K. D. Lunneborg - The Travel Times – II; Crystal Shrine Grotto and Memphis, Tennessee

January 11, 2025

And thus began the long drives. From central Florida we went North into Georgia, and stopped in the Atlanta area to visit with my old (in a good way) cousin-aunts. According to my journal, we stayed late at Aunt Ruth and Aunt Val’s place, then drove into Alabama and slept in our camper in the parking lot of a Five°Below. However, according to my dad, we parked the camper in a Home Depot parking lot, and stayed the night in a hotel next door. The different accounts really make me feel like I’m writing about history. But whatever happened, we roughly took Interstate 20 to Interstate 22 through Alabama and Mississippi, and then up into Tennessee.

Memphis was only a pit stop, but we decided to at least do something there, so my mom found this obscure place with a weird history called Crystal Shrine Grotto. We were debating whether or not to stop – that is, until my mom started reading reviews. The particular review that got us there was one on atlasobscura.com, where someone categorized it as “wall-to-wall quartz and Jesus.” How could you not stop at a site with that kind of a review? As far as I know, Memphis was the first city where we had to find city parking with the dually and a forty-foot camper. Over the course of the trip, however, there would be quite a few more awkward parking situations.

Crystal Shrine Grotto is located in the midst of the Memorial Park Cemetery. Created by Dionicio Rodriguez, it is largely cement. Seemingly wooden trees and benches abound in the grotto, though. And not just any old trees, but ones you can walk through. However, they are all made of cement, not wood. Rodriguez’s fame came from his realistic cement wood. Even I was fooled, sitting on the benches. Then again, I was only eleven years old at the time. However, how he made these sculptures is largely unknown, because Rodriguez became paranoid that another artist would steal his methods. To counter this, he destroyed all the materials that he used, making this a truly one-of-a-kind roadside attraction. (But to be honest, don’t they all say that?) The “wall-to-wall quartz and Jesus” comes from the grotto’s cave. I can’t say I have a much better explanation for that cave than the review did. Think about that quote as literally as you can, and that sums up the cave. Random sculptures of Jesus’ life, surrounded by quartz everywhere. The quartz was hand-placed by Rodriguez, and it is truly amazing how much work he put into it.

(I recommend clicking the photos to see them properly)

So, if you happen to be in the Memphis area, make sure to stop by this amazing place. From here, I can’t say exactly where we went. This began our journey into Arkansas, but not every stop was recorded in the original Travel Times. And from Sebring, Florida to Memphis, Tennessee, we have now covered the first 900 of the 9,540 miles that we covered on the entire trip.