Well, Howdy again From Memphis!
I had a fairly good day sightseeing here but one terrible moment in the middle of the day due to tourism information having given me an old inaccurate bus schedule. It began fairly early when I had a nice 2 mile walk out to the Pink Palace Museum, an odd Science and History Museum housed partially in a never completed mansion. I mainly went there because I realized it was free with my Transit Museum Membership. I left at 12:15 when I thought a bus at 12:30 would be passing by the museum. I got to the bus stop and put in the stop number in my iPhone to track service. It said none was avalible. I glanced at the system map on my phone and it claimed service there along with Google Maps, listing a route that only runs Monday through Friday and not on a Saturday Schedule (in effect today due to Memorial Day.) The map on MATA’s website also has not been updated to reflect all the route changes. I waited longer than I should have before walking north about a mile to another street where a bus line that was operating took me into downtown. I got to the northside of downtown at about two o’clock and enjoyed a nice scenic ride on the MATA Trolley’s Riverfront line to my second attraction (which I had to pay for) the Civil Rights Museum. This was definitely worth it. I first saw an interesting film of interviews about why MLK came to Memphis and how he knew his life was in danger. Then I wondered the exhibit which show the history of the Civil Rights movement and cumulate in a view (a wall has been removed) of room 306 where MLK spent his final hours. It was an interesting powerful museum although I somehow managed to miss the exhibits across the street. I spent the evening wondering around downtown Memphis photographing some of the trolleys and having dinner. Partially because some of the waterfront line stations seem almost closed and also because they all look the same, I did not focus on getting an every station to station. I ended with a ride to the end of the Madison Avenue Line and immediately wished I had done a station to station of at least that branch, the newest of the three lines. Each station has its own unique artwork. All in all I found the MATA heritage trolley seemed like an integrated part of the transit system with frequent service and not just a short line for tourists (like those in Kenosha or Tucson) with infrequent non-daily service.
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