Day 2.43: Little Rock, AR to Memphis, TN

We got up and worked out and then enjoyed some breakfast in typical Best Western style.

We packed our car and drove about ten minutes to our second presidential library, this one created to honor Bill Clinton. It was interesting to read about events that we remembered happening or hearing about, and also enlightening to see parallels between a divided government then with Congress often at odds with Clinton and now. There was also mention of former First Lady Hillary’s Senate win and move into politics, though nothing about either of her presidential runs.

We spent about two hours at the library and then got on the road for the two-hour drive to Memphis, crossing into Tennessee.

We went straight to the National Civil Rights Museum, which is housed mainly in the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot. This museum features countless exhibits about the history of slavery and the South, and we spent two hours there and still feel like we could have done much more.

We drove about five minutes and parked our car near Beale Street, which was mostly empty and quiet but still fun to walk. We left to drive to our hotel and stopped briefly to walk along the river, which was very nice.

We checked in to the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Memphis Airport Elvis Presley Boulevard, which was perfectly nice. We were then picked up by Murray and Karen Riss, who took us to a lovely dinner. Murray is Arielle’s father’s first cousin and has lived in Memphis for decades. They brought us to an incredible place called Tsunami. Arielle got the goat cheese and fried eggplant Napoleon with tomato-basil sauce and Abe got the roasted sea bass on black Thai race with soy beurre blanc. Both dishes were amazing, and we had a wonderful time catching up. We finished with a delicious creme brulee. Back at the hotel, we relaxed and went to bed.

Approximate number of miles covered: 140

Day 2.42: Austin, TX to Little Rock, AR

We got up and loaded the rest of our stuff, departing the hotel a little after 9:30am. Arielle finished the pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream in the freezer for breakfast.

We had a more leisurely and stop-filled drive than usual. We were stopped in standstill traffic because of an accident ahead shortly into the drive, and decided to make our first stop after passing a Buc-ee’s on the side of the road. Arielle described this Texas phenomenon as a Wawa, Cost Plus, and souvenir shop all in one, and Abe adds that there is a deli counter with barbecue for purchase and so many nuts, trail mixes, and novelties. We ultimately bought just one postcard and left. We continued on until we stopped at a gas station that included a Texas Best Smokehouse in it. Abe decided to get some sliced brisket (which was quite tasty) with rosemary potatoes and green beans on the side. Arielle came in to wash her lettuce and make a turkey sandwich with the kosher meat she had brought from home and had kept cold in our fridge and then our cooler since. Hilariously, she decided not to eat it after getting a craving for In-n-Out, which we found about thirty miles later, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to get it for the rest of the trip. The best part, aside from Arielle’s delicious grilled cheese animal-style and fries, was that she went in to try to recycle the bottle of Minute Maid Lemonade that Abe had finished and they just told her to refill it with lemonade!

We drove through humorously-named places like Arkadelphia and Texarkana, which brought us back into the state of Arkansas. Though we had originally planned to go all the way to Memphis, we had decided earlier in the weekend to spend the night in Little Rock instead. Though construction delayed us considerably once we entered Arkansas, we didn’t get in too late, checking in to the Best Western Plus JFK Inn and Suites before 8pm.

There was a Tropical Smoothie Cafe essentially in the parking lot, so we walked there and Abe got a Chia Banana Boost, which featured roasted banana, chia seeds, almonds, whole grain oats, cinnamon, dates, and coconut. He replaced the choice of strawberries or peanut butter with more banana. It was delicious and quite reasonably-priced. We will be checking out this chain again!

Back in the room, Abe microwaved two bowls of Easy Mac that we had been carrying with us and Arielle ate the sandwich she had made for lunch while we relaxed and watched some TV.

Approximate number of miles covered: 520