Memphis, Bemis, and Nashville
After visiting Steph and Brandon we drove to Memphis to stay with Megan’s Great Uncle Bruce. Megan hadn’t seen Uncle Bruce in years, so this was truly a special occasion.
His home is reminiscent of a castle in Europe, in his own words he “likes pretty things”. Despite the grandeur of the home, it remains warm and inviting. He was happy to walk around and tell us the history of the pieces, including paintings by Megan’s Great Great Grandmother, which look as though they could be hung in a museum or gallery. Uncle Bruce is also a terrific story teller, we spent two evenings drinking wine and absorbing Megan’s family history–with breaks to yell at the TV as we’re in election season. While in Memphis we also explored the National Civil Rights Museum. The museum is built in and around the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The museum is so well done and comprehensive that you could easily spend an entire day there. The main building for the museum is located directly inside the Lorraine Motel and ends at the rooms Dr. King and his ministers had stayed in before his murder. The emotional impact of peering into these rooms and then looking out the window onto the balcony where he was shot is beyond powerful.
Bemis and Nashville
From Memphis we headed to Nashville with a few stops to visit where Megan’s Grandparents were raised. We visited Bemis, TN which was where Megan’s Grandfather was raised. The town was originally built up entirely around a cotton mill and the company built housing around it for their workers. There is now a museum open every third Saturday, and we were lucky enough to be able to tour it. The woman managing the museum when we went happened to be an old classmate of Megan’s Uncle Bruce! We also visited Pinson, TN which is where Megan’s Grandmother was raised, and saw the little Methodist Church they were married in. The town is quite charming and is surrounded by cotton fields. We only had one night in Nashville and spent it at the Grand Ole Opry–for country music lovers, this is a must do in your life.
