Memphis Tennessee

After our time at Nashville we drove west to Memphis, on the western edge of Tennessee, on the Mississippi River.  We were interested in seeing Graceland, which everyone knows is the home of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.

Our RV park was part of the Graceland complex, just behind the Heartbreak Hotel.  We just had to walk over to the visitor's center to get tickets.  It was amazing to see signs in Japanese.  Elvis is the king around the world!  We took a shuttle across the street to get to Graceland, a large house with various out buildings and fields, set on 13 acres on  the southern part of Memphis.  Elvis bought this when he was 22.  It currently gets 600,000 visitors a year.

 The front room.  Notice the peacocks, which were to also appear on his Las Vegas outfits!

 The kitchen.  Everything is just the way it was the day he died.

 Basement lounge room.  He had three TVs installed when he heard that the White House had all three networks (all, those were the days...) going 24/7.

 The pool room, with fabric walls and ceiling.

 The jungle room, and addition that was also used to record some songs.

 The back grounds, with horses.

 There was room after room filled with gold records and awards.  He had a separate building that was a racquetball court.  This was the lounge area.

 The inside of the court was filled with more awards and displays.  I guess he didn't keep up with his physical fitness plans...

 He is buried at Graceland, with his parents.  There is an eternal flame.

Back on the side of the street (Elvis Presley Boulevard) where the visitor's center is, there are also two jets that he owned.  There is also a museum of the dozens of cars he owned.

 No trip to Memphis would be complete without a visit to historic Sun Studio, the birthplace of rock and roll.  This was Elvis's first record company.  They also recorded Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many other early rock singers and blues singers.  It's quite a small place.

 Our tour guide, a struggling musician with a day job.

 "Screaming Bill Bartter" with the mic used by the King.

 After Sun Studio we drove by the trouble-plagued Memphis Pyramid.  This was originally an area for sports events but had major structural and flooding problems.  It closed about 10 years ago but there are plans for Bass Pro Shops to make it a super store.  What's with the state of Nashville and its attraction to antiquities?  At any rate, Matthew liked it because it was mentioned in a Rick Riordan novel (and he mentioned the Parthenon in a different novel).

We drove around downtown Memphis a little and enjoyed the trolly and historic Beale Street (an early hotbed of blues).

We also visited the National Civil Rights museum.  This incorporates part of the museum where Martin Luther King was killed.  The museum is very informative and gives an excellent history of slavery in the US and the civil rights era.  It brought back lots of memories for Bill and Beth and even Matthew found some things to be interested in.

It was a very full day, but that's not all.  Our friends from Gahanna, Terry and Janie Johnson were in Memphis for their 50th wedding anniversary, and they were staying at the Heartbreak Hotel.  We joined them for dinner by taking a pink Cadillac to a local ribs joint, Marlow's.  A great evening to a full day!

Matthew's notes: When in Rome, do as the Romans!

• Marlo's is a great place to get a free limo ride!
• Bring umbrellas everywhere!
• The sun record tour is worth it, this coming from a guy who didn't know what a record was!
• Rockabilly's is a great place for a Peanut butter and banana sandwich!
• Don't go driving around the town around Graceland at night. There are security guards everywhere!