Licia & Pete's 2012 RV Odyssey: Walkin’ in Memphis! (Marc Cohn)

July 15^th

The Mississippi delta was shining like a national guitar.
I am following the river down the highway through the cradle of the civil war.
I'm going to Graceland, Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. I'm going to Graceland.

PAUL SIMON 1986

It has been a musical day in Memphis for sure. Our morning today was consumed by a VIP tour of Graceland, the home for 20 years of Elvis Presley, his parents, Priscilla, Lisa Marie, and in later years his grandmother Minnie Mae. The estate is on one side of Elvis Presley Blvd., the ticket office and exhibit complex cover about 5 acres on the other side. We arrived to pick up our VIP passes at about 9:30AM, noticing that there were very few cars in the parking lot. We were off on our tour by 9:45 and were the only two people in a 20-passenger shuttle bus with our own guide as we crossed the street and drove through the gates of the estate.

The biggest surprise to me about this beautiful property is how normal it looks. This could be any farm with an antebellum, plantation-style manor home. It doesn’t have the look like the ‘crib’ of a modern rock star, sports or entertainment celebrity. Elvis bought it from a family who had worked it as a farm. Even the name “Graceland” came from the previous owner’s Aunt Grace. He paid $100,000 for the property in 1957 and it is furnished as it was at the time of his death in 1977. Fascinating! It took about 2 hours to tour the place and then our shuttle delivered us back across the street where we spent another hour and a half viewing the various exhibits, visiting several souvenir shops, and having some lunch. We even explored his private Convair 880 tour jet and all of his automobiles.

We got back to the RV just before 2 PM and had an hour to relax. Then, at 3 PM, we were picked up by a driver and town car and driven into the downtown music area. Our first stop was the Museum of STAX Records. This is a terrific museum focusing on the predominantly black artists who contributed to the gospel, pop, rock, blues, jazz and soul genres. The building also houses an exact copy of the Stax Recording Studio, complete with the original console, tape recorders, and house instruments. I got to see the Hammond M-3 organ on which Booker T played “Green Onions” (you younger readers can check it out on iTunes sometime.)

Back in our car, we were dropped off on Beale Street. This section of town has many clubs, restaurants and bars where live music is king. On the weekends traffic is banned from three blocks of the street and folks can walk in the street from side to side. People from each establishment are out on the street trying to get you to go in and hear the band in their joint. There is also nothing to prohibit you from taking your drink with you from place to place – I gather this is much like New Orleans. We had a terrific time, dodged a strong afternoon rain shower, and shopped for some more souvenirs.

We were dropped off at out RV at a little after 5 PM and are enjoying a nice relaxing evening before we drive to Nashville tomorrow and “get our country on” with a tour of the Grand Old Opry.

Till the next post!