And the Rest of Memphis

We left Graceland and got to our hotel outside of Memphis around 6pm.  It was raining heavily and dark out so we decided we'd save going "downtown" for the next day and stay local to find something to eat.   We checked with the desk clerk and she said to just drive up and down the strip - there were plenty of restaurants.    

And this is where we had our third miracle of the trip.   We did not realize that at a certain point, the road went from a two-way road to a one-way road.   We figured we'd gotten to the end of the strip and turned around in a driveway to go back the other way.   And we were driving the wrong way down a three-lane highway.   Thankfully, the person coming towards us realized what was happening and stopped in the middle of the road and so did we.  Now we were stuck there with no way to turn around - until we saw blue flashing lights coming toward us.  We figured we were in big trouble, but so thankful that the officer was there to stop traffic so we could turn.   And once we were heading in the right direction, he turned off his blue flashing lights and let us go on our way!   The first restaurant we saw was Olive Garden -  I quickly decided to break my rule about eating at a "big box" restaurant and we pulled in for a wonderful meal.   Orlando turned out to be  our favorite waiter of the trip! 

The next morning we headed down to Beale Street.   Our first stop was the Rock n Soul Museum which was all about the beginnings of music in the Memphis area.

We then went across the street with the intention of taking a Gibson Factory tour, but all the tours had been filled up already!   

Gibson Factory gift shop

So we went down onto Beale Street to take in the sights for a while.

Eventually we got down the other end of Beale Street and we were at the Mississippi River!!! A first for both of us!

We had read about Mud Island so we decided to spend some time investigating that.

I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but there is a red monorail hanging from under the bridge, that you have to take to get over to Mud Island.

The cool thing about the Island is that there is a 1/2 mile long replica of the Mississippi River, including many of the towns along the banks.

I tried to get a photo of the sign on the bridge that says "entering Arkansas".   We didn't get over to Arkansas from Mud Island, but we did get there on the Riverboat ride we took later.

At the end of the replica of the river was a "delta"

We came back from Mud Island in time to take a ride on the Riverboat

It was a real paddleboat

The boat ride was narrated - the narrator made the ride enjoyable and funny!

View of the city from under the bridge

We headed back to Beale Street for some more gawking and to find something to eat.  At this point in the evening, the street was closed off and people could walk up and down the street with beverages in hand.

We ate at Flynn's......where I had some famous Memphis Ribs  (yum!) and Hubby had a sandwich that involved two cheeseburgers with pulled pork in between!

On our way out of town we saw our first cotton fields.....then saw many more!

Finally:   Our visit to Cincinnati  

Graceland

We drove straight from Nashville to Graceland.  The rain continued throughout the drive as well as the whole time we were in Memphis.  In fact, while waiting in line at Graceland we were surprised by a HUGE boom that sounded like lightening hitting the roof of the building!

Anyway, the way they have things set up at Graceland is kind of odd.  The main building, parking and extra exhibits are on one side of the street, and Elvis' house is on the other.  They give you a timed ticket to line up for a shuttle that brings you literally across the street.  I'm sure it's their way of keeping the groups small and spreading people out.  It was amazing how many people were there on a random Monday in the off-season.

Once we got our ticket and knew what time to get in line, we went around to the extra exhibits while we waited.   Some of Elvis' costumes:    They all wore fancy outfits back then, but I think Elvis' were even more outlandish than most.

They had two of his airplanes on display.  This one is named the "Lisa Marie"

The famous gold sink

The living room area, and there was also a bedroom with a seatbelt on the bed!

Elvis' Automobile Museum

The famous Pink Cadillac Elvis bought for his mother

This purple car was my favorite.

When we finally got in line for our shuttle, they gave us all IPads with headphones.  This turned out to be a really neat way of doing the tour.  Everyone was on their own and you could wander around and go at your own pace.   It was John Stamos' voice narrating.  You walked from room to room, and there were icons on the screen you could press to hear more about some object in the room or see it up closer.

Most people say the same thing when they see Graceland.  It's not a mansion.  It's just a house.  When he first built it, it was on a big piece  of land and was isolated.  A neighborhood has grown up around it now.  In this day and age of "McMansions"  it's a very unassuming size house - although in its day, it was quite big.

It was decorated quite beautifully......his formal living room.

Bedroom for his mother.  Elvis' first priority was to take care of his mother once he made it big.

Dining room.  One of things that impressed me about this visit was that, despite everything, Elvis was a family man. He loved having family and friends sitting around the dinner table.

Kitchen - looks like any kitchen you'd see in a regular house today

His "family room"  with his record collection and his TVs

He had three TVs because he wanted to keep track of everything that was going on.

His game room - the walls are covered with fabric.

The famous Jungle Room - mostly because the furniture was all hand-carved with animals

Waterfall wall

His father's office 

Then they had areas with all of his gold records, awards, trophies, etc.

Another area dedicated to his movies and also this exhibit of his wedding suit.

More awards and outfits

In the back is the memorial to his family.

The graves of Elvis, his parents, his brother and his grandmother are out back.

Tag loved this display......60 years of Rock n Roll indeed!

Next:  the rest of our time in Memphis