Memphis

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The home of rock 'n' roll and (more importantly!) the birthplace of blues. To sum up Memphis in one word i think we'd go for "great!" We planned to stop here mainly because it broke up our trip from chicago to new orleans, but it turned out to be, in my view at least, the best stop in the US so far.
The place we stayed was a slightly decrepit motel that was in the middle of being renovated, but it was right in the centre of town, so perfect for us. Although we did wake one morning to find a plastic sheet across the doorway blocking us in our room, apparently the painters didn't realise we were there!
We arrived in Memphis at about 11am, checked in, showered and headed out for lunch. We went to a place called Big Foot for lunch which we got to just before midday and we got the last table! It was rammed full of locals, the food was really good, the local specialty of a pulled pork sandwich was great. I had a beer, the waiter asked "big or small?" I went for big, which turned out to be a litre for a mere $4! After lunch we wandered around and did a bit of shopping, and picked up some tickets for the baseball that evening. The Memphis Redbirds are a minor league team, who turned out to be terrible, and they lost. However, the fireworks display afterwards was worth the admission fee alone!
The next day we got up late and headed to Beale St, home to all of the blues bars. We went to BB Kings blues bar, for a drink and watched a really good band play, the lead man was 87! We then headed off to a few more bars and more music, Cat had half a yard of daquiri and refused to throw the cup away, she's been carrying it around ever since! We headed back to the motel, to shower and change for the evening.
We went back to BB Kings, ate and had a few drinks whilst watching some more great live blues. Beale street was closed off to traffic and whole street was just full of people enjoying live music, there was such a great vibe to the place. On the way back to the motel Cat spotted a fire engine and decided that she wanted to sit in it! She asked the fireman nicely and surprisingly he let her get in, she was very pleased with herself! We headed off to New Orleans bright and early the next day.

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