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Published: December 4th 2007
The King......maybe not
Here's Ian doing his best Elvis impersonation at Graceland.As we mentioned in one of the previous entries, we had Ian and Sandra visiting for just on four weeks, and one of the places they really wanted to visit that we hadn't been yet was Memphis in Tennessee. Memphis is quite a well known town for a number of reasons, but the most famous of them all is being home to Elvis Presley's home - Graceland.
Fiona took a few days off work and we flew in Memphis on a Friday afternoon. The weather in Jacksonville has been quite nice of late, so we were in for a rude shock when we got off the plane and were greeted by a maximum of 5 degrees! I have no bloody idea why Elvis would want to live here when he had enough money to live anywhere! Anyway, we picked up our hire car, checked into the hotel and then headed off to explore the world famous (supposedly) Beale St. Having never heard of it before I was still underwhelmed by the two block area of neon lights and tacky tourist shops. Ian was like a kid in a candy store though - it was more kitchsy tackiness than I think
The World Famous Beale St.
Well its world famous in America anyway..... his mind could handle and he went into overdrive making us stop at every single crappy store so he could find the worst presents to send home to people. I must admit it was very funny. You could pretty much find anything with Elvis on it - there were the usual Elvis Presley the Fridge Magnet, Elvis Presley the coffee mug and Elvis Presley the Alarm clock, although what I wasn't expecting was Elvis glasses complete with side-burns attached to the frame (I nearly bought a pair for you Jamo just so you could have some sidies!), complete Elvis Jumpsuits going at around $3500 USD, Elvis Presley the Fireplace Grill, and probably one of the best was Elvis Presley the wallclock where the clock was mounted on his chest and his legs swung as the pendulum making it look like he could dance - very cheesy indeed!
Although we were somewhat underwhelmed by Beale Street, we later learned (when we visited the Rock 'n' Soul Museum) that it was pretty much on this street that Blues, Soul and Rock'n'Roll emerged. The museum had extracts from musicians talking about Beale Street in the 50's when you could just bump into
Mmmmmm....Pulled Pork.
All the required food groups - BBQ and Pork, the perfectly balanced diet. Tastes awesome too! people like BB King, Jerry Lee Lewis and the King himself strolling down the street. Obviously its a bit past its hey day now, but once I new a bit more about the place we develop a little more respect for it........maybe we were just a bit ignorant.
Anyway, it was on this day that we talked Ian into trying his first pulled Pork sandwich. Memphis is known for its BBQ, and for those of you who don’t know what pulled pork is, its just meat basically pulled off the pig with tongs (once its cooked of course, otherwise there would be some very angry pigs running up and down Beale Street), its then coated in BBQ sauce and slapped between a bun - awesome! Needless to say Ian was very impressed.
Later on in the evening we decided to visit the Peabody hotel which is famous for having ducks swimming in its Lobby Fountain during the day. The ducks are cared for by a guy employed as (and I shit you not), ‘The Duck Master’. He is responsible for bringing the ducks down from the top floor where they sleep at night (via the elevator), marching them
More Beale St.....
Should this sign just read 'Big Ass'?? across the lobby and getting them into the fountain. At 5 pm each night he marches them back to the elevator and back to bed - apparently its become quite the tourist attraction! Well with typical Anderson luck we pick the night when some bloody school is having its horrible choir of snotty nosed kids sing crappy Christmas carols way out of tune and off key (they’re noses weren’t that snotty really). Needless to say the place was absolutely packed and we couldn’t see anything. Having been responsible for feeding Mum’s ducks for about 10 years (feeding ducks, not feeding chooks Mylo) I really couldn’t see what the fuss is about - they’re just bloody ducks, walk down to the local pond and you can even take one home if they’re friendly enough. So we stood around for 30 minutes with our ears bleeding from shoddy Caroling and all we saw some some bloke poncing around in a red blazer telling us how cool it was to be the Duck Master. Good for him!
Next day it was off to see the main event - Graceland. However, having spent one night sharing a room with Ian, we needed to
Graceland
Here's Graceland itself - impressive but not ridiculous... duck into a pharmacy to find earplugs - there are only so many times I will sleep in a room with what sounds like a Harley Davidson motor bike on full throttle! I’m sure he must measure a reading on a seismograph. Once again it was about 5 degrees, so we rugged up and waited in line with the seemingly endless stream of fellow tourists. In true American style we boarded the bus to drive about 100 metres where we all got back off the bus at the steps of Graceland. Interestingly Graceland is not as extravagant as you would expect (in comparison to modern celebrity homes anyway) - however we did only get to see the downstairs living areas. But what it lacked in grandeur it certainly made up for in tackiness. By God that man could sing had a shed load of money; and admirably was very generous with it, but the interior of Graceland just goes to prove that money can’t by taste! Mum and Dad kept telling me that it wasn’t bad taste it was just the 70’s, and I left Graceland thanking God I am too young to have any memories of that decade!! Anyway,
Inside the Racketball Court
This is the 'shrine' to Elvis inside the Racketball court. Awards, jumpsuits and lots of 70's stuff...... I’m sure people are going to say the same thing of me in 30 years after I have become a superstar and died prematurely from eating too many hamburgers.
The tour was a self guided audio job, so everyone was wandering around with headphones on listening to the stories of each room and the items in them. There were recollections from Lisa Marie and Priscilla which made you realize that this tourist trap was actually a family home once, and really highlighted the shortfalls of fame. The most impressive part of the tour was his racquetball court (complete with wet bar, and I’m sure hamburger stand if we’d looked hard enough). It had now been turned into almost a shrine to Elvis with his greatest awards and achievements lining the walls from floor to ceiling. There were also a few of his trademark jumpsuits along with numerous quotes describing his life, character and generous nature - if you were ever going to have ‘Elvis Presley - The Spiritual Experience’, this was where it was going to happen. After leaving the racquetball court we filed past his grave where he is laid to rest with his parents, grandmother and a
Elvis' Grave
Mum and Dad in front of Elvis' Grave.....but is he really dead?? I'm sure we met him while we were in LA! marker for his twin brother who died at birth. Ian subscribes to the ‘evil twin theory’ in which his twin didn’t die and then came back and slowly poisoned him with excessive amounts of ham, cheese and bacon.
With all this talk of hamburgers, it was time for dinner and Ian had one thing in his sights - Ribs. Before going to Memphis we took Dad out for BBQ ribs one night and we created a monster….he wouldn’t stop saying to me ‘What are we doing for dinner…..going out for ribs?’ So we enjoyed a fantastic meal of ribs in a restaurant that was famous for before the place that Elvis’ high school hold their annual reunions. I felt so close to him while eating there……pretty much everywhere in Memphis has ‘Elvis was here’ adds to attract tourists.
Next day we enjoyed one of the most interesting experiences we’ve had since coming to the US - we visited a Gospel Church. Interestingly, the Pastor of the church was Al Green, none other than the 70’s recording artist of ‘Take me to the River’ and ‘Here I am Baby, come and take me by the Hand’ fame. It was
The Lorraine Hotel
The wreath marks the spot where Dr King was assassinated - very sobering experience. the most welcoming and open service I have attending with a live band and powerful choir. The music in the service was very soul/blues/jazz influenced and amazingly catchy. The service was exactly as you see gospel churches on TV, people jumping out of their seats and yelling, it was almost the complete opposite to the way services are conducted in Australia. It was really a celebration of faith where everyone could express their faith in any way they wanted. We all left there feeling very uplifted and really feel that a lot could be learned from the way Gospel Churches conduct services - it was a fantastic experience.
That afternoon we headed to the Lorraine Hotel - the place where Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. A very extravagant Human Rights Museum has been developed on the site inside the hotel leaving the exterior and Dr Kings rooms in the same state as they were on that day. Much like our experience on the Civil Rights Trail in Alabama, this was a very sobering experience which once again had a deep impact on all of us who walked through the museum. It is certainly an amazing part
'Ass Steel'....??
Still don't know how I'm not a male model. Oh, and by the way, the wind changed after we took this photo and this is how Fiona looks now. of American history that demonstrates not only the worst in people, but also the very greatest strength and willingness to sacrifice everything for a cause. It really makes you question what you would have done had you lived through the same struggle.
That evening we decided we would jump across the border to Arkansas to have a gander, and after a very short while we realized what everyone had been telling us was true - there’s nothing in Arkansas. So we then jumped across the border again and had dinner in Mississippi. The next day was our last in Memphis so we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Rock ‘n’ Soul museum which was pretty interesting as it tracked the development of Blues, Jazz and Rock ‘n’ Roll in Memphis - it really made us appreciate the local landmarks much more. We then headed off to the airport and with a bit of time to spare we decided to have a beer and play a game or two of ‘Asshole’. This may have turned into a couple of beers, but I won’t say anymore……you’ll just have to look at the photos.
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