A Little Slice of Heaven

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Peabody Ducks

Today is my last day in Memphis.

I squeezed in a grab bag of different things.

The first was arguably the best, and certainly the most bizarre, free show in town.

The Peabody Hotel was built to be the grandest hotel in the entire South.

It certainly holds that title for Memphis.

In the early 1930s, hotel manager Frank Schutt came back from a hunting trip rather tipsy.

He had heard about the alligators living in the fountains at the Jefferson (see March 13^th) and thought it would be really hilarious to have ducks living in the fountain of his hotel instead.

He proceeded to put some in the fountain.

Unbelievably, those ducks were popular with hotel guests.

The bellman at the time, Edward Pembroke, a former circus trainer, convinced his boss he could train those ducks to walk from the elevator to the fountain each day.

He succeeded, and the duck parade became a treasured hotel tradition.

It is performed to this day.




I saw it this morning.

The parade is done to stirring marching music by John Phillip Souza.

It was about as dignified as it gets for an animal spectacle.

People took lots of pictures.

Be sure to visit the gift shop next door, which has everything duck related one could ever want plus many things that no sane person should ever consider.

Copies of “Make Way for Ducklings” (which is set in Boston, not Memphis) were discreetly hidden in a corner.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

My next site was the largest art museum in Memphis, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

Brooks was the donor of the first building.

The building has two distinct halves, one classical Beaux Arts, and the other modernist.

Unusually, where the two join the outer façade of the old building is incorporated into the interior wall of the newer one as an architectural exhibit.




The collection is small but comprehensive.

One room was filled with African Art.

Another had ancient art.

The Beaux Arts part of the museum had the Renaissance part of the collection.

The highlight for me was a room of regional art that emphasized artists from Memphis.

My favorite piece in this section was a painted relief called “Tennessee S Curve” by Red Grooms.

It was a stretch of road filled with satires of state stereotypes: A hayseed farmer in a pickup truck, a huge logging truck, a sign for “See Rock City” (a famous state tourist attraction whose signs once covered the area), a huge wooden cross with “Prepare to meet the Lord” painted on it (Nashville is the headquarters of both the Southern Baptists and Methodists), and so forth.




The museum had a temporary show on Southern photography.

During the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration hired several photographers to document conditions throughout the US.

Some focused on the South, and they were among the first to explore the area’s rural communities.

These photos had a purpose beyond just recording an area however; they were propaganda to support New Deal programs.

The show focuses on the style and subject matter of the different practitioners, and how this supported their aims.

For example, one photographer focused only on people, because it was the best way to get an emotional response in viewers.

Another focused on seemingly trivial details of everyday life, things that have now mostly vanished.

The photos certainly provide a contrast with what I’m seeing on this trip.

Parts look very different now, while others shockingly haven’t changed much at all.

Memphis Barbeque

On my way out of Memphis, I found time for one last experience.

Memphis has some of the best barbeque restaurants in the US.

The barbeque cooked here is distinctly different from that in Lexington (see Pigs and Tobacco).

The meat is slow cooked over hickory wood for hours, but the similarity ends there.

Memphis barbeque uses a wider range of meat than Lexington.

The truly adventurous can try barbecue spaghetti.

The sauce is also heavier and contains quite a bit of ketchup.

Finally, Memphis barbeque is served with coleslaw, which would give a Lexington native a heart attack from the sacrilege.




I found my barbecue at neighborhood legend Cozy Corner, which is located in an otherwise unremarkable strip mall.

The meal was a small slice of heaven.

I liked it a little less than Lexington because the sauce was messier, but the meat still melted as I ate it.

The barbeque was served with fresh brewed sweet ice tea (of course) which made most other versions I’ve had taste like sludge.

Another southern classic, sweet potato pie, finished off the meal.

This potato pie was homemade, and one of the few versions I’ve liked so far.




After Memphis, I had a long drive to New Orleans.

It took a while.

The road, for the most part, went through flat pinelands and swamps.

It’s one of those highways were I wondered whether I had seen a particular stretch of road before after a while.

The final approach to New Orleans is unmistakable.

The city is surrounded by swamps.

Those swamps are totally unsuitable for a major road, so the interstate crosses them on a causeway.

Basically, it’s a long low bridge that seems to go on forever.

In reality, the causeway is nearly ten miles long.

About halfway through, it goes from swamp to the southern reaches of Lake Pontcharin.

On one side are flooded trees, and on the other is a blue expanse that reaches to the horizon.

Once the causeway ends, the land goes to suburbia immediately, and the city appears soon afterward.

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Photos

Peabody Hotel Lobby
The lobby of the Peabody Hotel, the best in Memphis.

Memphis hotel fountain
The Peabody lobby fountain. The famous ducks are swimming on the left.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
The outside of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. The original building is on the left, with the expansion on the right.

Memphis art museum sculpture
Sculpture outside the Memphis Brooks Museum of art

Cozy Corner
The unlikely location of Cozy Corner, one of the best barbecue spots in Memphis. The golden pyramid in the distance was built as a convention center, and is now empty.