November 13-15, 2009

Days 68-70



We woke to a beautiful day and got on the road early. We arrived in Memphis, TN in afternoon. On the recommendation of our Memphis friend, Angela, we stayed at the AgriCenter International RV park, close to Germantown. It is a huge complex with an Expo Center, stables for over 500 horses, an agricultural research center, bike and hiking trails, and a farmers market.

After unhitching, we had to settle for a bike ride since there was no beach. After dinner, we drove into downtown Memphis to Beale Street, the home of the blues and rock and roll.

It was fun walking around and listening to the street musicians. There was one old guy playing some Delta Blues whom we really enjoyed. We ended up at BB Kings for a few hours listening to a fantastic band that played non-stop.

Beers were only $2 which really surprised us. From there, we wandered into Coyote Ugly. Believe me when I say that it was nothing like the movie! It was 12:30 AM when we crashed into bed after a long day on the road.

Saturday brought more sunshine and we soaked it up while eating breakfast, another one of Chef Bob’s delectable meals.Before long, we were on our way to Graceland, the home of the “King”, Elvis Presley.

We toured the mansion and the meditation garden where Elvis and his parents are buried.

The house appears to be untouched since his death in 1977.

His collection of awards, gold records, stage outfits and other memorabilia was impressive, especially after passing through Tupelo, MS and seeing Elvis’ humble roots.

We also visited the car museum (loved the pink Cadillac) and his personal jets.

Old Elvis has, more than likely, made more money dead than he did when he was alive. From Graceland, we found Central Barbeque that has been featured on the Food network. The pulled pork sandwiches and the ribs were absolutely some of the best barbeque that we have had. Lucky for us, they had a whole roll of paper towels on the table! After catching our breath and relaxing, we drove 50 miles south to Mississippi to Sam’s Town casino. There must have been 20 or more other casinos on the Mississippi River. After losing $20 in the slot machine-no big surprise there, we went to the Darius Rucker concert. Formerly the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Hootie and the Blowfish, he had just won the CMA new artist of the year award. It was 2 hours of good music, mostly country rock and some of his oldies, well worth the $40 ticket. We were both energized and decided to go back to Beale Street to listen to more blues.

It was hopping with a lot more young people out than last night and a heavy Memphis PD presence on both ends of the street.

Our choice tonight was the Blues City Café, an original juke joint, famous for its ribs and famous musicians that have played in the “Band Box”.

We enjoyed a local blues band and yes, the ribs were as good as they brag about. After another late night, we head for our home away from home.

Sunday was another 70+ degree day and we were moving slowly. A mile away was the Shelby Farms City Park, an expansive park offering bike and hiking trails, a lake for kayaking and canoeing, a kite flying area, a herd of American Bison, a picnic area and playground.

We walked for an hour around the lake, working up a sweat. We sat for a bit watching the geese and ducks, thankful for the warmth of the sun. We would have stayed longer, but we had planned to meet our friend Angela at the Hospice Bereavement Center where she works. I was envious, wishing that we had one like it at our Hospice in Soldotna. Angela took us to her favorite barbeque restaurant in Germantown. We should have been sick of barbeque, but we felt like food critiques for the Food Network and wanted to try all the best places. After our late lunch, we had one more place that we wanted to see, Sun Records on Union Street.

It was an excellent tour of the recording studio opened by Sam Phillips in 1950. Elvis Presley got his start here in the early fifties, charming Marion Keisker, Sam’s business partner, into letting him record.

The building has the original ceiling tiles, recording equipment and even the microphone

that many famous artists used, including Howling Wolf,

Rufus Thomas, Roy Orbison, BB King, Charlie Rich and the “million dollar quartet”, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Lewis who lives close by, is known as the “last man standing”. Artists continue to record at Sun Studio, the most recent being John Mellencamp and U2. This was one of the highlights of our trip and we hope to get back to Memphis again to see Angela and take in one of the Blues Festivals. Tomorrow, we would be on our way to Loma Linda, Missouri, near Joplin.