A word of caution: The road trip from St. Louis to Memphis is not a scenic one. I have never seen so much open farmland and so many jesus and anti-abortion billboard ads in my life. I would love to know how one benefits from paying actual money to push their religious beliefs on others, and who exactly do they think is falling for it? I'm still not sure how people can take right wing religion seriously after seeing such a rediculus thing.
Anyways. Driving from Missouri, down through Arkansas, and over to Tennessee we were surrounded by hundred mile long stretches of flat farmland. We would pass an exit about every 5 to 10 miles, at which point one can find a gas station and some sort of run down fast food restaurant. Usually the gas station's convenience store will carry special treasures like pork rinds, cassette tapes, and jesus statues, while the fried food joint will offer interesting people-watching, of all sizes. Just livin' the American Dream.
Anyways. Driving from Missouri, down through Arkansas, and over to Tennessee we were surrounded by hundred mile long stretches of flat farmland. We would pass an exit about every 5 to 10 miles, at which point one can find a gas station and some sort of run down fast food restaurant. Usually the gas station's convenience store will carry special treasures like pork rinds, cassette tapes, and jesus statues, while the fried food joint will offer interesting people-watching, of all sizes. Just livin' the American Dream.
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| One such rest stop: Patty Ann's |
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| Peat Wollaeger sticker I found in a coffee shop on the Loop |
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| LD crew |
Well, after a brief 45 minute tour of East St. Louis, we finally made it out of the city and on to the open road. Aside from the thrill of driving through the most dangerous city neighborhood in the grand U. S. of A., I was excited to drive by new graffiti. As run down and deserted as the East Lou may be, it serves as a great and obvious target for graffiti writers. If you are going to let your city fall to shit, at least spray some color on it.
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| TKO, Ed Box, East St. Louis |
A few tags I found that I had seen in other areas of St. Louis:
LD
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| Super, St. Louis |
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| LD, St. Louis |
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| TKO, Ed Box, East St. Louis |
After leaving St. Louis we passed four hours driving through rural farmland, until we finally approached civilization in the form of Memphis. We spent most of our time near Beale St., the touristy bar hub in Memphis. The area is pretty clean in terms of graffiti, and it was difficult to find much of it, but on our drive back we briefly passed through other parts of the city where I caught a glimpse of brick walls and cement blocks decorated in spray paint.
So here are a few stickers and tags that I was able to capture while I was there.
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| Memphis, March 2011 |
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| Memphis, March 2011 |
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| Memphis, March 2011 |
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| the Historical Daisy on Beale Street |
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| "Secure your oxygen mask before assisting others" SF |
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| Beale St., Memphis, March 2011 |
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| Beale St., Memphis, March 2011 |
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| Memphis, March 2011 |
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| Memphis, March 2011 |
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| Memphis, March 2011 |
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| Memphis, March 2011 |
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| Zen42 |
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| Memphis, March 2011 |
