Beale Street is a famous area in Memphis, TN, where all the tourists go. Turns out, I didn’t know it was famous when I went there; I found a BBQ place first, and it happened to be on that street. It’s Sunday night. It was just pouring buckets of rain two hours ago. It can’t be that busy tonight, right? The neon …

As I cross the bridge into Memphis, it’s raining. This makes it really difficult to get the focus on the camera right (it keeps wanting to focus on the raindrops on the windshield). I pulled into the visitor center parking lot to look up a place to stay. The rain was coming down in sheets. And by sheets, I mean the …

this road is my road from western Texas up through Ar-KAN-sas (make it rhyme) through hills and forests we’ll sing this chorus I-30’s made for you and me.

There are tons of churches in Little Rock. Literally, one on every block. They range from the humble: to the ornate: The latter one even has a topiary! The former church was across the street from Little Rock Central High (and next to the turquoise house); the latter church was off the I-40 as I headed toward Memphis.

Another Bianchi-bike-colored thing! And it’s a whole house! This is across the street from Little Rock Central High.

Little Rock Central High School is famous for being the high school that was the first to desegregate, in a showdown between President Eisenhower and Governor Orval Faubus. This place is like a castle. I’ve never seen a high school as massive or ornately decorated as this. They even have a reflecting pool! My high …

A couple of signs I saw, between Hope and Little Rock, AR. Exit here for friendship! There was another sign for this same town, with a traffic construction notice next to it. I wish I’d gotten a good shot of that, which would have read, “Friendship, 1 mile. Expect Delays.” And if Friendship doesn’t do the trick, maybe …

Strange food, apparently. In California, we have Panda Express. Arkansas prefers full service, apparently. Guess it’s the Southern hospitality. And Burger King serves Carolina and Texas BBQ sandwiches. I was actually really looking forward to this—thought I would get some pulled pork from BK. Turns out they just mean a …

About a third of the way between Texarkana and Little Rock, AR, is a little town called Hope. So let’s go visit the birthplace of Bill Clinton! That plaque, by the way, is affixed to…a bathroom. Here’s the house! Did he swing on this swing? Did he eat in this kitchen?

While so far I’ve had pictures of highways surrounded by rock formations studded with bushes, once I’m in Arkansas we get forests straddling the road.