Day #4: Van Buren, AR to Memphis, TN

This day was all about Memphis.  At under 300 miles, we purposely made this our short drive day so we could have extra time in this musically historic city.  But first we had to get out of Arkansas.  After another nice hot (and free) breakfast at our Best Western hotel, we climbed back aboard I-40 headed east.  For the first time we did not have cloud cover shading us from the sun, but the temperature remained mild and there was virtually no humidity.  An altogether beautiful driving day.

Needing a break, we followed the signs to a "tourist information" spot in North Little Rock.  The signs led us to Burns Park, a huge and gorgeous city park complex complete with a nice visitor's center, staffed by a very nice woman who had lived in San Francisco for four years so we had a nice chat with her.

After getting back on the road our next quest was to find TJ an Arkansas shotglass to continue his dad's collection.  We began to worry that he would leave the state empty handed, but a mini-mart shortly before the Tennessee border came through.

Speaking of the Tennessee border, the welcome sign to Tennessee is suspended from the bridge halfway across the Mississippi River:

We then saw a sign for Danny Thomas Boulevard.  Neither one of us ever associated Danny Thomas with Memphis, but it turns out the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, which Thomas founded, is in Memphis.

We've seen other streets named after celebrities on this trip:  Andy Devine Ave. in Kingman, AZ, Garth Brooks Blvd., in Yukon, OK, and, of course, Elvis Presley Blvd. in Memphis.

Since there are so many hotels in Memphis I didn't try to find a specific place to stay.  My approach was to search The Bedbug Registry (thanks for the tip, Lizzie) for hotels in Memphis that had reports of bedbugs and put them on a NO list.  Then we got a brochure listing the Best Westerns in Memphis and eliminated the ones that were on the bedbug list, of which there were two.  We narrowed it down to the Best Western Suites on the east side of downtown Memphis and programmed Mags to find it for us.  This location had pros and cons.  It was about 16 miles from downtown, so we would have to travel a little bit to get to the points of interest we wanted to see, but come morning we will already be on the other side of downtown so hopefully there will be less morning rush hour traffic to contend with.

After getting settled we made our plan for the afternoon and programmed Mags to take us to Graceland, the home of famous American singer Paul Simon.  

I kid, of course.  Now, neither TJ nor I are huge Elvis fans, but when you find yourself in Memphis how can you not go pay your respects to The King?  Well, we decided we couldn't given the outlandish tour prices they charge.  So we figured we would go to the gates, try to get a picture, and let it go at that.  Our first surprise is that Graceland is not out away from the city amongst rural rolling hills.  It is actually right in the middle of the south part of Memphis, surrounded by concrete and pavement.  The second surprise (though it shouldn't have been) was the $10 price tag just to park.  The third surprise is that you can't even see the house from the gates.  The house is shielded from view by trees and other buildings, such as the ticket booth that charges the outlandish tour prices that they are going to force you to pay even if all you want is just a glimpse of the outside.  So we had to settle for a picture at the gates and of the plaque outside the gates that explains whose house this was, as if anybody who was there reading the plaque would need to be told.

The plaque outside of Graceland

"I'm going to Graceland, Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee. I'm going to Graceland."

We did manage to see the control room booth for the Sirius/XM Elvis Radio station:

And got a glimpse of Elvis's two airplanes:  the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II:

And let's not forget The Heartbreak Hotel, situated across the street from Graceland down at (where else?) the end of Lonely St.

This obligatory visit out of the way, we headed to Beale Street for the heart of our trip to Memphis.  We took the scenic route north on Elvis Presley Blvd. through the depressed southern end of Memphis.  In the midst of the decrepit, run-down neighborhoods is the glitz and neon of Stax Studios, home of some of the greatest soul music ever recorded.  Stax wasn't on today agenda, however.  After getting downtown and parking the car we headed to the legendary Sun Studios:

Sun Studios, near Beale St. in Memphis.

This is where Elvis cut his first records, and some argue created rock & roll in the process by blending country with rhythm & blues.  We would have had to wait for awhile to take the tour, so we settled for browsing the memorabilia in the crowded lobby area and left to find Beale St.

After a semi-longish walk we were ready for refreshment, so we found Silky O'Sullivan's Pub where I enjoyed a Guinness on draft while TJ quaffed a soda water.  The pub was pretty slow, giving us a chance to talk with the bartender.  Really nice guy, and a great way to wet out whistles and rest up for the remainder of the evening.

The next stop was the Rock 'n' Soul Museum, which is part of the FedEx Forum complex (where the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies play.)  

The museum starts with an excellent 10 minute film explaining the importance of Memphis to both Rock and R&B, then you are given a small audio device that explains the different displays and plays dozens of songs recorded by Memphis artists.  Some of the highlights were stage costumes worn by Elvis, Isaac Hayes, and Al Green among others, the original studio console and tape recorder used by Sam Phillips in Sun Studios, and the organ used by Mark James to write Elvis's #1 hit "Suspicious Minds."

Naturally, my favorite part was the special exhibit of previously unseen Beatle photographs taken by Paul Berriff, at the time a young photographer, who talked his way into press passes to take pictures of the band during their U.S. tours.  The pictures on display were from shows the Beatles played in Memphis.  Unfortunately, no book of the photos was for sale in the gift shop.

By then we were both ready for some good ol' Memphis barbecue, so we headed to Alfred's on Beale St.  We each got the half rack of ribs with baked beans and cole slaw.  Maybe not the best ribs we've ever had, but the sauce was delicious.  Don't take my word for it, see for yourself:

There was an Elvis impersonator playing there as well, but after his first set he had to explain how his next set was being pre-empted by the football game between the Packers and the Saints.  It's a tough life, being an Elvis impersonator.

After chow and with the sun down we hit Beale Street.  There was live music coming out from almost every door along the two or three main blocks, which are closed off to cars.  In a plaza area a band played a really good version of The Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone."  In the plaza was a statue to the "Father of the Blues," W.C. Handy, whose house was just down the block.

W.C. Handy

After stopping at a record store, we came back out to find a group of four Memphis teens entertaining the crowd with incredible feats of acrobatic and tumbling skill.  They would take turns doing an incredible series of flips down the old brick street at breakneck speed.  I counted one doing 18 flips and never slowing down once.  I have since discovered that they are somewhat famous and go by the name Beale Street Flippers.  Here's a You Tube link.

And here are some shots of Beale Street at night:

All in all, a fantastic day.  At least until I heard from HHJ and found out they were under a tornado watch with more rain and flooding expected.  TJ and I are beginning to wonder if we should have sailed to Maryland instead of driving a car.

Haven't planned out much for tomorrow yet, but we will be going through Nashville so a stop in Music City USA is called for.  Until next time, keep those cards and letters coming in!