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Published: August 22nd 2009
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The kids in front of the 'General Lee'.Hello,
Monday , today I dropped the family off to go shopping at Walmart while I went and had a yak to the local Dodge dealer.They have some really nice Dodge Challengers over here, theyre like a charger but better. One he had on the lot had a 6.1L Hemi, he reckons they sell one a week. Then I went and bought some stuff from home depot to build me a shelf in my cupbards on my side of the bed. Then I went and picked them up and we found a book shop for the kids. Then we went to a drive in 'Sonic Restaurant' for lunch. We decided lunch was probably better for Josh than tea.So we drove up to a spare booth. The menu is right beside my window, I pressed the call button and ordered our lunch. Its a Burgers and fries sort of place, but the novelty is that they bring it out to your car. Some poor guy had had an accident just outside the sonic, so we watched him stress out with the cop. Very nice meals were delivered to our window. Good one , now the mess goes all over our car !!
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Back at Cooters place. Had a swim at the camp, went out after tea to a bass pro shop just down the road, Its like heaven for guys !! Its a massive sports shop that has EVERYTHING from boats, motorbikes, hunting and fishing gear, guns, clothing, outdoor gear, oh did I tell you about the huge fish tank about 10m x 4m high ,in the middle of the shop. We just shot in and had a quick look around but you could spend hours in there. We went to our 2nd Walmart for the day. This one had a Gluten free isle that we thought we would stock up on a few things while we could.
The kids finally got there way and made their big purchase of the trip. They both bought a Nintendo DSi each, plus some games to get them going. So that should keep them quiet in the back of the car during our driving days.
Tuesday I got up early and took the car in for a oil and filter change, I got there at 7.30am and didnt get finished until 11.30am. They rotated the tyres and then said the back brakes were quite worn, so we got those
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The pool room, with Material on the walls and ceiling. changed while they were there. After that we packed up and headed for Memphis. Went thru Memphis, over the Mississippi river into west Memphis !! Whatever were in Arkansas, our campground is about 1/4 hr west of Memphis. Got settled and went to go for a swim and they said sorry its closed as there is a storm coming. Come it did, ive got some amazing video of the thunder and lightning. It was right over top of us, sheet lightning again and again.Not very comforting when your'e sitting in a tin can !!
Wednesday we got up and headed into Memphis. We walked around the downtown area. Found a little peanut shop owned by a guy from Kuwait, he knew all about New Zealand as he played internet games with a couple of Kiwis online. We walked around to the Peabody hotel, World famous in Memphis. It is one of the oldest and flashest in Memphis, built in 1925 for a million dollar, it was flash. Anyway one of the managers years ago went duck shooting with live decoys, as a laugh he put them in the fountain in the lobby one night. The next morning there was crowd
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Back of the house. around the fountain. From that started the tradition of the ducks in the peabody hotel.Now at 11am they bring the ducks down from the ' Duck Palace' down the elevator. The Duck Master organises the whole operation. They walk out of the elevator, across the red carpet and past the crowds of people there to see the ducks, Into the fountain where they swim around all day . Then at 5pm they do the opposite and head back up to their palace. We got there about 10.35am and only just got a spot by the red carpet, by 11am the crowd is about 4 deep.
After the excitement of that we walked through the Peabody place shopping center. Alot of the shops have closed up due to a lack of tourists coming to Memphis.There was only a handful of shops still open, The Claridges did their part to help the recession.Then we walked down 'Beale st' which is the party street in Memphis, Bars and live music hum at night time, so they tell us.We jumped on a Rock'n'Roll bus tour with a difference.The tour guide plays guitar all the way around whilst telling you the history of music in
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The honeymooners in front of Gracelands. the area.By the way everyone else got a shaker or tamborine to play as well as sing along with him.Sounds really corny but it was an excellent tour. Memphis is known as the birthplace of Rock'n'Roll. Obviously Elvis lived here, but people like BB King, Johnny Cash etc all were here in the 50's and 60's. Sun studios was the starting place for alot of them, Elvis recorded 4 songs there as a 18 year old. From there the rest is history. We went to the Sound shell where Elvis played his 1st concert to 3,000 people. Some loved him others hated him!! His fast singing , hip waving, type of music wasn't at all what they were used to. He signed up with RCA a year later for $35,000. The highest paid artist at the time.
We drove past the motel where Martin Luther King was assasinated.
On the way back to the car we had to stop back in and see our peanut man friend and stock up for the drive home. It was back to our campground for tea and a swim. Caught up with a lady from Michigan , they had driven 900 miles in
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Elvis's Mum's pink Cadilac. 2 days to get here. We tried to light a fire but Josh and I got bit so many times that we gave up and came inside and watched the 1st of our Dukes of Hazzard dvd's.
Thursday morning we were still lying in bed when I heard the wind get up from nowhere. So I jumped up out of bed, by the time I got to the door. I heard the noise I wished I'd never heard, The awning got picked up and thrown onto the roof, just as the rain started to come down. We rushed outside and a mini tornado was going thru. The neighbours awaning had gone as well, but only one corner as our trailer had sheltered theres. Couldn't f......en believe it. So I Pulled over the picnic table, jumped on a stool and got on the roof in the rain. Couldn't do much until the wind stopped. Once it did, we managed to get it back over the side and find it had broke the bits that fix it to the trailer. Went to the office to see if there was somewhere close to get some parts, yeh 140 miles away!! so I rung
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My Dodge Challenger !! them and they said come over as they have some parts there.So off I went. Got over there and they didn't have any of our parts. They can order them and they will be here in 7-10 days. Sorry but that wasn't really an option. So I went down to home depot and bought some gear to fix up the broken bits. Then back home again, Its like driving to Wellington to get some screws and a hacksaw !! Got back and fixed it up, got a couple of guys at the camp to give us a hand to put the awning back on. I'll have to order the parts a bit further down the line. So there went a whole day doing nothing constructive anyway.
Friday we went into Memphis, straight to Gracelands. Elvis bought Gracelands when he was 20 years old. 13 acres with a huge mansion on it in the south of Memphis.We boarded the shuttle that takes you from the visitor center across the road to the mansion.They gave us a walkman with a headset and as you walk around it tells you stories of Elvis and his family . From the 15ft leather lounge suite
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Sonic Restaurant. with his grand piano in the front room to the Jungle room he had built for Lisa Marie. He had a tv room with 3 tv's in one wall so he could watch different channels at the same time in the basement. Next to that was the pool room with a rip in the table from someone trying to do a trick shot that didn't quite work. Out back his dad had his office and Elvis had a racketball court built for him with a gym in the front. Elvis was playing his piano and singing out there on the morning he died. They had alot of land out the back to ride horses around or some of the toys that Elvis had from golf carts to a snow mobile he had modified for grass as they didn't get snow very often. Then around the side of the house by the swimming pool, he had a medatation garden built. Thats where he lies buried today. He was originally buried elsewhere with his mum but due to vandels , his dad had both of them moved to Gracelands. His Dad and his grandparents are all buried there. After that we got
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The Durango parked up at Sonic. the shuttle back across the road and went through his car collection.His Hollywood movie career section, another gift shop, past the restaurant with a cadillac that they chopped in half and put tables in it so you can eat your meal sitting in a caddy. Then past the Elvis radio station that is on satalite radio and plays Elvis all day long out to his 2 planes. The largest is the Lisa Marie which he used to get around the country in when he was touring. He never did a concert outside of the USA. Its agreat testiment to the man thats for sure, but you do feel sorry for famous people. They said in his latter years he didn't go out much, he had lost most of his friends. He got mobbed everytime he went anywhere. Sounds a lot like Micheal Jackson I reckon.
After Gracelands we drove down Elvis Presley Blvd into town, thats a dodgy drive if I've ever driven one. Motels that have closed down, businesses that have been burn't out.Liquor stores and pawn broker shops along the way. Back in downtown , we went out to mud island. Its by the visitor center, they have
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The ducks at the Peabody hotel. a monorail going from downtown over to it. We walked. They have built a scale model of the 1200 mile long Mississippi river, 1 step is about a mile. Its incredible how they have built it.So we took off our sandels and walked thru the river in the hot sun. after a quick stop at Walmart for some groceries , we came home for tea. An early night as were packing up and heading St Louis in the morning.
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M&D
non-member comment
Well everyone is certainly going to remember Memphis...from the Ducks, the storm...the bus tour to Elvis, sounds as though you all enjoyed it. the General Lee visits Inverness every year, when they have the Cooterfest.......and usually some one who looks like guys from the TV show shows up as well. It is in October. happy camping ....