Nic's Southern Spring Break
The stereotypical college spring break trip is a week long beach trip full of palm trees, cute boys, and getting really sunburnt. But this Spring Break, I decided to ditch the stereotype. I went on a 9-day school trip to experience and learn on a Southern Culture and Civil Rights Tour. I traveled to 14 cities across 4 different states, immersing myself in the community, local restaurants, live music, museums, and civil rights landmarks.
I packed my luggage and piled on the university busses with 21 other students from my university bright and early. We took a quick pit stop to The Arcade, a small shopping center right in Downtown Nashville, dating back to the early 1900s. The Arcade is home to Woolworth, which was a restaurant used during the Nashville sit-in movement to desegregate lunch counters by African American college students. Since then Woolworth has been closed down, turned in to a Dollar General, and now restored to the original Woolworth, as a restaurant to showcase its civil rights history.
We drove over to the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center. This historical center had several museums about Abraham Lincoln, “Sleepy” John, the Hatchie River, Music, Cotton, and Tina Turner! The Tina Turner museum was inside her original schoolhouse and showcased her personal belongings--yearbooks, posters, and dresses. Can I just say, Tina Turner is a total babe that rocked her crazy couture outfits AND wow-ed people despite the color of her skin in a time of racism.
When we got to Memphis, Tennessee we were starved, and we went to an award winning BBQ restaurant, Central BBQ. YUM. Being a Northerner, I didn’t really get the hype over this kinda food, but eating from this place is not your run of the mill BBQ. This place serves genuine, authentic smoked barbecue and the meat was sooo tender--YUM YUM YUM!
We went to many, many, many museums throughout this trip. But the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is special. This museum is attached to the Lorraine Motel. The Lorraine Motel that Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the Civil Rights Museum was assassinated at. This museum took me through slavery, sharecropping, bus boycotts, marches, bombings, shootings, decades of history of inequalities among races. This museum gave a tour of MLK’s hotel room, the last place MLK walked, eerie and cold, but a landmark of our history.
Have you ever heard of Sun Studio? Me neither. You know who has heard of Sun Studio? Johnny Cash. Elvis Presley. Carl Perkins. Jerry Lee Lewis. The Million Dollar Quartet. These men and many more walked through the door and recorded their first albums at this studio. Not only did we get a tour of this historic tour, I got to fan girl a bit and touch the EXACT microphone that many famous musicians once used to record on.
Also, I learned about this group that recorded at Sun Studios called The Prisonaires. Ya’ll they’re not called the Prisonaires because it’s cool boy band name, they’re called the Prisonaires because these men were prisoners at the Tennessee State Penitentiary. The governor at the time thought they were such a smash that he pardoned all of them, so that he could share their voices with the entire nation! Imagine being such a talented singer that it literally gets you a “Get Out of Jail Free Card.”
Memphis is blues and jazz and rock and roll. Take ALL this music and add a nightlife...you get Beale Street. If you want to see what’s poppin’ in Memphis, come to Beale Street. There’s restaurants, shops, clubs, and bars, and bars, and bars. It’s all the nightlife on one long strip, lit up with beautiful city lights. It absolutely reeks of cigarette smoke, but it’s worth it, because the live music and the kind people are a beautiful scene to take in. I stopped in A. Schwab's for a drink, and let me tell you people this is old fashioned. When I say old fashioned, I’m talking homemade, freshly served, and definitely unique. This place had gelato, milkshakes, malts, phosphates, floats, if they had it in the 1900’s, they serve it today. As a root beer fanatic, I went with the classic root beer phosphate soda.
Graceland is not a magical land far, far away, as it may sound. It’s actually the name of Elvis Presley’s mansion. 14 acres of Elvis, which may sound a little odd...but it’s actually really cool. You’ll see and learn things about Elvis that you didn’t even think you wanted to know. I wish I could give it justice in words but I can’t. Elvis took over the world, and he had the money to prove it simply in his house. I mean he had a $600 microwave?! You get to tour through his foyer, the infamous ‘Jungle Room,’ his racquetball room, the entire mansion. You also get to see fan paintings he was sent, a theater playing his short acting career, a showcase of his military experience, and a collection of his luxurious car collection. Whether or not you love Elvis, seeing Elvis’ international influence is crazy.
So with all this traveling we stayed at a different hotel every single night. But the Graceland Guesthouse was kind of a once in a lifetime experience. Boujee to the max, I felt like a queen, I mean I was staying at the King of Rock n’ Roll’s guesthouse so I guess I was a queen. Also, there was an Elvis Tribute Weekend going on, and let me just say...so much Elvis.
In case you were wondering...all that I talked about above happened on day 1. I was exhausted, but the trip had just began. On day 2 we traveled from Memphis to Tunica to Clarksdale. We stopped in the Delta Blues Museum, to explore the heritage of the blues. Muddy Waters, Same Cooke, B.B. King, just to name a few Blues musicians that paved the way to music today. Robert Johnson is a legend in the Blues community, mostly for “selling his soul to the devil.” Whether or not that is true, we had to take a quick stop in the Devil’s Crossroads (please enjoy the picture below of me jumping for joy, and not making a deal with the devil) that this talented man supposedly did the deed in order to obtain his amazing voice and guitar skills. We ended the night by going to the Ground Zero Blues Club, a Juke Joint--historically a community room for African Americans to socialize and relax through dance during times of slavery-- co-owned by the one, the only, Morgan. Freaking. Freeman.
We started the next day by going to the Tutwiler Train Depot, this was the place that the Father of the Blues, W.C. Handy first came across Blues-style music. Handy was sitting on a bench waiting at the train station when a man sitting next to him begin playing a slide guitar with a knife--pretty rad. We traveled over to Dockery Farm, this was a plantation used by African Americans that partook in sharecropping. While sharecropping was the beginning of systematic racism :( Dockery’s owners were well-known for their humane treatment of the African American farmers--in a time of heightened racism and discrimination. Our last stop in Tennessee was to the small city of Money. Despite the size of the town, a course altering event happened in this city. Emmett Till. A 14-year old African American boy that was falsely accused of sexually harassing a white woman at Bryant’s Grocery. He was kidnapped, tortured, murdered, and left dead in a river...this story shocked the world showing that even children were not safe from the deep hatred of racism. Leaving Tennessee, we went to the Grammy Museum in Mississippi to lift our spirits. I absolutely loved the interactive exhibits at the Grammy Museum, showcasing artists from the early 1900’s to present, a recording booth, Grammy awards, acceptance speeches, and outfits from legends like Michael Jackson.
We ended the day by hearing Charles Johnson, of Fitkin’s Memorial Church of the Nazarene. This man is amazingly inspirational, he was sent to Mississippi--known as one of the most racist and segregated states in the U.S. to lead a church, he was held at gunpoint for going 5 miles over the speed limit, he faced constant hatred from his white neighbors, and he stood trial as a witness to the tragic “Mississippi Burning” case. This man has faced it all, and still loved all.
We got out of Mississippi and headed over to NOLAAA. New Orleans is a funky city that I recommend everyone check out for Mardi Gras (I spontaneously took a trip last year--too much fun). I had beignets both days--yummmmm from Cafe Beignet, and the infamous Cafe Du Monde. A Beignet is basically just a fried piece of dough, dusted with powdered sugar, so obviously it was delicious.
We explored all over the city checking out historical landmarks like, the St. Louis Cathedral (oldest, active cathedral in the U.S.), the Louis Armstrong Park (named after a famous trumpeter that shook the world when he performed with white-face), Preservation Hall (exclusive music venue that plays authentic jazz music), Bourbon Street (the nightlife of New Orleans--a line of bars, music, and thousands of people), the US Mint & Jazz Museum, and we ended the trip with a mule carriage ride--a mule, as in the mix between the donkey and horse! Fun fact: they use mules because they fare better in the hot temperatures, also the mules get 4 months vacation--yay for no animal cruelty!
Also shoutout to Cafe Reconcile, this was definitely the coolest restaurant we ate at the whole trip. This place did more than serve some good ole fashioned southern cooking, they are a non-profit organization that trains young adults that are at risk in the community by providing them with personal and professional development opportunities. I absolutely loved the mission of this cafe, and would love to see more places like these!
Leaving the great state of Louisiana, we bussed on over to Alabama. First stop in this state, was Selma, Alabama. On the ride over, we watched the movie, Selma, this was a beautiful film based off of the historical events that occurred in this city in the 1960’s. If you have not seen this movie yet, PLEASE add it to the top of your list! We walked through the Selma Interpretive Center, which was a small welcome center that showed exhibits of the deep history that this city is known for throughout the Civil Rights Movement. Our last part of the day was walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Most of the history from this town revolves around this bridge. Selma was the starting point of a 54-mile march fighting for voting rights, it is known for key points in the Civil Rights movement, specifically Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, and the March to Montgomery. Walking across this bridge I was in awe of the brave lives that were lost on this bridge, fighting for the fundamental right that we often take for granted.
I’m not even going to go into detail about all the Martin Luther King Jr. did for the Civil Rights Movement, because the list would be unending. The legacy that MLK left was incredible, and we had the opportunity to travel to Montgomery, Alabama and tour the MLK Parsonage, his home, as well as the church he lead, the Dexter Avenue Church. These two landmarks were simply magnificent, standing where he stood, where he dreamed, where he fought for a greater nation through equality. Throughout the tour of the Parsonage our tour guide, Dr. Shirley Cherry told us stories of the history in the house, the bombings, and the darkness and oppression.
We took a quick break to check out the Hank Williams Museum and his grave-site, who apparently is a big deal? I had no clue just how expansive his influence and fame was until I looked into him later. This museum was full of artifacts of his life, films of him singing, his guitars, outfits that he wore, and even the Cadillac that he passed away in. Next was a trip to the Rosa Parks Museum, all I can say is WOW what a freaking woman. This museum was another great museum that showcased the civil rights movement, and how a “simple” action as refusing to get up from a seat could spark a national boycott.
Our last stop of the day was to the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum, aka the family home of THE novelist, as in ‘The Great Gatsby,’ no big deal or anything though.
Birmingham was a great city, deep with history--out of the many cities we visited this brought out the most emotion and a great learning opportunity. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, was by far the best presentation of the civil rights movement, it literally had me in tears by the ugliness and divide from our nation. I highly recommend that everyone take a tour through this museum, it’s life changing and full of stories and details from our history that is not common knowledge by people. Across the street from this museum, was the Kelly Ingram Park, a 4-acre park that played as a demonstration site for a student-led civil rights movement in the 1960’s. Now as a historical landmark, the park has several monuments showcasing pieces of history throughout the city--a statue of MLK, Bull Conner’s use of dogs and water cannon’s, and four victims from the church bombing. The 16th Baptist Church bombing, a group of KKK members decided to bomb a church, and in turn killed four girls. Visiting this memorial was devastating, four girls excited to lead the church (because it was a youth-led service) that morning were taken early because a group of white supremacist’s were full of deep hatred. It’s hard to imagine that people can be so full of hate to commit such a heinous act. Our last spot for the day was a lot lighter, a trip to the Birmingham Museum of Art, I absolutely love art museums, so this was awesome! Contemporary art is my absolute favorite, and this place was full of provoking art that had me in awe of people’s abilities and creation!
After that, we had a short tour of Fame, and Muscle Shoals Sound, these two studios recorded significant artists in the music industry, and I was able to walk through where the magic happened. Also when we were walking through, one of the owners and musicians--Jimmy Johnson walked through which was pretty cool! Following that we drove through the Rosenbaum House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, an amazing architect that transformed modern day craftsmanship. And finally, our last stop was to the W.C. Handy Museum, we walked through his home, saw his memorabilia, and played on some of his original instruments! After this, we had a looooooong bus ride ahead of us back to Nashville.
This trip was a life changing experience. I quickly found that Southern Culture is both beautiful and ugly. Through the four states I visited I saw immense culture booming with community relationships and rich history. Unfortunately, in this rich history, there is also the ugly truth of deep hatred and violence. This tour opened my eyes to the depth of the injustices that have gone on in the United States, as well as the injustices still going on in this nation. I highly recommend everyone to travel the world, dive deeper into history, and constantly learn from those around you.
If you've made it this far thanks for reading along about our spring break vacations. Wait and see what we'll do next!
Looks like a great trip!
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