Memphis

Friday 7/25/08





We left Chattanooga heading for Memphis, TN. Nothing too eventful, we just kept pushing through only stopping for gas. We arrived at the campsite about 3:30 and set everything up. We considered going into Memphis to look around a little bit but we had passed a lot of traffic that was going into Memphis and many things close down at 5pm so we stayed put. Ed had us up at about 6:30 the next morning because we wanted to be at the Memphis Visitors Center by 9am. It still looked a little dark outside but we got ready to go. All of a sudden we thought, did we change time zones? Ed went out and asked and, yes, we were in Central time so we had an extra hour. We were in Memphis by 9am armed with maps and everything we wanted to see. Lynn wanted to see the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. This is a beautiful, old hotel in Memphis that started a tradition of five ducks marching into the fountain in the lobby to a John Phillip Sousa march. They march in at 11am and march out at 5:30. We went to the hotel and looked around a little bit but we had some time before the ducks arrived. We decided to walk around the city for a while and then go back to the hotel. We had not walked too far when it started to pour. We had an umbrella with us but we were getting soaked so we walked back to the hotel. We took a seat and waited for the show. As the time neared, more and more people were arriving. It became obvious that this was going to be hard to see unless you were right in front. Ed decided the best place was upstairs looking over the railing. Lynn wanted to stay downstairs but as more people arrived, she too, decided the best view was from upstairs. At about 10:30, the Duck Master came out and told about the history of the ducks and some rules for the crowds. At 11 sharp, the ducks exited the elevator, marched down the red carpet and up the steps into the fountain. What a fun sight! We left the Peabody Hotel and resumed our walk around the city. We walked to Beale Street where there were many restaurants and Blues places. This is where Elvis got his start and B.B. King has a restaurant and store. This area seemed more of a night-time place. It was very hot and humid so we decided to head to Graceland. We drove over to Graceland and purchased our tickets to see Graceland Mansion and were told we had an hour wait before our turn came up. We wandered through the gift shop which had everything you could ever want with Elvis on it. Since we were not much of his fans we did not purchase anything. When our time came we boarded a bus that took our group across the street to the mansion. Looking right as you go into the mansion there is a gracious living room with a grand piano in the background. A portrait of Elvis is on the wall at the foot of the stairs, but you can’t go upstairs. That part of Graceland is forever closed to the public. It was very interesting seeing many things in the house that were odd but others that we could relate too, like the TV, the kitchen appliances and some furniture. Everything was decorated in the 70s style. The kitchen was decorated in the olive green colors like we had when we were married. Some of the rooms had shag carpeting. Elvis built a special house just for his gold records and other trophies. Elvis’s grave and those of his immediate family are at the end of the Graceland tour. The walking tour took about two hours. We were ready to sit down for a while when we came out. We usually eat our meals at the camp but today we stopped at Corky’s BBQ. John Argo suggested we try the ribs. They were certainly good and plenty enough to take leftovers home and eat them the next day.