One for the money...

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Geo: 35.1496, -90.0489

Navigating the streets of New Orleans was not as difficult as we had feared and we were soon on our way out of the city and onto the freeway. After around an hour and a half, our first port of call had to be breakfast - we were ravenous and knew we would need plenty of provisions for the long drive ahead. We pulled into a service station for breakfast and stocked up on enough junk food to last us for a couple of hours.

After another couple of hours driving, we were in Mississippi. This was the state that we were going to pass through and not actually stop in. So, to rectify matters, we decided to stop and grab lunch en route. We didn't have time to visit any of the towns on the way through as the eventual destination was 6 and a half hours away from our beginning and we needed to be in Memphis before Sun Studios closed. So, service station food it was yet again. It was here that we had our first real experience of a proper southern accent, and a proper southern belle. The woman serving behind the counter heard our accents and cried in her fabulous drawl, "Oh Mah Gowash, I ain't never met nobody who's from where y'all are from!"

Loving the new accents, we got back in the car and drove towards Memphis. Despite problems with the Satnav, we managed to find our hotel and check in. Everything seemed fine so it was back in the car and a dash across town to find the legendary Sun Studios. Founded by Sam Phillips in the 1950s, the studio was responsible for some of the greatest hits of the 50s and 60s. It was also the studio responsible for launching the careers of a huge number of artists, the most memorable being Elvis Presley. When we entered into the reception and gift-shop area, decked out like a 1950s style café, complete with a juke box and album covers lining the walls, I was struck by how informal everything was. The studio hasn't been converted into a slick museum with interactive displays and temperature controlled, glass-fronted cabinets packed with information. The studio has an air of a working venue, run by fans of the music. Signs on the wall are handwritten on pink paper and pinned up and the memorabilia and souvenirs downstairs are organised in a ramshackle way.

We heard stories of how Elvis had come to be recorded, how Rock and Roll had come to fruition, how the studio had been created and saw memorabilia galore from the first floor gallery at the top of the rickety stairs. Our passionate guide told us stories, anecdotes and played us little heard music and radio performances that went on to be career-launchers. After this, we were led back down more tattered stairs into the studio itself. Here we saw a letter from the lady who had discovered Elvis to her son explaining about a wonderful day she had at the studio, when Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins had all spent time together singing and playing and creating merry music. On the wall was a photo capturing this moment, known forever as the Million Dollar Quartet. We heard music from the famous session. We were also given the opportunity to hold onto the microphone that Elvis Presley sang into on that day, and other days he had recorded singles here – it was the photo opportunity of a lifetime!

We raced back from Sun Studios to the Peabody Hotel. This famous landmark hotel in the centre of Memphis holds a very unusual distinction. It is the only hotel that has a resident flock of ducks who live in a suite on the roof and who swim in the lobby fountain all day. Each morning, the ducks march into the lift from their penthouse suite, along the red carpet and into the fountain, where they remain all day. At the end of the day, they march in reverse back to their suite. It has been a tradition in the hotel since the 1930s when Frank Schutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a drunken weekend hunting trip, bringing back with them live duck decoys and placed them in the fountain. The public loved it so much that they employed a trainer and a tradition was born. After this humourous display, we headed to the bar to plan our evening and then moseyed down to Beale Street to BB King's bar and restautant. Beale Street is to Memphis what Bourbon is to New Orleans. Brash, neon and pumping with blues music, bars line the streets competing with one another with a huge array of artists. We opted for BB King's based on the strength of reviews of not only the artist who was appearing, but on the reviews of the food! We opted for a plate of ribs which were coated in a spicy Tennessee sauce and were delicious. The artist was playing the music that had put the city on the map, taking the audience on a musical journey through time from the first rock and roll songs up to (when we left) the late 1950s. It complemented the tour we had had at Sun Studios and we left with full bellies and a greater appreciation for blues and rock and roll!

Our next stop was the Autozone Stadium, where we planned to buy tickets to the final baseball game of the season for the Memphis Redbirds. When we arrived a local man offered us a free ticket that we couldn't use. When we went to buy an additional ticket, one was printed without charge and we made our way into the stadium. Walking past the food stalls, we encountered giant hotdogs, bottomless popcorn, buckets of soda and huge bags of fries. At baseball games, with such slow action, food almost becomes the star of the show! We took our seats and were treated to this great American tradition. Yes, it's a slow game, but when someone hits the ball and scores a run, it's a great atmosphere. At intervals, the cheerleaders would come out and throw things to the crowd, while the mascots danced. We caught a foam baseball thrown our way between the 4^th and 5^th innings. The big screen zoomed in on the spectators dancing, smiling and waving and it was fabulous to experience great American tradition.

On leaving the stadium (our team won!), we headed back to Beale Street to enjoy one more live music venue before bed. However, we did not expect to run into the entire biking contingent of Tennessee. Apparently, on a Wednesday night, Beale Street plays host to Biker night. Here hundreds of bikers were converged on either side of the street, their engines roaring and spluttering as they waited to roar off into the darkness. The neon lights were reflecting off the bright paintwork of the bikes and music was blaring from the bars. We enjoyed one more performance – an acoustic one this time, and then headed back through the streets of Memphis towards our hotel. Having heard horror stories about the unsavoury characters that grace the streets at night in the area, we were a little wary but in reality, this was just like any other city at night. We stuck to well-lit roads and felt comfortable on the ten minute walk back to our hotel. Then it was time for bed, ready for another long day tomorrow.

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