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<\/a><\/p>\nBut we still had some remnants of the wild west life to visit. \u00a0We stopped in Wichita, Kansas to visit the Old Cowtown Museum<\/a>. \u00a0Wichita was an influential town that started out as a trading post between settlers and Plains Indians and by the 1800’s connected all the ranches and their cattle with the railroads that carried that beef north and east. \u00a0It was the birthplace of Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp spent a year as a deputy city marshall there. \u00a0The Old Cowtown Museum is filled with historic buildings including a general store, print shop, marshall’s office, meat market, saddle shop, and of course, a hall and saloon. \u00a0There are people dressed in period costume and horse drawn carriages. \u00a0There are also a variety of homes and cabins and an 1880 farm.<\/p>\n Luckily for us it was also hosting some kind of political event that involved free watermelon, kettle corn, and other treats. \u00a0We might have forgotten to mention that we weren’t registered to vote in Kansas. \u00a0I also got a really great free T-shirt from the Pure & Simple<\/a> table. \u00a0I thought they were promoting organic cotton products. \u00a0Cool. \u00a0Only much later did I look closely at the logo on the shirt and realize they were promoting abstinence. \u00a0Since I had 4 kids with me I’m surprised the woman didn’t point out that it was too late for me. \u00a0Way too late.<\/p>\n Just down the street is the Keeper of the Plains<\/a>. \u00a0I love public art but some of it is much more well-done than others. \u00a0The Keeper of the Plains was excellent! \u00a0It is a sculpture by Blackbear Bosin and sits in the middle of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers. \u00a0The sculpture is surrounded with displays of culture and artifacts from the Plains Indians and there is tribal music playing continuously. \u00a0There are rocks that allow you to climb down to the waters edge and at night there are 5 fire pits that are lit. \u00a0The sculpture is surrounded by a river walk and a park with picnic tables and other facilities. \u00a0It’s definitely worth the stop if you’re in the area.<\/p>\n The scary thing about the plains of Kansas is that you can see terrific storms approaching from miles away. \u00a0As we continued down I-35 we watched thunderheads fill the sky and huge streaks of lightning approaching us. \u00a0I was sure that at any minute a tornado would drop from the sky. \u00a0Since there were no bridges, buildings, or ditches to hide in I was beginning to think that death was going to be our free souvenir from Kansas. \u00a0Then there was this:<\/p>\n In what appeared to be a renovated (kind of) gas station in Tonkawa, Kansas<\/a> we took shelter and played Blink while waiting for the worst of the storm to pass. \u00a0And we sampled a variety fried pies, of course. \u00a0Pecan, apple, and chocolate. \u00a0Best. \u00a0Storm. \u00a0Shelter. \u00a0Ever.<\/p>\n Right before the next round of thunderstorms we hit Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum<\/a>. \u00a0The museum was closed for the day but the memorial is open to the public 24 hours a day and there are plaques throughout that explain the events. \u00a0Due to the darkened sky the lights of the memorial were beginning to come on, illuminating the Gates of Time and the Field of Empty Chairs.<\/p>\n As we walked around I was surprised that the kids knew anything about it, but they all had vague recollections from school about the Ryder truck filled with explosives and used to blow up a building. \u00a0They couldn’t remember why the bomber did it, and I didn’t really have an answer when they asked me. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Why? <\/em> There may be reasons but there isn’t really an answer to that question.<\/p>\n The entire monument is moving, especially in the gloom of an approaching storm.<\/p>\n But it was the inclusion of the Survivor Tree that seemed so profound to me.<\/p>\n And Little was shocked by the Children’s Area. \u00a0Because he didn’t know that children were killed in the bombing. \u00a0And he didn’t understand why, in the face of those awful deaths, there was now a play space with chalk for the sidewalk and brightly painted handprints on the wall. \u00a0Reclaiming a space from tragedy isn’t something that 11 year olds contemplate in their spare time. \u00a0They shouldn’t have to.<\/p>\n The sad truth is that kids don’t get a free pass on adult conflict. \u00a0As the kids discovered the following day when we visited Little Rock High School National Historic Site.<\/a> in Arkansas. \u00a0Little Rock High is still a functioning high school but the National Park Service offers guided tours for visitors and runs a visitor center across the street that talks about the Little Rock Nine. \u00a0We watched a couple documentaries before traveling about the Little Rock Nine including Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later<\/a> which speaks to the gap that still remains between black and white access and achievement in education. \u00a0But the visitor center and tour focused on the events that occurred in 1957 during the forced integration of the school.<\/p>\n It was with great pride we discovered that the 101st Airborne, once my father’s regiment, was used to protect the students as they entered the school. \u00a0 But the violence and the ignorance displayed so poignantly in black and white photographs and videos from those times was so shameful. \u00a0To see adults arrayed so ferociously against school children—-children!—was shocking. \u00a0One of the video monitors in the visitor center played interviews with media that were present at the time of the integration. \u00a0News reporters spoke about their own surprise at the vehemence of the mob surrounding the school and Mike Wallace remembered his experience at Little Rock sadly, shaking his head and saying, “Hate is easier to organize than understanding.”<\/p>\n I guess that’s a lesson we’re still learning today.<\/p>\n When we left the school we strolled across the\u00a0Big Dam Bridge<\/a>, which I added to our travel plans because it had picnic tables for lunch and \u00a0a place to stretch our legs before our next drive. \u00a0It’s the longest pedestrian bridge in North America, overlooking the Murray Lock and Dam and the Arkansas River. \u00a0Also, because of the name. \u00a0I couldn’t resist the name. \u00a0It sure is a Big Dam Bridge.<\/p>\n We arrived in Memphis, Tennessee that night and Pretty and I made plans for the next day while washing laundry at the laundromat. \u00a0After all, we needed an early start. \u00a0I wanted the kids to see Graceland since Elvis was one of the few icons of popular culture on this trip that they recognized. \u00a0However, since they weren’t die hard fans I didn’t want to pay $60 per person for an extended tour of the property. \u00a0So we settled for free admission between 7:30-8:30 am which allowed us to enter the famous main gates….<\/p>\n pass the main house….<\/p>\n and enter the meditation garden to see Elvis’ grave as well as those of his family members.<\/p>\n That’s how you do Graceland for free. \u00a0And the next best free attraction in Memphis has to be the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. \u00a0We made it to see the 10am march of the ducks out of the elevator, across the red carpet, and into the lobby fountain. \u00a0You can call it tacky if you want, but that was crazy cute and fun.<\/p>\n Since “free” was working out extremely well, we headed next for Hebe Fountain where Jimmy Ogle, a local historian, was hosting his free Tuesday Walking Tour<\/a>. \u00a0He does these tours throughout Memphis in different areas of the city and we were treated to more info about the history, buildings, and residents of Court Square than it seemed possible for one person to know. \u00a0He conducted the entire tour without any notes, with lots of interesting anecdotes, and even introduced us to prominent Memphis residents as they passed through the square for work or pleasure. \u00a0Do not miss his walking tour if you are in Memphis! \u00a0It took us about an hour to circle historic Court Square but we started and stopped at the famous fountain from 1876.<\/p>\n From there we made it to Beale St….<\/p>\n and Memphis style BBQ at the Rum Boogie Cafe<\/a>. \u00a0I’ve eaten vinegar-based Carolina BBQ for years but the time I spent living in Texas always left me with a taste for sweet smoky red sauce. \u00a0Rum Boogie provided that in style and it took a whole of napkins to clean our faces and hands after our pork plates.<\/p>\n Of course, in between bites we had to explain the names on the autographed guitars hanging from the ceiling. \u00a0The kids had never heard of Alice Cooper, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Greg Allman….sad really. \u00a0Really really sad. \u00a0They did know ZZ Top was the band with the beards. \u00a0And that was about it. \u00a0It’s so hard to parent. \u00a0You think you’re covering the important stuff—potty training, no biting, \u00a0please and thank you, STOP HITTING, daily teeth brushing—just to discover you forgot to teach them about rock’n roll.<\/p>\n Once we were fortified with BBQ we hit A. Schwab, the mercantile started \u00a0in 1876 and the only original remaining business on Beale St.<\/p>\n And stopped by the Center for Southern Folklore to brush up on the development of the blues on Beale St. \u00a0(Another Memphis experience with free admission.)<\/p>\n Before we crashed for the night we couldn’t resist the Pyramid. \u00a0A Bass Pro Shop which was quite a unique building on the outside….<\/p>\n with the usual entertainment on the inside.<\/p>\n The next day we went to the National Civil Rights Museum<\/a> which follows the fight for civil rights from the beginnings of slavery in America all the way to human rights movements occurring throughout the world. \u00a0The museum is constructed around the Lorraine Motel….<\/p>\n and visitors can still walk through its halls, look out over the balcony where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot, and the room where he died.<\/p>\n Another exhibit across the street allows visitors to stand where James Earl Ray was standing when he took that fatal shot.<\/p>\n These are the exhibits that make it real. \u00a0Make it human. \u00a0Make history a part of our lives, not just a story from the past.<\/p>\n Before we left Memphis we stopped at the Burkle Estate or Slave Haven<\/a>, where Jacob Burkle operated a stop on the Underground Railroad and we stood huddled in the basement listening to the tales of the slaves’ travels north to freedom.<\/p>\n When we finally left Memphis behind, the kids agreed it was one of the best cities on the trip, coming close to bumping Chicago from the top spot. \u00a0I was surprised myself since I mainly added Memphis to the trip because it had the Civil Rights Museum and it was conveniently on I-40, the highway taking us home. \u00a0That’s what I love about travel. \u00a0The way a place reaches up and grabs your attention, steals your affection when you weren’t expecting anything except a pit stop. \u00a0How could we have known if we hadn’t shown up, wandered the streets, picked up the tourist guides, tried the tacky? \u00a0How much more is waiting for us in how many more places?<\/p>\n In Nashville we drove along Music Row (boring) and stopped at the full size replica of the Partheon<\/a>, made for the 1897 Centennial Explosion.<\/p>\n I’d \u00a0like to claim my kids wanted to go there because they were interested in ancient Greece or classical architecture or even art. \u00a0But the Nashville Parthenon was used in a battle scene in the movie Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief—a book and movie series that all my kids have read. \u00a0That’s why they wanted to see it. \u00a0Although we were all a bit appalled at the huge statue of Athena. \u00a0She was not so much goddess as just, well, gaudy.<\/p>\n With that, we finally crossed over into our home state and the mountains that we call our own–the Appalachians. \u00a0In Asheville, I made the kids tour the Basilica of St Lawrence<\/a> with me. \u00a0The Other Half and the kids were born and raised as Baptists so they are baffled by the ornateness of Catholic churches. \u00a0And the concept of Holy Water.<\/p>\n But the Basilica is famous for its beautiful architecture and stained glass and the Catholic church always reminds me of attending early morning mass with my grandmother during summer vacations. \u00a0When the kneelers and the candles were the best part of church. \u00a0Since the rest of it was in Latin anyway. \u00a0In any case, there is a pamphlet for a self-guided tour if you decided to visit.<\/p>\n We walked the streets of Asheville, checking out the cafes and art stores, and stopped at Lexington Glassworks to watch them blowing glass for the fantastic variety of bowels, vases, and light fixtures sold in the store. \u00a0Their business has large doors open to the street so passerbys can wander in and the workers keep up a running dialogue with observers, explaining the process as they go along. \u00a0I really wanted to purchase a lovely (expensive) dappled vase for the downstairs windowsill. \u00a0But I still have 4 kids and 2 dogs at home so I decided to save myself the time and heartache spent sweeping up the broken pieces of the vase to put in the recycling bin and passed on buying it.<\/p>\n Then I sat and sipped coffee and read my book while everyone else gorged themselves on games at the Pinball Museum<\/a>. \u00a0$10 per person gets you unlimited access to all the pinball games in the place for as long as you want to play. \u00a0No tokens or coins needed. \u00a0 They even have rooms full of old school arcade video games like Centipede and Pac-Man and Galaga. \u00a0For the record, there were more adults than kids there and they had a full service bar. \u00a0Everyone loved it and I had to drag them out of there.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n