSAC and the hospital itself appeared to be stuck in the early 1990’s and a bit dated and faded.  It would be nice if St. Jude Hospital could freshen things up a bit as I am sure that things have changed a bit since 1990.

On a final note, Danny and his wife, Rose Marie are laid to rest in back of the Pavilion.

Recommendation: Best appreciated by those who actually remember Thomas in his heyday or are late- night TV devotees.

MAUI-Hawaii

Ok, I would not call Hawaii “Dixie”, but it is south, so technically it could be fair game for the blog.  It can get cold and snowy here in Memphis in February so when my parents invited me to join them in Maui a week ago, I thought why am I thinking about this, I just need to go. The one drawback to traveling to Hawaii is that it is super far away, requires a flight equal to one of going overseas and is really really expensive.  So, if you have the opportunity to visit Hawaii, relax and go.  Besides enjoying the undivided attention of my folks (something that does not occur often) there was great weather and beautiful sights to see.

Pacific Whale Foundation:  The PWF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the whales that winter in the Hawaiian waters. However, the PWF offers many whale educational programs such as whale watching boat tours.  When you approach their office to pick up your tickets for the boat ride, you are quickly assaulted by their gift shop offering all sorts of whale paraphernalia and other kitschy stuff.  The boat was large and comfortable and once the boat chugged out of the protected area we immediately began to see blow holes, flippers, and tails.  The guide was very informative, giving us a blow by blow of everything that supposedly was taking place under the water (to the point that she was talking too much). Seeing whales is probably a matter of going out there in the right season.  Years ago we went whale watching off of the Canadian coast and maybe saw an alleged whale flipper but, it could have been a rock or something. The highlight of this tour was when the guide lowered a microphone below the water and we got to listen to the whale noises.

Haleakela National Park:  A huge dormant volcano.  The first time my entire family was at the Haleakela we went up there at sunrise and then rode bikes down.  This was really cool, as we got to enjoy the scenery up close and unfolding slowly.  This time we rode up in a huge Lincoln Continental.  Seeing this park in full daylight was spectacular.  Each way you turned offered a different view of nature. There were tons of tourists (some speaking Dutch) and a truck that transported horses and stank up the entire area.  We drove down through a bunch of puffy clouds and had our ears popped.

Lahaina:  A kitschy little whaling town.  There is one main drag offering tacky Hawaiian souvenirs, restaurants and helicopter excursions. One the bright side this town has not been Disneyfied, as the landscape included native Hawaiians.  The streets featured uneven paving and folks parked all over the congested streets. We met some Canadians there who helped us find a parking spot for the car. I refrained from buying any kitschy souvenirs but my dad negotiated on a fish shaped carved wooden box for his administrative assistant.    

Iao Valley/Needle:  Amazingly jagged peaks covered in lush green vegetation.  There are just over a million steps leading up to the lookout points, but it is well worth the climb. 

Recently, a parking company installed a parking meter to charge for parking.  Interestingly enough, there is an attendant there to “assist” everyone in putting their money in the machine.  Bathrooms and sanacans are provided.  Strangely, the sanacans were highly superior in cleanliness to the bathrooms.

 

Tour buses bringing cruise ship passengers on excursions were arriving while we were there so we knew we had hit pay dirt. We met a group of Polish tourists from the ship-we could tell by their interesting glasses frames, dental work and hats they were foreign.  My dad being a charming Eastern European had to wow them with his broken Polish.  Everyone was most appreciative.  

Pa’ia:  A charming sleepy surfer town. This is the real McCoy.  The waves out there were scarily awesome with probably only the bravest locals taking in the waves. Believe it or not there was a lifeguard stand although, I wonder how they could ever brave that water to rescue someone.  Dad brought his binoculars, and we saw the most humongous sea turtles surfing right along with the people. 

  

Recommendation: Absolutely go if you have the time and money.

FIRE MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS

I happened to be downtown the other day for a meeting and decided to drop in on the Fire Museum. I ditched my car in a nearby garage as parking on the street was scarce.  The museum is easy to find because of its catchy signage of a Dalmatian wearing a fire hat. My youngest son had gone there for a school trip years ago when he was in grade school and loved it.

The Fire Museum is located in a charming retrofitted vintage fire station.  This museum is quite small and very focused in its displays with no space for visiting exhibits or expansion. The first floors have the “exciting” larger exhibits of antique fire engines - do not touch, an antique collection of fire engine toys, and a history of local fire fighting. The second floors are devoted to fire safety/prevention awareness and paying homage to local firemen of the past.  There was a slide pole but alas it was not open to the public (a lawsuit waiting to happen?).  Even the Children’s Museum had a large fire truck that kids could climb all over but this did not appear to be the case here.  

While five year old boys will be enthralled by the glamorous huge fire engines, the museum also focuses on practical fire safety tips.  This fire safety lesson is conveyed in a fun multi-sensory way that should appeal to school age children.  The building has high ceilings and a huge echo factor that are probably a joy when it fills up with marauding school children. There is a stuffed horse a la Mr. Ed that repetitively says the same thing over and over.

 

While I was there (Friday, mid-morning), there were only a few grandparents with little kids in tow.  The guard told me that much to my luck, I had just missed a school trip.

Recommendation:  Boys under 7 who dream of growing up to be a fireman, school trips, and people who’s grandpa fought the great fire of 1954.  

PINK PALACE MUSEUM – Memphis

One of my favorite museums in Memphis is the Pink Palace.  The Pink Palace was built by Clarence Sanders the man who founded the Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain and got its name from the pink stones he used to construct it.  Clarence never completed the house but the city of Memphis made it into a museum.  Looking at the building you get the feeling of this is “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” from a bygone era. 

The museum does a really good job of telling the story of Memphis and the Mid-South.  Areas of interest covered are geology, industry and history.  The museum collections are vast and many of the artifacts fascinating.  There is also one gallery devoted to traveling exhibits which keeps the museum fresh and us coming back.  Another attraction is the Imax Theater that rotates films quarterly.  There is also a planetarium which is kept way too cold during shows (maybe because it is cold out in space?) with greatly cut back hours due to many budget cuts.

Once my daughter’s school had a field trip to the Pink Palace and we were able to go “behind the scenes” to view the storage areas.  It is unbelievable to see all of the stuff the museum has that normally no one sees.  I would love it if they would occasionally make exhibits of the stuff that is put away or at least have scheduled tours of that area.

We have been members of the Pink Palace for many years.  Your membership includes entry to the Lichterman Nature Center and the Mallory-Neely House (a historic home in Victorian Village).  Another great feature included with membership is reciprocity at other ASTC museums in the US and worldwide.  Over the years we have used this ASTC membership for free admission to museums in Huntsville, Baton Rouge, Seattle, Portland, Philadelphia and Vancouver BC.

Recommendation:  Great activity for people of all ages especially on cold rainy days.

BELZ MUSEUM of ASIAN & JUDAIC ART - Memphis

Or, as I would have named it, Belz Museum of Randomness.  The Belz Museum consists of a montage of art, mostly Asian and Judaic, as the name implies.  The Asian collection focuses on elaborate jade sculptures. The Judaic art ranges from black and white photographs and ceremonial objects.  Just for good luck, a marble Italian sculpture was thrown into the mix. I am mystified as to the connection between the two types of art, other than that is what they liked to collect. 

The museum goes as far as to post some certificates of authenticity just in case a guest questions the authenticity of the artifacts.  Some of the pieces are really good – you could envision them in the collection of a major metropolitan museum, while some of the pieces appear to be from Pier One Imports. A favorite small figurine was titled “Ten Children Playing with Fireworks” (I hope their momma does not find out about it!).

The Belz Museum fails to tell a particular story.  Art appears to be displayed esthetically, what looks good next to what rather than arraigned chronologically.  I think that one day Mrs. Belz, got tired of looking at all of the nick-nacks around the house and told Mr. Belz he needed to find another place to park it.  Thus, this museum!  We enjoyed this museum for what it was; a lot of beautiful stuff not a comprehensive collection of anything.  I also love the challenge of parallel parking a van on a downtown street.

Recommendation:  Ok for a rainy Sunday, or you fancy this type of artwork.

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana

The week between Christmas and New Years is always dead quiet, so it was a good time for an extended get away.  We thought about going north to Kentucky but the weather possibly promised snow and I’m a wuss when it comes to bad weather, especially on vacation.  We, therefore, needed to visit more of the Confederacy.  As all of us had been to New Orleans, a mere six hour drive we turned to our guiding philosophy, which is to go someplace unexplored so we decided on New Orleans’s less exciting neighbor, the capital of Louisiana, Baton Rouge.  The tour books promised about two days of decent sight-seeing. 

Halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans are some amazing plantation homes, most, located on the Mississippi River.  These homes are especially grand because Louisiana cultivated sugar cane, the most lucrative of all crops and these folks were filthy rich. These homes made Andrew Jackson’s home, the Hermitage in Nashville look like a shed.  Touring these estates helps to explain what the Civil War was really about. Additional scenery is provided by the many petrochemical and fertilizer plants which provide much of the State’s revenue.

Houmas House Plantation:  Houmas House is not named for a Middle Eastern cracker spread; rather it is named for the Indian tribe that sold the acreage to early settlers.  The property is a series of beautiful gardens that have been cultivated over many years, a modern banquet hall for all of your party needs and of course the plantation home. I knew I was in Louisiana because there was an open bar on the property selling booze at 10:30 a.m.  Houmas House also has an alleged Civil War submarine (about the size of my mini-van) on display.

Admission is only available with a guided tour or facility rental.  Our tour guide was a big man with a small voice.  Houmas House is privately owned and the owner actually lives on the premises.  Hallways in the house resemble a kindergarten classroom as a folk artist (and I use the term loosely) painted murals of the swamps in vivid colors on the walls. Many interesting and beautiful antiques adorn the home with no particular historical accuracy.  One of the best artifacts was a vampire repelling kit.

Nottoway Plantation:  As we drove into the parking lot, there were cars with plates from Texas, Ohio and Ontario; this showed great promise.  To boot, there were foreigners in the gift shop speaking German, how could we go wrong?  Nottaway and is the by far the most exquisite plantation home I have seen.  Our tour guide was a small woman with a big personality.  She pointed out photos of the original family and explained the functions of esoteric implements in the dining room really bringing the home and its former inhabitants to life.  It took 165 slaves to run the plantation.  For a fee, the public can stay in the house overnight, but beware of ghosts.  Surprisingly, an African American family was walking the grounds, and I was curious as to their thoughts.      

Downtown Baton Rouge

USS KIDD & Nautical Center:  A decommissioned WWII warship, now on display on the Mississippi River.  The ship has been propped up on concrete blocks, much like a car on a redneck’s front yard.  As this is no longer an active warship, visitors are able to wander throughout the vessel, really giving you an appreciation of how our service men lived and why women were not allowed in the navy (trust me the bathrooms were horrible).   

Louisiana Art and Science Museum:  This museum is housed on the Mississippi River in a refurbished old train station. Although this museum did not have a gem in the AAA book, we were very enthralled by the cool façade and location.  Lucky for us we were able to be admitted with reciprocity from our Pink Palace Museum card because this museum is not one to write home about.  I figure that the city had this old building that they wanted to unload, so they decided to convert it into a museum but because all of the other museums in town had taken the good stuff they put a bunch of random art and sciency stuff in it.

Louisiana State Museum:  Were not sure what we would find here but knew that we had chosen a winner when we saw a family with interesting shoes in the lobby (not sneakers, flip flops or boots).  Sure enough they were speaking Dutch.  This museum encompasses the entire state, dealing with its rich history, culture and industries. 

Louisiana State Capitol Buildings:  We walked past the old Capitol building.  It looked really cool but was closed for the holidays and refurbishment.  So we went to the current building.  It is built in the capitol building style with an office tower on top.  We took the elevator to the top and went out onto the observation deck to look across the Mississippi River to the other side of Baton Rouge.  It makes you ponder why it is not called West Baton Rouge, or even by the name of some other assorted state.

LSU Rural Life Museum:   Mainly a collection of old stuff in various states of decay and disrepair that people had in their basements but could not stand to throw away so they donated it to this place.  The real treasures are found outside the museum. A collection of original slave quarters, overseers cabins, a country church and other styles of historical rustic homes. 

On another note, we visited an outlet mall just east of Baton Rouge.  The highlight of the outlet mall was the Coach Outlet – where Coach sell knockoffs of their own stuff.

Recommendation:  Lots of good stuff to see and do.