Ole Man River

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Day 84- Saturday

Aside from the fact that I have long wanted to visit New Orleans for it's own sake, as a unique and fascinating city, I was really imressed to to see various aspects of the Mississippi River. The location New Orleans is interesting...between the final curves of the river and the amazing Lake Pontchartrain...so extensive and with such amazing long "bridges" across. These are things that I for one can only begin to comprehend having seen them with my own eyes. And since they enter into our cultural heritage through movies and social historyI commend them to you all as well.

Thus it was enlightening to travel 65 miles along the river to visit the old Creole plantation. Much of the time the actual river was obscured by the levee, about 30 feet high. Whereas in the past there were many plantations, now the holdings, as in Australia are much larger and there are fewer houses. That southernmost part of the rivier is mainly sugarcanefields.

This aftrnoon I enjoyed a ride in an old paddle steamer along the Missippi river here, complete with views of Arkansas, across the other side.

So I was particularly frustrated by Amtrak letting me down and depriving me of travelling from NO to Memphis along the riverside. However, here I am in Memphis ( one more detour /zig zag via Atlanta) . Of course today I went to Graceland. Everyone I know who has been there has been slightly sheepish about it, but admitted that they were really glad they went. Me too.! As Eva told me, it is much smaller and less ostentatious than you would expect, and in fact a really nice, comfortable home for a successful person. It is now a highly organised business. A typical example of my mystification regarding pricing...the price on the brochure for a tour ...3 hours including 20 minutes each way by bus..was $44. However when I came to pay the amount demanded was $50.07!!! I defy even the Maths nerds in some branches of my family to calculate the percentage of tax payable! Why have a price tag in a new brochure if you are not going to adhere to it? As I suggested before, no-one really knows what anything costs. Yet again it is a case of the huge discrepancy between those with and those without.



More of only in the US of A...

Of course I was the only cheapskate slinking out of "Elvis World ", with it's whole themepark of restaurants and sideshows (mercifully across the road from the "mansion" which we acessed by shuttle bus) without a huge bag of souvenirs...sorry if one of you was hoping I'd bring a spangled white jumpsuit! The majority of other tourists seem to be from other states, rather than other countries and they always need to purchase souvenirs.

Yet again, although I am staying in a very "nice" hotel' in the centre of town, I do not feel comfortable walking around the streets at night. Round Memphis, here many buildings seem to be boarded up and it is not alive with nightlife. So I have felt it better to eat in the hotel, as in Savannah, New Orleans and now Memphis. There is a finer dining restaurannt in this lovely, famous old hotel. Hoewver, I chose to eat in the elegant Italian cafe.. Tonight I asked for shrimp and a glass of Californian chardonnay. When it came it was accompanied by an individual souffle dish of ketchup +two tiny bottles of Tabasco + half a lemon (in muslin). I am sure Bisto Moncour or Michael's restaurant only provide lashings of ketchup to obstreperous children for their chips!

Then, of course there are the Peabody hotel's ducks!!! Adrian and Eva stayed here last year ....how could one stay elsewhere? A magnificent old style hotel with an impressive lobby under an extensive atrium. And in the centre a marble fountain topped with a spectacular floral arrangement. And in the fountain , ducks have been swimming for 75 years!!!!Originally the manager and some mates were going hunting and obtained some decoy ducks. But as a result of indulging in too much bourbon, they ended up sleeping instead of hunting and in due course they returned to the hotel and found themselves in pssession of some live ducks, which they popped into the lobby fountain overnight till they were better able to think what to do with them. Next morning they found they had a hit on their hands! So from that time till the present there have been ducks swimming in the lobby fountain from 11am to 5pm daily. At 11 they descend from their penthouse by the elevator, and traversese a red carpet to the fountain, where they swim happily till 5pm, when accompanied by a deSouza march they retreat along rhe red carpet, via the elevator to the 11th floor, accompanied by the duck master. Meanwhile hundreds of people have gathered round to watch...children, grandmas in wheel chairs, foreign tourists, business conferees. I felt sorry for the ducks. But they seemed nonplussed. In fact today's group of five were a new shift with only 4 days exprience. ...they are rotated after 3 months. For the first 50 years the duckmaster was a recruit from Ringling Bros Circus... so there is obviously some special selection and training taking place away from the main lobby with its flashing cameras and jostling crowds.

On the subject of Tabasco... I managed to astonish my waiter this morning at breakfast. I was having the buffet so I could try a few items I had only ever heard about. I helped myself to various items on a plate, as one does, and some "grits" in a bowl. The waiter asked if I would like some ketchup. I said "No" but to encourage him, asked for Tabasco to accompany my grits. ( I had had some in the French Quarter of NO and found them bland, to say the least, , and decided that of the options on my tabel at the time that Tabasco would do the trick. I think the waiter this morning was astonished at my use of the tabasco. So Iasked him what he would put on grits and he suggested butter plus salt and pepper. I prefer tabasco! In the cutest tiny 1 inch high bottles.

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Photos

Mississippi
this was taken downstream, near New Orleans.

Graceland
Elvis home was much simpler and more homely than I would have expected. People are still filing through constantly.

Downtown Memphis
where have all the people gone? This was Sunday about 11.30am in "Main Street"