After a 500 mile+ driving day, we still have another 300 miles to go to Memphis. Already having cut north off of I40, I decided to take the side roads across Arkansas instead of driving back down to the main highway. For the majority, it was a single lane in each direction, twisting broadly through the Ozarks. The sides of the roads were mostly shrubs and fields, barns, but very few houses. There were many churches though, many of them "First"s. First Baptist, First Methodist, etc. etc. I'm not sure what happened to the Seconds or Thirds.
We were getting hungry after noon, and decided to stop, randomly in the town of Yellville. We passed by a Subway and local pizza place, which seemed promising, but I waited another half mile down the road, and we passed by Razorback Ribs, a promising local BBQ joint. I got a "tasting size" order, of 4 ribs, along with deep fried pickles, okra, and beans. I'm probably not the pickiest BBQ eater, since these ribs were just as great as the Texas ribs, though maybe not as meaty.
The total drive to Memphis was maybe 6 hours. At the end, we crossed over the Mississippi, into Tennessee and into town. There was a Tenessee welcome center at the first exit, we stopped by briefly, seeing the statue of Elvis, the statue of B.B. King, and a random guy picking through a trash can.
We tried out Chick-Fil-A, a fast food chicken burger joint, common in the South, and followed a NYT article around the "hipster" scene in Memphis, through two dive bars, somewhat empty (although, it was only 8:30 or so), and finally to the more upscale Mollie Fontaine, which had a great vibe, with two bars on two floors in an old Victorian home, and a baby grand piano in the living room.
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