M emphis Revisited
Sidewalk Tour, Skate Travel Journals
February 2010
to Surface Motion Skate Tour
Sidewalk Tour Feb-Mar 2010
Southwest & Plains
February 2010
Feb 17
Trying to Leave: Santa Crz CA
Feb 18
Poor Sdwks, Nc Views: Phnx AZ
Feb 19 3:30 AM
Hullucntry Entry: Amrllo TX
Feb 19 10 AM
Alongside Textures: AZ, NM
Feb 20 10 AM
Sidwalk Pics on 66: Tulsa OK
Feb 20 1 PM
Red Barrel Downtn: Tulsa OK
Feb 21
Rainy Sidewalk Day: Tulsa OK
South
February 22-25 2010
Feb 22
Skipping to Memphis: Memphs TN
Feb 23 1 AM
Waiting for Morning: Memphs TN
Feb 23 2 PM
Vance St Revisited: Memphs TN
Feb 24 2 PM
Finding the Funeral Hm: Memphs TN
Feb 24 6 PM
Encounters on Beale: Memphs TN
Feb 25 8 AM
Leaving Memphis: Memphs TN
Feb 25 12:30 PM
Familiar Aves in Nashville: Nshvill TN
Feb 26 10 AM
Germantn, Farmers Mkt: Nshvill TN
Feb 26 6 PM
Decoding at Rippy's: Nshvill TN
Feb 27 10:30 AM
Last Sidewalk Mileage: Nshvill TN
Feb 27 3 PM
Through Otherville: Xville TN
Feb 28
Looking like the east: Roanoke VA
NY to Detroit
March 12-16 2010
Mar 12
Leaving NY: New York NY
Mar 13 6:30 AM
Akron Revisited: Akron OH
Mar 13 9:30 AM
Odd Shapes nr Toledo: Sandusky OH
Mar 14
Sets and Other Hats: Detroit MI
Mar 15
Woodward Ave tour: Detroit MI
Detroit to West
March 17-20 2010
Mar 17
Leaving Detroit: Detrt MI
Mar 18 6 AM
Skate Revisit St. Louis: St L MO
Mar 18 1 PM
Brief Revisit Kansas City: KC MO
Mar 18 4 PM
Kansas Still: Salina KS
Mar 19 12 AM
Unreachable Salt Lake: Denver CO
Mar 19 8 AM
Force Majeure: Denver CO
Mar 19 2 PM
Red Dirt Under White: Pueblo CO
Mar 20 8 AM
Calif Via South Rte: Indio CA
Mar 20 9:30 AM
Homeward Hassle: San Bernadino CA
Mar 20 3:30 PM
New Color Scheme: Coalinga CA
Sidewalk Tour 2009
Tour Inventory 2009
Backpacks
Clothes
Gear
Boards
Phone/PDA
Mobile blogging
Northwest: June 2009
South: Mar-Apr 2009
East: March 2009
Bridge Skate Training
Oct 08-Mar 09
February 22 - 24, 2010: Travel in US South, return to Memphis sidewalks
Oklahoma, Arkansas. Memphis, Tennesse.
Introduction
Memphis was the first stop in the revisitation part of my tour. The plan was to retrace old steps and skate sidewalk and street routes, look more closely at spots I'd been to last year, and look for new discoveries on the same path. I wanted to feel the same sensation I had when getting to know Memphis and certain sidewalks in particular, but also to feel the nostalgia of coming home to a familiar place. I was better equipped to document this revisitation, having a camera capable of recording more detail, and also had the advantage of knowing the routes where good photo subjects were to be found.
Memphis has a lot to offer the touring longboarder, with a scattering of smooth streets and a lot of rough concrete, and even cobbles, such as on Beale Street. Sights bordering the sidewalks are endlessly complex and variable. There are lots of churches of all shapes and sizes. Fences and gates show detailed ironwork, facades of buildings can be oddly colored and creatively designed, and the terrain is varied, with long inclines and occasional steep banks and slopes.
Anywhere outside of the downtown district traffic isn't too bad and there are few pedestrians, giving you the choice of riding on the street or sidewalk almost any time. Downtown isn't the greatest place to skate, since it's crowded and has streetcar rail tracks in the street. There a plenty of sights to see while you're walking and carrying your board around. A few blocks west of downtown is the Mississippi River, and there are miles of esplanade to skate upriver and down and check out the parks and river banks.
Monday, February 22, 2010 - Skipping Ahead to Memphis
Flying Catfish Restaurant. Memphis, Tennesse.
I was hoping to take a side trip to Mississippi, the delta region, where important styles of blues music had originated. The towns of Greenville and Clarksdale interested me. They were just a ways down the river from Memphis, and if I was ever going to get a chance to visit the Delta, this was it. Trouble was, I was runnning out of time. I knew I needed to be in New York before the 1st of March. I thought I could at least stop over for an afternoon in Little Rock, Arkansas.
2.22 Plan was to leave late from Tulsa and stop over in Little Rock in the afternoon. Turned out the late bus was not scheduled, the internet misled me. The actual clerk said the bus leaves at 12:50. So rather than lingering in Tulsa I left for Memphis immediately. It was just as well, Little Rock was barren around the bus station, so getting there in daylight might not have helped.
2:30 PM. In Fort Smith, which looked like a place worth spending more time in, I had only a ten minute stop to work with. I was able to get off quick shots of a really nice old rusty car wash sign and fire off a shot of a shoe store boot sign from the bus.
Boot above store, Fort Smith AR.
Very worn car wash sign, Fort Smith AR.
Cinderblock club and sign, Fort Smith AR.
Up till now I'd only seen red dirt scattered on the surface, but in Clarksville I saw an entire exposed bank of brick red dirt.
Red bank and blue truck, Clarksville AR.
On the two hour layover in Little Rock, I skated around looking for something to do. I'd seen a hill by the Verizon stadium and found it a few blocks from the station. It was real dark but nice and smooth, a walkway up to the stadium gate. I skated it once with backpack on, then put the bag by the hill and carved it with a little more style. One more run by a different route and i was done. It was so dark I couldnt photograph it by night settings. I got a few by flash and that was enough to document the run.
Pylons on stadium hill, Little Rock AR.
Back and board by lower part of hill.
I skated around a bit more looking for a restaurant or fast food place but there was nothing. I spent a little time trying to photograph a cool neon sign in front of some kind of elk's lodge called the BPOE.
Elk sign on brick building, Little Rock AR.
Finally after that workout I rolled back to the greyhound station. A guy saw me skating or carrying my board and yelled at me in the manner of drug dealers and opportunists across the land. Saying "can I talk to you? I walked by into the station. He showed up later and asked who I was and I told him Tony Hawk. It threw him off a bit and we talked and I told him about using a board as if it were a bike. He could have just been curious about the board but I kept waiting for the inevitable sales pitch or handout request, but it never came. Either my avoidance worked perfectly or he was really on the level.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - Waiting for morning, Memphis
1 AM. Memphis. Hanging out in the bus station because it seems too late to go to the motel I stayed at last year. This is a pretty good bus station to hang out in all night. It's open all night for one thing, and many of the stations in smaller cities arent. It's pretty active, has TV, snack bar open pretty late, vending machines, and fairly clean.
Some oddballs on the bus. There are often people from the prison system on the bus, because they are barred from driving. They always have stories to tell, tales of woe, druggy, boozy, and footloose narratives. A guy wearing camoflage pants introduced himself as Dustin from someplace in Arkansas, some name that conjured a bayou or dangling moss forest.
Meetings like this on the bus are a powerful lesson in US regional accents and dialect. Dustin's drawl was deep south and the "saw" in Arkansaw lasted several moments. A girl sat behind me with a child next to her and when Dustin asked what her daughter's name was she said, Keisha. With a straightforward lack of intonation he replied "I have a wife name Keisha." It was so smooth I thought maybe he was kidding, but then I gathered he was referring to the woman next to him and kind of paying homage to her in telling the other passenger this. A kind of display of verbal skills and yet delivered by someone who clearly uneducated. Just completely different than anything I'd heard in the west or east. I listened in on the conversation between Dustin and his wife. Keisha the elder talked about how she had been bailed out of jail by a kind man who overpaid her to clean her house. Dustin told me that he and his wife used to do porn, unless his accent made me misunderstand. But I dont think so, I'm getting accustomed to the use of understatement here.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - Vance Street revisited
To understand what I'm revisiting, check out 2009 Sidewalk Tour journal on my first visit to Vance St and my impressions. This long slow incline downtown was a great skateboard ride. Its sidewalk with its rough pebbled concrete, cracks, curves, odd buildings, interesting walls, lawns, and fences, and relative lack of traffic was a street I wanted to return to.
2 PM Pauline and Vance Street, Memphis. I hoped to revisit some of the sidewalks and places I skated last year. From Pauline, where the motel is located, I rode over to Vance, then turned right and skated down Vance. I was anticipating familiar sights and textures underfoot and alongside.
After a few quick blocks I slowed down and found the low white wall I'd photoed. It might have been a different block, but the section of street was the same. There was a church facing the wall, so the spiritual element was there again as I rode along the wall. You run your hand along the top of the wall as you pass and think of waves past and future and the current blessings of being a skateboarder.
A phone pole on the corner was surely different from last year. It was laden with teddy bears. This added to the somber atmosphere. Most likely it was a memorial for a traffic accident on that corner. It was a joyful reunion with a block that meant something to me, but the event was touched with sadness.
Cracked wall, Vance St, Memphis TN.
Low wall by church and memorial, Vance St, Memphis TN.
Off a side street from Vance I found another revisit spot, a factory with iron fence and convex driveway that resembled a mini bank. It was different shades of pink or rose. Both the street and the bank driveway had some rough texture, with the street having depressions from winter water action and some scrapes in it from truck wheels or metal tractor wheels. Interesting feelings underfoot. A nice incline added to the skate touring of this industrial building.
Skate tourable factory on hill.
Detected some hostility for the first time. Skating down Vance a wiry young guy started yelling at me, I thought he was saying "sinner, sinner" but it sounded like "seena, seena," so maybe it was something else. I don't think his harassment of me was racially based, I think it was some religious outrage. There are several churches on Vance, and maybe his was the sort where you have to be very indiscriminate about your preaching, just yelling it out at skateboarders who roll by. I blew past him and rode around looking for the funeral home and hearses that made a few cool shots last year. No luck finding them although I did run across the purple building from last year's shots, on a funky corner near a grocery store.
I revisited cobblestoned Beale St and encountered some interesting characters. A barker lingered in front of the Meals on Beale. When a horse and buggy passed by, my camera caught the barker, the carriage driver, and the horse. The horse was the only one who seemed to notice me.
Horse, driver, and barker align on Beale St, Memphis TN.
I came upon another barker lower down on Beale, this one with a different style. Instead of standing in front of the place and inviting people in, this fellow played trumpet and used his songs to draw a crowd into the place.
Rib joint, Beale St, Memphis TN.
This piper beckons you on to red carpet and ribs.
On upper Beale St, past the train tracks and toward the college up there, I came upon another classic stretch of Memphis sidewalk. Roughly textured, almost unskateable, gravel strewn, cracks, and a variety of reddish shades. Beale changes textures three or four times in about a mile. The cobbles of the music area, a smooth section, then this rough variable area by the tracks. The section ends at the school, which has a smooth walkway section.
Varied sidewalk and road texture on upper Beale.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - Finding the funeral home
2.24 2 PM Vance St revisit two. Worked on writing until mid afternoon. While walking over for some coffee and snacks I saw on a little bluff behind a fence a couple of nice helicopters. I didn't have my camera but I had my cel cam so I snapped a couple of shots. I could neither get very close or zoom in pretty far. But it was nice to get a record of the find, especially since the red helicopter bodies match the ever present red dirt.
Helicopter pad and red mound, Pauline St, Memphis TN.
There wasnt much time so I looked around on Vance again. I was photographing a big stately, creepy building. It sat up on a small hill which added to the imposing presence.
Imposing building on a small rise, Vance St, Memphis TN.
I walked up the steep driveway and realized I'd finally found the funeral home. There were no hearses in the parking lot but I went up to the rusty carport and there I found one or two. One was stowed under the carport and I did all I could do to photo it through the fence and gates.
Seemingly empty parking lot, Vance St, Memphis TN.
Hearses behind funeral home, Vance St, Memphis TN.
I saw the rough bank that I couldnt skate last year and although it was a cool looking and deserted spot, there still was nothing I could do on it.
Not much to skate on this funeral lot.
Another low wall along Vance caught my eye. It was part of the low white painted sequence of walls lining the sidewalk, but instead of being the type you want to run your hand along as you're skating, this one was weatherbeaten and asked to keep hands off. The textures and decorations at this corner were impressive. I liked the purple wall, similar to the purple buildings I'd seen, and the wrought iron fence cast an intricate shadow. My own shadow added a touch of human presence to the shot.
Intricately crafted fence near weatherbeaten white wall.
I meant to go revisit the big bank I skated at night under lights but remembered that wasnt on Vance but on crowded Linden, so I went on to another narrow street running west toward downtown and skated it happily for several blocks.
After a brief writing and photo retouch session at Starbucks across from the Rock and Soul museum I went over to Union to the bus station to plan ahead to go to the Mississippi delta. It's always a good idea to set up trips the day before but there was no information. It looked like a guy was working behind the desk, his jacket was draped on the chair back anyway, but he was gone and stayed gone.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - Evening encounters on Beale Street
6 PM Beale St. I hung out in the Rum Boogie Cafe at dusk and watched a couple of sets by the Kirk Smithhart duo, Kirk and Chris the drummer. Kirk told me playing in Nashville is like playing in a casino. You do a shift then go acros the street and do another. His sound was more Nashville than Memphis, jazz and other sounds. David Bramhall. Bonnie Raitt.
Numerous guitars and other musical memorabilia hung from the ceiling and covered the walls. I white balanced on a napkin and braced the camera on the bar for a really long exposure and got a couple of good shots of the accouterments. It looked like a museum back there and of particular interest was the Stax wall.
Stax wall among memorabilia collection at Rum Boogie, Memphis TN.
Another agressive panhandler aproached me going up east Beale. Said "you know when I saw that I thought it was--" The board was sticking out under my arm and maybe he was joking that it looked like a huge, uh, phallus. "A gun?" I said. He laughed. I sensed that he wouldn't leave it at that, a joke between passing strangers. No, he had to get aggressive, as aggressive panhandlers by nature always do. His routine demanded that he had to come and try to shake my hand, try to set up his next move, a beg, a robbery, a pitch, or a shakedown. Saying "dont be scared" I laughed, "I'm not scared." After hundreds of similar incidents in New York, around the US, and in Europe, how could I be anything but amused, bushed, or bored. But I was uncomfortable.
Skateboard is always a great companion when I'm traveling. If it doesn't just intimidate people who might otherwise accost me, it provides an easy and discrete means of escape. Without much emotion I said "I gotta go," dropped the board, and with one push I was half a football field away.
Thursday, February 25, 2010 - Leaving, picking up the pace
2.25 8 AM I decided to get up early and push off for Nashville. I have to pick up the pace and get to New York to do my work there. I got the pictures I wanted in Memphis and heard some good music. There's more in Nashville. I regret not going on side trip to the Delta but the bus schedule didnt come up at all to Clarksdale and Grenville no internet info. Maybe another smaller bus line goes. It just seems like too much trouble and going to Nashville is easy, schedule in black and white.
