Sunday Caching in Memphis and a Visit to Beale St. & HAPPY EASTER 4/12/2009

Well let us take this time to wish all our family and friends a belated HAPPY EASTER seeing as this blog is written a few days after the actual day. Sunday morning we drove into Memphis for a day of caching in the downtown area. Our first cache was in Tom Lee Park along the banks of the Mississippi River. Tom Lee Park is a city park located to the immediate west of downtown Memphis, Tennessee, overlooking the Mississippi River. Encompassing about 30 acres parallel to the Mississippi River for about one mile, it offers panoramic views of the Mississippi River and the shores of Arkansas on the opposite side. Luxury homes and condominiums line the top of the bluff overlooking the park and the river. The park is named after Tom Lee, an African-American river worker, who saved the lives of 32 passengers of the sinking steamboat M.E. Norman in 1925. Late during the afternoon of May 8, 1925, Lee steered his 28 ft skiff Zev upriver after delivering an official to Helena, Arkansas. Also on the river was a steamboat, the M.E. Norman, carrying members of the Engineers Club of Memphis, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and their families. Tom Lee witnessed the M.E. Norman capsize in the swift current 15 mi (24 km) downriver from Memphis at Cow Island Bend. Although he could not swim, he rescued 32 people with five trips to shore. Lee acted quickly, calmly and with no regard for his own safety, continuing to search after night fell. Because of his efforts, only 23 people died. To honor the hero, the Memphis Engineers Club raised enough money to purchase a house for Lee and his wife. Tom Lee died of cancer on April 1, 1952 at John Gaston Hospital. Two years after his death, the park along the Memphis Riverfront was named in his honor and a granite obelisk was erected. In October 2006, a bronze sculpture was erected in the park to commemorate the event and to honor the civil hero. The sculpture statue depicting the rescue of a survivor saved from drowning in the Mississippi River. Among the events held in Tom Lee Park are the annual Memphis in May celebration is the primary event in the park, the Beale Street Music Festival is a three-day event during the Memphis in May celebration, hosting over 60 musical acts annually on three stages, ranging from blues, to hip-hop, to metal, the Sunset Symphony concert, the largest annual performance event of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, is a highlight in the park during Memorial Day weekend, near the end of the Memphis in May celebration and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, during the weekend after the Beale Street Music Festival festival, is the world's largest pork barbecue cooking competition, attracting hundreds of competitors to Tom Lee Park from around the world. The sculpture of Tom and his boat rescuing people is really lovely and make sure you look at the pictures.
Next 2 caches were on the famous Beale St. The first cache was at W.C. Handy Park a small amphitheater on Beale St. which we found quickly. William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an African American blues composer and musician, often known as "the Father of the Blues." W. C. Handy remains among the most influential of American songwriters. Though he was one of many musicians who played the style of music that is distinctively American, he is credited with its invention not only because he was formally educated and able to notate his music for publication and hence, posterity, but because of syncopated rhythms, a style unique to his music. While Handy was not the first to publish music in the blues form, he took the blues from an obscure regional music style to one of the dominant forces in American music. Handy was an educated musician who used folk material in his compositions. He was scrupulous in documenting the sources of his works, which frequently combined stylistic influences from several performers. He loved this simple early music and brought his own transforming touch to it. In 1909 he and his band moved to Memphis, Tennessee and established their presence on Beale Street. At that time, American society and culture was distinctively segregated and Handy's observations of Whites responses to native Black music in conjunction with his own observations of his habits, attitudes and music of his ethnicity served as the foundation for what was later to become the style of music popularized as "the Blues." The genesis of his "Memphis Blues" was as a campaign tune originally entitled as "Mr. Crump" which he had written for Edward Crump, a successful Memphis, Tennessee mayoral candidate in 1909 (and future "boss"). He later rewrote the tune and changed the name to "Memphis Blues." The 1912 publication of his "Memphis Blues" sheet music introduced his style of 12-bar blues to many households, and was credited as the inspiration for the invention of the foxtrot dance step by Vernon and Irene Castle, a New York-based dance team. Some consider it to be the first blues song. He sold the rights to the song for $100, and by 1914, at age 40, his musical style was asserted, his popularity increased significantly, and he composed prolifically. Later in his life he lived on Strivers' Row in Harlem. An accidental fall from a subway platform in 1943 resulted in his blindness. Following the death of his first wife, he remarried in 1954 at age 80 to his secretary Irma Louise Logan, who he frequently said had become his eyes. In 1955 he suffered a stroke and became confined to a wheelchair. Over 800 people attended his 84th birthday party at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. On March 28, 1958, W. C. Handy succumbed to acute bronchial pneumonia and died. Over 25,000 people attended his funeral in Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church. Over 150,000 people gathered in the streets near the church to pay their respects to one of the world’s greatest musicians and songwriters. He is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York. W. C. Handy Performing Arts Park ("Handy Park") is a gem on historic, exciting Beale Street in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. This excellent mixed-use facility can host an array of events ranging from elegant presentations and banquets with table seating to festivals and concerts. Just steps from the Fed Ex Forum, Handy Park is the perfect place to gather before or after a Forum event.
We found that cache then went on our way to the next cache which was a web cam cache at the Orpheum Theater. The Orpheum in Memphis, Tennessee, built in 1928, is one of the few remaining "movie palaces" of the 1920s. The theatre presents a variety of events from Broadway shows and concerts to films. A $4.7 million dollar renovation in the 1980s included refurbishing of ornamental plasterwork, crystal chandeliers and original furnishings plus remodeling of backstage and technical areas. It seats 2,500. The Orpheum Theatre has survived several financial bankruptcies, a devastating fire, the decay of downtown Memphis and the threat of demolition for the construction of an office complex. However, the Orpheum, called the "South's Finest Theatre" rose above all this and now is a premiere performing arts center for the Mid-South. In 1890 The Grand Opera House was built on the corner of Main and Beale Street. The Grand was billed as the classiest theatre outside of New York City. Vaudeville was the main source of entertainment at the time. The Grand became part of the Orpheum Vaudeville circuit in 1907, and was renamed the Orpheum Theatre. Vaudeville at the Orpheum was successful for almost two decades. Then in 1923 a fire broke out during a show that featured a strip-tease artist by the name of Blossom Seeley and burned the theatre to the ground. In 1928, at a cost of $1.6 million, a new Orpheum was built on the original site of The Grand, but it was a different theater. The new Orpheum is twice as large as her predecessor and is beautifully decorated. A few decorations include lavish tasseled brocade draperies, enormous crystal chandeliers, gilded moldings and a large Wurlitzer pipe organ. The Orpheum was purchased by the Malco movie theater chain in 1940 and presented first run movies. Shortly after the Orpheum reopened, people claimed to see the ghost of a young girl, who has been named "Mary". She supposedly died in an automobile accident near the theater in 1921. People claim to have spotted her in seat C-5, and claim to have heard her giggling, playing the organ, opening and closing doors, and engaging in other mischief.There was also reported blood found in the seat. After 54 years, The Orpheum was closed on Christmas in 1982 to begin a $5 million renovation to restore The Theatre to its 1928 opulence. A grand reopening celebration was held in January 1984, and it signaled the rebirth of entertainment in downtown Memphis. The Orpheum, which is managed by the Memphis Development Foundation, presents two seasons of Broadway tours. In fact, on an average annual basis, The Orpheum has presented more Broadway touring productions than any other theater in the country. In addition to bringing the finest Broadway Productions to the area, a wide array of entertainers have graced the Orpheum's stage, including actor Cary Grant, musicians Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Kenny G, Patti LaBelle, figure skater Dorothy Hamill and the Vienna Choir Boys. We got the picture we needed to complete the cache and then were off to explore Beale St.
Beale Street has been playing the blues for more than half a century. Named after an unknown military hero in 1841, it acted as General Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters during the Civil War. But, Beale Street’s heyday was in the 1920's, when the area took on a carnival atmosphere and gambling, drinking, prostitution, murder and voodoo thrived alongside the booming nightclubs, theaters, restaurants, stores, pawnshops and hot music. One club, The Monarch, was known as The Castle of Missing Men due to the fact that its gunshot victims and dead gamblers could be easily disposed of at the undertaker’s place that shared their back alley. In the early evenings, boxback suits and Stetson hats mingled with overalls. Young ladies began to sashay around and inside the bars, gamblers waited for an easy mark from the country to come strolling in, bug-eyed at the ways of the big city. If the mark escaped from the dice or the cards, maybe the rube would fall victim to Little Ora, who was always ready to prove her reputation as the best pickpocket between New Orleans and St. Louis. Or maybe he’d just stop over at PeeWee’s and visit with the musicians, or play a little pool, or secure the voodoo protection of Mary the Wonder. By mid-evening, the street would be packed and a one-block walk could take forever, especially if he had to detour around the medicine show set up in the little hole in the wall, or if he stopped and listened to the wandering bluesman playing for pennies and nickels. There was the sight of Machine Gun Kelly peddling bottled whiskey from a clothes basket back before he moved into the ranks of big-time crime. There were numerous gamblers setting a box next to the card table and sliding a share of the take into it for the church down the street. There were big vaudeville shows at the Palace and the Daisy, hot snoot sandwiches at the corner café jug bands playing down at the park and one block over on Gayoso there was a red-light district to rival New Orleans’ Storyville. Good or bad - Beale Street created some memories. Some of the shops, bars and restaurants on Beale St are as follows: Alfred's On Beale, Mr. Handy’s Blues Hall, Alley Cats, New Daisy Theater, A. Schawb, New York Pizza, B. B. Kings Blues Club, Pat O'Briens, Beale St. Tap Room, People’s Billiard Club, The Black Diamond, The Pig on Beale, Blues City Cafe & Band Box, Psychics of Beale Street, Club 152, Rum Boogie Cafe, Dyer’s Famous Hamburgers, Shake Shack, Double Deuc, Silky O Sullivan’s, Eel Etc. Fashions, Strange Cargo, Hard Rock Cafe, Tater Red’s, King’s Palace Cafe, Wet Willies, and Memphis Music. Make sure you read the historical marker especially Pee Wee's Saloon the significance being that it had the only pay phone in Memphis (back at the turn of the 20th Century) which led to musicians and band leaders conglomerating around there to conduct business and in particular W. C. Handy and Ida B. Wells a civil rights activist (back before there was such a thing) who was editor for the Memphis Free Speech.
Fourth cache was at Theater Memphis which is one of the oldest and most successful community theaters in the country. When we finished this cache we drove across the street to the Cancer Survivors Park. Over ten years ago, several cancer survivors embarked on a mission to bring a Cancer Survivors Park to Memphis. Through a $1 million dollar grant from the R. A. Bloch Cancer Foundation, this mission has been completed. The Memphis Cancer Survivors Park has been carved out of 2 acres of Audubon Park and is located on the west side of the Botanic Garden, across from Theater Memphis. This is the 23rd Cancer Survivors Park that has been funded national. The R. A. Bloch Foundation grants funds for parks that will encourage, inspire and celebrate survivorship. While all the parks are unique to the cities in which they are located, they all share three elements which the Bloch Foundation also donates to the parks:
1. A sculpture created by Mexican Sculptor Victor Salmones that consists of eight life-size figures passing through a maze depicting the cancer journey.
2. A "Positive Mental Attitude Walk" containing fourteen plaques - four of which are inspirational and ten containing suggestions for fighting cancer.
3. A "Road to Recovery" that consists of seven plaques explaining what cancer is and some actions to take to overcome the disease.
The Memphis Cancer Survivors Park was designed by architect Dianne Dixon, artist Kristi Duckworth, and landscape architect Mike Lemm, with assistance from Park Services landscape architect Keith Schnadelbach. In addition to the above elements it will include a labyrinth, garden, a series of butterfly statues, and a mosaic. The park is designed to help visitors find their way through focused walks, prayer, and contemplation. Vangie Rich, from the R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation, describes the labyrinth as "a pattern unlike any other, much like that of every person's individual cancer. It presents the opportunity to clear the mind and refocus on what is important and that is the successful outcome of treatment. It is a reminder that we can follow the path and succeed no matter how puzzling it may look at the beginning". Wildflowers are planted throughout the park to attract butterflies and local artist Yvonne Bobo created a series of butterfly statues which are stationed along the walkways. The butterfly is a symbol for transformation signifying hope. It begins its journey as a caterpillar, turns into a chrysalis, and must struggle before emerging as a beautifully delicate winged creature. Overlooking the labyrinth is a "Tree of Life" mosaic designed by Duckworth. She involved the community in the creation of this piece, getting cancer survivors and families touched by cancer to help paint individual tiles that will fit into the mosaic. It was a lovely walk through the park looking at all the statues, plaques and mosaics.
The fifth cache was a virtual cache at the Crystal Shrine Grotto in Memorial Park Cemetery and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Crystal Shrine Grotto was built by artist Dionicio Rodriguez in the 1930s, and was completed around 1938. You walk through a hole in a large concrete tree stump -- Abraham's Oak -- named for "the founder of the Hebrew Nation." A plaque says that " Rodriquez, a descendant of the artistic Aztec race of Mexico, has reproduced this historic stump entirely of concrete reinforced with steel and copper bar so as to ensure its existence for many centuries to come." You walk through a hole in a large concrete tree stump -- Abraham's Oak -- named for "the founder of the Hebrew Nation." A plaque says that " Rodriquez, a descendant of the artistic Aztec race of Mexico, has reproduced this historic stump entirely of concrete reinforced with steel and copper bar so as to ensure its existence for many centuries to come." The grotto cavern is constructed of rock quartz crystal and semiprecious stones. It illustrates "Christ's Journey on the Earth from Birth to Resurrection." The scenes are a mix of strange abstractions and more scriptural religious dioramas. Rodriguez was a self-taught sculptor from Texas (originally from Mexico City), hired by the Memorial Park's founder during the Depression. He specialized in creating cement sculptures simulating natural wood and stone. The concrete stump trash containers spread around the cemetery are also his work.
Sixth cache, also a virtual cache was at Shelby Farms Park the largest urban park in the United States, located in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee. At a size of 4,500 acres, it covers more than five times the area of Central Park in New York City with 843 acres. Lakes, natural forests, and wetlands provide natural habitats for many smaller species close to an urban metropolitan area. Wildlife can be observed in their natural environment from the many trails in the park. Shelby Farms park is home to a bison herd. The land that forms Shelby Farms park was derived from property that had been privately owned in the 19th century. In 1825, humanist reformer Frances Wright founded the Nashoba Commune on parts of what is modern day Shelby Farms. The purpose of the cummune was to emancipate slaves by providing education in practical and cultural skills. Remains of a settlement from the late 19th century are still present in the modern day park. From 1929 until 1964 Shelby Farms was used as a penal farm associated with the Shelby County jail. Shelby Farms was opened for recreational purposes in the 1970s.
Seventh cache was also a virtual and it took us to Germantown, TN and Fort Gertmantown a small park also on the National Register of historic places. On the evening after the battle of Brandywine, General Howe sent a party to Wilmington, who seized in bed Mr. M'Kinlay, governor, of the state of Delaware, and took a shallop lying in the rivulet loaded with the rich effects of some of the inhabitants, together with the public records of the county, and other valuable and important property. General Wayne, with a detachment of fifteen hundred men, had taken post in the woods on the left of the British army, with the intention of harassing it on its march. On the evening of the 20th of September, General Grey was despatched to surprise him, and successfuHy executed the enterprise; killing or wounding, chiefly with the bayonet, about three hundred men, taking nearly one hundred prisoners, and making himself master of all their baggage. General Grey had only one captain and three privates killed, and four wounded. On the evening of the 18th, Congress left Philadelphia for the second time, and proceeded first to Lancaster, and afterwards to York. On the afternoon of the 22d, and early on the 23d of September, Sir William Howe, contrary to the expectation of the American commander-in-chief; crossed the Schuylkill at Fatland and Gordon's Ford. The main body of his army encamped at Germantown, a long village, seven miles from Philadelphia; and, on the 26th, with a detachment of his troops, he took peaceable possession of the city, where he was cordially received by the Quakers and other royalists. During these movements, both armies were much incommoded by cold and heavy rains. On receiving information of the success of the royal army under his brother at Brandywine, Admiral Lord Howe left the Chesapeake and steered for the Delaware, where he arrived on the 8th of October. As soon as General Howe had gained possession of Philadelphia, he began to clear the course of the river, in order to open a free communication with the fleet. The Americans had laboured assiduously to obstruct the navigation of the Delaware; and, for that purpose, had sunk three rows of chevaux-de-frise, formed of large beams of timber bolted together, with strong projecting iron spikes, across the channel, a little below the place where the Schuylkill falls into the Delaware. The upper and lower rows were commanded by fortifications on the banks and islands of the river, and by floating batteries. While the detachments employed in assisting to clear the course of the river weakened the royal army at Germantown, General Washington, who lay encamped at Skippach Creek, on the north side of the Schuylkill, about seventeen miles from Germantown, meditated an attack upon it. Germantown consisted of one street about two miles long; the line of the British encampment bisected the village almost at right angles, and had its left covered by the Schuylkill. General Washington having been reinforced by fifteen hundred troops from Peekskill, and one thousand Virginian militia, marched from Skippach Creek on the evening of the 3d of October, and at dawn of day next morning attacked the royal army. After a smart conflict he drove in the advanced guard, which was stationed at the head of the village, and, with his army divided into five columns, prosecuted the attack; but Lieutenant-Colonel Musgrave of the 40th regiment, which had been driven in, and who had been able to keep five companies of the regiment together, threw himself into a large stone house in the village, which stood in front of the main column of the Americans, and there almost a half of General Washington's army was detained for a considerable time. Instead of masking the house with a sufficient force, and advancing rapidly with their main body, the Americans attacked the house, which was obstinately defended. This saved the British army; for the critical moment was lost in fruitless attempts on the house; the royal troops had time to get under arms, and be in readiness to resist or attack as circumstances required. General Grey came to the assistance of Colonel Musgrave; the engagement for some time was general and warm; at length the Americans began to give way, and effected a retreat with all their artillery. The morning was very foggy, a circumstance which had prevented the Americans from combining and conducting their operations as they otherwise might have done, but which now favoured their retreat by concealing their movements. In this engagement the British had six hundred men killed or wounded; among the slain were Brigadier-General Agnew and Colonel Bird, officers of distinguished reputation. The Americans lost an equal number in killed and wounded, besides four hundred who were taken prisoners. General Nash, of North Carolina, was among those who were killed. After the battle, General Washington returned to his encampment at Skippach Creek.
Our eight and last cache of the day was also a virtual and was located at a 50' cell phone tower which was disguised to look like a Sequoia tree. Quite something as you can see by the pictures to see this towering over the landscape.
After that cache we headed back to the coach just in time to beat the rain and close all the windows. Mom did our logs and we watched the Masters until dinner time. We ate and called it a day. Well time to say until next time we love you all. Mom & Dad