Page 4C
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Memphis: One city, two days, four attractions
By BETH J. HARPAZ
AP Travel Editor
MEMPHIS, Tennessee —
My ultimate destination was
Mississippi to explore blues
history. But to get there, I
flew in and out of Memphis,
Tennessee, an hour’s drive
from the Delta. With one day
in Memphis on either end
of my itinerary, I decided to
visit four attractions there
that would add to the music
and civil rights themes of the
Mississippi trip.
Those four Memphis
stops, plus an evening
listening to music on Beale
Street, were perfect bookends
for my Mississippi sojourn.
But these attractions also
make an easy and interesting
two-day itinerary whether
you use Memphis as a
gateway for other parts of
the South, or as a destination
unto itself.
Stax Museum of
American Soul Music
One of the first things
you see at the Stax Museum
of American Soul Music
is an exhibit portraying a
Mississippi country church.
That’s because soul, like so
many genres of pop music,
has roots in the Delta.
The Stax recording studio
was founded by a white
sister and brother, Estelle
Axton and Jim Stewart. But
in an unusual arrangement
for the era, Stax was also
a place where whites and
blacks worked together. And
Stax’s roster of black stars,
including Otis Redding, Isaac
Hayes and the Staple Singers,
proved enormously popular
with both black and white
audiences, first in Europe and
ultimately at home.
Stax eventually went
bankrupt but the museum
was built on the original
site and does a terrific job
showcasing everything from
costumes to cars to walls of
hit records. Videos of TV and
concert performances will
have you dancing your way
through the exhibits.
Sun Studio
Sun Studio calls itself
the “birthplace” of rock ‘n’
roll, and as every music fan
knows, there’s a straight
line from the blues to rock.
Among the Mississippi
AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
This March 13 photo shows a view of the former
Lorraine Motel balcony where Martin Luther King Jr.
was shot in 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. The former motel is
now part of the National Civil Rights Museum.
AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
This March 13 photo shows visitors getting ready to tour Graceland in Memphis,
Tenn. Elvis Presley bought the mansion — which is small by 21st century standards
— in 1957 and lived there until his death 20 years later.
natives who recorded at Sun
Records were B.B. King,
Howlin’ Wolf and Ike Turner.
Turner played keyboards on
what some regard as the first
rock single, the Delta Cats’
“Rocket 88,” released by Sun
in 1951.
But it was an 18-year-old
who wandered into the
studio in 1953 named Elvis
Presley who took Sun’s
fortunes big-time. Presley
recorded two dozen songs
with Sun before switching to
a national label to manage his
rocketing career. An iconic
photo displayed at the studio,
dubbed the “Million Dollar
Quartet,” shows Presley back
at Sun in 1956, sitting at a
piano with Jerry Lee Lewis,
Carl Perkins and Johnny
Cash.
Lively guided tours of
Sun Studio walk visitors
through its hit parade with
music clips and engaging
anecdotes — including the
tale of Sun founder Sam Phil-
lips’ improvised repair of a
busted amp. He shoved a wad
of paper inside and the fuzzy
distortion became part of
the label’s trademark sound.
You’ll stand in the footsteps
not only of the label’s early
stars but also more recent
visitors like rock giants U2.
National Civil Rights
Museum
The story of the blues
AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
AP Photo/Greg Campbell, File
This June 2004 file photo shows the cafe counter at
Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn., with a photo of the
“Million Dollar Quartet” on the wall. The famous 1956
image shows Elvis Presley, who got his start at Sun
Studio, seated with Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and
Johnny Cash standing. Lively guided tours of Sun Stu-
dio walk visitors through its hit parade with music
clips, lively exhibits and engaging anecdotes.
can’t be told without looking
at black history, from
musical traditions brought
here by enslaved Africans,
to the music shared by black
laborers eking out a living on
Delta cotton plantations in
the early 20th century.
One place to put that
history in context is the
National
Civil
Rights
Museum, located in the
former Lorraine Motel
where the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr. was
assassinated. The museum
has extensive exhibits on
slavery, segregation and
the protests that powered
the civil rights movement.
Allow several hours to take
in the engrossing displays,
which include video footage
of marches, riots and news
reports from the era, along
with engaging interactive
exhibits that offer inter-
views with ordinary people
reflecting on their personal
experiences.
King was in Memphis
to support striking garbage
workers when he was shot
while standing on a hotel
This March 8 photo shows the Stax Museum of
American Soul Music in Memphis, Tenn. The Stax
recording studio’s roster of stars included Otis Red-
ding, Isaac Hayes and the Staple Singers. It eventually
went bankrupt but the museum showcases everything
from costumes to cars to walls of hit records.
balcony. On your way in,
you see the balcony from
outside, but at the tour’s end,
you’ll see the spot where he
was murdered from inside
the hotel. It’s a stunning,
heart-stopping vantage point
that brings you face to face
with that watershed moment.
April 4, 2018, will mark 50
years since that day.
Graceland
No trip to Memphis is
complete without visiting
Graceland, the mansion
Elvis Presley bought in 1957
and lived in until his death
20 years later. The house
— which feels remarkably
small by 21st century stan-
dards — is a time capsule,
complete with green shag
rugs and carved animals in
the famous Jungle Room.
Guests are shuttled through
by the hundreds in a remark-
ably efficient fashion, with
each visitor issued an iPad
and headphones so you can
get information about what
you’re seeing at your own
pace. The King is buried in
the onsite Meditation Garden,
along with his parents and
grandmother. There’s also a
memorial gravestone for his
stillborn twin brother.
But visiting the house
is only half the fun. A $45
million complex opened at
Graceland in March, adding
displays that look at his career
from his start at Sun Records,
to his work in Hollywood, to
his Vegas jumpsuit era. One
area showcases his cars,
another looks at his influence
on other entertainers.
Plant it and they will come
BIRDS: ‘Letting part of your
yard be messy is good for birds’ B
Continued from 1C
partially because birds recognize
them.
“Nature is made up of special-
ized relationships such as the
one between monarch butterflies
and milkweed plants,” Tallamy
said. “Non-native plants haven’t
been here long enough to develop
specialized relationships.”
Some places, such as Portland,
may appear to be paradises for
birds, but aren’t because of the
preponderance of non-native
species. Tallamy said a survey of
street trees in Portland revealed
that 92 percent of the trees lining
the city’s streets are non-native.
“Portland likes to think of itself
as a green city, but it created a
canopy that won’t support birds,”
Tallamy said.
Native forbs, shrubs and trees
provide a smorgasbord of insects,
a power food for young birds,
while non-native species gener-
ally don’t. Tallamy cited a study
that looked for insects on various
native and non-native vegetation.
Oaks in his area hosted 557
species of insects, for example,
while non-native ornamental
species of zelkova, ginkgo and
myrtle provided almost none.
Birds, Tallamy said, need lots of
insects.
“Six thousand to 9,000 cater-
pillars is needed for one clutch of
chickadees,” he said.
Squeamish about insects?
According to Tallamy, “You’re not
going to notice them.”
Of course, insecticides don’t
help, along with our country’s
obsession with big, green lawns.
“Giant lawns provide nothing
for birds with a small caveat for
robins,” he said.
Susan Barnes, a conservation
biologist for the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish & Wildlife, echoed
Tallamy.
“Everything starts with the
plants and the insects,” Barnes
said. “Even birds who feed on
fruits and seeds feed insects to
their young. Insects provide a
concentrated source of energy.”
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A snag propped up by a fence post gives extra roosting possibili-
ties on the property of Jack Simons outside of Pendleton.
Barnes and Tallamy recom-
mended additional measures to
attract birds. Piles of brush and
rocks provide cover. Leaf litter
and other organic material left in
the yard will help build the soil
and host a diversity of inverte-
brates and bugs that become food
for birds.
“Letting part of your yard be
messy is good for birds,” Barnes
said.
Other suggestions included
providing clean water, putting out
nesting boxes, hanging a variety
of feeders during times of scarcity
and keeping cats indoors.
No yard is too small to attract
birds, Tallamy said.
“It’s important for people to
know their little piece of the world
is an important part of the conser-
vation effort,” he said. “What they
do at home does matter.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@
eastoregonian.com
or
call
541-966-0810.
efore moving to Northeast
spotted and other lists just for
Oregon, my husband
birds that visit our yard.
Bill and I awoke many
Bill determinedly set about
mornings to the sounds of avian
attracting birds to our yard.
life at full volume outside our
Except for the lawn, he would
bedroom window.
grow only native plants in
Cooing sandhill cranes soared
the backyard. He visited local
over our house. Killdeer issued
nurseries for a variety of native
high, plaintive warnings.
forbs, shrubs and trees
Snipes winnowed.
which he planted. The
Nighthawks gave a nasal
plants grew quickly and
“peent” sound as they
now provide a variety of
perched in a nearby black
seeds, berries and nectar.
locust tree. Ducks, geese,
Most require little water.
chickadees, western
In months, vegetation
meadowlarks and a
encircled our yard in
multitude of other birds
a thick ribbon that
woke us better than any
included serviceberries,
Kathy
alarm clock.
currants, ninebark,
Aney
At the time, we lived
ocean spray, mock
Comment
in Paisley, a tiny town
orange, honeysuckle,
in southeast Oregon.
chokecherry, cascara,
Our home sat close to
coneflower, sunflowers,
a variety of ecosystems: high
snowberry, hawthorn and paper
desert, the Chewaucan River,
birch. A robust dogwood produces
forest and marshlands. Driving
berries and cover, as well as
the highway that cut through
attractive mid-winter color.
town, one had to keep the speed
Oregon grape provides berries.
down in order to avoid hitting
While not native, a bird-planted
birds.
mulberry now provides shade,
One day I drove home from
cover and fruit.
the nearest town (Lakeview) a
The sounds emanating from
little too fast. A startled raptor
our backyard are confirmation
that if you plant it, they will come.
rose from the road carrying a
Many species of birds now
dead rabbit. The bird couldn’t
drop into our yard regularly. I
get enough lift so he released
recently flipped Bill’s bird log
his payload. The carcass hit
open to a page titled “Yard List
my windshield with a whap —
sounding like a ham hitting glass Pendleton.” Written there are
the names of 28 bird species
at 70 miles-per-hour — and slid
he has spotted over time in our
messily down the window.
little yard. The list includes
It was Wild Kingdom every
the California quail, American
day.
goldfinch, western meadowlark,
Then we moved.
northern flicker, sharp-shinned
Our new house in Pendleton
hawk, western tanager, spotted
sat on bare dirt in a brand new
towhee and on and on. On another
neighborhood. Landscaping was
yet to come in our yard and many page are birds who didn’t land,
but flew over: osprey, northern
of those around us.
harrier, Canada goose, Cooper’s
One of the first things we did
hawk, white pelican and a great
that late spring was hang bird
blue heron.
feeders. We waited and waited.
Mornings (and every other
Cue the recording of the lone
time of day) are once again a time
cricket — without the cricket.
of bird chatter. It’s a happy sound.
Our yard remained distressingly
My bird-loving husband is once
quiet.
again content — and so am I.
Bill, a wildlife biologist who
■
just recently retired from the
Kathy Aney writes about
Forest Service, loves birds. He
human interest and health for the
did his master’s thesis on bird
East Oregonian. You can reach
communities of old-growth pine
her at kaney@eastoregonian.com
forests. As a birdwatcher, Bill
or call 541-966-0810.
keeps a life list of birds he has