After leaving Mammoth Cave our next National Park was a ‘mammoth’ 498 miles away, so we decided to break it up and make a 36 hour pit stop in Memphis.
Walking in Memphis
Although we listen to a lot of music one thing we have in common is our inability to know/sing the correct lyrics. As we approached Memphis we had ‘Walking in Memphis’ on repeat, and used the journey to actually look up what exactly he was walking 10 feet off of!
Once we arrived, we then used the lyrics of the song to help guide us in the city. After a great meal (so much better having more food options in a big city), we made our way to Beale St, the epicenter of the live Blue’s music the city is known for, and it didn’t disappoint! Even on a Tuesday evening in the middle of November the city was alive with bright lights and live music at every turn!
We finished our time with a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum, housed in the former Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in 1968. A very reflective and information heavy place, focused on sharing the culture and lessons from the American civil rights movement. We would highly recommend to anyone visiting!
Hot Springs National Park
This small Arkansas town is based around a hot spring that pumps a whopping 2.7 million liters of water to the surface everyday. The National Park centers on the historic Edwardian Grand Promenade and Bathhouse row. Out of the original 8 bathhouses, 2 remain open to the public. The rest have been converted into a visitor center, museum, a brewery (the only one in a national park) and a gift shop.
Similar to Gateway Arch, we both struggle to see why Hot Springs was given it’s National Park designation. Outside the Bathhouse row, there are a couple of short scenic drives but we’ve definitely stayed in more scenic and rewarding state parks on this trip. Criticism aside, the campsite was in a fantastic location with access to great trails which we did the following morning as we lucked out on weather and were back in shorts mid November!
Austin
Next we headed due south and made our way into Texas - the Lone Star state. First up, was a stop over in Austin to visit our good friends that moved from Portland 3 years ago. They graciously agreed to show us around the city, take us to some of their favorite restaurants and have us to stay. It was great to catch up with the whole family and spend 3 nights in the same bed - not to mention the continuous hot showers… it’s the small things!
Starship Launch - South Padre
For those of you that are unaware Ben’s a semi secret space nerd. Ever since he saw space shuttle launch in the late 90’s he’s had a keen interest on everything space. Fast forward 25 years, he’s been back to the Kennedy space center as an adult, seen a SpaceX Falcon9 launch and keeps up to date with space news via a weekly youtube video. So when he found out the 6th starship launch was happening within a couple of days of us being in Austin, he persuaded Mel (who has no interest in space) that we needed to make the 9ish hour detour, south almost to the Mexican border. It must be love…!
We saw the biggest (123m/398ft tall) and most powerful rocket ever on the launch pad, up close and personal before the 5mile exclusion zone came into effect the morning of the launch. Ben geeked out on all the different prototypes in the rocket garden!
We watched the launch from the campground where we had spent the previous extremely sweaty night, with 89% humidity and lows of 82F/28C. Add in the coastal birds that think 4am is a good time to start making noise and 19 mosquito bites in a 24 hour period, it probably made for our worst night in the camper to date!
The launch was epic though. Just 20-30seconds after you saw the rocket take off, the sonic bomb reached us where we were standing. It was an incredible experience to see the launch, but Ben and most of the crowd were disappointed the booster (the bottom part of the rocket) that we had hoped to see get caught by these giant chopstick arms for only the 2nd time in history got aborted, and instead landed just off the coast. It’s a good excuse for Ben to go back for another launch one day…
Being so close to the Mexican boarder, we’ve seen a lot of border patrol personnel and checkpoints. Ben didn’t think stopping was compulsory… one very angry border patrol agent chasing the car who then seemed a little taken aback we weren’t US citizens but after some happy chappy chit chat and some showing of our green cards, we were back on the road.
What’s Next?
Having got off the beaten path a little, time to get back to some National Parks. We’ve off to explore Texas’ two National Parks - Big Bend and the Guadalupe Mountains.
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