Iowa Highway Ends (etc.)

Memphis, Tennessee, December 30 — Beale Street was packed with Cyclone fans the day before the Liberty Bowl for the parade. I’ve been through many an hour-and-a-half parade before, but never standing the whole time in wall-to-wall people while wearing a winter coat.

In a departure from usual parade protocol, legendary ISU football coach and grand marshal Johnny Majors was at the end of the parade along with the ISU band and pom squad. The parade organizers knew how to keep people hanging around.

Near the beginning was a set of floats carrying “America’s Homecoming Queens.” I didn’t know about this organization/competition, but it’s connected to the Liberty Bowl/St. Jude’s, awards scholarships, and is limited to real high school homecoming queens. I would later feel very, very sorry for them when I saw them wearing beautiful gowns to a cold, rainy football game (and walking along/out on the field in them!)

ISU pom squad and cheerleaders walk down Beale Street. Notice metalwork on right holding up building facade.

Johnny Majors in the Liberty Bowl parade.

After the parade, there was a pep rally near Beale and Fourth at W.C. Handy Park. Although it’s supposed to be for both teams, here again 95% to 99% of the crowd were ISU fans. We stuck around for the whole thing, but the setup was such that we could NOT see anything or anyone on stage.

While the day was a bit chilly, it was pleasant overall, and all the Cyclone fans were in high spirits. Little did we know what was in store…

This is slightly out of order. The roadgeek part of the day will follow later.

Memphis, Tennessee, December 30 — We knew there would be a LOT of Iowa State fans on Beale Street Sunday, so getting there early was important. Plus, we wanted to take in the famous Memphis barbecue. A restaurant can’t be on Beale without good BBQ, right?

It was a recommendation from someone seen there that led us to Superior Restaurant. At least, that’s what it said outside. Inside, the menu said Flynn’s. As of Jan. 18, the restaurant website is inactive.

The place was packed with ISU fans and there was live music. It was pretty busy. It was so busy, in fact, it took 40 minutes to be seated, and we were told the restaurant had run out of brisket.

It was another 40 minutes before our food arrived. At this point we started to be concerned we wouldn’t be done before the parade.

While eating, we all came to fast agreement: Hickory Park was better. Then Mom dropped a bombshell:

“I’ve had better pulled pork at graduation receptions.”

Maybe the restaurant simply wasn’t prepared for the influx of people. Perhaps it was understaffed. But we waited 80 minutes for universal disappointment.

Shiloh, Tennessee, Dec. 29 — It was the bloodiest day of the Civil War until surpassed by Antietam, and a bunch of farm boys from Iowa were caught right in the middle of it.

The Iowa monument at Shiloh is the largest at the site. It is right by the visitors center.

This battle map shows the individual divisions on the first day. The 2nd, 7th, 12th, 14th, and 8th Iowa were all positioned along the Sunken Road. As some Union forces retreated to build a defensive perimeter, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sent out a message: Hold the line at all costs.

The “Wolf Creek Rangers” of Tama County were in the 14th Iowa, Company G. They were among those captured by the Confederates the evening of the first day. (More images after the jump.) (To read the text, you may have to open the image in a new tab.) Continue reading →