Memphis

Mississippi River and Memphis from "the 5th"

Left Nashville and headed west across Tennessee to Memphis.  I have to say that Tennessee is a really pretty state.  Lots of hills, trees, etc. although it does flatten out as you get closer to Memphis and the Mississippi River.  Once again, Pat found us an amazing RV Park.  We are parked right ON the Mississippi!  We are actually in Arkansas on the west bank of the river.  We crossed over the levee and the RV Park is in the Mississippi River flood plain (they assured us that when the Mississippi does flood, they have plenty of notice (and time) to evacuate!).

View from my windows in "the 5th"

We are parked on a bend in the river and can look upriver and see Memphis in the distance and look downriver and see forested river banks.   

You hear about all the traffic on the Mississippi; but you have to see it believe it.

There are tugs pushing barges and other types of commercial watercraft all day and all night.  It is really amazing to watch!

Memphis is the first city on our trip that I didn’t really like.  The setting along the Mississippi is lovely and, of course, I really liked the bridges across the river.  However, the city itself just isn’t very appealing or exciting.  Lots of abandoned buildings even in the central city and if anyone wanted a photo of why zoning laws are needed, a picture of Memphis would be perfect.  It was just depressing.

I did enjoy our visit though.  The Beale Street music area was lively and attractive.  We drove by Sun Records where, according to Pat, all the greats got their start (Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison) and then headed for Graceland.

I enjoyed our visit to Graceland.  At first I was surprised by how small the house is; but then I realized that Elvis died in 1977, and by 1970’s standards, the house was quite large (however, the McMansions of today totally dwarf it!).  The furniture and fixtures (lights, etc.) were really over the top except in the kitchen.   

Living Room (didn't look comfortable!)

Jungle Room

 Pat keeps commenting on how plain the kitchen was and I keep telling him, they weren’t really into granite countertops in the 70’s!  Anyway, it was a fun tour and it is amazing to see how many different awards, gold records, etc. that he won (and to see some of those outlandish performance costumes up close and personal!). 

We went directly from Graceland to the National Civil Rights Museum (yes, there was a little bit of culture shock between the two).  The museum itself is across the street from the hotel where Martin Luther King was assassinated.   

It is partially housed in the rooming house where James Earl Ray stayed and where he presumably shot from.  It includes massive exhibits and timelines around the assassination as well as history of the civil rights movement in the United States.  Very interesting and moving.

From there, we headed across the street for some Memphis barbeque.  This was on a game Saturday and Pat was wearing his UO Duck t-shirt.  As we were walking, a young man calls out, “Go Ducks!”  Turns out he just graduated from the UO last spring, was headed to a bar to watch the game, and pulled up his light sweatshirt to show us HIS duck t-shirt.  It’s really a small world.

Memphis BBQ Joint

The barbeque was awesome.  We headed back to “the 5^th” to pack up for five straight days of non-stop driving across the country back to Colorado for Thanksgiving.