Memphis

---

Very sorry to leave Nashville where I had a lot of fun. Got about 2.5 hours sleep before waking up and getting the Greyhound. I think Americans are very friendly and chatty. There's always someone starting up a conversation, though with 2.5 hours sleep I didn't feel very chatty.

A couple of characters I met at the Greyhound bus station :
Cowboy Guy: This man was about 60 something and looked like he'd just stepped out of a John Wayne Western. I made a mental record of his getup: cowboy boots - check, denim jeans - check, cowboy shirt - check, neck scarf - check, cowboy hat - check, Western buckle - check. Turns out he comes from a ranch in Wyoming and traveled 8 days on Greyhound to reach the Kentucky derby. Didn't seem to occur to him to catch a plane but maybe he couldn't afford it. Recently his horse went under a low branch and he fell off, cracking 5 vertebrae. Doctors had to use needles to insert cement in the vertebrae to strengthen them. This guy was also a twice serving Viet Vet and was also playing the honkytonks on Broadway, Nashville.

Jailbird #2 : Him: 'I'm taking the bus from here to here (pointing to a really large distance on the map ).
Me: 'Couldn't you have saved up for a flight?
Him: 'Oh the people gave me the ticket.'
I knew where this was going....
Me: 'What people?
Him: 'You know, them from the penitentiary.'
This young guy had just been released from the state penitentiary, where he had served 5 years for providing fake ids to people. It seemed he'd had quite a racket going but got dobbed in. In prison your food is scheduled so you always know what you're eating every day eg. Mondays - hamburgers, Tuesdays - hotdogs etc. This guy said he took a week to make himself a knife. Ended up stabbing a black guy who was picking on him. Got kicked out of that prison and sent to a different one which is why he was based so far from home. Oh yeah and his going away gift - his prison buddies branded him with a hot iron so he wouldn't forget them.

The hostel in Memphis was stuck on the outskirts, located in a church in a kind of bible belt. Weird. And inconvenient. Shared a cab to Beale St (the main tourist strip) with a couple of french guys from the hostel. Beale St was barrackaded. The only way to enter was to show id and submit to a bag search. The atmosphere was way different from the Broadway strip in Nashville. Loud recorded music was blaring into the street and people were wandering around with plastic cups of beer and big plastic syringe-looking things called Jello Shots (full of jelly and alcohol). The impression I got was that people were there to get drunk and hook up more than appreciate good music. We went to BB Kings famous blues bar which had a good band on. Decided not to stick around with the french guy anymore as it appeared he thought we were on a date - he was only 23! I think this makes me a cougar...?

Next day went to Sun Studio to see where music history was made. Had to hitch a ride (sorry mum) as there were no buses running on Sunday, especially around where the hostel was located. The tour included a history of Sun Studios with original clips of some of the most famous tracks recorded. Also included entry into the actual recording studio where Elvis and others recorded their first tracks. They've marked an 'X' on the floor where Elvis was said to have stood and the original mike is still there. Tourists take tackey photos of themselves holding the mike on the 'X' doing an Elvis pose.

Sun Studios provide a free shuttle to Graceland. Graceland is only one part of the whole complex which contains numerous souvenir shops containing all things Elvis, cafes, restaurants, Elvis museum, Elvis car museum, Elvis fashion museum, 'Lisa Marie' aeroplane and more. The complex is a license to print money.

The Graceland audio tour led you around the downstairs part of the house including the famous 'Jungle Room', complete with green shag pile carpet. The upstairs private areas weren't on display. The tour included other buildings on the grounds such as the shooting range, and access to the graves of Elvis and his family.

I found the experience kind of haunting and tragic that such a humanitarian, talented and charismatic life was cut short so soon. The fact that so many make the pilgrimage to Graceland bears testimony that Elvis lives on.

Did not make it to Al Green's tabernacle church as there was no transport and I couldn't confirm the service time. It was disappointing as would have been good to hear the fire and brimstone service and gospel choir complete with 'hallelujahs'. Instead I went back to downtown to look around. There is really not that much to see or do in Memphis. Apart from Beale St there were few cars or people and it felt like a lazy ghost town baking in the sun. Lucky I've only got one day here.

---