Sunday, June 3, 2012

Hello All,

We finished up the Graceland Car Show on Saturday, we didn't win anything but we met some really nice people. I kissed a couple of Elvi that day, I had to, I was at Graceland!!
The guys on either side of us talked a blue streak for two days and I never grew tired of thier stories... Somehow it came up that John (the owner of a beautiful "Baboon Red" Gran Torrino, his description certainly not mine!!) was adopted. I said, "Oh me too!" Then Paul (the owner of an amazing black '34 Ford) said, "Adopted? Me too!" What are the chances of us all parking together and it coming up in conversation? Meant to be I guess, we three had an interesting conversation about it and how it has affected us, and some speculation about what our lives might have been had theses wonderful people not adopted us... Pretty Cool... :)

Today was the "Explore Memphis" day! We started by going to Beale St. Ok, no one but the tourists with children, oldsters and us were up and out! Nothing opens until Noon on Sunday, but we did find the Rock & Soul Museum open and that was way cool....So many musicians recorded and came together in Memphis in the 50's and 60's...

I had booked the Mojo Musical Tour of Memphis for 1:30 so we grabbed a bite to eat at Miss Polly's Kitchen on Beale St. We shared a bar b q pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw, (the best I have ever had, sorry Mom and Auntie B! Your's are Great, but this was yum, yum, yum.....) beans and severly seasoned fries. Hot as hell, but oh so good! We checked in for our tour which was on a lovely old bus (air conditioned, thank goodness, it was about 95 today with about 75% humidity!!) our tour guide gave good tidbits of Memphis musical history and whomever he talked about he sang thier song while playing the guitar. He was darn good, and we all sang along and played tamboriunes and shaker eggs! Sounds lame I know but it was super fun! Did you know that BB King lived 2 blocks away from Elvis when he was in High School? Again, what are the chances?

After our tour, we walked about 5 blocks (in the heat! OY!) to the Civil Rights Museum. It is housed in what used to be the Lorraine Hotel, the hotel where Martin Luther King was assasinated. Let me say, that for me, it was a moving experience that I will never forget. I had to leave the exibits every once in a while as it was overwhelming to see the hatred that one human can have for another...
We left the museum around 5pm (still freak'in hot out!) and my man had the brillent idea to take the trolley that was just pulling up and it was the best dollar I have ever spent! Dropped us a block from our car! Loved it!

Tomorrow we will take the tour at Sun Records, visit the Underground Railroad Museum, eat lunch at Pat and Gina Neeley's restaurant (Do you know them from the Food Network?) and head to Little Rock, on the way to Branson...

See ya on the Road,
Ter :)

"From the driver's seat"....again, it's been a couple days...we do so much we're beat at the end of the day so blogging sounds too much like work! Saturday, we went back to Graceland for the second day of the car show...there were more in attendance but it seemed weird that it was only a morning show on Saturday....they seemed surprised that the number of cars was low...duh! Terry and I went through Elvis' car collection, nothing to write home about except that he had two modern era Stutz Bearcats. We didn't win anything at the show...would've been nice to mention that we had come so far as had a couple of women from British Columbia ("Bitter! Party of one! Bitter!") By the time we got back to our room we were ready to rest...so we did.

Today we went to downtown Memphis and wandered around Beale Street..... nothing opens before noon on Sunday. As evidenced by the trash all over the street and parking lot, most people were home sleeping off hangovers! One thing that was open was the Rock and Soul Museum....I love R & B, I think this was even better than the Rock & Roll Museum in Cleveland. We also took a really fun bus tour with a very musically talented performer as the guide. It was amazing how so many famous performers' lives were so intertwined before they became famous. We saw some places we want to visit tomorrow!

After the bus ride we went to the Civil Rights Museum....very sobering. I wasn't there, I haven't treated anyone like that, but I was ashamed that members of my race could be so stupid! The way they treated Blacks in the south was reprehensible, especially once the Civil Rights Movement got started. The museum is located in what was the Lorraine Motel, the location of Martin Luther Kings assasination. The room he stayed in has been restored with a glass wall into the next room where you can be immediately behind the spot where he was killed..... another 'it happened right here' moment. I can't impress upon you what it's like to be there.....if you're ever in Memphis, do NOT miss the opportunity to visit this turning point in America's history.

We have a few sights to see tomorrow and then we're off to Little Rock, AR on our way to Branson.

Elvis' Car Collection

Fake Elvis # 1

Fake Elvis # 2

Lorraine Motel